Smith, Sherwood -- King's Shield
Book three of world-spanning prince-grows-up story. Inda is yanked
home from exile, just as the long-threatened Venn invasion is about to
start. Everyone then gets to spend the book building up resources and
plans for the big fight. And I do mean "building up"; there's a big
battle, but a lot more sending messengers around, preparing castles,
sneaking soldiers around, and so on. Don't imagine that's dull stuff.
(The invasion is down a narrow mountain pass from a beach landing,
which gives plenty of opportunity for excitingly delaying actions.) In
the meantime Inda is trying to get used to his home country, which he
hasn't seen since age eleven; his king and his betrothed are trying to
get used to having him home; everyone is trying to get used to Inda's
outlander friends (pirates, mages, girlfriend ten years older than he
is, oh my), and, oh yes, the Venn are secretly having a constitutional
crisis. All these people, on both sides, are intensely real. The
author even manages to get in a side plot about a group of
eleven-year-old girls -- they are just as real as the adult warriors
and princes, in a way that makes me regret my snide comments about
Alistair Reynolds.
If I have a complaint about this book, it's that the plot bounces
around somewhat unevenly. A lot of threads are packed in, and not all
of them get equal weight. I assume a lot of stuff is being set up for
the fourth and, I understand, final volume.
Books I have acquired recently
All the books I own