An Opinionated look At:Kristen Britain's First Rider's CallBy Eric AllenAll right, it's been over ten years since this book first came out. I'm a tad bit late in picking it up. I read Green Rider, the first in this series, when it first came out, and at the time, I thought it had come to an end, and never bothered to check and see if there were any more in the series. Oops. Well, better late than never, I suppose.Two years have passed since the king's brother tried and failed to take the throne for himself. Two years have passed since the D'Yer wall was damaged, and the wild, dark magicks of the Blackveil Forest beyond have been seeping out into Sacoridia, and causing all sorts of havoc. Two of Mornhavon the Black's lieutenants, undead wraiths, have been set free of their prisons, seeking the blood of the betrayer that brought his empire down that their dark master may live again, and bring vengeance upon those who sealed him away beyond the wall. Meanwhile, Karigan G'ladheon has succumbed to the call of the Rider Corps, leaving her life as a promising and influential merchant behind. But there is unrest in the countryside as dark magics begin causing horrible things to happen to innocent citizens of the kingdom, and the magic of the Green Riders begins to fail. Only through visions of the past, is Karigan able to see what needs to be done to save the present and the future, as the whole kingdom seems to be falling apart around her.The Good? My biggest complaint about the first book in this series is that Karigan, the main protagonist of the story, never did anything on her own. She was so unknowledgeable, and incapable, that literally every single threat that she met upon her journey had to be taken care of by someone else that she happened to meet just in the nick of time. When the protagonist never does anything for herself, and instead relies completely upon the strength and knowledge of others to pull her through, then really, what's the point. That's not HER story. It's the story of everyone who ended up doing all of the important things for her because she was so incapable of doing them herself.Thankfully, in the time between books, Karigan seems to have found where it was that she misplaced her brain. In this book, Karigan finds herself in many situations where there is no one else to help and she is forced to find her own way through, as a good protagonist should. She was still an entertaining and likable character in the first book, but the Deus Ex Machina was just so objectionable, and the character never actually did anything to help herself, instead, relying upon others to do everything for her. Here, she takes charge of the Riders when their leaders are incapacitated, devises the plan that defeats Mornhavon's spirit in the end, leads people into battle. She's almost like a completely different character from the sad, pathetic lost little girl she was in the first book and THANK GOD for that. She truly is the hero of this story, rather than pretending to be the hero like she did in the first book.This is a very different type of story from that of the first book. Where the first book was pretty much all action from start to finish, this book is a little more tame. There isn't much in the way of action in this one, but the author replaces it with a lot of really good psychological mindf*#kery, political intrigues, hopelessness as the Riders seem to just fall apart under the weight of the events going on in the country that they have no power to stop, and a whole lot of other things that make this book even better, and more exciting, than the first one, in my opinion.A lot of the lore and history of Sacoridia is delved more deeply into in this book and I really enjoyed that. Britain has created a very interesting and vivid world with a deep and rich history. And I love how she actually worked a reason for why typical gender roles are a little more fluid in her universe than in real Earth history, or in a thousand other fantasy novel worlds into the story. It's just one of those little details that you see and smile, because you know she really worked out every little detail of her world's history and culture, even if she hasn't shown all of it to us yet.Britain definitely improved as a writer between the first and second books, as this book is better written in almost every way than the first. That is not to say that the first book was badly written, quite the contrary, it was an excellently written book, but First Rider's Call shows an improvement in her writing skills. I always enjoy watching a writer learn, grow, and hone their skills. All too often they will get lazy or sloppy as time goes by.The bad? There are a few sections in the beginning where a being first known as "the sentience" explores its world and begins to awaken and break free. It is not explained what it is, who it was, and what it will become until well past the halfway point of the book, yet there are some really long, long, loooooooong chapters about it and its fumbling around that are pretty boring, and really seem out of place, and just go on forever. These sections of the book could have probably been done a little better, and incorporated better into the story so they didn't break things up so badly as they did.In conclusion, this book was excellent. In my opinion it is even better than the first book. Karigan, the main protagonist, is actually someone worthy of calling the hero of this book, unlike in the first book. The writing has improved from good to excellent. A lot of the lore and past behind the story is explored in greater detail, making the world fuller and brighter than ever before. This is a different type of story than the first book's non-stop action, but I found the change of pace to be welcome and just as exciting, if not more so, than the first book of the series. If you enjoyed Green Rider, this is a book that you will not want to miss. Check out my other reviews.
Karigan has now finished school and is at first attempting to resist the Rider's call (with highly comical results, that quite possibly becomes a new tale for the bards), but quickly returns where she belongs. Dire happenings are stirring in the kingdom; the D'yer Wall, damaged in the crazed Eletian's rampage that Karigan helped thwart, has been unable to be mended with the cracks spreading and leaking wild magic. Even worse, the thing the Wall was built to contain and suppress is awakening and gaining strength. It is wonderful having Karigan and crew back (and meet some great new characters, even if some of them aren't long in the story)! Though we follow a couple different perspectives, Karigan's chapters are always the ones I was looking forward too and though great darkness is happening to some characters we love (including Karigan herself!), Britain never gets overwhelmingly gloomy and keeps moments of light throughout the story. Perhaps the main reason I didn't give this five stars is because I wanted resolution to two big plot points which we didn't get. (There are three more books, so I'm guessing and hoping we get these resolved later. Which means we have to be patient.) Content notes: Some light made up swearing, that doesn't mean anything really. Sensuality wise it is very clean, in that nothing happens on page; however, an atrocity happens in one of the provinces and the survivors tell tales of wives and daughters (some very young) being carried off to be raped. Also, the thing in Blackveil is very good at getting into people's heads and using those they love against them or mentally stripping them bare. There is a lot of violence, generally not described beyond mentioning the wound and having blood around it. A lot of characters die, several of whom the reader has spent some time with. Again, the thing in the woods enjoys torturing people with visions of those they love being horribly wounded, sometimes by the person's hand. Perhaps the worst is in Hadrax's journal when he describes going into the work room of his friend who has vivisected a person.
What do You think about First Rider's Call (2004)?
I devoured my way through the first book and the second book was no different although there were things I wished were lengthened.At first you'd think the book would mostly be the struggle Karigan faced to actually answer the call of being a Green Rider, ancient messengers of the king. However, that wasn't the case. You basically get one chapter--I really wish that part had more detail. Sure, I suppose you could say the rest of book was also a debate about whether or not Karigan felt comfortable as a Rider but in the end, I think she knows her true calling.It was interesting how this story ended though. It wasn't dramatic, like the first novel, and I sort of felt it to be very anti-climactic but I did like how the author incorporated a lot of the world's history, not just that of the Riders but also of the country itself. I must admit that I am rooting for Karigan and King Zachary although I feel as if it won't every happen or something extraordinary must happen in order for the two to be together. Not that I have any qualms against Lady Estora, but more so against the silly rules about royalty, nobles, and commoners. But that's beside the point. I can't wait to get a hold of book 3. The author has really done a splendid job incorporating what any fantasy reader loves about, well, fantasy. With that being said, I would recommend with book to my friends who are looking for a strong female lead character as well. It's always great to read about the map for inspiration as well.There is one small drawback though highway I think would help not only me but also other readers. Tha author should really include a map! I feel as if i outbound get a much better understanding of her world is there was a map. I hope Miss Britain decides to do highest in ether future.
—Nicole
This volume was noticeably better than the first, in my opinion. Kristen Britain's writing seems to have matured, and the plot and character development are definitely stronger. Britain also manages to successfully weave multiple story threads together in a way that makes the story richer, rather than cluttered, as if often the case when authors attempt to do so. Although the first volume was supposed to be exciting, I personally found it a little dull and generic, an obvious combination of Mercedes Lackey plus The Fellowship of the Ring. In this second volume, Britain comes more into her world-building.
—Jennifer
I really struggled between giving this book two stars or three, but ultimately had to admit that I liked it. I am a sucker for series, and this book really had some good moments. I found myself drawn in and actually reading the book before bed, where with most books I reserve them only for my commute.So now for the bad...GOOD LORD is this book a rip off of Lord of the Rings! Just like the first one is! Allow me to list the similarities (of course, some of these are carry-overs from Green Rider, but bear with me). So the main character, Karigan (Frodo?), gets dragged into this quest because she inherited a magic object, which is a golden brooch (ring?). This brooch allows her to become invisible. Ok, so that was last book. To move one to this one, there is an evil being, Mornhaven (Sauron?) which has been asleep for a long time that is now coming to life and spreading evil. He uses ugly, evil creatures called groundmites (ogres, anyone?) to fight battles. He also sends out these wraith-like creatures wearing crowns who used to be his generals(ring-wraiths?) to do his bidding and retrieve Karigan. Complicating the matter is a race of tall, beautiful, and magical people called Eletians (Elves?) who are trying to stay out of worldly affairs but find themselves drawn into the conflict.You see my point. I'm not trying to rant here, I really think it's funny in a lot of ways. What was not funny was the fact that I came to start groaning out loud every time Britain wrote "angry retorts sprang/entered/jumped into her mind" because I still think Karigan is a little brat and she really needs some new phrasing/material/whatever. Despite all of this, I enjoyed the book, as I said, and I won't lie...I'll be reading the next one just as soon as the public library gets it back from whatever sucker is reading it at the moment.
—Jenny
