A very worthy sequel: In the first book of The Scavenger Trilogy, Shadow, many things were discovered about the main character Poldarn, from the scattered memories of his past which returned to him in fragmented form in his dreams. But many more things were revealed about K.J.Parker, the most obvious being this man is a major new talent in the fantasy genre, and has assured himself a place in my personal must-read list from here on; another discovery about him is that he loves to toy with his reader. Shadow was littered with false clues and hints, leading the reader to constantly rework their theories over who Poldarn really was. This was one of the book's strongest and most intriguing parts.It is even more strongly the case in the sequel, Pattern. Poldarn's past is by no means decided as he arrives at his childhood home and meets his estranged family. This book takes a different tack to the first, with Poldarn remaining essentially in the same place and having to deal with the other characters around him rather than wandering the hills and taking life as it comes (or, more likely, punches him in the face). This is a welcome change and adds diversity to the Poldarn's story; the dreams also return and with them a plethora of new suspicions and ponderings over who he has been in his forgotten life. And now he is surrounded by people who know something of his past and aren't telling him, so much can be gleaned (perhaps falsely, however) from their reactions to him.The most enjoyable aspect of Parker's works, I think, is the cynically realistic tone he maintains throughout his novels, a pessimistic, or realistic perhaps, take on life which grounds his characters in a more believable world than the typical fantasy heroes and heroines of the genre. There really wasn't a poor quality sentence in the whole book (and in a side note, it was incredibly well proof read, with only a couple of missing speech marks to be seen).It's surprisingly difficult to review this book, because there is so much to commend it which is hard to describe. As this is the second book in a trilogy, I would assume that you have read Shadow, and therefore are familiar with what made Shadow an excellent book; all that can easily be said from that basis is that Pattern keeps up that supreme quality, but moves both Poldarn and the plot forward. It gets a little complicated in the sometimes (intentionally) conflicting dreams and memories he has, and had me keeping some notes to stay on track with the revelations...all to little avail because there is a magnificently surprising twist in the final pages.To bring that rambling to an end - buy this book. It deserves attention and acclaim, and I look forward to both the final instalment and K.J. Parker gaining the true status as a superb fantasy writer that he has proven he richly deserves with both Shadow and Pattern.
What do You think about Pattern (2003)?
For some reason, this series gets a lot of hate in the reviews - most of the negative reviews fixate on the "complexity" and difficulty in following the story. I'm glad I ignored the haters on this one.My personal experience is that I read the first in the series some years ago, loved it, and stumbled upon the remaining bits in the trilogy in a used bookstore. After finishing the second, I immediately picked up the third because the series is that damn good. I picked up the necessary back story as needed and the mechanic of dreams from multiple contexts is fascinating and bot that difficult to grasp.The humor is dark and dry, just like I like it. It reminds me of Abercrombie's work. If you liked The First Law series, you will probably dig this series as well.
—Frank
