Monsters, gruesome sacrifices, dark sorcery, swordsmen devoted to honor, and a young woman being driven into the arms of her potent destiny are set loose in The Charnel Prince by Greg Keyes. This second novel of his Kingdoms of Thorn and Born epic fantasy series benefits from the setting developed in the first book, and the characters are really allowed to blossom within the adventure. For fantasy readers, Keyes delivers a complete bill of goods as he weaves multiple fantasy elements such as magic, religion, unfolding prophecies, romance, quests, palace intrigue, and good old monster fighting into a fast-paced novel. A variety of characters fill the story. Some of the characters I found to be developed very successfully, such as Anne Dare, Neil McVren, Leoff, Cazio, and Muriele, and even the bad guy, the Charnel Prince Robert. Other characters do not hook me as much emotionally such as Aspar White, Winna, and Stephen Darige. Their adventures however remain engaging to me. Their quests are of the Dungeons and Dragons variety in which they fight beasts and track priests awakening dark magic across the land. The SwordsmenIt just would not be an epic fantasy without some fellows swinging steel, and Keyes excels with his portrayals of two different types of swordsmen. First is Neil. He is a knight accustomed to wearing heavy armor, using a broadsword, mace, lance, and fighting on his feet or on horseback. Within him lurks a bloodlusty berserker rage that he dips into when necessary. Second is Cazio, a character inspired by fighters of a more refined and Renaissance flavor. He uses the rapier or saber. His sword style, known as the dessrata in the book, is an art form. I enjoyed considering the subtleties of combat through the personas of these two characters. Neil offers fantasy readers a good interpretation of the classic knight. He is utterly driven by his sworn oaths. Even when confronted by a bitter betrayal from Anne Dare when he is trying to save her, he remains firmly committed to his mission to help her. Neil is also sexually frustrated having lost his forbidden love in the first book, so he is knight burdened by the angst of unrequited love. Cazio takes a more cavalier attitude toward love. His feelings for Anne motivate him to protect her in addition to his honor that demands he help a woman in need. Anne’s clear disdain for his potential affection, however, prompted him to casually begin to court Anne’s handmaiden Austra in an attempt to make Anne jealous. The little love triangle he concocts is usually overrun by the need to fight for their lives, but it adds a nice undercoat of drama to the characters’ lives. As a fighter, Cazio is also charming in his arrogance as he continually boasts about his sword skills and more often than not proves them. The QueensThe unfolding prophecy in this story is that a queen will save the world, which leaves the bad guys in the story working very hard to kill all potential female heirs to the throne of Crotheny. The surviving female heir is Anne Dare, who is seventeen and, by the end of the book, coming into her supernatural powers. She is a well developed and sympathetic character. The author deftly transforms her from a difficult teenage girl concerned only with freedom and her beau to a maturing young woman who realizes that her responsibilities surmount her petty personal concerns. The other queen is Anne’s mother, Muriele, who is technically the Queen Mother, so she is not actually a female heir to the throne. Her character is pivotal to this novel. Much of the action swirls around Muriele as she struggles to keep her mentally deficient son on the throne as both the Church and rival kingdoms salivate over her vulnerability. Feeling Muriele’s pain was easy as she coped with the crushing grief of having most of her family murdered. Her cleverness as she rolled her way through dicey palace politics was also endearing. The Court ComposerLeoff Ackenzal is a new character in this second book of the series. He is a musical genius arriving at the imperial capital only to learn that the emperor who hired him is no longer alive. Because the morale of the populace is low – due to monsters stalking the land and whole villages of people going raving made – Leoff manages to retain his position and is commissioned to produce a rousing musical work for public performance. The author shows that he either researched music very well to write this character or was already well schooled in music. Keyes reveals marvelous technical detail while describing Leoff’s compositions. Although many aspects of the court composer character appear to be lifted straight from the movie “Amadeus,” Leoff is a pleasing and sympathetic character. And his bumbling nerdiness acts as a nice foil to the swordsmen. The performance of his heretical opera at the end also creates one of the book’s most beautifully written chapters. A Worthy OpponentThe Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone epic series is shaping up to be a good read. The fantasy world is richly detailed with various languages, folklore, monsters, politics, and sorcery. Keyes created a multitude of characters, many of which are quite pleasing. For the most part, The Charnel Prince rushes along at a captivating pace, although there are several tedious scenes in which the scholarly Stephen Darige blathers on as he cross references some clue through three arcane languages. Also the paths of the characters tend to cross a little too conveniently for the sake of the plot, but this is forgivable. Whatever minor shortcomings exist within the novel are assuaged by an extremely satisfying climatic fight scene in which Neil takes on an enchanted knight that cannot die. For good action and pleasing characters, I give this fantasy book a four swords rating – two broadswords, a saber, and a rapier.
I believe that The Kingdoms Of Thorn and Bone is one of the most criminally underrated works of fantasy around.As far as I can discern, Greg Keyes hasn't exactly been a prolific writer, apart from some tie-in, or shared media, works for the likes of Star Wars and Babylon 5.This series stands as his Magnum Opus.Kingdoms is a seamless and close to perfect blend of old school charm and modern fantasy sensibilities. It is epic and grandiose, but it is also intimate and personal.It is a fresh look on the genre, and Keyes introduces some great elements into his story, with some sequences even bordering on the horror fiction of, say, H.P. Lovecraft.The courtly intrigue is probably not quite as convoluted as people have come to expect from the likes of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice And Fire, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.It all depends on personal preference. Personally, too much courtly intrigue, incest, conniving and hoo-hah-ing can put me off. And that isn't the case here.When I first read The Briar King I was really impressed by the prose. If ever there was any doubt about Keyes' writing skills, this series should put that to rest.The Charnel Prince takes off right where The Briar King closed, and if anything, is written even better. The novel positively oozes atmosphere and class. The fighting scenes are depicted masterfully and probably rate as some of the best I've read. I think where Keyes really succeeds is in the sense of urgency and menace he generates. There are multiple threads and plotlines interwoven, and if one should fail disaster will surely follow. Impending doom and all that, but Keyes makes the reader believe.It's just so much fun to read books like these.I have a fondness for music, and there is a central theme of music throughout the novel. In fact, it forms a core part of the plot, with one of the new characters introduced being a composer.The setting, though easily reconcileable with the likes of Tolkien's Middle Earth or Historical Europe, certainly contains some aspects that I haven't encountered in works of fantasy before.The creatures, beings and characters conjured up by Keyes are fascinating in the extreme, and most decidedly not run of the mill.I really, really love what Keyes has created here.I am well aware that I'm not the most eloquent reviewer of books, but I really feel a pressing need to convey just how highly I regard this series thus far. There is precious little wrong here.The writing is awesome. The characters are awesome. The plot is awesome. The world Keyes has created is living, and breathing, and really awesome. If only all fantasy were like this.Now that I've humiliated myself by carrying on like a schoolgirl with a Twilight novel under each arm, I hope I have at least convinced you to give this a try.Start with The Briar King.
What do You think about The Charnel Prince (2005)?
Recommended for: See my review of The Briar King.Now I am remembering even more why I liked this series when I first read it. Keyes is damned consistent. He doesn't have weaknesses so much as content choices that some readers might not like. I can see readers who want genre-defying writing, or gender neutral writing, or generally edgy writing, being disappointed. But the writing itself can't really be faulted.Personally, I find the trope-heaviness of this series less infuriating than the verbose, plot-dragging expansiveness of other fantasy series.Keyes is keeping his shit tight. I like that.4/5 stars for keeping shit tight.(Also, writing 'keeping shit tight' three times in a review is fun.)
—Jonathan
These are deep waters...I stayed up until three in the morning to finish this, and had to talk myself out of going on to Blood Knight. Keyes delivers in this one. Although much of it is classic fantasy the writing is great, practical yet lyrical. His characters are fabulous, layered, flawed, and interesting.The thing that keeps me so engaged is the political intrigue, mixed with the background of fantastical monsters and our motley group of heroes. When a composer is the one that delivers the most ringing blow at the end, you know you have a fantasy novel that is a cut above all of the rest.I very much look forward to the next installment, where the waters are sure to get murkier and more dangerous.
—Andi
This is a great continuation from The Briar King. I think if Tolkien had grown up in America, his writing would have ended up with a similar flavor and quality.I really enjoyed the characters, particularly Leoff, Neil, and Anne. Keyes does such an amazing job of writing believable female characters. I don't want to natter on about feminism, but it is really gratifying to read characters that don't seem like dipsticks or bitches. Really!The languages of the countries in the book are incredibly cl
—Rachel
