This following review was an assignment for a fantasy literature course at BYU.The RunelordsAuthor, Title, Facts of PublicationtThe Runelords was written by David Wolverton and published in 1998. The author used the pseudonym David Farland to market the book because he wanted it on store shelves in the F section as a marketing strategy. David Farland is a Mormon and LDS themes such as covenant making and sacrifice thread through his work. SettingtThe book takes place in the fantasy kingdom of Rofehavan where wights haunt the forests, frowth giants trample the underbrush, wizards cast ancient spells, and an unstable feudal society struggles for order. Farland, as I shall call the author, creates an extremely unique world, even for fantasy standards. It is a medieval world with swords, axes bows and arrows, and other primitive weaponry. Electricity does not appear to play a part in their technology. Magic is their source of energy.tThe book begins just before Hostenfest, a holiday honoring the Earth King. The action covers five days from the nineteenth day in the month of the harvest (sometime in the Fall season) to the twenty third. Most of the story takes place in the province of Heredon distinguished by the giant forbidding Dunnwood forest. Of great importance to the story is its political setting. Rofehavan is a large kingdom made of smaller provinces each governed by a family of Runelords. The political situation is unstable due to a lack of central government. Runelords are constantly in conflict over power. This instability is augmented by inequalities produced by the giving of endowments. Runelords receive endowments such as strength, wit, stamina, vision, and metabolism from their subjects making them many times stronger, faster, smarter, and healthier than normal men while their subjects become derelicts, fools, and mutes. Commoners sacrifice their attributes to their Lords in return for money or protection. Besides creating many ethical questions, this practice causes a political dilemma similar to a modern day nuclear arms race. Every lord must take endowments to be strong enough to fight his enemy. They continually try to one-up their opponents taking more and more endowments until eventually a lord may become so powerful and destructive that he threatens the entire world. With this political debacle, the stage is set for war. PlotThe story begins with Prince Gaborn Val Orden of Mystarria. He and his father, King Mendallas are traveling to Castle Sylvarresta just north of the Dunnwood forest to celebrate Hostenfest and arrange Gaborn’s marriage with Princess Iome Sylvarresta thereby uniting the provinces of Mystarria and Sylvarresta. This is an important political union to unify provinces against the inevitable threat of Raj Ahten, King of Indhopal. In his travels north, Gaborn stumbles across Raj Ahten’s army marching towards Sylvarresta. With haste, Gaborn races through frowth giants, nomen, and enemy scouts to warn King Sylvarresta that his castle will soon be under attack. The king organizes his forces in defense, but Raj Ahten easily conquers the castle without force using his voice and glamour endowments to convince Sylvarresta’s forces to open the draw bridge and serve him. Knowing that Raj Ahten will kill him if caught, Gaborn flees the castle. He does so with the help of the earth wizard Binnesman who makes him covenant to serve the earth in return for great powers. Meanwhile, Raj Ahten pillages the city and takes endowments from hundreds including the king and princess who are left stupid and ugly respectively. Gaborn helps them escape Sylvarresta and swears to protect them. He loves Iome even though she has lost her beauty.Meanwhile, King Mendallas Orden marches his troops to defend the fortress of Longmot and the forty-thousand crucibles there hidden. He also sends his guard, Borenson, to slay all of the innocent dedicates of Sylvarresta who are providing Ahten with super powers. Raj Ahten conquers Longmot killing everybody but one soldier. With the death of many of his dedicates, he is weakened and flees to the south. Gaborn and Iome reach Longmot to find it in ruins and King Orden dead. The spirits of the Dunwood visit Gaborn and christen him “The King of the Earth”. He marries Iome and prepares to confront Raj Ahten in future novels.CharacterizationFantasy characters are usually categorized into races such as elves, humans, or orcs, and then into classes such as knights, barbarians, wizards or clerics. Farland invents several new races and classes not seen in traditional fantasy. For example, some new races are the sixteen-feet-tall Frowth Giants, the ape like nomen and the deadly reavers. He develops the new classes of runelords, flameweavers (fire wizards who I think are of the human race), and the Days. The days are perhaps the strangest new characters. They are a network monk-like people who follow nobles’ and document their lives. To me, the most interesting character is Borenson. Early in the book, he is developed as Gaborn’s impeccably loyal body guard. Farland uses a comment made by Gaborn’s Day to foreshadow that he may not be that good of heart, “If I may be so bold, I fear that he has all of a dog’s finest virtues but loyalty…He’s an assasin. A butcher, your Lordship. That is why he is captain of your guard. (pg. 59).” Borenson laughs in battle and seemingly takes great delight in killing. The climax of his violent nature occurs when he follows King Orden’s order to slay all of the innocent dedicates in Castle Sylvarresta. His conscience overwhelms him and he is thrown into near insanity later killing King Sylvarresta himself. He is considered one of the good guys, and the reader feels sympathy for him. Borenson is a fascinating character faced with terrible decisions.Point of ViewThe book is written in third person omniscient. The narrator jumps each chapter to describe the perspective of a different character so the reader knows the thoughts and actions of the heroes and villains.ThemeThe work suggests various possible themes. For instance, the adversary makes evil look good. Raj Ahten conquers Castle Sylvarresta by tricking the defenders into believing he is good. The defenders were, “overwhelmed by a monster’s glamour and voice,” and did his bidding. Ahten commanded them to surrender “with great force, with a sound of gentleness that slid past all of Iome’s defenses.” Raj Ahten is a type of the great deceiver, Satan, who “gently slides” past our defenses until we are under his complete and utter control. Surely, that is how Lucifer led away a third of the hosts of Hell. Another theme, religious in nature is that power comes from making and keeping covenants. StyleFarland uses a matter-of-fact style. The novel is a literal narration with relatively limited figurative language. He develops the story through narration and dialogue between characters. He presents complex, thought provoking ideas through his narration of events and circumstances without straying far from the plot to address them. He allows the reader to do that on his own after introducing the reader to an alien world with different rules and ethics. An important characteristic of his style is the abundance of vivid descriptions of violence.Personal ReactionsUpon completion of the book, my most obvious reaction was, “hey, where’s the closure!” It was a gripping tale keeping me turning the pages in expectation of a satisfying ending that never came. Fantasy often does this, but with The Runelords it was unusually unsettling. I found the concept of giving endowments of stamina, metabolism, and intelligence very clever. In video games (which I consider the most widespread medium of fantasy adventure in modern times), a character gains levels and strength based on mathematical formulas using a set of statistics. The statistics always include strength, stamina, intelligence, speed (metabolism), and so on. By the end of the game, the character is super-human. To me, it is obvious that Farland knowingly incorporated the common statistical attributes from role-playing video games into his novel.
As I said in my review of On My Way to Paradise, I don't know how I missed Dave Wolverton back in the late 1990s, but I'm sure it had something to do with starting college, doing more homework and reading fewer novels, and, probably, girls. Whatever it was that distracted me at the time, I've found Wolverton, or Dave Farland as he goes by for his fantasy novels (and which name I'll use from here on out since this is a fantasy novel), and I feel like I've discovered some kind of not-so-hidden local restaurant that, for whatever reason, no one ever told me had amazing sandwiches. And everyday, right about the same time, I can't help but want to trek back over to try a new sandwich.Farland is just like that. I read On My Way to Paradise, and loved it, but I couldn't help but ask: was it a one-hit wonder? Since it had been a while since I'd read any epic fantasy, I decided to pick up The Sum of All Men. I finished the late-Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series back in January, and I hadn't touched the genre since. Books in epic fantasy tend to be door stoppers, and it takes some commitment to pick up a new series (just ask George R.R. Martin fans who have endure not only long periods of time between installments in his Song of Fire and Ice series, but the very real possibility that the good guys just won't win in the end...or even in the middle, for that matter. But I digress). After putting it off to finish one thing and another, I finally dug in, started reading, and soon found myself lost between the pages.A lot of reviewers and readers will note that The Sum of All Men breaks new ground, manages to come up with a magic system that is fresh and original, and it's true. However, this isn't what I liked so much about The Sum of All Men, though it's clearly a clever system of magic. On the contrary, for me the magic system, something of a "shameful economy," as I think one of the characters calls it, creates conflicts and conundrums for Farland's protagonists while empowering their enemies. No, it isn't the magic that I find so interesting, though clever it may be, nor the fantastical creatures, bloody battles, or imaginative world. It's all very fascinating and contributory to a great tale, but clever ideas are a dime a dozen in fantasy.Rather, what I like is Farland's writing and the way his characters resonate with me. Because although set in a land that has more in common with medieval Europe and crusade era Arabia, the characters face quandaries and decisions and complex relationships that are human and natural and believable. They act like real people, not pawns of a writer's pen, and whether it is the power of the story, the deft and gentle use of symbolism, or the interweaving of myth, Joseph Campbell-style, by the time I had finished The Sum of All Men I felt as much for the characters as I might for people I really know.I even sympathized with the apparent villain. Yes, he was "the bad guy," but it wasn't so black and white why he was the villain. Not unlike On My Way to Paradise, it was in the grey and difficult to see decisions that made the characters live on the page. Ok, I know. It's silly to care about the fictional, ink on paper people that fill a novel. And there are a lot of good books out there that can make readers feel, so to speak. But what is good reading but a way to understand and see through the eyes of another for a while? It doesn't matter whether it's on a ship hurtling through space between the planets, a farmer trying to eek out a subsistence on a Depression era farm, or a bevy of sisters trying to catch the eye of the newly wealthy, and very handsome, Mr. Darcy: when a book can make you feel, believe in the imaginary characters, it's worth the time and it's worth finding more of it.Farland is, for me, a newly discovered secret, and I can't wait to share the secret with others, not to mention read more. I've got his Nightingale, one of his more recent books, waiting next to the bed, and I've just put in an order from Amazon for Brotherhood of the Wolf, and I can't wait to start both.
What do You think about The Runelords (1999)?
*NOTE: SPOILER*Overall it wasn't that bad, but left me very disappointed. I think this was mainly due to the fact that I thought the author had some very promising ideas with a good plot, making a bad final quarter of the book leaving me feeling empty and dissatisfied. The original 'Endowment' concept was pretty interesting. The book was too long for what the storyline required, consequently, a lot of it was a tad boring. And i didn't like how there was no victory for the 'hero'. The blurb promises a good battle at the least! Yet there wasn't one until the end and that was just more of a slaughter... i was left thinking 'ok, what is the earth king going to do.. oh yes, NOTHING.' The disappointment was magnified due to the ridiculous length of the book which should of been half the size at best. The Sum of All Men is just a story of how the bad-ass has just about everything going for him...ugh can you imagine 600 pages of that?I dont quite regret reading it, although i would certainly not recommend it. Needless to say i will not purchase a sequel. (Thankfully, this one only cost me 15p :P )
—Bell
Runelords is a solid fantasy book, based on a world with a solid magic system that isn't just glazed over the story, but is an integral and riveting part of the whole novel. David Farland is an author who doesn't shy away from making his characters experience the full scope of life, from joy to despair. Even better, he doesn't shy away from killing them off either, and nothing makes a story more interesting then knowing that good won't necessarily always prevail, and not everyone is always safe! The characters are believable and interesting, and the struggles they go through really lead you through the story, right up to the end. Can't wait to delve into the second book of the series today- I would highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a good fantasy read!
—Jessica
I read The Runelords, or at least The Sum of All Men, when I was much younger. I like to revisit books I think I enjoyed when I was younger but don’t remember now. If I like them still, hoorah; if I don’t, then I get to better understand how I have changed over the years. The Sum of All Men falls in the middle of that spectrum: it’s an enjoyable book with intriguing fantasy elements, but the characters and story vary from pedestrian to poor.Most of the praise for this book will involve the magic system that allows the eponymous runelords to be so runic and lordy, so I guess I’ll be a sheep and follow the herd on this point: this book totally has an original magic system. Instead of casting spells and counting mana, David Farland allows his characters to take “endowments” of attributes from other people through the use of magic runes. Taking an endowment of brawn robs someone of their strength—if you die, they get it back, but if they die, you lose that strength as well. So there’s an interesting, somewhat parasitic relationship going on here. Part of the moral conflict of the book concerns the propriety of accepting endowments from poor people in lieu of payment they can’t make any other way—and then you have the Big Bad, Raj Ahten, who just takes endowments at the tip of a sword and laughs nefariously when he thinks no one is looking.That’s not the best part of the magic system, though. If Farland had stopped there, it would still be original and interesting. He takes it further, though, and explores some of the natural consequences of taking endowments. For example, if someone gives an endowment of wit (thereby losing theirs), any endowments of wit they receive automatically transfer to the person who got theirs originally—they become vectors. Later, Farland asks what happens when you create a chain of vectors and then have the person at the head of the chain give an endowment to the person at the tail—you get a ring! It’s so unfortunate when authors create interesting worlds or systems of magic but then leave the corners unexplored. That Farland takes full advantage of the rich possibilities of runes and endowments is definitely praise-worthy.It’s much harder to be impressed with the protagonist, Gaborn Val Orden. He—shockingly, I know—turns out to be a nice guy with only the best of intentions in mind. He doesn’t take endowments, by force or as payment, only instead taking them if they are granted “willingly” out of “loyalty”. I’ve seen some good arguments about how this is a distinction without a difference, and Gaborn is just as culpable in what is essentially a system of slavery as his less scrupulous father or the nasty Raj Ahten. These criticisms are spot on and illustrate how Gaborn’s lack of self-awareness undermine his heroic role. However, I think it’s worth pointing out that most epic fantasy set in a pseudo-medieval world suffers from some level of this problem. How many epic fantasy books are about princes or princesses attempting to win back the throne from an usurper? The feudal system, and absolute monarchies in general, suck and are tantamount to slavery. Yet we’re supposed to cheer for the “rightful rulers” and their heroic pluck anyway. If anything, Farland is just making this cognitive dissonance within the fantasy genre more overt—though, by not subverting it, he doesn’t make the situation any better.Gaborn is an uninspiring protagonist at best. His heroism is ordained rather than earned (or even particularly innate). I could deal with this, except that Gaborn spends most of this long story not doing anything important. Yeah, he rescues the princess from the tower and (maybe) spurs his father to sacrifice himself for the Greater Good (the greater good!). But The Runelords is not exactly the high-octane adventure you might want from a book of this size. Gaborn spends most of it either riding towards or away from Castle Sylvarresta.(I’m not even going to touch the whole episode at the beginning where he arranges a marriage between his bodyguard and a hot peasant girl they meet in this foreign kingdom. Sooooo much wrong with that.)Did I mention Gaborn has a love interest? Gaborn totally has a love interest. Her name is Iome. She’s beautiful, apparently, and more so with endowments of glamour—but then she has to give glamour to Raj Ahten (because he wants to be the fairest of them all!) and becomes super ugly, and this bums her out.Now, I’m going to cut Iome a little slack here. She isn’t shallow, and I don’t think Farland is being shallow when he writes her lamenting her loss of beauty. Iome is undergoing significant trauma here. Raj Ahten has killed her mom and turned her father into a drooling idiot in front her. And now he’s taken her looks—which, even if not important to her, were a part of her for so long that not having them is weird. It would be like me losing all my hair suddenly: I would get over it, because it isn’t really important whether I have hair or not. But I would be super uncomfortable for the first little while. We don’t have time to see Iome get over it (for reasons I will not get into, spoilers). And we’re told that the endowment also constantly undermines any self-confidence she is trying to regain. Finally, even if Iome is innately not shallow, she has still spent her entire life growing up being told that she is “beautiful” and that her external beauty is linked inextricably to her worth as a person. This narrative, unfortunately present in our society, fucks up girls.That doesn’t excuse the heavy-handed way in which Farland has Harry Styles—er, I mean, Gaborn—swoop in and proclaim loudly and explicitly that “Baby you light up my world like nobody else … You don’t know you’re beautiful / That’s what makes you beautiful.” Because, yes, what Iome totally needs after having her self-worth quashed by a man by being robbed of her external “beauty” is for another man to validate her and her beauty! Farland could have had Iome rediscover and reaffirm her sense of self-worth herself.And that’s essentially the disappointing truth about The Sum of All Men and a lot of similar fantasy fiction: it could be so much more subversive, but it isn’t. This doesn’t necessarily make it bad in the same way that The Big Bang Theory’s increasing tendency to make fun of geeks/nerds rather than with geeks/nerds about geek/nerd stereotypes doesn’t make it bad. (I don’t think the show is all that funny anymore, alas, but I can still appreciate the way in which it is constructed and its stories are told.) Nevertheless, by playing most of the tropes straight (even if, as in the case of the magic system, they are played very expertly) Farlands only achieves competent mediocrity rather than innovative excellence.I can’t say I’m surprised. The blurb on the front cover of this edition is from Terry Brooks, and there’s another on the back from Kevin J. Anderson. Both of these authors share Farland’s comprehensive grasp of the scope and potential for setting in fantasy and science fiction at the expense of shallower characters and predictable stories. The result is the type of book that’s probably an OK read—there are worse novels to be stuck with on an airplane or in a waiting room. But it’s not going to blow your mind.
—Ben Babcock
