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blodeuedd's review against another edition
4.0
I must begin by saying that I did try to read another fantasy series by him and did not like that one at all. But I still gave this one a go and I am glad I did. It was different and really good.
It's basically a murder mystery. And our lead detective is Lucan Drakenfeld, the genre is fantasy and the world is very Roman.
Right another cop story for me, and yet another fantasy book that mainly takes place in a big city. No running around on an adventure here. No Lucan comes to his home town, says farewell to his dead father and begins to investigate the murder of the King's sister. He and his assistant goes from clue to clue, sees what the city is really about and moves from the highest to the lowest social circles. The whole mystery sure had me wondering and there were just so many suspects. But it all came together beautifully and I would love to read more about Drakenfeld.
I also liked the whole "Roman" style. Rome conquering other nations, and the whole style of living too. But it still felt fantasy and not just like I fell into another Rome dimension. He made it is.
A cool book and I would love to read more. Well written too.
It's basically a murder mystery. And our lead detective is Lucan Drakenfeld, the genre is fantasy and the world is very Roman.
Right another cop story for me, and yet another fantasy book that mainly takes place in a big city. No running around on an adventure here. No Lucan comes to his home town, says farewell to his dead father and begins to investigate the murder of the King's sister. He and his assistant goes from clue to clue, sees what the city is really about and moves from the highest to the lowest social circles. The whole mystery sure had me wondering and there were just so many suspects. But it all came together beautifully and I would love to read more about Drakenfeld.
I also liked the whole "Roman" style. Rome conquering other nations, and the whole style of living too. But it still felt fantasy and not just like I fell into another Rome dimension. He made it is.
A cool book and I would love to read more. Well written too.
lakesbecky's review against another edition
3.0
This book is an intriguing mix of fantasy and murder mystery. Lucan is summoned back to his home city following the death of his father. He replaces him as the local agent for the Sun Chamber. He finds his birthplace much changed from when he left it.
Summoned to investigate a royal murder he is also being attacked by local villains. With a rising body count he must solve the murder before someone kills him.
There were plenty of twists in this book and I enjoyed reading it. The last few chapters don't seem quite as well written as the rest of the book though.
Summoned to investigate a royal murder he is also being attacked by local villains. With a rising body count he must solve the murder before someone kills him.
There were plenty of twists in this book and I enjoyed reading it. The last few chapters don't seem quite as well written as the rest of the book though.
christinajl_gb's review against another edition
5.0
Drakenfeld is just my sort of book, a blend of crime/fantasy with a flavour of the classical world. As with Mark Charan Newton's other books, the world building is very vivid and is beautifully and intelligently written. I especially liked that the main character, Drakenfeld, wasn't perfect and had his flaws. Leana was a very strong female lead and had an interesting history. I'm looking forward to seeing where the author goes with this series.
antonism's review
4.0
3.5 / 5
Drakenfeld is a fantasy detective novel by Mark Charan Newton. A locked-room murder takes place in the king's court with no apparent motive, possible murderer and no loose-end. Lucan Drakenfeld, newly arrived, finds himself gradually entangled into many mysteries surrounding the murder along with other unrelated ones.
This novel takes place in a fantastical world of Newton's creation, and I have to admit he has done an amazing job with world-building and passing all this depth on the pages and then to the reader. Never did I feel that the story took place in a boring, uninteresting world, quickly set just for the sake of providing a background. On the contrary, everything feels realistic and natural as if they have a history behind them. So, top marks for world-building and setting.
The characters are also well written. The protatonist, Lucan, is a realistic personality with weaknesses, doubts and feelings. The other main characters, Leana and Veron, are also well portrayed and are interesting enough. The same can not be said unfortunately for the rest, who don't get really much page-time and thus end up really thin and uninteresting. I think it is a pity and a lost opportunity, especially when so many words are spent on descriptions of buildings and roads etc.
In a detective story of course, the plot is probably the most important thing and in this novel it's quite good and adequate. There's a multi-layered mystery that builds slowly and is absolutely logical. When the reveal came, I didn't feel cheated as is sometimes the case with some detective / mystery novels. But at the same time, I was not excited or amazed by the plot at any point from the start until the end. It seriously lacked tension and momentum. The various threads remained so unrelated to each other for so much of the book that it made me wonder why I was reading some of them.
The writing and pace was also a mixed bag. Some times, it flowed perfectly and smoothly, presenting details while promoting the story or the characters. Other times though it felt sluggish. Especially the parts with Titiana came out as if they were added as a second thought, just to fill pages and maybe as an excuse to justify Titiana's role in the novel.
In the end, I have to admit I found a lot of interesting things in this novel and I liked most of its aspects. It never felt samey or just another "such" book. But, at the same time, I kept feeling not completely satisfied as I was always expecting something more, even up until the end. In summary, I won't and can't say that it's a bad book, instead it's a very good novel, but it could have been even better! I may be strict in my rating but I will definitely read the next book! Recommended!
3.5 / 5
Drakenfeld is a fantasy detective novel by Mark Charan Newton. A locked-room murder takes place in the king's court with no apparent motive, possible murderer and no loose-end. Lucan Drakenfeld, newly arrived, finds himself gradually entangled into many mysteries surrounding the murder along with other unrelated ones.
This novel takes place in a fantastical world of Newton's creation, and I have to admit he has done an amazing job with world-building and passing all this depth on the pages and then to the reader. Never did I feel that the story took place in a boring, uninteresting world, quickly set just for the sake of providing a background. On the contrary, everything feels realistic and natural as if they have a history behind them. So, top marks for world-building and setting.
The characters are also well written. The protatonist, Lucan, is a realistic personality with weaknesses, doubts and feelings. The other main characters, Leana and Veron, are also well portrayed and are interesting enough. The same can not be said unfortunately for the rest, who don't get really much page-time and thus end up really thin and uninteresting. I think it is a pity and a lost opportunity, especially when so many words are spent on descriptions of buildings and roads etc.
In a detective story of course, the plot is probably the most important thing and in this novel it's quite good and adequate. There's a multi-layered mystery that builds slowly and is absolutely logical. When the reveal came, I didn't feel cheated as is sometimes the case with some detective / mystery novels. But at the same time, I was not excited or amazed by the plot at any point from the start until the end. It seriously lacked tension and momentum. The various threads remained so unrelated to each other for so much of the book that it made me wonder why I was reading some of them.
The writing and pace was also a mixed bag. Some times, it flowed perfectly and smoothly, presenting details while promoting the story or the characters. Other times though it felt sluggish. Especially the parts with Titiana came out as if they were added as a second thought, just to fill pages and maybe as an excuse to justify Titiana's role in the novel.
In the end, I have to admit I found a lot of interesting things in this novel and I liked most of its aspects. It never felt samey or just another "such" book. But, at the same time, I kept feeling not completely satisfied as I was always expecting something more, even up until the end. In summary, I won't and can't say that it's a bad book, instead it's a very good novel, but it could have been even better! I may be strict in my rating but I will definitely read the next book! Recommended!
3.5 / 5
leontiy's review
5.0
Originally posted at Jet Black Ink:
Drakenfeld is a complete change-of-pace from what Mark Charan Newton exhibited with his Legends of the Red Sun series, which veered towards the New Weird and definitely played with darker plotlines. Instead, this classically-influenced fantasy is a crime hybrid that is set to be as much of a stellar success as the rest of Newton’s work. In fact, I’ve been hoping for something like this for a while and when I received this ARC before the summer I dived straight in.
I was hesitant at the setting in the first instance—I’m not a massive fan of the classical world and definitely not a fan of Rome and Greece and all that sort of stuff. But I was anticipating this because it’s a Newton and because, crime hybrid. That’s pretty much all I needed to hear.
I’m glad I forwent my ho-hum attitude towards the setting, because Drakenfeld is a complete success of a novel. I wish there were more hybrids, especially ones that merge the crime genre into fantasy and science fiction.
Essentially, Drakenfeld is a whodunit. My favourite kind.
Lucan Drakenfeld is the son of a renowned Officer of the Sun Chamber and his whole life he has lived in his father’s shadow. To this end, he has been working far from the city of his birth, avoiding elements of his past—and his father’s glowing reputation.
But upon receipt of news of his father’s death, Lucan is recalled to the ancient city of his birth, Tryum. Along with him goes his assistant, Leana. They travel to the city and soon find themselves completely entangled in what will prove to be his most difficult and complicated case to date. Along the way, as might be expected with Lucan returning to his home, he will have to confront elements of his past that he would rather forget. More than that, his father’s death is suspicious to Lucan, despite the Sun Chamber’s belief that it was a natural death.
With both the death of the King’s sister and the mystery of his father’s death hanging over the investigation, Lucan and Leana must delve into the heart of the city’s politics to uncover the truth—which is far stranger and more complex than either of them could have accounted for.
Everything in this fantasy crime hybrid is woven together perfectly and Newton demonstrates an aptitude for not only the complex fantasy of the Legends of the Red Sun series, but for the subtle twists and turns of a Romanesque mystery, too.
Following the slightly darker turns of his previous series, the final book of which I was incredibly disappointed by, I was expecting to love Drakenfeld off the bat after reading Newton’s blog on the subject, promising a completely different sort of protagonist and ideal.
Precisely this is delivered, in spades. Drakenfeld is a book that I devoured in a couple of days due to its addictive pace and moreish, compelling plot. As a protagonist, Lucan Drakenfeld is completely honourable and likeable and this manner of lead character is something of a fresh perspective amidst the darker natured, more anti-hero archetypes flooding the fantasy forum at the moment.
One of the best things to hope for from a series like this is the subsequent books come to and their potentially episodic nature. Like all good crime stories, which admittedly I only have experience of from TV, there promises to be a different plot thread in each accompanying novel, and throughout I expect to learn more of Lucan himself as the series develops.
I’d been hoping for a return to the level of enjoyment received from Newton’s earlier books and I wasn’t at all disappointed. It felt that whatever I perceived was missing from the writing of The Broken Isles was back in full force. The writing felt like “Newton” again. As a loyal and steadfast fan, this was immeasurably relieving. With this novel, I have a well-missed, well-loved author back at the top of my pile.
It is always satisfying to anticipate plot twists coming; it gives a certain sense of smugness, as if high-fiving or knuckle-bumping the author. It’s like being in on some kind of private joke. And it is definitely something that adds a layer of further enjoyment to a novel such as this. Maybe it’s just me; maybe other people like the “wow” or “holy crap!” factors when a plot twist comes to light. Either way, Drakenfeld was a complete success for me. (I do think a parental obsession with Saturday night instalments of Jonathan Creek taught a certain way of thinking in regards to the Locked Room puzzle, however, despite being a wee bairn at the time, likely sprawled on the floor with colouring books and staying up way past bedtime.)
I expect that Newton’s new series will be an immediate success, thanks partly to its depth of worldbuilding, managing to create a secondary classical world that is familiar enough to be so, yet still completely his own. Lucan Drakenfeld is a complex character with a good core—and this is just the kind of character I feel has been largely missing from certain veins of fantasy. There’s been too much darkness. It was about time that something lighter, yet still no more stereotyped or clichéd, should break through that darker branch of the genre.
Overall I loved Drakenfeld every bit as much as I expected to. It left me with a deep longing for more fantasy/genre hybrids. Romance has always been something of a part of SFF, way back through the decades, and so to find it in fantasy isn’t classed as anything unusual. But horror and crime and mystery as their own separate elements have not yet breached the hold. Drakenfeld is the first step, with the novel generally being accepted as having “crime” elements, so much so that Newton himself is a member of a crime writers association.
A deep and clever story focused around a man and his duties, with revelations along the way that make for an enjoyable start to a promising new series.
Drakenfeld is a complete change-of-pace from what Mark Charan Newton exhibited with his Legends of the Red Sun series, which veered towards the New Weird and definitely played with darker plotlines. Instead, this classically-influenced fantasy is a crime hybrid that is set to be as much of a stellar success as the rest of Newton’s work. In fact, I’ve been hoping for something like this for a while and when I received this ARC before the summer I dived straight in.
I was hesitant at the setting in the first instance—I’m not a massive fan of the classical world and definitely not a fan of Rome and Greece and all that sort of stuff. But I was anticipating this because it’s a Newton and because, crime hybrid. That’s pretty much all I needed to hear.
I’m glad I forwent my ho-hum attitude towards the setting, because Drakenfeld is a complete success of a novel. I wish there were more hybrids, especially ones that merge the crime genre into fantasy and science fiction.
Essentially, Drakenfeld is a whodunit. My favourite kind.
Lucan Drakenfeld is the son of a renowned Officer of the Sun Chamber and his whole life he has lived in his father’s shadow. To this end, he has been working far from the city of his birth, avoiding elements of his past—and his father’s glowing reputation.
But upon receipt of news of his father’s death, Lucan is recalled to the ancient city of his birth, Tryum. Along with him goes his assistant, Leana. They travel to the city and soon find themselves completely entangled in what will prove to be his most difficult and complicated case to date. Along the way, as might be expected with Lucan returning to his home, he will have to confront elements of his past that he would rather forget. More than that, his father’s death is suspicious to Lucan, despite the Sun Chamber’s belief that it was a natural death.
With both the death of the King’s sister and the mystery of his father’s death hanging over the investigation, Lucan and Leana must delve into the heart of the city’s politics to uncover the truth—which is far stranger and more complex than either of them could have accounted for.
Everything in this fantasy crime hybrid is woven together perfectly and Newton demonstrates an aptitude for not only the complex fantasy of the Legends of the Red Sun series, but for the subtle twists and turns of a Romanesque mystery, too.
Following the slightly darker turns of his previous series, the final book of which I was incredibly disappointed by, I was expecting to love Drakenfeld off the bat after reading Newton’s blog on the subject, promising a completely different sort of protagonist and ideal.
Precisely this is delivered, in spades. Drakenfeld is a book that I devoured in a couple of days due to its addictive pace and moreish, compelling plot. As a protagonist, Lucan Drakenfeld is completely honourable and likeable and this manner of lead character is something of a fresh perspective amidst the darker natured, more anti-hero archetypes flooding the fantasy forum at the moment.
One of the best things to hope for from a series like this is the subsequent books come to and their potentially episodic nature. Like all good crime stories, which admittedly I only have experience of from TV, there promises to be a different plot thread in each accompanying novel, and throughout I expect to learn more of Lucan himself as the series develops.
I’d been hoping for a return to the level of enjoyment received from Newton’s earlier books and I wasn’t at all disappointed. It felt that whatever I perceived was missing from the writing of The Broken Isles was back in full force. The writing felt like “Newton” again. As a loyal and steadfast fan, this was immeasurably relieving. With this novel, I have a well-missed, well-loved author back at the top of my pile.
It is always satisfying to anticipate plot twists coming; it gives a certain sense of smugness, as if high-fiving or knuckle-bumping the author. It’s like being in on some kind of private joke. And it is definitely something that adds a layer of further enjoyment to a novel such as this. Maybe it’s just me; maybe other people like the “wow” or “holy crap!” factors when a plot twist comes to light. Either way, Drakenfeld was a complete success for me. (I do think a parental obsession with Saturday night instalments of Jonathan Creek taught a certain way of thinking in regards to the Locked Room puzzle, however, despite being a wee bairn at the time, likely sprawled on the floor with colouring books and staying up way past bedtime.)
I expect that Newton’s new series will be an immediate success, thanks partly to its depth of worldbuilding, managing to create a secondary classical world that is familiar enough to be so, yet still completely his own. Lucan Drakenfeld is a complex character with a good core—and this is just the kind of character I feel has been largely missing from certain veins of fantasy. There’s been too much darkness. It was about time that something lighter, yet still no more stereotyped or clichéd, should break through that darker branch of the genre.
Overall I loved Drakenfeld every bit as much as I expected to. It left me with a deep longing for more fantasy/genre hybrids. Romance has always been something of a part of SFF, way back through the decades, and so to find it in fantasy isn’t classed as anything unusual. But horror and crime and mystery as their own separate elements have not yet breached the hold. Drakenfeld is the first step, with the novel generally being accepted as having “crime” elements, so much so that Newton himself is a member of a crime writers association.
A deep and clever story focused around a man and his duties, with revelations along the way that make for an enjoyable start to a promising new series.
dominish_books's review
4.0
One of the things I love about picking up new books is finding an author I've never read before and really enjoying what s/he has written. When I was given the chance to get my hands on an ARC of Drakenfeld then, I grabbed the opportunity to check out an author I'd barely heard of before, let alone read. Fantasy-crime is a hybrid genre that's pretty much new to me, I've previously read Simon R Green's Hawk and Fisher novels but that's basically it unless we also count the City Watch portion of my Discworld library. This is a genre that presents a real opportunity to make the reader think, and sometimes that can be missing in the realm of fantasy.
Drakenfeld is a nice easy-going read - it's not the sort of book to grab you by the lapels and drag you on a fast-paced rollercoaster ride, it's more like the friendly arm around your shoulder, guiding you through the twists and turns of the narrative. I'm not by any means suggesting that Drakenfeld is slow-paced, I think it's about right, picking up speed at all the right times and sucking you in to the point that the pages turn quickly and easily.
I thought the main stumbling block for me here would be that Drakenfeld is written in the first person, which is definitely not my preference. This didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book in the slightest, and the style worked well here with the story we're following, allowing a natural access to the thought processes of our protagonist as he tries to solve an apparently impossible crime.
The crime itself is a classic murder mystery but it's the 'who' and the 'why' that provide more intrigue than the 'how' we spend a fair amount of time puzzling over. When that little chestnut is cracked it's almost a little disappointing in its simplicity, but the other two aspects make up for it, and the cleverness of a second major death is the icing on the cake. There's plenty of room for making your own assumptions, but I did find it a little odd how one key player I suspected almost from the start was never even suggested as a potential suspect in Lucan Drakenfeld's investigation. Perhaps I missed something there, or perhaps it was just my suspicious mind trying to beat Drakenfeld to solving the murder.
The characters and the world they're in are as well fleshed out as the story they're a part of. We're shown the world when we need to see it, allowing it to grow and develop well as we become more deeply engrossed in the story. Newton draws on classical Roman times for inspiration and even to someone who isn't well versed in the era, it's influence is apparent in the world we're shown here. Filling this world is a cast that is likeable, varied and for the most part three-dimensional, although I felt there could have been more emotional response from our main character following certain events. If that's my only real criticism though, I don't think I can complain too much.
Overall, Drakenfeld was a very enjoyable read, with a clever plot and intrigue that builds as the pages turn. New twists are added just as you start to feel comfortable with where the story is going, easily keeping your attention until the final page. If the follow up books are to be as good as Drakenfeld is, Mark Charan Newton will have to pull out some very clever storytelling. On this showing, I'd say he has the ability to manage it too.
Drakenfeld is a nice easy-going read - it's not the sort of book to grab you by the lapels and drag you on a fast-paced rollercoaster ride, it's more like the friendly arm around your shoulder, guiding you through the twists and turns of the narrative. I'm not by any means suggesting that Drakenfeld is slow-paced, I think it's about right, picking up speed at all the right times and sucking you in to the point that the pages turn quickly and easily.
I thought the main stumbling block for me here would be that Drakenfeld is written in the first person, which is definitely not my preference. This didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book in the slightest, and the style worked well here with the story we're following, allowing a natural access to the thought processes of our protagonist as he tries to solve an apparently impossible crime.
The crime itself is a classic murder mystery but it's the 'who' and the 'why' that provide more intrigue than the 'how' we spend a fair amount of time puzzling over. When that little chestnut is cracked it's almost a little disappointing in its simplicity, but the other two aspects make up for it, and the cleverness of a second major death is the icing on the cake. There's plenty of room for making your own assumptions, but I did find it a little odd how one key player I suspected almost from the start was never even suggested as a potential suspect in Lucan Drakenfeld's investigation. Perhaps I missed something there, or perhaps it was just my suspicious mind trying to beat Drakenfeld to solving the murder.
The characters and the world they're in are as well fleshed out as the story they're a part of. We're shown the world when we need to see it, allowing it to grow and develop well as we become more deeply engrossed in the story. Newton draws on classical Roman times for inspiration and even to someone who isn't well versed in the era, it's influence is apparent in the world we're shown here. Filling this world is a cast that is likeable, varied and for the most part three-dimensional, although I felt there could have been more emotional response from our main character following certain events. If that's my only real criticism though, I don't think I can complain too much.
Overall, Drakenfeld was a very enjoyable read, with a clever plot and intrigue that builds as the pages turn. New twists are added just as you start to feel comfortable with where the story is going, easily keeping your attention until the final page. If the follow up books are to be as good as Drakenfeld is, Mark Charan Newton will have to pull out some very clever storytelling. On this showing, I'd say he has the ability to manage it too.
markyon's review against another edition
4.0
Drakenfeld is a book that combines a Romanesque mystery novel with the detective work of CJ Sansom, and billed as a ‘fantasy crime’ series.
In this world of Vispasia, Lucan Jupus Drakenfeld is an Officer of the Sun Chamber: an official whose purpose is to travel throughout the eight nations of Vispasia and act as representative of the Vispasian Royal Union, adjudicator and keeper of the peace. Such a difficult position has been maintained by the Sun Chamber for decades, despite attempts to the contrary. “We are peacemakers, not warmongers”, Lucan’s father says at one point.
To this world we are introduced, at a point where Lucan’s world is turned upside down. His father, Calludian, also a respected and long-serving Officer, has been found dead in Lucan’s home city of Tryum in Detrata.
Lucan travels home from Venyn City to sort out the responsibilities required of a dutiful son, despite his relationship with his father being rather estranged in recent years. Once in Tryum, Lucan is also involved in a major murder mystery. King Licintius’s sister, Lacanta, is found murdered in a locked temple room with no apparent means of escape for a murderer. Various motives and suspects are suggested. King Licintius gives Lucan the responsibility of discovering the killer.
As his investigation of this locked room mystery continues, Lucan uncovers secrets that have been covered up, as well as complications from his own past. He is also a target for the city’s underworld who try to dissuade him from his searching as soon as possible. Ultimately, Lucan discovers things that may have much bigger consequences than the case might at first suggest.
I know that Mark has been researching the Romans whilst writing this novel, and it shows. The climate is clearly Mediterranean in the main, and although the people and place-names are different, the sense of a Romanesque empire runs throughout. We have much of the intrigue and violence that such a world would involve.
I could sense that the city of Tryum is a proto-Rome, the King of Tryum an Emperor Caligula-type character. Mark manages to convey this world’s environment of kings and governments well, although details are kept fairly light in order to keep the plot moving.
And that is something that plays to the author’s strengths. Whilst the world is fairly well outlined, the element that worked for me most here is the characterisation. Drakenfeld and his female accomplice Leana are most likeable, with some thought-provoking backstory that could be developed later. Leana, a warrior from Atrewen, comes across as an Amazonian Grace Jones – type character to me, whilst Drakenfeld is the cooler, more logical, Sherlock Holmes – type figure. Together, they have the easy banter and camaraderie that you would expect of two people who have known each other a long while and with a mutual respect for each other’s often very different backgrounds. I was reminded of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser a little in that respect, often the template for such characters.
Whilst things at the end move fast, and perhaps a little too conveniently to tie things up in the end, these are characters and places I’d happily revisit again. The first few chapters in Venyn City suggest there’s a wider world out there beyond Tryum I’d like to know more of.
Don’t be misled – though there is a lot for a fantasy reader to enjoy, this is not a Tolkien-like medievalesque fantasy, nor a tale filled with magic and wizardry. There are religions and gods, but the mysticism is kept to a minimum, if there at all. I suspect Harry Turtledove fans would like it, even if Drakenfeld is written firmly from the first-person perspective, whilst Harry’s books usually include a broad variety of different points of view.
As a Romanesque detective story – an “I-Sherlockius” perhaps? - there’s a lot to like in this novel. I understand that Drakenfeld is the first of a series, if successful. I sincerely hope that that is the case. This is a solid, enjoyable page-turner with a wide appeal that I would personally like to read more of.
In this world of Vispasia, Lucan Jupus Drakenfeld is an Officer of the Sun Chamber: an official whose purpose is to travel throughout the eight nations of Vispasia and act as representative of the Vispasian Royal Union, adjudicator and keeper of the peace. Such a difficult position has been maintained by the Sun Chamber for decades, despite attempts to the contrary. “We are peacemakers, not warmongers”, Lucan’s father says at one point.
To this world we are introduced, at a point where Lucan’s world is turned upside down. His father, Calludian, also a respected and long-serving Officer, has been found dead in Lucan’s home city of Tryum in Detrata.
Lucan travels home from Venyn City to sort out the responsibilities required of a dutiful son, despite his relationship with his father being rather estranged in recent years. Once in Tryum, Lucan is also involved in a major murder mystery. King Licintius’s sister, Lacanta, is found murdered in a locked temple room with no apparent means of escape for a murderer. Various motives and suspects are suggested. King Licintius gives Lucan the responsibility of discovering the killer.
As his investigation of this locked room mystery continues, Lucan uncovers secrets that have been covered up, as well as complications from his own past. He is also a target for the city’s underworld who try to dissuade him from his searching as soon as possible. Ultimately, Lucan discovers things that may have much bigger consequences than the case might at first suggest.
I know that Mark has been researching the Romans whilst writing this novel, and it shows. The climate is clearly Mediterranean in the main, and although the people and place-names are different, the sense of a Romanesque empire runs throughout. We have much of the intrigue and violence that such a world would involve.
I could sense that the city of Tryum is a proto-Rome, the King of Tryum an Emperor Caligula-type character. Mark manages to convey this world’s environment of kings and governments well, although details are kept fairly light in order to keep the plot moving.
And that is something that plays to the author’s strengths. Whilst the world is fairly well outlined, the element that worked for me most here is the characterisation. Drakenfeld and his female accomplice Leana are most likeable, with some thought-provoking backstory that could be developed later. Leana, a warrior from Atrewen, comes across as an Amazonian Grace Jones – type character to me, whilst Drakenfeld is the cooler, more logical, Sherlock Holmes – type figure. Together, they have the easy banter and camaraderie that you would expect of two people who have known each other a long while and with a mutual respect for each other’s often very different backgrounds. I was reminded of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser a little in that respect, often the template for such characters.
Whilst things at the end move fast, and perhaps a little too conveniently to tie things up in the end, these are characters and places I’d happily revisit again. The first few chapters in Venyn City suggest there’s a wider world out there beyond Tryum I’d like to know more of.
Don’t be misled – though there is a lot for a fantasy reader to enjoy, this is not a Tolkien-like medievalesque fantasy, nor a tale filled with magic and wizardry. There are religions and gods, but the mysticism is kept to a minimum, if there at all. I suspect Harry Turtledove fans would like it, even if Drakenfeld is written firmly from the first-person perspective, whilst Harry’s books usually include a broad variety of different points of view.
As a Romanesque detective story – an “I-Sherlockius” perhaps? - there’s a lot to like in this novel. I understand that Drakenfeld is the first of a series, if successful. I sincerely hope that that is the case. This is a solid, enjoyable page-turner with a wide appeal that I would personally like to read more of.
jasonoffer's review against another edition
2.0
I appreciate that there have been many great reviews of this book and I can see what people may like about it. Unfortunately I found the book very slow and completely lacking in excitement. The book bubbles along without much action and the main elements are the intercourse between various characters. When there is action it just does not generate any feeling and I found myself uncaring about the aftermath.
The main plot or mystery is not particularly clever, the ending just seems to tail off. The protagonist is supposed to work for an organisation which generates fear and respect, but during the interplay with numerous characters no one within the book showed any sign of fear or respect, in fact quite the opposite. This contradiction was what ultimately put me off the book.
The main plot or mystery is not particularly clever, the ending just seems to tail off. The protagonist is supposed to work for an organisation which generates fear and respect, but during the interplay with numerous characters no one within the book showed any sign of fear or respect, in fact quite the opposite. This contradiction was what ultimately put me off the book.