Some of the darkest minds in Perilisc attacked Mending Keep, releasing all its prisoners. Despite his strained relationship with the crown, Rayph Ivoryfist calls old friends to his aid in a subversive attempt to protect King Nardoc and thwart terrorist plots to ruin the Festival of Blossoms. But someone else is targeting Rayph, and even his fellow Manhunters might not be enough to save him.
Song (The Manhunters Book 1)
By jesseteller
If you’ve ever played Dungeons & Dragons, this book is for you. I won’t give away the inciting incident, but story essentially pits two (almost) all-powerful teams against each other in an on-going and all-out battle of wizards, demons, assassins, paladins, thieves and more. In ways I can barely articulate, it reminded me of a Kurosawa film (think Sanjuro) or any of Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns. There are some very fulfilling showdowns. Although I suppose Rayph is meant to be the main character, I especially liked the swamp witch, the paladin, and Konnon’s daughter, Bree, and her story. I’d even go so far as to say Teller writes women well in general — strong, independent and as good as any man they encounter. By the end of this novel, you will definitely want to know what happens next.
Years of Rayph Ivoryfist’s work has just been undone. A black magician has attacked the prison he built and released his captives, some of the most deadly people in the kingdom. One of them has sworn to kill the king, who has already barred Rayph from his court. How can Rayph save a man who won’t even allow him nearby?
One of the first things I noticed about Song is that it doesn’t feel like it’s the first book in a series. Right from the first few pages, it’s obvious that the author has created a world with a lot of history to it, far more than the book itself has room for. The advantage is that it makes everything feel richer and more real. The downside is that it can get confusing from time to time, especially when characters who have history meet and the reader is left to work out how this will affect the plot.
There are two primary POV characters; Rayph Ivoryfist and Konnon Crillian. Both are fighters, warriors, widowers. Rayph is both a swordsman and a mage, centuries old and potentially one of the most dangerous men in the world. In the book, there are only three other characters that might be a match for his skills. Even so, he is wise enough to know when he needs help; gathering a band of self-styled Manhunters to assist him in his dual tasks of capturing the escaped prisoners & safeguarding the king.
Konnon, by comparison, is more of a brawler and sometime bounty hunter. He’s gruff, short-tempered and vicious when needed. But at the same time, he mourns his dead wife and is desperate to earn enough money to find treatment for their daughter who is suffering from an unspecified paralysing disease. It isn’t immediately apparent when or if their paths will cross and watching as this plays out is one of the delights of the novel.
There is a great deal to enjoy about this book; the characterization, the action sequences and, of course, the worldbuilding. There are also one or two nitpicks; the occasional confusion mentioned before as well as what feels like the relatively brief nature of the novel. Both the world and the plot could have supported a slightly longer book. But since there are two direct sequels plus a few stand-alone novels, this is less of a drawback than it could have been. Overall, it’s a satisfying and worthwhile read, but one that still leaves you wanting more.
4/5
SONG by Jesse Teller is a book I had to read twice because it is a work which is full of interesting elements that are not only noticeable on the second read through. It’s a novel which is very economical with its world-building and yet manages to weave a fascinating tapestry of a kingdom, its culture, and its enemies. It reminds me a great deal of the old Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms novels which had vast numbers of bad guys as well as plots as well as counter-plots but we only got to see a tiny fraction of them in the existing books.
Rayph Ivoryfist is the Gandalf-esque protector of his kingdom and has done for untold millennium. Unfortunately, his pride has gotten in the way and gotten himself exiled from the courts due to the current ruler being a petty spoiled tyrant. This means he’s not paying attention when a magical prison filled with the worst criminals in the world, basically magical supervillains nearly impossible to kill, gets raided and freed. Rayph must assemble a team to go after them and deal with the fact no one wants his help but they desperately need it.
Song really reads like a fantasy comic book with its share of legendary heroes and badasses getting back together for one last ride. It’s the equivalent of assembling a new Justice League after a mass breakout at Arkham Asylum. All of the heroes have their own struggles to deal with ranging from loyalty to their awful king to the fact their child is dying from a horrible disease growing from her infected legs.
The biggest appeal of the book is the melodrama of Rayph who is a little too set in his ways and idealistic to really deal with mortals along with their ignorance. He is pompous with the locals who want to form a lynch mob against the genuinely terrifying witch nearby and confronts the king to humiliate him despite the fact it would probably be better to work around him. It’s a nice way of doing a heroic figure whose very better qualities make him a flawed individual.
The book could have benefited from a bit more exposition as while the world building is there, it’s in the conversations. I think it would have just been easier to give some paragraphs describing what the kingdoms and their beliefs are. I found out they worship Tyr as their God of Justice (like in Forgotten Realms) only about halfway through. On the other hand, I think some fans will enjoy the “show, don’t tell” nature of this.
I also like the way magic is portrayed in this universe as it’s genuinely intimidating. If you manage to master it, you’re basically immortal and only have to worry about your fellow mages to deal with for the rest of your life. I also like the implications of this with prisons as ways to contain evil doers for all time as opposed to simply killing the bad guys. In most fantasy, you don’t have dungeons that contain villains since death is usually the punishment for bad guys.
In conclusion, this is a fun and well-written novel that sets up the events for what I suspect is a longer series. It’s a bit underwritten for my taste and sometimes confusing but the action is good, the characters are interesting, the heroes likable, and the villains hateable.