Talion: Revenant
I suppose this came to be on my reading list due to this post. That's a little strange about this whole thing is really the other elements that came together. Even when I read that post, Michael Stackpole's name didn't really click. It didn't come together until recent articles about a failing independent publishing company, Night Shade Books, and a buyout offer, and authors' uncertainty about the whole thing. Only in following those links did I realize that he's written a fair bunch of stuff, particularly involving RPGs and some licensed novels. I don't think I've read most of his work, but I believe I did read several of his Battletech novels back in the day. And on seeing all that, I looked back at my downloaded books and said "huh, that's him."
Talion: Revenant was apparently his first written (primarily back in the mid 80's), but not remotely first published, novel. Interestingly, it appears he's going to do a sequel if there are sufficient sales of the ebook version. It was, overall, a positive reading experience. I sort of wish I'd been able to read it back then, or even when it actually was published ('97, I think) because I probably would have been less critical of a few points. It feels a little bit dated somehow, like the fantasy tropes in play just don't fit quite as well now. Still not bad, mind you.
I'm not a big fan of the flashback/flashforward style, alternating almost every chapter. It serves its purpose in following a present narrative while working in bits of backstory, leaving some relevant details for later reveal, but... generally the technique grates on me. So it was handled well for what it was, but that design choice was sort of a strike against it in my view.
The setting seems reasonably fleshed out for the tale, with a fragmented former empier and nations that get along (or not) withe some reasonable realism. Magic is fairly rare/secretive for the most part. Deities seem to have some presence, though it's minimal, and fantasy creatures are present without swarming the countrysides. The Talions, a neutral martial group founded of the imperial remnants working mostly to balance the other nations, work for me in a general sense. There's at least one thread, though, that is conspicuous in its going nowhere - Nolan finds a secret treasure trove, does research, decides to keep it secret, and.... that's it. It seems like that entire segment could have been dropped entirely with no impact on the story.
There's a range of characters, and I like them more than not. Morai, and his relationship with the protagonist, strikes me as particularly amusing. He might make a good central character himself, though the question of why such a bright individual pursues banditry is never really answered. Lothar felt a little simplistic to me, bound by fixed character traits to serve a story role. Most of the others I can think of seemed handled well.
In fact, the only character I really disliked at times was the main one, Nolan. I like his ethical development, that was good. And, as a person, he doesn't make a bad protagonist. But he came across to me as entirely too special in that classic fantasy "outsider attains greatness against all odds at every turn" way that strikes me as more appropriate/normal in storytelling a couple decades ago.
He's accepted into Talion Justice training outside normal recruiting age, he goes into an obstacle course blind and manages to succeed, he bests almost everyone in training including coming up with new tactics in exercises, he leaves his instructor on his Journey, he gets marked by a semi-supernatural race (elves more or less) as a warrior, he adapts throwing darts into regular use... oh, and he's of old, displaced royal lineage. And this on top of the spiel about how Justices have to not only learn what all the other Talion branches do, but to be better at each other branch's specialization (except the Wizards, I guess) - I've no idea how that's supposed to work with the same training time all around, and that point was annoying enough to bug me while reading.
It feels like there certainly could be more story here - whether about Nolan or just in the world. I could even see it as an RPG setting. And if there is a sequel, I'll probably pick it up. It's interesting enough as is, but it would be all the more so to see how the author would approach this all again close to thirty years after he put together the first book.
Talion: Revenant was apparently his first written (primarily back in the mid 80's), but not remotely first published, novel. Interestingly, it appears he's going to do a sequel if there are sufficient sales of the ebook version. It was, overall, a positive reading experience. I sort of wish I'd been able to read it back then, or even when it actually was published ('97, I think) because I probably would have been less critical of a few points. It feels a little bit dated somehow, like the fantasy tropes in play just don't fit quite as well now. Still not bad, mind you.
I'm not a big fan of the flashback/flashforward style, alternating almost every chapter. It serves its purpose in following a present narrative while working in bits of backstory, leaving some relevant details for later reveal, but... generally the technique grates on me. So it was handled well for what it was, but that design choice was sort of a strike against it in my view.
The setting seems reasonably fleshed out for the tale, with a fragmented former empier and nations that get along (or not) withe some reasonable realism. Magic is fairly rare/secretive for the most part. Deities seem to have some presence, though it's minimal, and fantasy creatures are present without swarming the countrysides. The Talions, a neutral martial group founded of the imperial remnants working mostly to balance the other nations, work for me in a general sense. There's at least one thread, though, that is conspicuous in its going nowhere - Nolan finds a secret treasure trove, does research, decides to keep it secret, and.... that's it. It seems like that entire segment could have been dropped entirely with no impact on the story.
There's a range of characters, and I like them more than not. Morai, and his relationship with the protagonist, strikes me as particularly amusing. He might make a good central character himself, though the question of why such a bright individual pursues banditry is never really answered. Lothar felt a little simplistic to me, bound by fixed character traits to serve a story role. Most of the others I can think of seemed handled well.
In fact, the only character I really disliked at times was the main one, Nolan. I like his ethical development, that was good. And, as a person, he doesn't make a bad protagonist. But he came across to me as entirely too special in that classic fantasy "outsider attains greatness against all odds at every turn" way that strikes me as more appropriate/normal in storytelling a couple decades ago.
He's accepted into Talion Justice training outside normal recruiting age, he goes into an obstacle course blind and manages to succeed, he bests almost everyone in training including coming up with new tactics in exercises, he leaves his instructor on his Journey, he gets marked by a semi-supernatural race (elves more or less) as a warrior, he adapts throwing darts into regular use... oh, and he's of old, displaced royal lineage. And this on top of the spiel about how Justices have to not only learn what all the other Talion branches do, but to be better at each other branch's specialization (except the Wizards, I guess) - I've no idea how that's supposed to work with the same training time all around, and that point was annoying enough to bug me while reading.
It feels like there certainly could be more story here - whether about Nolan or just in the world. I could even see it as an RPG setting. And if there is a sequel, I'll probably pick it up. It's interesting enough as is, but it would be all the more so to see how the author would approach this all again close to thirty years after he put together the first book.
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