Wizardborn (The Runelords Book 3) by David Farland

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Wizardborn (The Runelords Book 3) by David Farland
pub: Earthlight. 532 page paperback. Price: 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-671-02950-9

check out website: www.earthlight.co.uk

After the huge battle at Carris, Gaborn - the earth king - is stripped of most of his ‘earth powers’.

He can no longer protect his people and is now unable to warn his people remotely of danger. Although the reavers are defeated at Carris, Gaborn feels the impending doom of the earth combined with the renewed sense of danger his people now face.

The threat of the reavers grows as they show new levels of ingenuity and intelligence, changing their strategy with each battle. Desperate to find anyway to stop them Gaborn seeks council in a young 9-year-old girl Averan.

She is the wizardborn apprentice of Binnesman, who seeks to train her in the powers of the earth and shows an unusual insight into the behavior and world of the reavers. The girl is the key to finding the route to the underworld and Gaborn has to convince her to help him in his quest.

Meanwhile, the war torn Raj Ahten races to save his homeland from the destruction of the reavers. Slowly losing his humanity even with all his endowments and vectors, he meets his ultimate battle at the reavers stronghold.

This is the third book in this huge ‘Runelord’ fantasy series. I must admit I'm new to this and at first I was worried if I could pick up the major threads and story lines but David Farland beautifully reinforces major plot lines without dwelling on them.

To me this is always a good sign of a major fantasy series as it can be easy to forget important details of previous books. The characters are beautifully crafted and with the growing sense of danger you really care about what happens to them.

This book and I assume the rest of the series is the same, does not fall into the usual trap of black and white/good vs evil. The ‘good’ earth king has lost his powers due to previous indiscretions but unlike most modern forms of entertainment the author does not just make everything OK again.

Garborn is stuck with this lost of his earth powers. The Earth is falling apart and there is no easy solution - no quick fix. It explores the consequences of not only actions but also the use of magic and endowments, as with Raj Ahten who is nearly unbreakable in stature, strength and ability but still starts to lose his humanity.

This book also has a good dose of political intrigue. Gaborn's neighbouring countries eye up the advantage they now have because of the loss of his ‘earth powers’. The main thrust though of this book is the huge often-violent battles with the reavers.

The reader's knowledge of the reaver's world is also expanded. They consume people and decimate the land with runes and magic. Averan provides a window to the eye less world of smell the reavers inhabit.

This book only covers two days but raises the tension to almost unbearable levels. There is no easing of the threat to the main characters. This book is building up to what could be a spectacular finale, perhaps on reflection the book felt a bit short even though it’s over 500 pages in length. I don't think readers of this series will be disappointed.

Perhaps the young girl, Averan, is a bit clichéd - it depends how cynical you are I suppose. Even new readers will enjoy this book I certainly did and look forward to reading the previous two books: - ‘The Sum of All Men’ and ‘Brotherhood of the Wolf’.

Phil Jones

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