While the two groups of comrades are pursuing their goals, Brexan, the former soldier in Nerek's army, is on her own with only thoughts of vengeance to comfort and keep her going. With Versan dead and her heart broken, killing the man responsible for his death, is all she can focus on. Once she establishes his whereabouts the hunt is on.
It's hard enough for an author to split the focus of a book into two parts, let alone three, but to attempt four major ones, as well as some splinters off of Brexan's adventures, for the first third of the book, as is the case in Lessek's Key is apparent literary suicide. How can they expect us to keep track of what's going on, and who's doing what?
By making each part so memorable that you can't forget it, even if you try, is a good starting place. Not once did I even have to pause to remind myself of who was who, and what had been happening to them when I last saw them, let alone flip pages back to where they had been seen last. It wasn't even a matter of ending every chapter with a cliff-hanger either, although there were those as well, it's the fact that the authors have an uncanny ability to be make scenes distinct and memorable enough that they linger long after you've done reading them.
Whenever I laid the book down, which was with great reluctance and infrequently, I found myself dwelling on the circumstances that I had last seen the characters in. There was always one strong note generated by at least one of the characters depicted in a scene that would stick with me and allowed for instant recall when their story continued.
The real secret of course is great character development. What the authors had started to build in The Hickory Staff is elaborated and expanded on in Lessek's Key. Events change them, circumstances cause them to grow in ways they didn't think possible, and fears are faced and conquered. Convictions are tested and as in reality are found wanting, forcing the forging of new ones that are stronger for their annealing by the fire of coming to terms with oneself.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!
2 - margaret cole
Hi,
Just by chance at our store in England "Borders" I chanced to read the first copy "The Hickory Staff" and could not put the book down - the second sequal - just as good - I am looking forward to the 3rd "Eldarn" sequence and very much hope it will be out very soon. Thank you for the good read and enjoyable books.
Maggie Cole 24th November 07
3 - Steven Vale
I picked up Hickory Staff as a desperation read, there was nothing else for me to read in the store, and I was amazed that I had found a complete gem of a book. I haven't been able to put it down (which did result in me missing a day of labs, whoops). I've just managed to lay my hands on the the 2nd book and am thoroughly looking forward to to reading it and the third (which I just found was out yay!!!!)