How often is it that you can read a book that's more than 800 pages long and when you finish, be left wanting more? When I turned the last page of James Barclay's latest book The Ascendants Of Estorea: Book One: Cry Of The New Born the only consolation was the words "book one" in the title, guaranteeing the story will continue.
Ever since Barclay wrapped up the adventures of the mercenary group the Raven with the seventh book of that series, I've waited to see what he was going to bring us next. I thought he'd have a hard time topping that series for scope and breadth, but Cry Of The Newborn has already outstripped the previous seven books in quality and quantity.
The risk of a book with multiple characters and scenarios is that one takes the chance of either confusing the reader, or having them favouring certain scenarios over others. There have been far too many books that I've read where I've had no interest in the doings of one set of characters and have found it hard to sustain interest in the book.
That is definitely not the case with Cry Of The Newborn. The writing is so universally good, the characters so deftly drawn, that even those characters we abhor have the ability to hold our attention as they plot and connive against those who have won our affections.
The Estorea Conquord, in which this story unfolds, has similarities to Earth's Roman Empire in its technology, armies, navies, and social structure. Unlike the Romans, the society practices a monotheistic faith, which is strikingly reminiscent of the young Christian church, especially when it comes to matters of tolerance for things that appear to be outside the laws of the God.
Normally this would only concern those realms not yet under the sway of the Conquord who still practice ancient beliefs based on the spirits of the land and the sea. But for one small community within the Conquord, the citizens of Westfallen, it is also pertinent. It's not that they do not worship the Omniscient, it's that they also follow practices that the order thinks were stomped out hundreds of years ago.
Article comments
1 - Ry_Darrick
A Fantastic review which captured the essence of the book, well done.
Fans of the book can visit www.theascendants.co.uk for more information on the series.