Raj Ahtan has fled from Gaborn Val Orden, the prophesied and ascendant Earth King. Tricked on the field of battle by a ruse, Ahtan is far from vanquished. Bolstered by the strength, speed, stamina, charisma, and beauty of thousands of men, he moves to strike at where Gaborn is weakest, to tear down the kingdoms of Rofehaven from within. But while Ahtan works to lure Gaborn into a trap, Gaborn realizes a greater enemy is threatening, and designs a plan that he hopes will ally Ahtan with him against this foe.
Taking place over the course of just a few days, Brotherhood of the Wolf
With how short a time as passes during the novel, events unfold at a breakneck pace. If only Farland would move his text as fast. Not atypical for an epic fantasy, Brotherhood clocks in at nearly 700 pages. Frequently I found myself wondering if a few of those pages weren’t unnecessary to the story.
The result is that Farland develops his characters more than might otherwise be possible in such a short period of time. The length of the novel lends itself to more viewpoints than a shorter story might allow, and shows the reader a broader vision of the events unfolding. While the story never drags–per se–a faster paced story might have spent less time with each view point.
If The Sum of All Men intended to introduce the main protagonist and antagonist of The Runelords series, then Brotherhood feels like a pulling back of the curtain. The threat to Rofehaven and the entire world is far greater than anything introduced in The Sum of All Men, and Farland takes advantage of the opportunity to hint at the scope of his series by introducing side plots, new abilities to what initially appeared to be small characters, and expanding his system of magic beyond the initial forcibles/endowments magic introduced in the first book.
Picking up a thick novel is always a risky endeavor. The time investment is long, and the pay-off may be a long time in coming. In the end, Farland provides, however, delivering a denouement that satisfies his promises, if not perfectly, at least satisfactorily. It’s a worthy successor to The Sum of All Men and continuation of The Runelords’ series. I ran into Farland at the Salt Lake FanXperience in April and picked up Wizardborn from him there. I look forward to following where he takes Gaborn, Iome, Ahtan, and the rest of his growing cast next.
Related articles
- BRWC Profiles The Runelords’ David Farland (myp3r.wordpress.com)
- Book Review: The Sum of All Men by David Farland (highfantasyaddict.wordpress.com)
- “The Runelords”, “Game of Thrones” and the Problem of Endings (thefilmexperience.net)
- Get a Complete, Signed Set of the Runelords, Including A Tale of Tales (davidfarland.net)
- OSC’s heirs: The Runelords and Mistborn series (motleyvision.org)
Brotherhood of the Wolf
The Runelords #2
Fantasy
Tor Books
April 15, 1999
Paperback
659
Raj Ahtan, ruler of Indhopal, has used enough forcibles to transform himself into the ultimate warrior: The Sum of All Men. Ahtan seeks to bring all of humanity under his rule-destroying anything and anyone that stood in his path, including many friends and allies of young Prince Gaborn Val Orden. But Gaborn has fulfilled a two-thousand-year-old prophecy, becoming the Earth King-a mythic figure who can unleash the forces of the Earth itself.
And now the struggle continues. Gaborn has managed to drive off Raj Ahtan, but Ahtan is far from defeated. Striking at far-flung cities and fortresses and killing dedicates, Ahtan seeks to draw out the Earth King from his seat of power, to crush him. But as they weaken each other's forces in battle, the armies of an ancient and implacable inhuman enemy issue forth from the very bowels of the Earth.
About Daniel
I haven’t heard of this series…thanks for sharing. I love it when a series picks up right where it left off! I love the cover! It’s fantastic!
If you start it, I look forward to hearing your thoughts.