Author: Joshua Palmatier
Publisher: Daw
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: November 2006
When I finished The Skewed Throne by Joshua Palmatier last year, I felt no hurry to read the next book. The first book ended well and left me satisfied. Varis, the main character, had such a rough life that even though she triumphed over some nasty stuff, I was happy to leave her happy.
The second in the series, The Cracked Throne put Varis through her paces again, just as I suspected it would. The books starts a little slow—there’s more reminding about what happened in the last book going on than I wanted, and a couple of scenes that seemed to serve more as reminders of who the people are and how the magic worked. It’s effective, especially if you haven’t read the first book. The middle of the book picks up considerably—it’s the fastest paced and I mean edge of the seat, grab the pages.
The book has several plotlines, most of them quite strong. Varis is learning her new duties, but there are huge threats to the city. There is magical and personal growth. She faces insubordination, possible overthrow the throne attempts, the real possibility of people starving through a harsh winter, and a vague threat from somewhere outside the kingdom. All of these plots are handled well and move the book along nicely.
Characterization is strong; while there are multiple characters it wasn’t at all hard to recognize their various aspects and place. Rather than use multiple POV, the viewpoints are all told through Varis. She learns a somewhat dangerous ability to follow/spy on certain people and go almost anywhere in the city via her tie to the throne. This worked extremely well, especially during the section when she discovers and tests the ability. It served some great action scenes without bogging down the viewpoint—until the last battle. By the end, we know and care about a number of characters—this is a good thing. However, because Varis is connected to the city so intimately, she can witness and live out multiple battles. This means it went on for pages. And pages. The scenes are handled well, there were just too many of them for me, perhaps because battles, by definition, contain violence.
This is an interesting fantasy book, but I don’t know where to shelf it. It’s not a quest. The first was a survival and create a spot for oneself in a cruel world. This book has quite a bit of that feel. The character struggles with personal relationships; sometimes I wasn’t at all certain where the relationships were going or if they would hold. Like real life, the relationships were often strained. The world building was sometimes sudden, leaving me lacking a necessary anchor at times. All in all, I’d say this was a strong second book, easily as good as the first in the series, better in some ways. It’s got action, good characters and a strong sense of adventure. The dark edges keep it from being a simple afternoon read. Like the first book, it’s more survival than happy jaunt. If you’re looking for a good fantasy that has a few layers with darkness trying to creep in, check it out.
