by Margaret H Bonham
I am unashamedly a massive fan of fantasy fiction, and I love a good swords and scorcery novel. The downside of this, of course, is that you have to wade through a lot of dull, derivative rehashes of the standard fantasy quest in order to find the occasional nugget, but I am happy to report that Prophecy of Swords is one such nugget, managing to weave all the right ingredients – a mysterious prophecy, shape-shifting dragons, magic swords and great battles between warring peoples – into a rich, heroic fantasy with a twisting, turning plot that carves its own original take on the genre.
The plot revolves around a great battle that took place almost a thousand years ago when a warrior named Lachlan forged three powerful swords to unite the peoples of his kingdom. Lachlan was betrayed and killed by his friend Allarun, but while Allarun has ruled with terrible power ever since, he is haunted by Lachlan’s promise to one day return and wreak vengeance on the betrayer, and he has set out to destroy Lachlan’s people in order to thwart the prophecy.
Enter Romarin, last in a line of Kings, thought to be the reincarnation of the Lachlan, and with his own mysterious skeletons in the closet, and Shadowhelm, a half-blood mercenary, raised by Northmen and, when we meet him at least, just minutes from the hangmans noose. Of course Shadowhelm is much more than he seems to be and eventually is found to be the King’s half-brother and as likely to be the Lachlan himself as Romarin. The story unfolds as Shadowhelm uncovers more of his past and, in doing so, discovers powers in himself that he never knew he had and between him and Romarin they set out to defeat Allarun and unite the people.
Prophecy Of Swords is filled with believable characters inhabiting a beautifully realised world, the action is nicely realised and the easy dialogue crackles with some unique touches. The story, filled with politics and intrigue, is well paced, never flagging or feeling forced, and while the ending is never really in doubt, the story keeps you fully involved as it unfolds.
I await the prequels and sequels with great anticipation.
Prophecy of Swords is available now from Yard Dog Press for $16.00 + shipping.
Maggies own web site is http://www.shadowhelm.net
Remarkably, if you like audiobooks, the whole thing is available as a free download from Podio Books but I would urge you to donate a few dollars to Maggie for writing a great story.