The Chronicles of King Rolens Kin Book 1

The Kings B*st*rd

The Chronicles of King Rolens Kin Book 1

Written by Rowena Cory Daniells, Published by Solaris

Welcome to the 1st book of the Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin. The first book in the series it follows the trials and tribulations of the titular kin of King Rolen in a world that, whilst enjoying the 30th year of peace and prosperity, still bears the scars from a vicious war and uprising.

The world is an interesting one, with a few novel tweaks that stand it apart from the mainstream fantasy. The primary one is Affinity, the worlds magic system which crops up in seeps in the land, risking the corruption of local people and attracting mythical affinity beasts. People touched by affinity are separated from society for fear of corruption, a fear with a particular hold over the king after the grisly death of his father and brother in the last war. Male’s with affinity are sent to the Abbey of Halycion, the god of Summer and life. Women, meanwhile, are sent to the goddess Sylion’s Abbey, the goddess of winter and death. The abbeys teach them to use the affinity and prevent corruption, both by raw seeps and dark users, including seers.Rather then being banished or isolated, these people form the high society of the neighboring kingdom of Merofynia.

The geography of the world is also well described, with two kingdoms, Rolencia (Ruled by king Rolen) and Merofynia being set on the same continent connected only by the snow bridge, a mountain chain accessible only by a handful of passes held by independent city states. Surrounding each kingdom are the spars, headlands held in the kings name by various warlords and each names after a affinity beast which forms their emblem and mythology. To the east of the mainland are the Ostron Isles, a decadent trading society, and the Utland Isles, home to vicious pirates and raiders. The two kingdoms have warred in the past as mentioned at the start with the two methods of invasion being across the Ice Bridge if the city states let you or by a maritime landing on one of the Spars . This makes keeping the Spar Warlords loyalty a priority, as a traitor could allow the other kingdom to invade the homeland.

The books primarily follow Byren Kingson, second in line to the throne by seven minutes after his brother, Lence Kingsheir. At the set out, a hunting accident leaves his closest friend blinded and them both trapped in the snow, with Ulfr’s (clever wolves, bit like Warg’s) on their trail. In desperation Byren turns to a rogue power worker (as the affinity touched without Abbey training are called) who both saves his friend Orrade from death and predicts that he will kill his brother before vanishing into the snows. When his Orrade regains consciousness, thinking they are about to die, he reveals to Byren that he has always loved him and delivers to Byren a trinket representing the mythical Bowman Palos who had also foresworn woman in the deep paths. However, a group named the service of Palos were also the key players in the uprising against the King and his family and it is for this they are remembered by the current generation. So, when Orrade’s father accidently discovers the trinket on Byren and finds where it comes from, he banishes his son from the family and bars Byren from Dovecote, the family home on the borderlands between Merofynia and Rolencia.

This leads Byren back to his father court, where he discovers that his cousin, the son of the titular kings bastard has returned to Rolencia from the Ostron Isles, asking for help against Utland bandits that had killed is bride and father. This sets in motion a chain of events that gradually drive Byren apart from his brother, despite his best effort to maintain a link between them.

The other major characters in the book are Byren’s younger sister Piro and his brother, Fyn.

Fyn, touched by the Affinity, has been sent to Halcyion ‘s abbey to elarn to control it, however their he encounters intrigue and threat amongst the fighting monks of the order as various factions vie for control of the abbey.

Piro, meanwhile, doesn’t want to grow up and marry like many girls her age in the kingdom should and is constantly being put into situations where she has to take lessons in courtliness against her will. On top of this, she struggle to keep her own Affinity hidden from her parents, as she has no wish to be sent away from the only home she has known.

Overall, the story is a good read, with multiple levels of intrigue and plotting rolling at any one time and some seemingly innocuous events having some surprising consequences ,making the books an interesting read just to see what happens next. The world is also well designed and realized for the authors books, and whilst the start is slightly slow, the story rapidly builds pace and depth, making a solid read which I can recommend for anyone to whom the above description and introduction sounds interesting.

I am sorry to say that I couldn’t quite bring myself to love the book though. Respect it, yes, as the plots were cunning and the world fascinating. However, the characters inner reflection and sorrow at the events sometimes got in the way of the plot, slowing it and making it read like it was trying to hard to be miserable. The only other slight flaw is the ending, which finishes spectacularly for Byren, but leaves the Kingdom and Byren’s sibling hanging to a degree.
However, for a first book it’s a good read, and I will look forward to the next book to see how the tale unfolds.

Regards for now,
Kerl

Snippets:

If I was to REALLY be myself (I.e. a transport geek) I would comment on the interesting use of a canal system as the backbone of the nation… admittedly, in the book the characters spend more time using it as a skating rink then a mode of commerce BUT…

Listening to: 39' by Queen as I'm reading the (rather good) Tau Zero by Poul Anderson and the song just kinda fits.