Zoolin Vale and the Chalice of Ringtar – Craig Smith

Zoolin Vale and the Chalice of Ringtar
By: Craig Smith
Pub: Stonegarden.net Publishing



Zoolin Vale and the Chalice of Ringtar – Craig Smith

Zoolin Vale and the Chalice of Ringtar
By: Craig Smith
Pub: Stonegarden.net Publishing

Zoolin Vale is the second book in a series which begun with “The Red Stone” (which I haven’t read which left me jumping in at the deep end, as it were).

The book follows two separate stories, alternating between each narrative thread with each chapter change.

The first story follows the newly appointed Lord Protector Tennen on his quest to retrieve the Chalice of Ringtar from a thief and his mysterious partner. Joined by a company of men lead by Captain Norton, the wizard Rimotar, the troll Ogg, Berrinn the dragon, and Friar John, Tennen leads the chase. The thief’s ally is far more powerful than anticipated however and stays one step ahead of the group for much of the book.

The second thread follows Tennen’s friends Devlin, Myke and Tyvn as they search for Devlin’s parents who they believe to have been sold into slavery during the turmoil of a recent war and political upheaval within Devlin’s native country (covered in the first book from what I can gather). The trio find assistance in the form of Hugen, an imp, but are foiled in their task by the appearance of a former adversary of Devlin’s who manipulates the group to his own ends.

Before I get into the review proper firstly a quick diversion onto the subject of eBooks. I’ve yet to decide if I like the idea of them or not, and to be honest still prefer a proper physical book. That aside reading the book on my iTouch with Stanza was a good experience and proved far more portable than a hard copy would have been. One small issue was the formatting, which I did using Calibre, which left the occasional title or authors name inserted into the text (due to changes in page/font size vs the original layout). EBooks are certainly here to stay, and it’s going to be interesting to see how the industry uses and reacts to them. Hopefully everyone will cope better and be slightly more forward thinking than the music industry and it’s half arsed approach to digital media.

I’m afraid to say I didn’t enjoy the book. I’ll put my reasoning below and give as fair and balanced opinion as possible.

Firstly you’ll notice in the summary a lack of any character called Zoolin Vale. Now I realise I’m guilty of making an assumption but I expected Zoolin Vale to be a main character. Maybe it’s too much conditioning from J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the...”. To prevent anyone else making the same mistake Zoolin Vale is in fact a place, and becomes a key location within the second story arc. Which leads us nicely onto point two.

The two interweaving arcs are almost totally separate stories and feel that they should have been written as such. This would have allowed much more space for both stories to develop more fully and prevented the nagging feeling that the two plots should in fact be converging. As with the title this may be a case of my own assumptions and expectations at work.

The two plots are both serviceable but both have problems. One key fact that remains unexplained is the importance and powers of the Chalice of Ringtar. At one point Tennen realises he is not aware what the Chalice even looks like. Neither story line reaches a satisfying conclusion, and the continuation of the book past this point feels strange, as does the sudden ending. Plot devices used during the pursuit of the Chalice seem to implemented late to deliberately stretch out the story, particularly the use of Berrinn the Dragon as a tracker.

The characterisation suffers due to the length of the book, as only Tennen is really given space to develop. Given both plot threads revolve around the pursuit of things significant to the characters there is at times a lack of urgency as they become sidetracked for very little reason, leaving both Tennen and Devlin feeling passive and swept along by events rather than being proactive heros. The antagonists in the book feel very thin, in part because of their appearance only towards the end of each story line. The mastermind behind the theft of the Chalice seems particularly flat as there is no explanation of the grand scheme behind the robbery.

There are a considerable number of fight scenes, but these lack weight and visceral punch at times. Two battles near the start of the book also felt strangely enacted with trained soldiers being caught in what was presented as a highly visible ambush.

Overall the book seems rushed and there is a feeling of potential squandered.