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THE SAPPHIRE THRONE
The phrase “it ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it” was never more apt than when applied to fantasy. The ingredients of standard sword-and-sorcery tales seldom vary much so the book’s merit (or lack of it) arises from the way in which they are used. Warrington is certainly easy to read and easy to like: she packs a lot of adventures into quite a modest length of novel for a fantasy writer and her characters are well-delineated and lively, flawed but often endearing. So what makes it better than the average fantasy novel? Likeable many-faceted characters, detailed descriptions of places and people, a well-realised world to put it all in and a tortuous teasing plot. It managed not to sag in the middle or dazzle the reader with hundreds of characters and the tone wasn’t too twee or too bloody for a sympathetic read. For it’s all here: elves carrying off mortals to their shadowy realm for dodgy purposes, a young queen trying to hold her own in a war torn land, sinister demonic creatures waiting in the wings to take over and more. I particularly liked the description of the Isle of Vexor and the totally alien and incomprehensible Bhahdradomen visited by the hapless envoy Rufryd, a peasant who has come a long way from his own once-idyllic village. There are surprises galore in here and the whole thing left me eager for the final part of the trilogy. More please. |