Book Review ~ Darien ~ C.F.Iggulden ~ Fantasy Fiction

 

TITLE - Darien - Empire of Salt

AUTHOR - C. F. Iggulden

BOOK SERIES - Empire of Salt - Book 1

BUY LINK - Click here

SYNOPSIS -
The city of Darien lies at the heart of a dying empire.

Twelve families race for a throne soon to be made vacant - by murder or civil war. Into this fevered, hungry city come six strangers:

An orphan and an old swordsman.

A hunter and a pitiless killer.

A young thief and a cynical chancer.

As the sun sinks the city will know no slumber. For long dormant passions have awoken. Fortunes will be won and lost. Lives will be staked and claimed.

And a story long waiting to be told will catch fire in the telling . . .

Darien is the first book in the Empire of Salt, THE epic fantasy series of spellbinding imagination.

My Husband has, for a long time, raved about Conn Iggulden's historical fiction novels. This is a move for the Author under the pseudonymn C. F. Iggulden, into the fantasy world. 

I thought I would give it a try as I'd been told he has a good way of writing stories. Well for those who normally enjoy fantasy novels, I don't think you'll be disappointed. The City of Darien is a city full of magic, intrigue, and much more. It reminded me some, of the TV show Merlin with it's peasants, it's Royal Family and it's magical intrigue. As with Merlin, there are disputes, assassination attempts on the King, and dark characters. I would describe it as a well packed book, with a lot going on. 

The main characters are well written and a picture of them formed in my mind, so I found it easy to follow them, however the story not so much. I think because it is a busy story line, I found myself having to go back a few pages and re-read them as I got confused. I am not normally a fantasy book reader so this may be normal, but it slightly puts me off reading it. I did persevere though. 

In summary, an action packed book, with some well rounded, although not all totally likeable characters.  Not particularly my personal cup of tea, but If you love fantasy novels I'm sure this will be a series you would enjoy as it's well written.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Publishes under author name Conn Iggulden and C.F.Iggulden.

I was born in the normal way in 1971, and vaguely remember half-pennies and sixpences. I have written for as long as I can remember: poetry, short stories and novels. It’s what I always wanted to do and read English at London University with writing in mind. I taught English for seven years and was Head of English at St. Gregory’s RC High School in London by the end of that period. I have enormous respect for those who still labour at the chalk-face. In truth, I can’t find it in me to miss the grind of paperwork and initiatives. I do miss the camaraderie of the smokers’ room, as well as the lessons where their faces lit up as they understood what I was wittering on about.

My mother is Irish and from an early age she told me history as an exciting series of stories – with dates. My great-grandfather was a Seannachie, so I suppose story-telling is in the genes somewhere. My father flew in Bomber Command in WWII, then taught maths and science. Perhaps crucially, he also loved poetry and cracking good tales. Though it seems a dated idea now, I began teaching when boys were told only girls were good at English, despite the great names that must spring to mind after that statement. My father loved working with wood and equations, but he also recited ‘Vitai Lampada’ with a gleam in his eye and that matters, frankly.

I’ve always loved historical fiction as a genre and cut my teeth on Hornblower and Tai-Pan, Flashman, Sharpe and Jack Aubrey. I still remember the sheer joy of reading my first Patrick O’Brian book and discovering there were nineteen more in the series. I love just about anything by David Gemmell, or Peter F. Hamilton or Wilbur Smith. I suppose the one thing that links all those is the love of a good tale.

That’s about it for the moment. If you’d like to get in touch with me leave a comment in the forum or you can tweet me @Conn_Iggulden. I’ll leave it there for the moment. If you’ve read my books, you know an awful lot about the way I think already. There’s no point overdoing it.

Conn Iggulden