William Kooiker's Tower of Ruin tells the story of a small group of mercenaries sent to investigate the frontier town of Oester. Many refugees have appeared in neighboring towns unable to speak of the horrors that caused them to flee, but when one family arrives in Calas, the King's capital city, the mercenaries decide to take action. By petitioning the king for permission to discover what happened the mercenaries set out to uncover an evil festering in Oester.

The story follows six heroes as they seek answers to the questions the refugees refuse to answer. Cadwan, the acknowledged leader and most capable warrior of the troupe, guides his companions Kyligan, the reticent ranger, Dorin, a warrior-priest, Alazar, the group's mysterious mage, and Cora, a jovial rogue halfling. As part of the deal to investigate Prince Calien, the heir to the throne of Calas, joins the mercenaries in order to seek adventure and learn more of the lands he is hold kingship over.

Overall, the story is well written and fluid. The storyline and plot are solid and enjoyable, the setting is rather vivid bringing to life the World of Whitethorn without inundating the reader with the minutiae of this new world. Descriptions of the scenes and the overall pace was well maintained, keeping the reader involved and interested in this story. The characters were believable and underwent considerable growth throughout the story. Prince Calien was notable in the details of his experience coming from the sheltered life of a prince to the capable member of the adventuring party.

The dialogue was the hard to get used to though. Written in a high, proper fantasy speak - none of the characters would be caught dead saying `don't' or `I'd' instead of `do not' or `I would' - it took a little effort to actually accept this and continue with the story. The prince and maybe the wizard could've gotten away with such a voice but in all the characters the dialogue was a little strained. There were a couple moments in the book where the characters revealed thoughts in dialogue that was difficult to believe they would actually reveal such private moments.

This book was a good read once the dialogue issue was accepted, and it certainly kept the interest throughout the entire book. Scenes where not much going on still maintained a level of involvement that kept the reader turning the page for more. The backstory engaged the reader as well, uncovering the truth of the situation throughout the entire book as the mercenaries uncovered bits of lore that the reader was somewhat privy to at the beginning.

I recommend this book as an easy read for a weekend escape. A very solid first novel by this attentive author.

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Created May 15, 2007 at 12:42am • Submit your own review...