Author: NS Dolkart
Publisher:
You know that little voice in the back of you head when you
start a highly touted debut novel, "can this live up to the hype"?
Well, in the case of N.S. Dolkart's Silent Hall, the answer is an enthusiastic
yes! This is an original fantasy, with elements of coming of age, epic fantasy
quest, and social commentary. In turns funny, action packed, tragic and thought
provoking, it is a character driven story that has you rooting for the main
characters, warts and all.
The five main characters are Hunter, a noble's brave,
selfless son trained as a warrior; Phaedra, a rich merchant's daughter who
lives for books; Bandu, a wild girl with fairie magic that was raised by a
wolf; Criton, a Dragon Touched (some draconic features, such as scales, magic
and fire breathing, as well as basic shape shifting) and Narky, a coward's son
who is running from his past.
After barely escaping from their homeland as the inhabitants
were cursed to death by an angry god, the five travelers find themselves on the
mainland, shunned for being from a cursed island and for their dark skin. Determining they cant afford to stay in the
port city they landed in, they head inland, determined to find a place in the
world. In a small village they come to, they discover the village is about to
be raided by "freedom fighters", and the party hears of a local
wizard from the villagers. Determining the village can't afford to be robbed
yet again, they convince them all to come with them to the wizard's castle for
shelter.
The castle is Silent hall, and is home to Psander, who appears to be
an old man. Bandu and criton see through the Glamour, though, and realize
Psander is a middle aged woman, hiding under an illusion. Silent Hall was
constructed to hide Psander from the eye of the gods, who years earlier had
roused their followers to destroy the wizards. Psander interviews each of the
party, and she agrees to help them attain their goals, in exchange for
performing services for her. These task include helping the "freedom
fighters" help slay a Sacred boor and bring the skin back, as well as
bring back some magical mineral and mushrooms from an old dragons lair. On
these quests, they meet suspicious villagers, travel to exotic locales, and are
almost killed by an invading army. The story takes months to progress, but the
author isn't one of those writers that fills pages with fluff. If a journey is
uneventful, he just says, a month later, they arrived at their destination. He
is very focused. The party decides to go start searching for some of their own
goals, but they decide to keep together to do it.
This has mixed results, as
they are captured by elves, and not the Tolkien kind, more like the Brothers
Grimm, the children are so tasty, kind. They escape in an action packed
sequence, rescuing a bunch of kids as well. As they are returning the kids to
their families, the fanatical High Priest of the City of Ardis, goes on the warpath, and crosses paths
with them. Since he slew all of Criton's kind, he sees it as his mission to
kill him and his companions too. The party determines they need to find and
bring back the dragons if they can, and with some clues left by a goddess, they
manage to cross the veil and find one. They figure out that to free him they
need something from the elves home, and some help from the gods. They find out
the last thing they need is the tears from someone cursed, which basically
means the king of their homeland, left alive all alone on the island with the
dead. This means a trip home for them. After a nerve racking trip, they
discover the King and convince him to come with them, with the wrath of the
vengeful god nipping their heels. When they return to Silent Hall, it is
surrounded by two armies, and they have to make their way in to save the day.
What follows is a mix of magic and steel, single combat and the return of
dragons to the world. The story leaves off there, with the party having won the
day, but a long fight for justice ahead of them.
The thing I really enjoyed most about this story was how
character driven it was. Yes, the book has magic and battles, but the author
really chose to focus on the characters, their differing personalities and the
way they interact together and grow as individual characters. He doesn't get
heavily into explaining every facet and detail of the magic, giving a quick
view as they are used, and leaving lots of room for future growth. I think my
favorite character was Narky. His character arc is probably the biggest,
because he keeps trying to fight his true nature, and only at the end is he
able to reconcile that he will never be selfless like Hunter, magical like
Criton, educated and cultured like Phaedra, or fearless like Bandu. He can just
be Narky, the guy who will help his friends, but is willing to do the job
dirty, as long as it gets done, as well as the guy who will scream "run
away" when theres danger as well.
As far as who will enjoy this book, I believe any fan of
epic fantasy, or anyone who just like a well written, focused character driven
story, will enjoy this book. If your big
into Anthony Ryan's Blood Song series, Michael Sullivan's Ryiria series, Tim
Marquitz's Blood War series, or Jeff Salyard's Bloodsounder's Arc series, then
this book should be a must read for you.
