The Briar King

The Briar King by Greg Keyes is the first book of the fantasy series Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone.  The plot elements are the usual fantasy fare:  the Briar King, a legend from children's tales and folklore, is waking from his slumber and threatening the kingdom (and ultimately the entire world).  The host of characters includes but is not limited to a headstrong princess, a quiet but courageous woodsman, and a dedicated priest.

If I had to sum up this book quickly, I would say "good but not great".  The story reminds me of a host of other books:  Game of Thrones, Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series, and Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books.  A fantasy story with a multi-perspective narrative combined with the end times has been done by many authors, and it really needs to be extraordinary if it's going to stand out.  

While Keyes does a great job with world building, there is no rhythm to the flow of the narrative.  Sometimes you may hear from one character for a single chapter and never get their perspective again.  It jumps around too much.  A major new character is even introduced in the last third of the novel--but by then I didn't really care, I just wanted to hear from the few well-established characters.  

I enjoyed this book enough that I plan to eventually pick up the second one in the series.  But I'm not in any rush. 

3.5 stars