The Covenant Rising: Book One of The Dreamtime (The Dreamtime Series, 1)

If you like conflicts with swords, magic, and political intrigue, this is a book worth reading. Stan Nicholls creates a believable world of engaging characters whose desires weave a nice complex plot. Among the storylines, Reeth Caldason is the main character, a swordsman who is near eternal but with a terrible price of a berserker rage he can not predict nor control. He suffers from a magical malady or curse, which he searches for a cure. Nicholls does a good job of keeping track of the different storylines, but it may be to many for some readers who want more "page" time with Reeth and a few others. The philosophical debates over the value of magic seemed overdone, like arguments between advocates for and against gun control. The action scenes, especially the battles, cast a vivid vision that makes Nicholls a promising fantasy author. The late David Gemmell wrote a blurb for this book and that was good enough for me to pick it up. Nicholls is no Gemmell, except for the battle scenes. That's good as he establishes his space in the world of Fantasy. The use of modern references did not distract me as it appears seamless and fitting for this series' world. The ending sets up the next book in the series with no real closure of the first. BUT, I found the end satisfying enough that I want to read the next book in the series. With so many series vying for attention, Nicholls' work is well worth reading.

Bhealfa is a caste society in which magic defines status. Authorities use spells to keep the masses in line and watch everyone through all-seeing scythe bowls. While the eccentric Prince Melyobar and his retinue sail in his movable dwelling to avoid Death, the Gath Tampoor Empire uses the Bhealfa citizenry as it has for twenty years as sword and sorcery fodder in its war with the Rintarah Empire, the previous conquerors and wasters of Bhealfa populace. Reeth Caldason seeks magical relief from the curse he suffers from that turns him into a blood raging mass killer if not chained, but learns the wizard he seeks is dead. The wizard's apprentice Kutch Pirathon mentions the Covenant, which gives the beleaguered Reeth a sliver of hope. Another visitor Dulian Karr, paying respect to the deceased, wants to liberate Bhealfa from the two empires that rotate subjugation; he suggests that Kutch and Reeth team up as they seek the same requirement, a master mage. The epic adventure for freedom has begun. In many ways THE COVENANT RISING is a typical epic fantasy, but is also much more. The story line contains the usual sword and sorcery elements throughout, but Stan Nicholls blends them into an intriguing societal arrangement sort of like India's caste society within a magically based Orwellian 1984. Reeth and Kutch are terrific protagonists with neither trusting the other though needing one another if they are to gain their wish. The freeing of incarcerated female military captain Serrah Ardacris, whose imprisonment adds to the feel of a real society, increases the unease of the "alliance" between this dynamic dual. Thought provoking, Mr. Nicholls furbishes a terrific opening tale in his Dreamtime trilogy. Harriet Klausner