Gilded Chain

First and foremost, Dave Duncan is an incredibly imaginative and detailed masterful storyteller within the genre of fantasy fiction for adult readers! A few weeks ago I was searching for something different to take with me on a business trip outside the country where I knew I would have lots of time on my hands and happened to see his latest paperback out of the corner of my eye and read the back cover for it which brought me to his first book in the "Tales of the King's Blades" series. Needless to say, but I will, discovering this outstanding author's work was a serious boon for me as I discovered his work to be absolutely superior!Upon starting "The Gilded Chain," one quickly discovers that Dave Duncan is truly a masterful storyteller in that his pacing is breakneck in speed; incredible in plot setup and execution; incredibly well detailed as he not only tells a story but sets the reader up within his newly created world of Chivial where "conjurations" are common and there is an overall exceptionally rich history to his story! My only regret in beginning to read his novels is that I hadn't discovered his work earlier.The cover art for "The Gilded Chain" is perfectly well suited to the story and does what it is intended to do, draw a reader to the novel.The Premise:Welcome to Dave Duncan's world of Chivial where conjurations are commonplace and the King, Ambrose the IV has at his disposal Ironhall where his personal guards are known as Blades. From an early age, young men who have nowhere else to go, if they show some promise, are admitted to the school and given the best training in the world in the practice and art of being swordsmen!As they progress in age and years at the school they either handle the training or leave at their own will. Upon becoming the most senior of the students, Prime and Second as it is known, they come close to what they've been working towards for so long. When the time comes for the King to issue a warrant for a new Blade for either his own service or for a courtier he wishes or believes has need of a personal body guard the ward is sent to Ironhall with the warrant!As the ritual goes, the ward takes the prospective Blade's newly crafted sword and through conjuration, runs it through the Blade's heart, providing the conjuration is a good one and both the Blade and the Ward's intention are good, the Blade will live and his binding to his ward is complete! As long as that Blade lives, his pure purpose in life is to guard his ward's life with his own...In comes the story of "The Gilded Chain" and Sir Durendal, one of the most promising Blade's to come out of Ironhall in years and one who has taken the name of Durendal as the first Durendal was an absolute hero in the Litany of Heroes at Ironhall.What follows from his "first" binding is one of the most incredible and wonderful well told fantasy stories this reader has ever had the privilege to read as the author takes us through the life of Sir Durendal or Lord R

This book is certainly one of the most amazing that I have ever read. Don't be fooled by the "blurb" on the back, this is not a fluffy cheap romance, though it somewhat looks like one, I'll admit. Durrendal has got to be one of the greatest swordsmen ever written into a book, (Sorry Inigo Montoya) and this book deals with the era in which he was in his prime. There are three books in this series by Dave Duncan, and many have called it a trilogy (and indeed, it is.) BUT. There is no specific order in which you must read them. Each is a stand alone novel. Take the advice of someone who's read them over and over read them in this order:1) The Gilded Chain2) Lord of the Firelands3) Sky of Swords.The Gilded Chain and Lord of the Firelands have two VERY different endings, both dealing with the death of a character (in two different ways) There are many discrepancies between the two. However, all of this confusion is resolved in Sky of Swords. This is a wonderful book that you'll want to come back to again and again. Try it out. You won't be dissapointed.

This is a fun book. It's not heavy in the same way that Tolkien or George R.R. Martin's latest series is, but neither is it silly like so much of the Dungeons & Dragons-inspired fantasy novels floating around (many of them published by the same company who publishes Dungeons & Dragons...).Rather like Martin fictionalizes the Wars of the Roses for his Song of Ice and Fire series, Duncan in this book takes early 16th-century England and its two most famous citizens (now)--Henry VIII and Sir Thomas More--and *shifts* everything just a little. Henry VIII becomes Ambrose IV, initially the great humanist hope but eventually the despot of despots; More becomes Durendal, dedicated to his king and willing to defy him to save him; and Henry's break from Catholicism... well, you'll see.This isn't just history with the names changed, however. Duncan has taken a historical world and characters, dropped his own fictional personalities and story on them, and created a fantasy world that feels realistically familiar.Buy this book, free a Saturday, put on some tea, and enjoy. And you'll need that whole free day, too, because once you get into this book you'll not be putting it down unless your house is on fire.

Duncan's style of writing is something that's new to me. His characters have style, expression, and seem to come alive in a different way than the characters in the book I have read before. The descriptive swordsplay is breathtaking, and the action is enough to keep the reader on their edges of their seats.The Gilded Chain is more of an action packed biography rather than just a novel, which is probably what makes it different from other novels. The storyline follows the main character very closely, from the time when he was a boy to old age. Duncan's style of "accelerated" writing, where the space between paragraphs can be anything from three minutes to two years means that he is always searching for something new to keep the audience interested, a mean feat which is fulfilled quite fully by perhaps a broad imagination which he possesses.Unlike some of the other authors I have read, Duncan perhaps shares some similarities to Melanie Rawn, in that the most precious characters in the story, ones that the reader thinks will develop, usually meet a tragic end. In this way, the story is more life-like in that tragic circumstances like this will happen in real life.The work of a truly great author, I look forward to reading sky of Swords and other books by Duncan.

Keep in mind that this book is the first part of a series. One of the most intriquingly crafted series I've ever heard of. Each individual book (the Tales of the King's Blades series) tell of the lives of the certain characters, and tells of certain common events from those particular character's points of view. Each book tells the story of a different character (Gilded Chain - Durendal; Lord of the Fire Lands - Radgar Aelayding; Sky of Swords - Princess Malinda), and each book can be read and understood individually. But in order to truly appreciate the thought put into these novels, and the masterful authoring involved, it is very important to read the entire series.This book is a good place to start. Duncan is one of those rarest of authors who forces you to read not only the words he has put on the page, but the words he hasn't. As most of his books, this is a superb example of how to write high fantasy. Duncan creates a world that COULD have been 12th century England, the mysticism and spirituality are well thought out and logical, the action is harsh and intense, and the plotlines and stories are believable. He holds no punches, and his realism and honesty are oftentimes brutal. Read this book. But don't wait too long to read the next.