The Warrior's Tale

Originally published in 1994, The Far Kingdoms was Cole and Bunch's fantasy project after their sprawling (over one million words) Sten series. While it never really gained the profile that Sten did, The Far Kingdoms was a highly unique fantasy series. Magic, sword fighting, far off kingdoms. And not an elf, dwarf or orc in sight. The sequel to The Far Kingdoms, The Warrior's Tale is the story of Captain Rali Emilie Antero and her merry band of women warriors, chasing the Archon, a sorcerer bent on destroying their city and ruling the world (aren't they always trying to do that? Must be something in the water at sorcerer school.) The story sometimes feels like a take on the Odyssey, albeit with a lesbian crew to the Argo. Being that its been more than 10 years since this series was in print, this new release makes it easier to pick up.

"The Warrior's Tale" is one of those extremely rare sequels that outdoes the original. For longtime fantasy fans, it's a real breath of fresh air. The narrator and main character, Rali Anterro of the Maranon Guard, is a lot more likeable than Amalric from "The Far Kingdoms", since she has a real personality and some actually feelings, as well as more interesting relationships with other people. Perhaps more importantly, the plot has some real unpredictability to it, with the heroes facing a number of different villains and dangerous situations, and sometimes having to use more than just random luck to survive. Also, the authors include at least a little bit of humor, something that was sorely absent in "The Far Kingdoms", and in general they simply manage to give the story more life this time around.

This book tells the tale of Rali, captain of the Maranonon (or something like that) guards, who is sent on a mission to wipe out an evil wizard. On the way, she and her soldiers (all female) have a series of pretty entertaining adventures. Rali is a pretty solid character, and the action is pretty much nonstop. Nothing brilliant about this book, but I would say it's probably above average fantasy stuff, which kept me reading till the end. It starts off with a war and keeps going. Lots of demons, gore soaked swords, nubile maidens, and pyrotechnic wizardry. As a warning I might point out, it has a good deal of same-sex relationships going on, which some readers might find distracting (and some might find titillating). All in all, it ain't highbrow lit-ra-ture, but it's fun to read.

I rate this book with 5 stars in the category of adventure. This tale is filled with magic, aventure, sword fighting and all that good stuff. It's your basic book on good vs. evil. The city Orissa is in grave danger... the Archon has evil powers that could destroy the whole city! So one of Orissa's guard is sent to follow the Archon and to kill him. Oh and did I happen to mention that this guard is made up of all women? That's right! Who else goes on the quest? Well there is an old powerful wizard who decides to go and some pirates who are more after the gold and loot than destroying evil.Much do they know that there is more than the Archon and his evil that they will have to face. They travel in boats and see more of the world than anyone in Orissa. They face betrayal, evil, depression, lack of food, and at the end there is a twist.Romily is their only hope... their last hope. She will have to face things that go beyond all... the death of her beloved friends, she has no support except her Guard; her family does not accept her for who she is and.... she will have to forge into the magic she's always refused and denied in order to save herself and her companions.