Duncan Lay

I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately I didn’t. It had some qualities that I enjoyed: excellent action sequences, and a fallible hero, Fallon, who is also a family man. I did enjoy the character development of Fallon's wife, Bridgit, she begins to conquer her personal demons and emerges at the end of the series a stronger person and more likeable character. However, I found it to be a plot with few surprises.

The problem for me was the combination of the stories in one volume. (It is my understanding that this story was originally serialised in five parts.) There is a need when writing a story which spans several volumes, with a substantial gap of time between each, to remind readers of certain aspects of the story or what has gone before. When combined in one volume this became very repetitive and disengaged me as a reader. For example, the reader is often reminded of the marital problems between the hero and his wife and her depression and neurosis – this repetition was, in my opinion, unnecessary and added little to the story. The scenes that did this seemed almost carbon copies of each other.

Perhaps this would not have been a problem if reading these parts as they were originally published, with a time gap, between each.

In terms of pacing I found the first 300 pages (on my ereader) on the slow side with an enormous amount of set up and little action. After this the pacing improves greatly and the book is a much more enjoyable read.

I think the book could have benefited from a more judicious edit, particularly when combined. (Of course then it wouldn't be the complete edition.)

Three Stars… (més)

This is the first book of a fantasy trilogy that takes place in the lands of Gaelland (loosely, Ireland), and the Kotterman Empire (loosely, the Ottoman Empire). It begins in Gaelland in the sea town of Baltimore. [In real life there is a village named Baltimore in County Cork, Ireland, that was sacked in the 17th Century by Islamic pirates, with more than 100 villagers taken and sold into slavery. Apparently this incident was one of the inspirations for Lay’s story.]

As this story begins, villagers are disappearing, and the crown is blaming selkies (evil water spirits) and witches. To prevent further depredations, young girls are being burned at the stake, and the villagers are being pressed for more gold to appease “the selkies.” Fallon, the local sheriff of Baltimore, doesn’t believe in supernatural agents, and hopes to prove that it is men behind the attacks. His wife Bridgit, ever protective of Fallon and their ten-year-old son Kerrin, wants him to stay out of it, but he can’t. Not only is it his job to defend his villagers, but he has ambitions to be recognized and promoted.

But what is going wrong is clearly bigger than selkies or even random witches, and reaches right up to the top of the kingdom, where King Aidan, corrupt and licentious, rules with an iron hand, and his two sons, the naive and quixotic Cavan and the malevolent Swane are forced to do his bidding. Fallon thinks the answer lies with supporting Cavan, and ignores warnings that he is mixing into something much too evil and powerful for ordinary human beings to resist.

Discussion: This is a good plot with plenty of tension and some good characters, especially Fallon and Bridgit. But some of the writing is pretty bad, such as the dialogue uttered by Aidan (viz., “Silence! I am the King and I am always right!”) and there is a lot of repetition that could have been eliminated by better editing. Oddly, both Fallon and Cavan grow more naive as the story progresses, and the prose seems to be trying to accommodate their lack of intelligence; by the end, the narrative and speeches by Aidan were all but hitting everyone on the head with what was really going on; only Fallon and Cavan were oblivious. I think rewriting would have served this section better as well.

Nevertheless, the story is compelling, and I would like to find out what happens in the next installment.… (més)

Fallon and Bridgit are reunited and they and their friends are now trying to save Gaelland but the odds seem to be completely stacked against them. Swane is free and plotting to take back the throne with the aid of the nobles and, of course, Zorva; Duchess Dina is at his side manipulating events; Prince Kemal is still imprisoned while his wife seeks aid from his father, the Emperor to free him but Kemal’s ambitious younger brother is determined to prevent it at any cost; thanks to rationing and rumours spread by Dina’s minions, Gaelland’s population is fast losing faith in Fallon and seems on the edge of revolt; and the stress of trying to unite this fractured country is causing Fallon and his friends to make some dangerous mistakes. Bridgit is the only one who seems to have a clear vision of what needs to be done but can she convince her husband before it is too late?

The Poisoned Quarrel: The Arbalester Trilogy 3 (Complete Edition) is the final book in author Duncan Lay’s epic fantasy series and all I can say is Wow, this is one wild ride. It is almost non-stop intrigue, betrayal, action, and violence with just a touch of magic and a fair share of hope, friendship (albeit somewhat subdued compared to the first two books), and familial love (again, albeit tested by events). There were, admittedly, some draggy bits in the middle but that was okay because they helped set the story up and, frankly, allowed some much needed breathing space so the reader can be prepared for the final battle which is, indeed, epic. Definitely a fitting end to a very fine fantasy series.

Thanks to Netgalley and Momentum Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review… (més)

The Bloody Quarrel by Duncan Lay is the second book in the Alabaster Trilogy, following on from The Last Quarrel which I read and reviewed last year. The first line of the blurb is a major spoiler for book 1, and my review will also contain other spoilers for the first book. A lot of significant things happened in the latter part of book 1, so if you want to be surprised and unspoiled, don't read this review. Really. Leave now.

Somewhat unusually for my recent reading habits, I took a long time to read this book. (Goodreads tells me it was just under seven weeks, wow.) This is mainly because of other things going on in my life at the time, and also because, well, the book is kinda long. I didn't put it down because I was bored or annoyed at it, more because I needed something else — mostly something happier — in my life at the time. The Poisoned Quarrel is not a cheerful book, by and large. That's not to say that nothing good happens, but the overwhelming theme of the story is betrayal.

I'm sure I've said before that one of the themes Lay tackles well and consistently in his book is father-child relationships. This was true in the first book of this trilogy as well, but seems to be a bit less prominent in the second book. Fallon still has a relationship with his son who is around for a lot of the book, but that relationship is a bit less central that it was in the previous book. Mostly, I'd say, because the father and son settled into a rhythm and roles that weren't overly disrupted by the plot. I suspect there will be some more disruptions in book three.

The Poisoned Quarrel was also fairly gory, not that that's new for Lay. But right from where it picked up after the cliffhanger at the end of book one, there was a lot of opportunity for violence and descriptions of said violence. It was all relevant to the plot but if you don't want to read about people's head's being caved in (to give a mild example), well, you've been warned. (Minimal sexual violence, though.)

I especially enjoyed watching Bridgit develop as a person while enslaved by the Kottermanis. Since the characters around Fallon were mostly male, with only a few relevant exceptions, it was nice to have the second storyline following a set of characters that were mostly female. That they kicked arse was also a bonus.

I am definitely going to read the last book in this trilogy (The Poisoned Quarrel, already out), but after a short break from epic fantasy. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who's read the first book. And how could you not want to read it after the cliffhanger book 1 left us on? On the other hand, if you hate cliffhangers, this didn't actually have one (I'm as shocked as you are). Most plot elements are left unresolved, but no one is in the middle of being shot of hearing a deeply significant reveal, to pick two examples at random. If you haven't read any Duncan Lay before, then a) I recommend his books if you like epic fantasy, father-child relationships and apparently grimdark (although I wouldn't've called his other books that) and b) definitely start with book one.

4 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.… (més)