Title: |
The Warden |
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Author: |
Daniel M. Ford |
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Category: |
Science Fiction |
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Rating: |
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Date Reviewed: |
June 10, 2023 |
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he protagonist of The Warden is Aelis de Lenti un Tirraval, which means that she is the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the kingdom, the Count of Tirraval. Aelis is a recent graduate from the Magister's Lyceum, a sorcerers academy which trains people in the various schools of magic. Aelis is truly exceptional - she has graduated from three different colleges, and thus is a certified Abjurer, an Enchanter, and a Necromancer. With such an impressive skill level and important connections, Aelis imagined that she would be posted to one of the major cities or noble courts. Instead, Aelis is assigned to be the Warden at the frontier town of Lone Pine. Lone Pine is about as distant as possible from the heart of the kingdom - it is near the border of Old Ystain, where humans and orcs fought for control in a war that end just ten years earlier. Lone Pine is a town of herders, farmers, and soldiers who survived the Orc War and now just want to reside in peaceful monotony in a backwater village. |
Naturally, Aelis bristles at this assignment. The illiterate villagers of Lone Pine fear a necromancer in their midst, even though they need a Warden. The villagers tell Aelis that she can live in the abode of the previous Warden - a decrepit tower with rotting door, and crumbling walls. The tower's second floor is so precarious that Aelis doesn't even attempt to climb the rickety stairs. Aelis grumpily settles into her new post, trying to become the Warden that her assignment requires. She wanders around the community looking for ways to help, trying to win the hearts and minds of the distrustful sheep-herders, but ranching is not her forte. And then trouble rolls into town: a huge wagon captained by a dwarf pulls into Lone Pine. It seems that the dwarf and his team made a lucky strike when adventuring out in the ruins of Old Ystain - they found a chest of gold coins! Aelis is troubled by these coins - they look freshly struck, not like something that has been moldering in a forgotten ruin for decades. And the color of the gold seems somehow the wrong hue. But the team of explorers spend their new found wealth freely, and the citizens of Lone Pine benefit - for a time...
Aelis is actually kind of jerk. She is arrogant, rude and overconfident. Which I guess makes her seem human? Yet her heart is in the right place - Aelis always tries to be a good Warden; she is trying to protect the people of Lone Pine from all sorts of threats. It just that Aelis is lacking in people skills. I found that I didn't mind her abrasive personality because I was keen to find what would happen next in the story. The characters who surround Aelis are more likable, such as the ex-soldiers who run the Lone Pine Inn, or Tun, the half-orc tracker.
The magic system reminded me of The Dying Earth spell-casters (which heavily influenced the Dungeons and Dragons magic system. Aelis keeps calling up high level spells and barely escaping precarious predicaments. Fortunately, being schooled in three magic systems gives her a wide variety of useful spells. Aelis carries a sword of the abjurer, an enchanter's wand, and the incredibly sharp knife of the necromancer. At times, it was hard to believe that Aelis was a recent graduate of the Lyceum, given her skill and power of conjuring. Also, Aelis seems to recover remarkably quick. But the pace of the novel never flags, so it is entertaining.
Danel M. Ford is an author that is new to me, I picked up this book from the library "New and Interesting" shelf. I see Ford has written a previous trilogy, perhaps I should look into that. The Warden ends with Aelis facing new peril, there is clearly more to the story. Hopefully book #2 is released soon.
