Chronicles of the Raven
The dragon stormed in, its bark eclipsing all other sound. It was huge. Dear Gods, it could take them all.
He fought down his panic and tried to calm his horse, which bucked beneath him. Men were beginning to break from their formation. Arrows had started coming again from walls suddenly full of elven archers. Men were dying. His men.
'Hold!' he screamed. 'Hold! Mages FlameOrb. Hold!'
His horse reared and he was flung backwards from the saddle, crashing heavily into the ground. He fought himself groggily to his knees and saw, through the smoke from the gates, his mages bending their heads to cast.
A few lines from one of the six books about the Raven — I'm not even going to tell you which one, because it really doesn't matter; I chose them completely at random. Its point is to give you the flavor of the books. There's a lot of fighting, and I think Barclay does it well, with a lot of detail. I like the whole concept of fighting mages, which seem somehow more reminiscent of Dungeons & Dragons type roleplaying games, than most fantasy books. I think he does the whole hero thing brilliantly — these people (the Raven, who are a group of wildly successful mercenaries) are genuine heroes — he really gets across what it means to be a hero, and what it costs. And, here's the real kicker: people die. People we care about. The first time, it's shocking. But … you know, I would never have thought I'd say this (a favorite author of mine killed off a main character once, and I didn't read another book of hers for about three years!), but … it works. You get involved; you can't rely anymore on the silent contract that usually exists — oh, I know they're in mortal peril, but they're the heroes, so I know they're going to be all right at the end of the day. But even heroes can die.
The books aren't just about fighting — I'm a girl, I need some emotion, some character development (I know, sexist comment, sue me). The characters are great, and there's enough humor in their interactions to leaven the drama (practically all my favorite books have some humor!).
What can I say? I was impressed.
The Raven series come in two trilogies:
Chronicles of the Raven:
Book 1: Dawnthief
Book 2: Noonshade
Book 3: Nightchild
Legends of the Raven:
Book 1: Shadowheart
Book 2: Elfsorrow
Book 3: Demonstorm
You can find the author's official site here: http://www.jamesbarclay.com/
And background information about the Raven and their world here: http://www.ravengazetteer.com/map.htm
