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Book Review
Sometimes the Best Reading is for Fun
Book Review - Clifford B. Bowyer's The Impending Storm by J.D. Charles, The Logan Banner, September 18, 2004Most folks that know me,
know that I like to read. Over the past year, I have been trying to
squeeze a little more fiction into my reading and back off on the serious
stuff.
Not so long ago, I saw an ad for a new fantasy novel by an
author I had never heard of before, from a publisher I was unfamiliar
with. I looked around on E-bay for a copy of "The Impending Storm" by
Clifford B. Bowyer, but to no avail. (I used to buy a lot of books from
E-bay - the worlds biggest online flea market as it is cheaper than buying
new books.) So I contacted the publisher about obtaining a copy. And boy
am I glad that I did.
Bowyer's Imperium Saga may tread a similar path to other fantasy
novelists (most particularly J.R.R. Tolkien), however it treads that path
very well, and ads a few new things along the way. Bowyer's prose is
modern and snappy, his characters are well drawn out and not
interchangeable with each other, and he doesn't fall prey to three page
long paragraphs that seem convoluted to the reader. (I never could get
into Tolkien's fiction because of his meandering prose.) Thankfully there
are no traditional hobbit breakfast songs in it either.
Bowyer’s saga begins fittingly enough with a traditional quest,
this time as Kai, a Madrew elf with a penchant for archery and
swashbuckling is sent out to find the Chosen One - in this case a young
human named Kyria. Kyria will eventually have a greater impact on the
archer than the elf could imagine, helping her reach her full potential in
a world of wizards and warriors, dragons and trolls and adventure.
Bowyer has assembled a very interesting cast of characters with
Braksis, a human warlord who was raised by a non-human troll named Ferceng;
Solara, his traveling companion and bodyguard (sort of a female Samurai
warrior); the beautiful and strong willed Empress Karleena who is
attempting to hold together a loose confederation of human city states
along with other races (including Centaurs, aquatic amphibians and flying
bird people) and a hardy band of warrior dwarves.
Opposed to Bowyer’s stalwart heroes are the mage Zoldex, who
tends to influence the thoughts and actions of others, making them pawns
in his own game, and various trolls, goblins and hobgoblins, along with
two old foes from Braksis past, his relative Rawthorne and the outlaw
Durgin. One of this duo actually committed an act of cannibalism in prison
when another inmate snatched some food from his serving tray. Hardcases
don’t come any harder than that.
Another interesting addition to the traditional swords and
sorcery fare is the inclusion of an organized crime element known as the
Hidden Empire, which acts a lot like the mafia in that corrupt businessmen
and even kings like the sleazy King Garum wind up being the public faces,
while the leadership of the Hidden Empire really calls the shots behind
the scenes.
Another innovation for fantasy fiction is the appearance of
Nitorum a ninja like bad guy who assaults the castle and makes off with
Karleena. Into this mix, Bowyer brings a variety of creatures from
folklore and myth such as cat people centaurs and minotaurs.
Braksis, the main character is in some ways a traditional
fantasy hero. Like Siegfried from Norse mythology, he is raised by a
non-human smith who crafts for him a special sword, the Phoenix. Unlike
the majority of modern authors, Bowyer takes time to describe to in
detail what his various characters look like, sound like and even happen
to be wearing, to help the reader paint a vivid mental picture of the
World of the Imperium in his or her mind.
Through the course of the book, there are battles and action
aplenty, and Braksis and Solara finally realize they have feelings for
each other and at last give in to them.... only to be attacked by the
villains and a pack of goblins along the way. (Bowyer and Silver Leaf
Books have a spin off series aimed at young adults featuring Kyria the
Chosen).
If you enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy in movie theaters
and found out that Prof. Tolkien's florid prose was a bit too much, but
want more of that sort of wide screen epic feel to your fantasy reading, I
can definitely recommend "The Impending Storm" by Clifford Bowyer, an
exciting new talent in the world of fantasy fiction.