The Knight's Secret by Jeffrey Bardwell

Title: The Knight's Secret
Series: The Mage Conspiracy, Book 1
Genre: fantasy
Formats: epub, mobi
Wordcount: 26,000
Publisher: Twigboat Press
Buy: Amazon

It has just come to my attention that, while this book won't launch solo for a few months (stay tuned), you can now buy it as part of an epic fantasy anthology on Amazon. And I've got to say, if the other books in the anthology are anything like The Knight's Secret, it would make a fantastic Christmas present for that epic fantasy fan in your life. (Or for yourself: because this is the 21st century and you're a responsible, mature person and you should be able to buy yourself a Christmas present if you want to, darn it.)

Synopsis:

Retired hero Sir Corbin rides to the capital of the Iron Empire for one last adventure. But the capital is in an uproar. The emperor has been slain by rogue mages. The new empress is livid. Soon all mages are suspect . . . including Corbin's daughter.

Corbin attempts to find allies among his old regiment. The army has become a slithering nest of vipers as imperial mages and cavalrymen move warily around each other. Both sides snare Corbin in tight coils of suspicion, politics, and lies. He is caught between a tryst with a jilted mage ex-lover and the tight-lipped scheme of an ex-buddy in the cavalry. When the vengeful empress launches a vendetta against all mage kind, Corbin must decide whether to be a father or a hero.

The bickering mages and cavalrymen aren't the only ones hiding something. Sir Corbin is not who he seems. Discover The Knight's Secret, the first fantasy adventure in The Mage Conspiracy series. Join a quest of self discovery, romantic entanglements, and political intrigue where lies cut deeper than any sword.

Me:

You might remember a certain post in which I gushed over the steampunk/fantasy novella Rotten Magic, written by Jeffrey Bardwell. Now I'm back to tell you about another book by the same author, which takes place in the same world: The Knight's Secret. And I'm pleased to report that the author is still in full possession of his powers as a storyteller.

While I wasn't quite as over-the-top thrilled with The Knight's Secret as I was with Rotten Magic, I still loved it. The Knight's Secret continues Bardwell's gritty, character-strong fantasy style. It's a page-turner, with a complicated world, very real characters, and another of those cliff-hanger endings this author is so good at. (He knows how to keep us reading, am I right?)

Kelsa, the (more or less) main character of the story, is the granddaughter of legendary military hero Sir Corbin Destrus. She's grown up hearing about his adventures, but there seem to be a couple of things he's never told her.... Meanwhile, the state of the kingdom isn't looking so good. The emperor is dead under mysterious circumstances, and the new empress is ruthless. Anyone who practices magic comes under fire, and civil war looms on the horizon. 

As in Rotten Magic, but maybe even more so in this book, the author does a great job painting the backdrop for us. The world of The Iron Empire is vivid and politically complex: with conspiracies, machinations (just wanted to use that word), and a good deal of witch-hunting. Literally.

The same can be said of that world's characters, who all come off as compelling and natural. Main characters like Kelsa, Corbin, and Maven are well-rounded and complex. I love Kelsa's preference for stripping and walking around naked - but also love that she doesn't do it to attract attention. She just enjoys walking around naked. 

Speaking of, um, getting naked...the portrayal of the two genders is one thing this book does especially well: a main theme seems to be the differences between men and women. Sometimes these differences are divisive; sometimes they're unifying. And without giving anything away, the gender element is wonderfully highlighted in Kelsa herself and her story arc. The author has an equally strong grasp on both his male and female characters.

The character complexity was one of the things I loved most about Rotten Magic, and that element is definitely alive and well in The Knight's Secret. No one is just a token character - and most can't even be squarely cast as either "good guys" or "bad guys." That makes this story all the more satisfying.

Rating:

Until tomorrow.