The Wyrmling Horde: The Seventh Book of the Runelords
The Saga of the Runelords is written in the finest tradition of Tolkien and other works that rise above the fantasy genre to special and individual heights.
Now the epic story continues: at the end of Worldbinder, Fallion Orden, son of Gaborn, was imprisoned on a strange and fantastic world that he created by combining two alternate realities. It's a world brimming with dark magic, ruled by a creature of unrelenting evil who is gathering monstrous armies from a dozen planets in a bid to conquer the universe. Only Fallion has the power to mend the worlds, but at the heart of a city that is a vast prison, he lies in shackles. The forces of evil are growing and will soon rage across the heavens. Now, Fallion's allies must risk everything in an attempt to free him from the wyrmling horde.
Product Details
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The breathless third installment of Farland's second Runelords quartet opens with the cliffhanger from 2007's Sons of the Oak: flameweaver wizard Fallion Orden, son of the Earth King, is trapped by fiendish Lord Despair in a savage new world Fallion himself had made by melding two realities. Fallion has rejected endowments, transfers of power or skill that leave the donor drained of the attribute they bestow on the recipient, but his lover, Rhianna, her foster sister, warrior maiden Talon, and Talon's noble idol, the Emir Tuul Ra, accept numerous endowments, vowing to pay any price to rescue Fallion from Rugassa, where torture is an art. Oscillating between lurid depictions of blood-soaked vistas and heroic tales of noble adolescent saviors, Farland attempts to leaven the violence with enchanting parallel-world landscapes and charming minor characters, but the atmosphere overall is unrelentingly gloomy. Nonetheless, this series promises to continue as long as stalwart-stomached readers can keep turning its grisly pages. (Sept.)
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Review
“David Farland has written a series that rivals the best of Terry Brooks, Terry Goodkind and Orson Scott Card."
--SF Revu on Worldbinder
“Brings the saga’s conflicts to a resounding climax in a three-cornered confrontation. . . . The suspense is real, the action is nonstop, and the characterizations continue to convince. . . . [this is] a series that has put Farland on high-fantasy readers’ maps.”
--Booklist on The Lair of Bones
“Imaginative use of magic and detailed world-building. . . . Fans of Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind will enjoy Farland’s Runelords.”
--Romantic Times BOOKReviews on The Lair of Bones
“The Runelords is a first rate tale, an epic fantasy that more than delivers on its promise. Read it soon and treat yourself to an adventure you won’t forget.”
--Terry Brooks
About the Author
DAVID FARLAND lives in Saint George, Utah.
Customer Reviews
A So-So Read
While still enjoyable enough, I find myself disappointed as this series continues. A large part is that Farland simply isn't convincing me to care about his characters. I think he has trouble believing in them, especially the women characters, so they are rather thin and cardboard.
His magic system needs to be expanded upon as well. In the first Runelord books it was original, but it hasn't grown or changed at all. He has even abandoned the moral debate of whether it is right for powerful people to use those more vulnerable for their own ends. It has devolved to a purely "the ends justify the means" mentality. And I have to question whether with the changes in the world WHY the magic has really not changed beyond having added the ability to cause pain.
At the same time, although this could have used a slightly firmer hand in editing because of repeated words and a few line-level glitches, it is an enjoyable read. Farland is a good enough writer that he probably couldn't write a BAD book if he tried.
Despair as earth-king but serious middle-book slowdown
After bringing together two of the millions of millions of world into which the one true world splintered, Fallion is captured by the man who would have been his father--but whose brain is controlled by Lord Despair--the immortal responsible for the true world's disintegration. Despair wants the power to bring the worlds together--but only under his control. Unfortunately for Fallion, Despair seems fully capable of doing just that, especially as his Earth King abilities provide him ample warning of any threat.
Fallion is not without friends and this new world has an abundance of the blood-metal used to become a Runelord, to borrow attributes from one person or being and give them to another. Fallion's friends are able to gain control of thousands of runesticks and a small group are named, given hundreds of attributes (intelligence, speed, stamina, brawn, sight, beauty) for their assault on Despair. Meanwhile, Despair has come up with a new torture. Rather than use the runes to transfer ability, he uses them to transfer pain--vectoring dozens of tortures to Fallion. Even if the rescue is successful, what will the heroes find?
Author David Farland continues his intriguing RUNELORDS series with a story that's clearly transitional. Fallion, the main protagonist for the last several books, becomes a bit player as a pair of women and the alter-ego of a man who was the great evil on Fallion's original version of Earth combine forces in their attempt to save him. In earlier books, Farland dealt with the moral issues in taking attributes--essentially snuffing out a part of the life of the dedicates from whom these attributes are taken. Here, Farland touches lightly on this, having his characters justify their decision as necessity.
I really enjoyed the concept of Despair as an Earth King--something his alternate self showed from the other side. I also appreciated Farland's decision to show that extreme violence does not always offer the best path, and that the ends cannot always justify any means. And Farland's capable writing kept me involved in the story.
endowments of horrible [no spoilers]
"The Wyrmling Horde", the seventh book of "The Runelords", supplies nothing of real significance in the failing saga with bland characters regardless of the editor enforced word count. Evil's brutality has evolved to a new level along with brief adult themes not suitable for young readers. The terrible editing diminishes the quality, I got confused when in Chapter 24 a group is chased south then head east but look east instead of west to find they are still being followed.
Despite of the horrific vectoring with extreme endowments, I question why any endowment should work across shadow worlds where Dedicates remain on a world while the Runelord travels to other worlds. Although the magic makes sense, the author needs to provide limitations for a power that will further unbalance the dominating Runelords.
Whether following Rhianna, Talon, or Fallion Orden, I have no attachment with any protagonists. Meanwhile it is hard to not hope Great Wyrm Despair or Death Lord Vulgnash annihilate any chance of further adventures. Unfortunately my compulsive desire to read a series through the end forces me to suffer the series downfall.
A detailed map of the significant terrains and comprehensive appendix would have been useful.
Thank you.
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