eBook In Legend Born ePub

In Legend Born (1998) is the first Fantasy novel in the Silerian Trilogy. It is set in Sileria among the Shallah. The Valdani had taken Saleria from the Kintish two centuries ago. The Kintish had taken Sileria from the Moors six centuries ealier. The Moors had conquered Sileria after the death of Daurion the Yahrdan.

The Guardians fled from the Moors during the conquest. They hid among the mountains of Sileria. They are gradually diminishing in numbers.

The Society controls the water supplies in the flatlands of Sileria. When the Emperor of Valdania cut off the tribute to the Society, all the rivers and streams dried up. The lakes turned freezing cold,

In this novel, Tansen mar Dustan shah Gamalani is a shallah. His village had been overrun by Valdani Outlookers. Everyone in the village was tortured and killed. He went to Kinti and trained as a shatai.

Mirabar is a Guardian novice. She has exceptional talent with fire and prophecy.

Tashinar is a Guardian. She found and raised Mirabar.

Armian is the son of Haloran. He was taken from Sileria after the death of his father.

Josarian mar Gershon shah Emeldari is a shallah. He learned the strength of the word "No".

Zimran is a cousin and friend of Josarian. He is not a patient man.

Koroll is the Commander of all Valdani in Cavaser. He recruits Tansen to find and kill Josarian.

In this story, Mirabar is frequently visited by the Beckoner. She ofter sees visions and goes into trances. Tashinar is worried about her and other Guardians fear that she is insane.

The Beckoner tells her to find the Shir. Despite Tashinar's objections, Mirabar leaves the Guardian camp. She goes looking for Armian.

Tansen comes into Cavaser and is followed by Outlookers. They are not used to shallah carrying swords. One tries to arrest Tansen and he grabs the Outlooker. While holding a sword to the man's neck, Tansen orders the other three Outlookers to disarm themselves.

The crowd tells Tansen to kill the Outlookers. Tansen notices the sound of hoof beats. He shouts for the crowd to leave the square. Then he is shot in the back with a poisoned arrow.

When Tansen awakes, Koroll is waiting. He asks Tansen to kill Josarian. He offers to return Tansen's money and a like sum if he brings in the shallah.

The Valdani had taken all the food produced by the shallah farmers and shipped it to the Valdani armies. Josarian and his cousin had been smuggling food into Sileria. They had done such many time before, but this time they were caught by Outlookers.

Zimran ran off and two Outlookers chased him. Two more stayed with Josarian. He struggled against the Outlookers and killed them. Then he started attacking the Valdani and telling other shallah to take back what has been stolen from them.

Koroll had tried to catch Josarian and failed. Now he and four Outlookers escort Tansen to the edge of town. After Tansen departs to find Josarian, Koroll returns to his headquarters to wait for his return.

Tansen knows that the shallah will not tell him anything about Josarian. So he brags to villagers about what he is going to do to Josarian. As he wanders about, a Society assassin attacks Tansen and he seems to struggle to stop the attack.

Zimran believes Tansen to be weak and wants to help his cousin. Yet he goes to service a local widow. He finds Outlookers and the tearful widow waiting for him.

Josarian finally accosts Tansen. He is easily disarmed by Tansen. Josarian decides that Tansen is not going to kill him.

Then Josarian discovers that the Outlookers have taken his cousin and twenty other shallah. He goes to break them out of the Britar fortress and Tansen goes with him. They decide to separate, with Tansen distracting the Valdani while Josarian sneaks into the fortress.

This tale gives Josarian over a dozen followers. Tansen stays to protect Josarian. The band is able to do even more damage against the Valdani.

Koroll reports to his superior in Shaljir. The next installment in this sequence is The White Dragon.

Highly recommended for Resnick fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of various magics, conquered lands, and allied efforts. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

I am these days Officially Bored with fantasy novels that are all about the aristocrats- or that are all about a farm kid who- SURPRISE!- turns out to be a prince. I've been a passionate reader now for something like 45 years, and that trope has worn itself out for me.

This is not that book. This book actually features a PEASANT REVOLUTION! For the win!!!!

I am VERY appreciative of fantasy novels that contain peasant revolutions... or at least peasants who are actual actors in their fates. It's pretty rare, and I'm willing to forgive a fair amount when a book includes this.

So- I really wanted to love this book, and to want to read the rest of the trilogy. I love Resnick's "Esther Diamond" series a lot! And peasant revolution!

However- this book was over 700 pages. Not only was that physically awkward in a MMPB (not the author's fault), but a lot of that content was redundant. Over and over again redundant. the same characters faced the same conflicts and made the same choices, and each time agonized endlessly over them. While this is probably realistic- godz know I do it myself- it doesn't make for an entertaining read; it feels like padding in a novel.

Resnick has not been nearly as repetitive as some other authors I've read that do this. However, the book would have been improved with some cutting that removed many of the passages that went over the same old ground, over and over.

That being said- it does play interestingly with the usual high fantasy tropes, especially as regards the peasant rebellion. The magical system(s) are interesting but not well-described; still, not incoherent or arbitrary. Much of the problem with the peasant rebellion is that the peasants are so used to fighting amongst themselves that they find it difficult to turn their attention on the actual oppressors; that's a valuable message.

And how to manage the cult of personality? How to manage the powerful that work behind the scenes to get more power, while this is not obvious to others?

Lots of excellent questions here! I just wish the novel had not been quite as long and repetitive, so we could enjoy the great content more.