Author Conn Iggulden has crafted an epic fantasy tale that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. This is sword and sorcery at its finest, with plenty of background information to keep the reader interested until the final page.

The book information touts this as a series, but you would never know it. Although there are untold stories that could branch off of “Darien,” this particular tale starts and finishes in one book. This is a story of intrigue and hidden desires, and of people caught in a web of someone else’s making.

Many books have individual characters, each moving through a personal adventure that may eventually cross the path or paths of the others. Mr. Iggulden has grouped his cast into pairs, with each having their own story and interaction. Hunter Elias Post travels with gunslinger Vic Deeds (guns being new to this world). An uneasy respect and tension rides along, as Post and Deeds must rely on each other to survive. Tellius ( a teacher, of sorts) and Arthur (an incredibly apt student) find themselves unwillingly pulled into a dangerous situation, and each solution only seems to makes things worse. Daw and Nancy find out more about themselves and each other than they may have originally wished. Each pair follows their chosen paths and eventually end up in Darien, only to find other strings have been pulled and everything is not as it first seemed.

The author provides plenty of glimpses inside many of the characters, providing backstories and motivations. While I might have wished for more of the sights and sounds of the city, Mr. Iggulden more than made up for it with the battle scenes and the interaction between characters.

As stated above, this book can be read and enjoyed by all ages. Although there are large and small battles, it is not described with excessive gore, and Mr. Iggulden has written a book without a hint of adult language or intimate sexual scenes. This is an adventure tale first and foremost. Five stars.

I received a free EArc from Netgalley.

In the preface to the novel, the author gives his thanks to those writers of fantasy that have influenced his own writing. I was not surprised to find the names of Mark Lawrence and Robin Hobb amongst those mentioned as they are such huge names in the fantasy genre, (there are many others as well, but I've not read them all). As such, I was keen to begin reading the author's first foray into fantasy, expecting great things from such a well-regarded author, if one I've often struggled to appreciate as much as everyone else, finding his style to be a little too cold in regard to his historical characters. This novel certainly feels much warmer towards the various main characters and this is one of its strengths. This warmth makes the storyline much easier to read (I've often been left wondering why he even bothered to write about some of the characters he's chosen in the past- when it seems he had neither passion or regard for them).

Yet for all that, this novel is not astounding or jaw dropping as a Mark Lawrence and Robin Hobb book would be, with their pitch perfect characterizations and world building. It is a reasonably well-crafted novel, although little but character development seems to happen for the first 50% of the novel, and from then on, some of it seems a little rushed. I was also a bit, well peeved, to find a whole new character being introduced at about 80%. I always think this smacks a little too much of desperation (a bit like a who done it when the author brings in a new character as the actual perpetrator even though we've never heard of them before). It is a fairly run of the mill fantasy - the story is enjoyable without being astounding; the magic abilities of some of the characters are interesting; the baddies are bad, the goodies are good and there are a few in-between who we don't ever learn enough about to say one way or another - they are filler for the rest of the story.

I also found some of the author's naming conventions to be annoying - Tellius, Nancy, Daw, Arthur, Lady Sallet - too much of a mix with no firm basis for why these names are relevant -poor Nancy should have had a much exotic name (although without any X's or Z's in it).

Yet, for all that, this is without doubt, the most enjoyable novel I've yet read by this author. I'm sure that his fans will very much enjoy it, and if it opens their eyes to the wonderful worlds of Robin Hobb and Mark Lawrence, then this should be seen as a plus. Sometimes it takes a popular author to jump genre to find that new genre new fans.

If there's a second book would I read it? At the moment, I don't know. The novel would need to be about something a little different - I like my fantasy to be bold and new - always a little different and not regurgitating the same old stories (I might be in the minority here) - and as such, this novel is a little too mundane for me. There is nothing new on offer in this fantasy series - but, as I said, this might be just what some people are looking for.

(I will add to Goodreads/my Wordpress blog/Amazon no more than 1 week before publication, as requested.)

This one just didn't work for me and to be honest I am not entirely sure why. The writing was good, the characters were pretty well written and it was easy to get into, but I just wasn't invested in it. I didn't connect with the characters and the plot didn't grab me. Overall this didn't work for me but it is still worth a read if it sounds interesting to you.

Darien is the start of a new series by C.F. Iggulden. Iggulden is perhaps better known for writing several series of well received historical fiction, but this is his first foray into fantasy.

Darien is a feudal city-state in a low-magic world. That world seems to share a certain amount of history with our own – there’s the occasional mention of Romans, for example. But there was a divergence – a grand empire, the Empire of Salt, formed and fell – and Darien is one of its successor states. Most of the world-building is focused on the contemporary, though there’s scattered mentions and inferences one can make about the history of Darien to this point. Currently, however, Darien is an unequal society. It’s ruled by twelve noble families, each with their own heritage and rivalries. They sit beneath a monarch – in this case, a relatively tractable one. The people are a swirling morass, trying to get through their day to day without notice from their social superiors. There’s evidence of a slowly burgeoning middle-class though – merchants thriving in the main streets of Darien, and those with the wages to purchase their wares.

It feels like an insular society, one which holds on to old feuds and older grudges. At the same time, it has a familiarity to it – the twisting alleys of Darien evoke those of the medieval period. Darien and its outlying environs do have some differences though – mostly in their magic. There’s old sorcery sitting with vicious quiet in ancient tombs, and powerful artifacts horded by families. Some people seem to have knacks, as well – peculiar skills and talents which may exceed or defy the norm.
I wanted to see more of Darien – of the people in it, f the customs and habits which defined them, and of the strange and familiar world in which they find themselves. What’s there is intriguing, suggestive, and builds a solid foundation, but left me hungry for more.

The characters – well, this is a narrative from multiple points of view. So we range from hunters to thieves, from martial troubleshooters to troubled duellists. The main cast get enough elbow room to differentiate themselves, though as with the world, I ended up wanting more. Standouts include Elias Post – a hunter, he begins the story as an unremarkable and pleasant man. As matters progress, though, he is offered some exceedingly difficult choices. The text doesn’t back away from this; in fact it embraces it, which is marvellous. Post grows quickly, and in different directions than we might otherwise have expected. There’s echoes of Monte Cristo there, as Post struggles to fulfil his overriding purpose, with no regard to the cost to himself – or what the struggle to reach his goals will turn him into.

I also thoroughly enjoyed following Tellius. An old soldier, and not from Darien, he has a sharp intelligence which made following his thoughts enjoyable and a wry cynicism which made me chuckle more than once. Tellius is a pragmatist, with some moral constraints. He’s learned to look out for number one, but struggles against that lesson. Tellius’ dry wit and focus made walking alongside him amusing. The hints of a complex past that were thrown out, and his own efforts to be something better, despite himself, made the journey a pleasure.

There were other points of view here for example the vulpine Vic Deeds, the ultimate guiltless problem solver, is charming and ruthless in equal measure, I won’t approach the others, for fear of spoilers – but I will say that even if I wanted more time with these characters, I still felt they had sufficient depth to encourage emotional investment, and to keep me turning pages alongside them.
The plot – well, there’s certainly a lot going on. There’s assassination attempts, some very fast-paced and visceral duels, and even a battle or two. Those are choreographed masterfully, and Iggulden brings the movements of large masses of troops, and the dangers and chaos which they face, to life brilliantly. In between the murders, the politicking and the struggles for the life of the city, there’s some touchingly genuine emotional moments as well. It’s epic fantasy at its most literal – the fate of empires settled with fire, sword and pistol shot. In this case, there’s some rather explosive magic thrown in as well.

Is it any good though? I’d say so. It approaches the form of epic fantasy with care, and constructs a story which kept me interested and unwilling to put the book down. I want to see more of the world and the people in it, but that’s less a criticism than a hope for future instalments. If you’re looking for something new to fill your next epic fantasy fix, then this will see you right.

When I saw that this was the newest release by renowned historical author, Conn Igguldon, I jumped at the chance to read it. I imagined his skill at recreating past societies with a wicked vividity would denote great things for his first foray into the fantasy genre. And I was almost immediately proven correct in that assumption.

This fantastical empire felt like an amalgamation of past culture with something undeniably innovative and exciting, plucked straight from the author's imagination. The city of Darien was its crowing glory.

This multiple perspective narrative initially overwhelmed me, a little, due to the disparate nature of the stories divulged. About the midway point of the novel each of the threads of narrative started to overlap. And all lead back to Darien.

Here the seemingly discordant stories all were combined as one, under their shared geographical location. The thrilling elements of each story were also heightened and it made for frantic reading to see how one act could impact each of the other characters' stories, despite their initial seeming incompatibility at combining as one cohesive whole.

The resulting chaos made the last portion one heavily dominated by action. Battle scenes often drown me in information, in literature, but here I felt I had a good understanding of each character and was able to easily discern what was occurring.

With just under two months until the official release date of this book, the means I have over a year to wait until the next instalment. 2018 can not come quick enough!

CF Iggulden is better known for his historical writing under his real name Conn Iggulden. But this is a historical novel like no other. It blends history with fantasy, the real with the imagined and just a pinch of magic.



The premise of the story is a city ruled by 12 powerful families with a weak king at their head. Many people out in the surrounding towns and villages, and even inside the city itself want a change. But only a few will act.

Daw Threefold sees riches and destiny when he meets Nancy, more than just a fumble and a tumble, she has something about her which causes magic objects to fail. Daw has big plans for what they can do with this power but Nancy has plans of her own... revenge.



Elias Post is an incredible hunter. Because he has a gift of his own. A gift he calls 'reaching' but it's about to get him into trouble when General Justan of the immortal army gets wind of it and decides how he can use it.



Then there's Tellius who comes across a small boy who can mimick anything he sees perfectly. Tellius thinks to use him to his own advantage until they get into a scrape and the boy is revealed as not a boy at all but a Golem.



Overall the novel was fairly fast paced. It changed direction quickly which was sometimes confusing as it switched to the different narratives of all the characters involved. I would have also liked to have seen more world building, other than the name of the city, the fact it has 12 families and that the people worship a goddess not much else was given on the world itself and where it is supposed to be set or even when. We also only meet characters from 3 of the 12 families and I'd have liked to have seen more about them. How did they get into power for example and why are they so important? Just their names would have been nice...

I think this book got off to a great start and I really enjoyed the first 50-65% of it. But as aforementioned it lacked too much in world building and also became very fighting strong. That's not necessarily a criticism but I'm not that fussed on books with a lot of fighting for like 35% of the story.

Overall, it was well written and plotted and I think fans of books about action and war with a little magic thrown in would really enjoy it.

I received a copy of the book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank the author, C.F. Igguiden, and the publisher, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph, for the opportunity.

Darien is the second Iggulden book I've read and I liked it as much, if not more, than the previous one (Dunstan). I read this book in two sittings, had I not fallen asleep around 3am I would have read it all in a single night. I found every character to be compelling and well developed, including the secondary characters. At the very start of the book it feels as if every storyline is completely unrelated, but as the book progresses they intertwine and provide further context for the characters' actions and every aspect of Darien and its history as well as the political climate, to an extent that the story felt like a very well researched piece of historical fiction despite the fantasy elements involved. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series and more of Iggulden's books.

Conn Iggulden demonstrates that he's just as good at fantasy as at historical novels. Three paired character plotlines - the magic-drinking Nancy and Daw, the Fagin-like old swordsman Tellius and the boy-golem Arthur, and the assassin Deeds coupled with the prescient Elias, converge in the city of Darien in the midst of a military take-over. The protagonists engage the reader and are solidly believable, the setting, a late Renaissance-type city-state with touches of steampunk and large doses of magic, is vividly rendered, and the episodic sections of the storyline combine in a very satisfying manner which is both logical yet not so predictable as to let the reader put the book down. Brandon Sanderson, look out!

Review

I feel very fortunate to have been given the chance to read a very advance copy of this book. Conn Iggulden is one of the biggest names in Historical Fiction, i think still the only writer to top the Fiction and Non fiction charts at the same time. So when i found out that Conn Iggulden was going to do a fantasy book i was thrilled, the man is a born storyteller, given free reign to write without the bounds of history was going to be fun to read. Add to this the fact that he has a great passion for my favorite writer David Gemmell, which would without doubt and i think does influence his work, in the way he builds his characters and backgrounds, and the sparse style that says much with minimal words.

Given the above i’m sure you will not be expecting an impartial review? And yet it is, i went into this book expecting a lot…. a heck of a lot, so failure to deliver would have meant a review to match.

What Conn Iggulden has produced is a book that will be in the running for the Fantasy book of the year, and if its not a shoe in for the Gemmell fantasy Debut next year im not sure what should be! (does it count as a debut if its first in Genre?)

With Darien, Conn has created a world with a hint of Dystopia, is this earth in some far flung future? or is it entirely a construct? that was always the puzzle and challenge with Gemmell. The City of Darien seems to have a very Roman flavour. The corruption, the absolute ruler, the advisory council, the legion. but its only a framework, everything as ever with Conn has so much more wrapped around that, and it all feels very fresh and original.

The Magic of the world is certainly fresh, light touch, some abilities, some items imbued with magic, many from a time past, in a society that has lost the knowledge of its glorious past. The Characters… well its an Iggulden book, the are multi faceted, easy to read and easy to love. The skills they bring, and talents to survive are subtle like so many of the plot twists and turns. You will be hooked before you know it.

This is a truly excellent book, I thought Mark Lawrence had a run away winner for Fantasy book of the year this year, but now we have Darien, and its going to make that choice very difficult.

Darien is one of the best fantasy titles you will read this year, and is another genre Conn Iggulden looks set to dominate.

(Parm)



Buy from Goldsboro 13th July 2017

Buy from Amazon 13th July 2017

Series
Emperor
1. The Gates of Rome (2002)
2. The Death of Kings (2004)
3. The Field of Swords (2004)
4. The Gods of War (2006)
5. The Blood of Gods (2013)
Gates of Rome / Death of Kings (omnibus) (2009)
Emperor (omnibus) (2011)
The Emperor Series Books 1-5 (omnibus) (2013)

Conqueror
1. Wolf of the Plains (2007)
aka Genghis: Birth of an Empire
2. Lords of the Bow (2008)
aka Genghis: Lords of the Bow
3. Bones of the Hills (2008)
4. Empire of Silver (2010)
aka Khan: Empire of Silver
5. Conqueror (2011)
Conqueror and Lords of the Bow (omnibus) (2009)
The Khan Series (omnibus) (2012)
Conqueror Series 5-Book Bundle (omnibus) (2013)

Tollins
1. Tollins (2009)
2. Dynamite Tales (2011) (with Lizzy Duncan)

Wars of the Roses
1. Stormbird (2013)
2. Trinity (2014)
aka Margaret of Anjou
3. Bloodline (2015)
4. Ravenspur (2016)
Wars of the Roses (omnibus) (2017)

Novels
Dunstan (2017)
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Novellas
Blackwater (2006)
Fig Tree (2014)

Series contributed to
Quick Reads 2012
Quantum of Tweed (2012)

Non fiction
The Dangerous Book for Boys (2006) (with Hal Iggulden)
The Dangerous Book for Boys Yearbook (2007) (with Hal Iggulden)
The Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Things to Do (2007)(with Hal Iggulden)
The Dangerous Book for Boys Kit: How to Get There(2008)
The Dangerous Book for Boys Kit: Nature Fun (2008)
The Dangerous Book for Boys: 2009 Day-to-Day Calendar (2008)
The Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Facts, Figures and Fun (2008)
The Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Things to Know(2008) (with Hal Iggulden)
The Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Wonders of the World (2008) (with Hal Iggulden)
The Dangerous Book for Boys 2010 Day-to-Day Calendar (2009) (with Hal Iggulden)
The Dangerous Book of Heroes (2009) (with David Iggulden)