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)