Farlander (The Heart of the World, #1)

Jan 16, 2013 Christopher rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Jul 24, 2010 Mark rated it 2 of 5 stars

This debut novel is another in a string of recent debuts. Like the others it is uneven, but there is enough charm for some readers to enjoy.

The setting is typical Fantasy fare. In a land known as The Heart of the World, The Mercian Free Ports are the last holdout from the Holy Empire of Mann. There, the besieged city of Bar-Khos protects the Free Ports from the masses of the Imperial Fourth Army along an isthmus through a series of walled defences. These are continually being knocked down in the...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Kukabarus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

To be honest, I don't have any idea why I have noticed this book on the shelf. Actually, I wasn't even looking for a new one. But this one made me to stop, take it and read the first page.
And than I understod that my eye had caught something interesting and what is worth to read.
I can't say that the plot of the book is incredibly original. Properly speaking, it is quite a hard work to make something really unusual. This is on the one hand. But on the other, author made his best to devise the dyn...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Dmitry rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While the plot of the book is interesting, it lacks both originality and oomph, either of which makes a book to be hard to put down. Too many events in the book are easily predictable and the action takes too long to gain momentum.

The somewhat hard to read language is further weighted down by side trails that lead to nowhere. Some of the scenes are there and appear to be important, but then are abandoned without any connection to the main plot. The author randomly starts going into too detailed...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Neal Asher rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having attempted to read a couple of fantasy books within the last few months, and having failed, I was beginning to wonder if I was going off fantasy. Those other books felt derivative, laughably serious about what to me seemed plain silly. Maybe I had lost that vital ability to ‘suspend disbelief’ with fantasy? However, reading Col Buchanan’s Farlander I realised that no, I wasn’t going off fantasy, I’d just gone off the stuff that failed to engage me. I would still be able to enjoy something...more Having attempted to read a couple of fantasy books within the last few months, and having failed, I was beginning to wonder if I was going off fantasy. Those other books felt derivative, laughably serious about what to me seemed plain silly. Maybe I had lost that vital ability to ‘suspend disbelief’ with fantasy? However, reading Col Buchanan’s Farlander I realised that no, I wasn’t going off fantasy, I’d just gone off the stuff that failed to engage me. I would still be able to enjoy something like Alan Campbell’s Scar Night, or anything by Gemmel, or Zelazny, or any number of excellent books I’d read before.

I’m a lot less tolerant nowadays. Life is too short to put up with a book that doesn’t come up with the goods. I know that if I haven’t been hooked within the first few pages it’s unlikely to happen, and if I’m still uninterested by the end of the first chapter it’s time to put the book aside. Two pages in to Farlander I was hooked and a chapter in I knew I wouldn’t be putting it aside.

Considering previous discussions about covers here I have to say that the picture on the front was too reminiscent of Star Wars and, when I discovered that the disposable soldiers of the Empire of Mann wore white armour and that the monkish swordsman Ash would be taking on an apprentice, I was a tad dubious. But the writing kept me engaged; kept me wanting to know more. As I continued to read I felt that Buchanan was attracted to fantasy toys, picking them up and giving them a shake, then realising they weren’t good enough for the story he wanted to tell, and discarding them. Throughout this there are scenes, tropes, characters and influences from other works – here a bit of Gene Wolfe’s Shadow of the Torturer, there some definite Gemmel, over there a taste even of Robert E Howard, and as ever a little bit of urban fantasy too – but in the end Buchanan makes them his own.

Farlander is the first book of a series, but reads well enough on its own. I’ll certainly be reading the next book, for I have a feeling that it’s going to be even better. Nice one Mr Buchanan.(less)

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Feb 03, 2012 Ruth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spec-fic

c2010. It was a 3 star start, 2 star middle as finally the action mentioned in the blurb actually took place and then a 1 star for the ending! I have mentioned before that I dislike it when the PR department mentions something in the blurb that only happens well into the book - this one was the worst I have experienced in that the incident started to happen on Page 141 out of 388 - 42% of the book- ridiculous. This is not the authors fault but sadly does impact on my enjoyment and thus my rating...more

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Sep 27, 2011 Jacqie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: didnt-finish

I was just hoping for more.

I've been disappointed with my epic fantasy this year- I can't think of much that's really sucked me in, except for "Dragon's Path" by Daniel Abraham. Everything else has been okay but not great, bloated sequels that don't justify the amount of paper used to produce them, or unimaginative writing. Even Peter Beagle's newest short story collection failed to grab me, and that's unheard of.

So there was nothing really wrong with this book, but after 60 pages, instead of re...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Jessi Hafeman rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked up this book at the library because of the cool cover art. Great marketing there! From that point on, I really tried to read this book. I thought it had potential. The world was given depth and an array of characters but of whom, unfortunately, do not flesh out more than a superficial caricature. The characters are also uninteresting, and they’re all males! There is NO interesting female character in the first half of the book, and there are no other characters intriguing enough to foll...more

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Mar 09, 2011 sabisteb rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: buch, fantasy

Als der 16 Jahre alte Nico die wechselnden Liebhaber seiner Mutter Reese nicht mehr erträgt, setzt er sich in die nahegelegene Stadt ab. Diese Stadt jedoch wird seit vielen Jahren vom Heiligen Imperium von Mann belagert. Als er fast verhungert beschießt einen alten Mann zu berauben, nimmt sein Schicksal eine neue Wendung. Der so harmlos wirkende 62 Jahre alte Farbige namens Ash, ist Mitglied des geheimen Ordens der Roshun, ein Assasin und Kriegermönch. Ash erkennt Nikos Potential und rettet ihn...more Als der 16 Jahre alte Nico die wechselnden Liebhaber seiner Mutter Reese nicht mehr erträgt, setzt er sich in die nahegelegene Stadt ab. Diese Stadt jedoch wird seit vielen Jahren vom Heiligen Imperium von Mann belagert. Als er fast verhungert beschießt einen alten Mann zu berauben, nimmt sein Schicksal eine neue Wendung. Der so harmlos wirkende 62 Jahre alte Farbige namens Ash, ist Mitglied des geheimen Ordens der Roshun, ein Assasin und Kriegermönch. Ash erkennt Nikos Potential und rettet ihn vor seiner Bestrafung als Dieb unter der Bedingung sein Lehrling zu werden. Noch ahnt Nico nicht, dass er und Ash das Schicksal ihrer Welt verändern werden, je nach dem welchen der beiden Schicksalspfade Ash wählen wird. Den in seiner Aufgabe zu scheitern ohne Schande auf sich zu laden, oder seine Aufgabe zu erfüllen und damit alles zu verlieren.

Prinzipiell eine recht innovative Idee, die Col Buchanan hier verfolgt. Die Roshun sind mehr als Mönche und Assassinen, sie sind die Anbieter einer Lebensversicherung. Wer ihr Zeichen trägt ist sicher vor Mord, denn töten man jemanden, der eine solche Lebensversicherung abgeschlossen hat, dann nimmt einem ein Roshun das eigene mörderische Leben. Nur selten ist jemand dumm genug sich mit den Roshun anzulegen, nur Schade, dass der Sohn der Martiarchin des Imperiums von Mann, Kirkus dul Dubois, eben so dumm ist und vorhersehbarer Weise den Zorn der Roshun auf sich zieht.
Der Kult von Mann an sich ist brutal, lebensverneinend und grausam. Er errichtet ein totalitäres Imperium, das aufgebaut ist auf Misstrauen, Hass und Grausamkeit und somit auf Dauer ohnehin nicht funktionieren kann und nebenbei einige platte Gemeinsamkeiten zu einer real existierenden, im den USA mit misstrauen betrachteten Religion trägt. Hier betreibt der Autor extreme schwarz weiß Malerei. Es gibt das Böse Imperium und die letzten freien Städte, Häfen und Inseln, die sich tapfer auf verlorenem Posten gegen die Übernahme wehren.

Die Geschichte scheint auf einem anderen Planeten zu spielen, einem Planeten mit zwei Monden. So ist es nur konsequent, dass auch die Tier- und Pflanzenwelt anders ist und fremde Namen trägt, leider mit einigen ausnahmen, denn dort scheint es trotzdem Krokodile zu geben und Falken und neben den allgegenwärtigen außerirdischen Zel als Reittier auch Maultiere, Pferde und vor allem auch Ratten…
Inkonsequent erscheint auch, dass Nico lieber verhungert und zum Dieb wird, als sich an seinen Onkel (Bruder des Vaters) zu wenden, der ein hoher Militär in der Stadt ist. Es wirkt fast, als wäre dem Autor die Idee, die zwei Handlungsstränge (Nikos und der allgemeinen Kriegshandlungen) über eine verwandtschaftliche Beziehung zu verknüpfen erst mitten im Buch gekommen.
Die Kampfszenen sind teils recht blutig und ausführlich beschrieben. Magie oder etwas was man dafür halten kann, taucht immer passend als deus ex machina auf, um die aussichtslose Situation zu retten.

Die Protagonisten bleiben leblos und die Geschichte zieht sich über lange strecke hin. Möglicherweise liegt das daran, dass dies der erste Band einer Trilogie ist, andererseits ist selbst die Lehrzeit Nikos eher belanglos und mit Standard Grausamkeiten gespickt. Möglicherweise war dies dem Autor auch irgendwann klar, möglicherweise wurde ihm bewusst, dass er sich auf sehr ausgetretenen und vorhersehbaren Pfaden bewegt, so dass er noch ein paar, leider ebenfalls vorhersehbare, Wendungen einbaut.

Fazit: Vorhersehbare, unterdurchschnittliche Fantasykost. Mit teils vorhersehbarer, teils inkonsequenter Handlung, lebloser Staffage und extremer schwarz weiß Malerei.(less)

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Jul 29, 2011 Jason rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, read-2011

2 Stars

Unlike many other reviewers I found the beginning of this book to be fantastic. The first third was engaging and interesting. The middle third a bore, and finally the ending made the whole thing fall apart. The opening chapters gripped me and thrilled me with their exciting action sequences. The Farlander was someone that I wanted to get to know...

I liked the dark grity world building. Nico and the Farlander were competent protagonists that I did enjoy. A few colorful side kicks in Barach...more

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Nov 18, 2010 Kris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-it

The Heart of the World (of which this is book one) looks much like the Mediterranean and surrounding areas, though without the long “boot” of Italy. It is an imagined world, though somewhat grounded in ours, with words and names similar enough to be familiar, but foreign enough to be new. The cultures, too, seem vaguely familiar, even to the point of monks who follow the Daoist Way.
But this is not the history of our earth, despite the similarities. In this world, there is a ruling cult, called...more The Heart of the World (of which this is book one) looks much like the Mediterranean and surrounding areas, though without the long “boot” of Italy. It is an imagined world, though somewhat grounded in ours, with words and names similar enough to be familiar, but foreign enough to be new. The cultures, too, seem vaguely familiar, even to the point of monks who follow the Daoist Way.
But this is not the history of our earth, despite the similarities. In this world, there is a ruling cult, called Mann that preaches embracing the flesh and is bent on conquering the entire known world. Its society & politics remind one of ancient Rome, with plots to capture the throne, crazed rulers keeping the masses entertained by gladiatorial games, etc.
Still opposing it, even after 10 years of siege and war is the loose confederation of the Mercian Free Ports. The people here still follow Daoism, and are fighting to remain free.
And into this mix of politics and conquest are the Roshun – a society of assassins who train both mind & body using Daoist principles, and who avenge the deaths of those who have purchased their protection. (Think Ninja + Jedi and you get the picture of who they are.)
The book mostly follows an older, and dying, Roshun named Ash, who takes on an apprentice, Nico, a young man living on the streets in Al-Khos, the largest city of the Mercian Free Ports. Ash had always avoided taking on an apprentice, but, knowing his end is near, he nearly randomly chooses Nico, as he catches Nico trying to burgle his room. They go back to the Roshun monastery in the remote mountains (again, this evokes images of the monks of the Shaolin Temple) and Nico begins his training.
Meanwhile, the heir of the Mannian matriarch kills a young woman who wears the Roshun seal of protection. This launches a vendetta in which Ash and young Nico are main players.
The book switches back and forth among several main characters/storylines, keeping the pace quite brisk. We get to see the depravity of the Manninan rulers (though thankfully, not too terribly graphic), their plots to at last take the Mercian Free Ports, and their personal paranoia. We also follow a soldier of Al-Khos, where we see the devastating effects of the long war/siege. And we follow Ash & Nico.
All of this is quite skillfully woven together, in a world that Buchanon does a masterful job of making real. While some things are maybe a little too clichéd (master “jedi” and his apprentice), things do not always follow to form, which is refreshing. We definitely feel the grit and pain of hand-to-hand combat, and it is not in any way glorified. The pacing of the book is quite good, and I found myself ripping through the last half, wanting to know the outcome, which, while leaving open the door for book two, was not quite what I expected.
I thoroughly enjoyed the world created by the author, and do look forward to the 2nd book!

NOTE: The copy of the book I read was an advanced reader’s copy – this book will not be published in the US until January 2011. However, it has been published in Great Britain, so it may be possible to find a copy online, somewhere.
(less)

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Feb 01, 2011 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Farlander is a fantasy book set in an alternate world where a few free cities remain outside the grip of the Empire of Mann. The main character, Ash, is a Roshun. The Roshun are an outfit of assassins who seek vengeance for the untimely deaths of anyone who purchases an amulet from their order. Ash is getting old and is forced to take on an apprentice if he wishes to continue his work as a Roshun. As the story gets rolling, the heir to the Empire of Mann murders a patron of the Roshun and the or...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Ilaria Tomasini rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Si legge piacevolmente, l'ambientazione e i personaggi sono male, eppure manca qualcosa. Forse �� perch�� si capisce bene che sia il vero protagonista: dovrebbe essere Ash, ma spesso viene lasciato in disparte nella storia e comunque le sue condizioni di salute lo fanno sembrare il classico "maestro che istruisce l'allievo e poi muore", per il 90% del libro sembra che sia Nico, ma alla fine si capisce che �� ovvio che pu�� essere lui, etc etc.
E poi ci sono molti approfondimenti su personaggi che...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Hacedores Desierto rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-fantasy, fantasy, fantasía, khardan, epic-fantasy

Primero, me gustaría dejar claro que este libro no es fantasía juvenil (igual que muchos otros, como El Camino de las Sombras y otros tantos) pero que aún así puede ser disfrutado por jóvenes, siempre y cuando quieran enfrentarse a literatura un poco más sesuda y compleja que la fantasía "juvenil". Esto es una generalización, puesto que hay fantasía juvenil sesuda y compleja... pero al ser un tema minoritario, no puedo dejar de hacer ver esa diferencia. Aún así se trata de un libro bastante fác...more

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Feb 04, 2011 Stefan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, www-fantasyliterature-com-review

The Holy Empire of Mann, ruled by the Holy Matriarch Sasheen, is slowly but surely conquering all the lands bordering the Mideres Sea. One of the last areas desperately holding out against the Empire’s onslaught is the island of Khos, and it's on this island that Nico, a teenager living with his mother and a succession of her boyfriends, decides to run away from home and create a better life for himself. But living on the streets turns out to be harder than he expected, especially when his first...more The Holy Empire of Mann, ruled by the Holy Matriarch Sasheen, is slowly but surely conquering all the lands bordering the Mideres Sea. One of the last areas desperately holding out against the Empire’s onslaught is the island of Khos, and it's on this island that Nico, a teenager living with his mother and a succession of her boyfriends, decides to run away from home and create a better life for himself. But living on the streets turns out to be harder than he expected, especially when his first attempted robbery goes horribly wrong. When Ash, the intended victim of Nico’s botched burglary, surprisingly offers to take him on as an apprentice, thereby saving him from cruel punishment, it’s an easy decision for Nico to make – even if this means that he will enter the order of Roshun, a secretive religious sect that’s equal parts Zen monks and elite assassins tasked with enacting vendetta if one of their clients is killed. Unbeknownst to Nico, his life is about to get even more complicated, because halfway across the world, the Holy Matriarch’s own son has just murdered a young noblewoman, who also happens to be one of the Roshun’s clients...

Col Buchanan’s debut Farlander, book one of the Heart of the World series, is a promising but somewhat uneven series opener. Some aspects of this novel are extremely well done, and others don’t work quite as well. There’s a lot to like here, but the final product doesn’t completely gel.

World-building is one of Farlander’s biggest strengths, offering a large new fantasy universe that features gunpowder and airships but very little in the way of magic. The countries and islands of the Mideres Sea are all well-defined and intriguing: the island of Khos where Nico’s story starts; the hinterlands where Sasheen’s son commits his unfortunate murder; the isle of Cheem where the Roshun order has its inventively hidden headquarters; the city of Q’os, heart of the Holy Empire of Mann... All these places are distinct and well-defined locales that together provide a great stage for Farlander’s story. Even more promising are the hints of the world’s history, including details about the origins of both the Empire and the Roshun cult, which will probably be fleshed out further in future books in the series. The world of Farlander is simply fascinating, and not nearly all of its details and secrets are fully explained yet in this first book, which may be the main reason readers will want to read further into the Heart of the World series.

In terms of characters, Farlander is a mixed bag. Nico is essentially a fantasy template that will hold little interest for most experienced fantasy readers — and it’s unfortunate that his story takes up most of this novel. Ash, the titular “farlander” who becomes Nico’s master, is much more interesting — old and ill but still a fearsome warrior who is determined to do the right thing, train an apprentice and uphold the order’s contract, even though the odds are firmly stacked against him. The principal characters on the Empire side are so villainous they border on caricatures (a former Patriarch’s name was Nihilis), but Ché, who is unfortunately only introduced towards the end of the novel, is more interesting and probably the most fascinating character in the novel. Strangely, some characters seem to be introduced for a certain purpose, which they then utterly fail to deliver on — although it’s quite possible that this will happen in future volumes in the series.

The oddest aspect of Farlander is its uneven pacing: sometimes Col Buchanan zips through scenes at a very rapid pace, and at others he slows down to go into great detail. Occasionally, it seems as if he is showing fragments of a larger story without filling in the space between them. For example, the story practically glosses over how Nico settles in as an apprentice in the Roshun order, something another writer might take a few chapters to set up: one moment Nico’s walking into the dormitory for the first time (meeting one character who becomes a central part of the plot and one that inexplicably disappears from view), and before you know it, he’s already so far along in his training that he’s ready to take an important test. Also, Col Buchanan often doesn’t show more than just the most important characters and events, giving Farlander a strange, almost bare-bones feeling, as if entire chapters and characters were cut out of it somewhere along the way. Don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with brevity in this age of endless fantasy tomes — after all many authors would probably have turned this story into an 800 page novel, and not necessarily for the better — but occasionally Farlander feels like it’s on fast-forward. What’s especially odd is the fact that Buchanan occasionally slams on the brakes and goes into great detail, e.g. describing Ash and Nico’s travel to Cheem aboard an airship in more detail than anything that came before, and especially towards the end of the novel, when several chapters focus in great detail on one prolonged action scene. Admittedly, both of these offer some of Farlander’s most exciting reading, but they’re a very noticeable contrast with the pacing of most of the rest of the novel.

Two more details not strictly related to the story, one positive and one negative: the artwork for this novel is gorgeous, including a striking cover illustration by Steve Stone and a beautiful map of the world that does something I don’t recall seeing before in fantasy: it shows the curve of the planet, with space, stars and moons above it. This gives the impression that there are more solid world-building details on the way — lurking over the horizon, so to speak. On the negative side, the copy-editing in this novel was a bit careless, including a handful of grammar, punctuation and spelling errors which would be okay for an uncorrected galley but not for the finished copy I was reading. This was doubly disappointing because it sometimes took away from my enjoyment of Col Buchanan’s somewhat formal but overall very solid and atmospheric prose — and surprising because Tor’s books rarely if ever have this issue.

Regardless, Farlander is a promising start to the Heart of the World series. Occasionally the final execution isn’t as polished as it could be, but its fascinating new fantasy world and occasional flashes of great writing indicate that you might want to keep an eye on where Col Buchanan is taking this story. Farlander isn’t an unqualified winner, but I’m still sufficiently intrigued to give the next book in the series a try.

(This review was also published at www.fantasyliterature.com on 2/4/2011.)(less)

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Oct 18, 2011 Nick Wesselmann rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not a spectacular book, but not terrible either. Not the most original, but then most fantasy books aren't any more; but it has enough twists and neat devices that it might draw me in again for the second book in the series. I rather enjoy books where the main character learns to fight/kill/steal from an organized system. Makes it seem like a school that could actually be fun.

The one thing that made me give it only 3 stars rather than 4 is the fact that the book seems to have gotten apostrophes...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Ann rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 23, 2011 Matthew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book. Reminds me of R A Salvatore: good action, fast enjoyable read and cool story line. Only one part I found very abnormal and strange but I won't mention it to not spoil the book. I loved the concept of the seals and the vendettas for the deaths. One thing that many people might not notice (I read a lot of reviews and they compare to other similar books) characters like Durzo or Drizzt (etc) always win but I noticed a kind of fragility to these characters, a display of w...more

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Feb 27, 2010 Liviu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010_release_read, review_fbc, genre-fantasy, read_2010, t1_recommended_2010, series_dropped

I liked it a lot - it's a page turner and has lots of interesting stuff going on, but I was quite surprised by the way it went and I am a bit puzzled about its destination, so I need some time truly asses it - the sequel though became a big time asap, no question about it since I definitely want to see what happens next

While the setup (the blurb is ok'sih for it) seems standard and to start at least the villains are the ultra-cliched corrupt, debauched, orgy including killing humans barehanded,...more

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Mar 17, 2012 SKCircles rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wikipedia nous dit que le buzz, anglicisme de « bourdonnement » d'insecte, est une technique marketing consistant à faire du bruit autour d'un événement, un nouveau produit ou une offre. Le moins que l'on puisse dire, c'est que les éditions Bragelonne ont, l’an dernier, fait le buzz autour de la sortie de ce roman. Col Buchanan était le nouveau prodige du moment, et Farlander un ouvrage digne des plus grands… Forcément, quand on est lecteur, ou lectrice en l’occurrence, l’anticipation générée pa...more Wikipedia nous dit que le buzz, anglicisme de « bourdonnement » d'insecte, est une technique marketing consistant à faire du bruit autour d'un événement, un nouveau produit ou une offre. Le moins que l'on puisse dire, c'est que les éditions Bragelonne ont, l’an dernier, fait le buzz autour de la sortie de ce roman. Col Buchanan était le nouveau prodige du moment, et Farlander un ouvrage digne des plus grands… Forcément, quand on est lecteur, ou lectrice en l’occurrence, l’anticipation générée par ce genre de buzz a tendance à rendre exigeant. Et quand le plaisir obtenu n’est pas à la hauteur de nos espérances, c’est compliqué !

Autant le dire tout de suite, Farlander m’a énormément déçue. L’idée de base était pourtant bien trouvée : Ash le personnage principal – car ne vous y trompez pas, c’est bien son histoire qu’on nous conte, pas celle de Nico, son apprenti – est un Rõshun, membre d’une caste d’assassins mandatés pour tuer lors d’une vendetta. Chacun de leur client porte un sceau, dont le jumeau vit au temple des Rõshuns. Si le client décède, son sceau meurt avec lui, et son double également. Il est alors possible de retracer, grâce à ce dernier, les derniers instants de la vie du porteur, et de lancer une vendetta en cas d’assassinat. Une idée originale qui me plaisait bien.

Là où le bât blesse, c’est dans le texte. Col Buchanan sait écrire, aucun doute là-dessus. Sa plume est soignée, travaillée, un peu trop justement car c’est au dépend de la dynamique de son histoire. Sans âme, son récit se traîne en longueur pendant toute la première partie du roman. Les personnages sont en noir et blanc, ils manquent de nuance jusque dans leur évolution, et par là même, de crédibilité. L’univers lui-même laisse l’impression de n’être pas très abouti, en particulier quand il s’agit du culte de Mann dont on ne sait au final pas grand-chose en dehors du fait qu’ils sont les grands méchants de l'histoire !

Si la dernière partie se révèle plus dynamique et savoureuse, le chemin qui y mène m’a paru réellement ardu. Sans être inintéressant, c’est un roman qui manque de magie, et je n’ai malheureusement pas ressenti la moindre empathie pour les personnages. Un bon point quand même : Col Buchanan va au bout de ses ambitions. Ce qu’il advient de Nico est cohérent, bien amené et courageux de la part de l’auteur, c’est assez rare pour être signalé. J’enchaîne avec le tome 2, Entre chien et loup, en espérant ne pas être déçue à nouveau.(less)

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Feb 10, 2013 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was a little hesitent to pick this one up just because of the back cover but I gave it a chance. The story seems to be a retelling of a classic in a new way. I liked the way the story unfolded and I really liked the big twist in the middle. I was kind of upset at the twist at first but after I thought about it, it was the correct way for the story to go and it totally opened up a sequel and well I will be reading that. If you like fantasy with a mid to fast paced story with a nice slow build a...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Christopher rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story had some interesting and unexpected twists, although the perspective shifting so often made the narrative hard to follow at times. The story seems to drag along at times, but just as I was getting ready to pick my horrible pulp scifi back up, it would toss something at you to keep your interest.

Despite that, this book rang my chimes more than it probably should have. There aren't many "new" concepts in this book, but Buchanan wove ideas together to create a world that really spoke to m...more

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Feb 14, 2011 Ranting Dragon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: stephan

http://www.rantingdragon.com/farlande...

After some recent deviations from my favorite genre, I was looking forward to finally reading another great and original epic fantasy. Col Buchanan’s debut Farlander, first in his Heart of the World series, was my novel of choice.

A familiar story…
This is a story of a famous and legendary veteran assassin who picks up an unlikely apprentice, a young boy from the streets of a huge city under siege by an even bigger empire. Sound familiar? If you haven’t read...more

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Mar 23, 2012 Sasha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked up this book party because of the vibrant purple acover artwork and also because I found it at a $5 bookstore. I have always loved novels set in a secondary world fantasy and this is one of the best. The ending left me angry! So angry that I had to go vent to a friend who hadn't even read it (yet). After Nico was captured I kept skipping ahead to find out what happened to him and would then go back to read the other pages. Col Buchanan created a very alive world and I particularly like...more

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May 08, 2013 FantasyWereld rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: volwassenen

Het keizerrijk Mann is onder leiding van de Heilige Matriarch Sasheen bezig met een veroveringstocht die zijn weerga niet kent. Rijk na rijk valt onder hun expansiedrift en slechts de eilandenconfederatie van Mercia en de handelsstad Bar-Khos met zijn machtige muren weten zich nog teweer te stellen. Temidden van deze grootschalige oorlog leeft op een voor buitenstaanders onbekende locatie een groep huurmoordenaars met hun eigen idealen. Wanneer de perverse zoon van de Heilige Matriarch op hun do...more Het keizerrijk Mann is onder leiding van de Heilige Matriarch Sasheen bezig met een veroveringstocht die zijn weerga niet kent. Rijk na rijk valt onder hun expansiedrift en slechts de eilandenconfederatie van Mercia en de handelsstad Bar-Khos met zijn machtige muren weten zich nog teweer te stellen. Temidden van deze grootschalige oorlog leeft op een voor buitenstaanders onbekende locatie een groep huurmoordenaars met hun eigen idealen. Wanneer de perverse zoon van de Heilige Matriarch op hun dodenlijstje komt te staan, worden de ogen van Mann echter ook op hen gericht en is niemand meer veilig. Huurmoordenaars tegen een wereldrijk, dat thema hebben we al eens eerder gezien. De vraag is of de uitwerking van Buchanan in dit debuut overtuigend genoeg is.

Roshun
Het verhaal begint bij Ash, een van de huurmoordenaars die zichzelf Roshun noemen. Mensen kunnen bij hen via tussenhandelaren hangers kopen, die je in geval van moord zullen garanderen dat je dood gewroken zal worden. Ze worden uiteraard voornamelijk gekocht voor hun preventieve werking, maar desondanks zijn de Roshun in de hele wereld actief om hun zogenoemde vendetta uit te voeren. Ash is al op leeftijd en lijdt bovendien aan een ernstige ziekte, waardoor hij tijdens een moord in de problemen komt. In opdracht van zijn orde neemt hij daarom met tegenzin een leerling aan om hem op te volgen. Dit wordt Nico, een jongeman die in de belegerde stad Bar-Khos Ash probeert te bestelen om aan eten te komen.

Waar Farlander begint met een actievolle vendetta, valt de vaart helaas al snel weer weg als Nico in beeld komt. Hij wordt opgeleid tot Roshun, een traject die uitgebreid wordt beschreven. Nico blijkt geen natuurtalent, maar toch komen Ash en Nico, die door externe invloeden op elkaar zijn aangewezen, langzaam dichter bij elkaar. Ash blijft een groot mysterie (wat hem alleen maar interessanter maakt!), maar Nico’s achtergrond wordt goed uitgediept. Hij is geen typische boerenjongen die uitgroeit tot held, maar weet zich steeds maar ternauwernood te handhaven in de wereld. Hierdoor is zijn personage geloofwaardig en ga je steeds meer met hem meeleven.

Meer lezen? Klik dan hier voor de volledige recensie: http://www.fantasywereld.nl/recensies...(less)

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Dec 20, 2012 Matthew Doucette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was pretty good. It is probably going to one of my favorites for a long time. The story takes place in the Heart of the World. Its a classic fantasy world. There is little magic. Im not sure if calling it magic is correct. Its more of unexplainable phenomenon that is just excepted by the characters. The good thing about it is that it isnt used all the time as a cop out to save people. "OH YOU DIED?!?!? HUZZAH!!! LIFE SPELL SUCKA!!!!" That really made me happy. The tools of this world a...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Jesse Whitehead rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I’ve thought a lot about originality lately. How original does something need to be to be enjoyed, or respected, or loved? I look at Eragon, Harry Potter, Avatar and even Star Wars and think that perhaps it’s not much. Do we, as a culture value originality too highly? Why do I love Star Wars but hate Eragon when they are basically the same story and Star Wars is far from the first to have done it, indeed, not even the first I encountered.

Perhaps originality is a myth anyway. Is it truly original...more I’ve thought a lot about originality lately. How original does something need to be to be enjoyed, or respected, or loved? I look at Eragon, Harry Potter, Avatar and even Star Wars and think that perhaps it’s not much. Do we, as a culture value originality too highly? Why do I love Star Wars but hate Eragon when they are basically the same story and Star Wars is far from the first to have done it, indeed, not even the first I encountered.

Perhaps originality is a myth anyway. Is it truly original or is it just the first instance you recognized? Or is it the first good version, or a better version, or more cleverly disguised? I feel that many times the accusation of lack of originality is a deeper complaint that many of us don’t know how to express. I think that feeling, to me, is similar to the one I get when I pick up those really cheap generic brand toys at Wal-mart or when I try to use the Android operating system. It’s that feeling that I’m holding a cheap knockoff; it looks shiny until you pick it up and it crumbles and bends in your hands.

So many times we encounter the same stories told over and over – Moby Dick is blatantly used as story fodder for every third movie in the Star Trek franchise – and the one that is most blatantly copying other works like Horacio Hornblower and Moby Dick is nearly universally considered the best of the bunch. When those stories fail is when the authors fail to understand the difference between inspiration and formula.

Any story can be broken down into a formula. Any formula can be remixed. Art is not formula. Art is expression.

Farlander is not original. I’m undecided about what that means.

The story is about a young boy, Nico, who is living on the streets of a city under siege when he is offered the chance to become an assassin’s apprentice. He attends a school for assassins, makes friends, meets a beautiful girl whose dad doesn’t like him, and goes on a sacred quest.

It’s also full of surprises. The characters are almost shockingly human in their fragility and mortality. Many times I anticipated some superhuman feet of vengeance or power and found only very human reactions instead. This is not a bad thing.

The writing is solid if a bit awkward at times. It’s not hard to read but there are indications throughout that this is a first novel. The story seems completely formulaic but it transcends the formula. The ending alone convinced me that perhaps this author is following an inspiration rather than a formula.

There is one thing that bothered me about this book and it seems to be a problem in most fantasy. Religion, when it exists at all seems to be only a tool for evil people to exact their special kind of hideousness on the rest of humanity while assuaging their own consciences. Is it not possible for there to be good guys who are religious? Or religions that are not themselves evil? I understand that in our own history religion has been used many times to exact many cruel and evil policies but I would posit that it is not, usually, the religion at fault but the people. For every Cortez there is a Mother Theresa.

On the whole I enjoyed the book and found myself somewhat shocked by the ending – in a good way. I’ll probably read the next one.(less)

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Apr 06, 2012 Mark Vandervinne rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In some ways, this is a very good book, and deserves four stars. In others, not so much, and deserves only 2-3.

The Good:
An overall enjoyable read. I found the storyline interesting and while I did skim over some of the lengthy descriptions, as a whole I was interested in the tale being told. That's a good thing, and it is probably worth a read, because the book isn't bad and has a lot of potential for future books (which the next one has gotten better reviews).

I liked the characters as a whole....more

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May 08, 2012 Fred Phillips rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I finished “Farlander” with very mixed feelings on the book. While there are some masterful moments from Buchanan throughout the course of the story, the novel as a whole is very uneven. We’re given an intriguing opening in which we meet Ash, overcoming great obstacles, to fulfill a vendetta against a barbarian king. Immediately following that scene, we’re subjected to chapter after chapter of setup, back story and exposition that makes the book drag for a good long while. More than once, I cons...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Audel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Après avoir lu les extraits fournis avec Neverland par les éditions Bragelone, je n’ai eu qu’une hâte lire le roman dans son intégralité !
L’histoire commence in media res, aussi, faut-il un certain temps d’adaptation pour comprendre la situation et découvrir les personnages et leurs relations les uns par rapport aux autres.
On a tout de suite envie d’en apprendre plus sur ce mystérieux « guerrier » qu’est Ash et on est impatient de voir ce qu’il va ressortir de cette nouvelle équipe qu’il va form...more

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title link	preview: Farlander
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Farlander (The Heart of the World #1)

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