Book Review: Storm Without End (Requiem For The Rift King #1) by R. J. Blain

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Book Review: Storm Without End (Requiem For The Rift King #1) by R. J. Blain

Storm Without End makes no secret of its multi-volume nature. It says it right on the cover but if I'm going to pick the thing that irked me most reading this book it was the lack of a complete story. It's not just that there are things left unresolved. It's that nothing is resolved at all. I didn't feel like I'd reached the end of a story arc.

That complaint out of the way I should emphasise that I fully expect to read the next book in the series and that one of the reasons I found the abrupt end so frustrating is that I was really interested in the mysteries that had been set up. Multi-book stories are both popular with readers (who seem to like long fantasy stories) and also a good thing for the author because the second book is a known quantity and easier sell. But balancing giving a satisfying story with hooking people in for the next part is not an easy thing. There's certainly plenty of hook here.

Who, What, Where?

We're brought into this fantasy world almost entirely in the dark and rather mysteriously our primary viewpoint character Kalen also seems to be in the dark. Confused about where he is and how he got there.

This authorly sleight of hand has two benefits. It legitimately lets people explain things or figure things out without it feeling like a blatant infodump and it also allows the story to sparingly hand out information keeping the reader in the dark.

At times that can be quite frustrating and you just want to know what's going on and who that guy is referring to, and why is The Rift so dangerous anyway? But, it does keep you interested. Perhaps the more substantive complaint is that even by the end of this first book there are still an awful lot of unknowns. And some of it is stuff where I feel that characters should at least be asking the questions even if they don't get definitive answers back.

Politics and Religion Mix With Violence

There's a lot of both politics and religion going on in Storm Without End. But we're mostly seeing the results of that, not the maneuvering that creates the situation. So to that extent the world we're presented with is both deep and shallow at this point.

We know almost nothing actually about the religion of the invading country except that it appears to be quite nasty. We also know almost nothing about the true nature of the Rift King even though he is the primary viewpoint character for the story. The implication is that there is more to be revealed in both cases.

What we do know is that a combination of politics and religion has basically created the conditions for the invasion that is happening. Why Kalen, the Rift King has ended up in the middle of it is less clear. And what he or anyone else is going to do about it, I guess will be answered in the next book?

Always At A Disadvantage

Kalen himself is actually quite an appealing character. He's clearly very capable (most of the time, sometimes he's just jumpy) but he spends most of this book at one major disadvantage or another. As the Rift King he has significant power (hinted at for much of the book and this one is explained at least partially before the book is done) but circumstances contrive to keep him frequently helpless whether it's from a broken hand or some other situation.

What's appealing about him is that this endless succession of bad luck doesn't seem to get him down that much. He just keeps planning and trying and fighting back. And when he gets to build up steam a little he can do some damage.

But it does mean he spends the whole book being reactionary, as do his allies. He seems to have been caught by surprise by this invasion (despite being a King and having substantial intelligence at his command) and gets repeatedly caught and handed off to different groups that he then has to attempt to escape from.

Summarizing it like this it sounds a bit negative, but the thing is that the pacing and the action keep that side of the book hopping along nicely. There's always something dramatic or dangerous happening, you always want to read the next chapter to see how he gets out of it.

Talking Animals?

Well, sort of. Kalen and the others from the Rift seem to be able to telepathically communicate with their horses and the animals seem to be substantially smarter and more dangerous than your regular horse.

In addition there are other horse-like creatures that are also able to communicate telepathically. I'm not clear if there's a link between the two or not. These certainly aren't cutesy talking animals, they can be downright vicious in fact and they do have distinct personalities of their own.

There's really nothing cutesy about this story at all. The Rift is clearly a bloody and dangerous place as are the other kingdoms.

Lots of Potential, All Setup

So basically I enjoyed reading this, until it stopped. It feels, looking back on it, as though I've mainly read setup for what will happen in the next two books.

But I really want to read what will happen.