Sláine: The Exile

Sláine #1

by Steven Savile

Exile is the first verse in the Lay of Sláine Mac Roth, son of the Sessair. It follows his life between the ages of 12 and 19, and begins with young Sláine coming to terms with his warrior's gift, the Warp Spasm. Exile chronicles his acceptance into the elite warriors of the Red Branch, and his eventual exile from his own people for crimes against his King. Sláine encounters Ukko, a filthy dwarven scoundrel, who attaches himself to the young warrior, 'guiding' him towards his eventual return to claim the Kingship of the Sessair. Exile is the first verse in the Lay of Sláine Mac Roth, son of the Sessair. It follows his life between the ages of 12 and 19, and begins with young Sláine coming to terms with his warrior's gift, the Warp Spasm. Exile chronicles his acceptance into the elite warriors of the Red Branch, and his eventual exile from his own people for crimes against his King. Sláine encounters Ukko, a filthy dwarven scoundrel, who attaches himself to the young warrior, 'guiding' him towards his eventual return to claim the Kingship of the Sessair.

Genres: Fantasy

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Steven Savile (born October 12, 1969, in Newcastle, England) is a British fantasy, horror and thriller writer, and editor living in Sala, Sweden.

Under the Ronan Frost penname (inspired by the hero of his bestselling novel, Silver) he has also written the action thriller White Peak, and as Matt Langley was a finalist for the People's Book Prize.

Reviews

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing.

A novelization of a comic book story is always going to have its issues and challenges, but this did not rise to those challenges. A lot of time was wasted on meandering backstory and the dialog was exceptionally weak (even relative to the comic book which, positives aside, wasn't exactly full of scintillating dialog).

The worst indictment, though, is that this book was just boring. Slaine comic books could be formulaic and repetitive, but I rarely found it boring. This novel, however, was just dull.