Trilogy Titles: Chosen of the Sun (Book 1), Beloved of the Dead (Book 2), Children of the Dragon (Book 3) Author: Richard E. Dansky
Overview
Exalted is one of the newest original settings created by White Wolf. Launched in the summer 0f 2001, it looks to be the successor of WW’s highly successful World of Darkness Line, which is concluding with the Time Of Judgment in January 2004.
In the Second Age, creation is on the ropes. The empress of the Scarlet Empire has gone missing. The accursed anathema and foes of the realm, the Solar Exalted, have returned. And the heavens have set events into motion that can result in the destruction of everything the Dragon Blooded of the Empire have fought for or it can usher in a Golden era that will surpass the beauty and unity of the First Age. Two individuals find themselves woven into the fabric of fate. One is Elizer Wren… “A simple man who wants to be a simple priest. But stealing the Prince of Shadows’ plunder and ambushing one of his most trusted servants is not the best way to go about ensuring a simple life…Now Wren is on the run from the Princes hunters…and caught in a web of betrayal from his past.” (Back cover of Book 1) The other is Yushuv, a young boy growing up in a backwater village known as Qut Toloc. His life is rather mundane, punctuated by the occasional foray into the catacombs beneath the local Immaculate Order temple… until one day he finds a mysterious dagger forged from Orichalcum, an alloy of the first age…”For in this time of Strife, even the heavens hide their secrets and a divination gone wrong sets into motion of a series of events that threaten to rock the very foundation of the Realm.” (Book 1 Back Cover Again)
Book 1 Summary
Wren runs into the Prince of Shadows outside and old tomb named Talat’s Howe, where one of his traps kills a favored servant, Sandheart. The Prince, most displeased, sends Ratcatcher to recover the wayward Priest. Meanwhile, Yushuv’s dagger garners the interest of the Immaculate Order, and one Chejop Kejak. Kejak, one of the Sidereal Exalted, was one of the masterminds behind the fall of the Solar Exalted and the establishment of the Immaculate Order. Unable to contact Wren, who has been working for him for some time, he orders Holok, one of his most trusted operatives to find Wren or at least the source of the troubling divinations of late. Holok eventually runs into Yushuv during a Wyld Hunt, and the small boy faces off against aggressors both more experienced and vast in number…Wren is captured by the Prince of Shadows, but manages to escape into the deadly labyrinthine underworld…
Thoughts on Book 1
I like how Dansky opens this novel up from the POV of minor character and occasionally relates the story like this throughout the books. It adds variety and a sense of immersion to the setting, getting in the heads of all sorts of people. I also like the explanation of Yushuv’s exaltation and the fact that while the book’s characters may be Exalted, it explains and narrates the use of Charms with a natural voice instead of a lot of Trek babble. My strongest gripe in book one comes from the climax, and Yushuv seems to beat the Wyld Hunt with ‘relative’ ease. In my opinion, one small boy who has little to know training is no match for a Wyld Hunt led by an experienced Immaculate Order agent. It, however, is easy enough to overlook Dansky’s portrayal of Yushuv as the “Super Solar” when the rest of the book is written well enough. And Wren’s fight with Ratcatcher on the Orrey just kicks ass!
Book 2 Summary
“The Warrior Dace and his young charge, Yushuv, were already on the run from the inquisitors and huntsmen of the Realm. Now, in the wilds of the Scavenger Lands, they face an ageless, relentless enemy with only the Unconquered Sun to help them…In more dire straits still, the priest Elizer Wren braves the Underworld itself to escape the Prince of Shadows. But dark powers await him there, determined to bend him to their will- or break him if he refuses.” (Taken from Book 2 Back Cover)
Thoughts on Book 2
I would have to agree with Stephen Joseph Ellis’ review that parts of Book 2 are very thin… in that Dansky tends to use a lot of recycled clichés… but then again, what isn’t nowadays? My biggest gripe is that set pieces like a first age city are introduced and thoroughly destroyed in the span a 100 pages… or that the ghosts in the tomb with first age memories have little to no significance. But really, this is popcorn reading, not Neuromancer. Most of these transgressions are par for the course, and the setting more then makes up for it.
Book 3 Summary
Wren and Yushuv’s paths finally meet and a showdown between the Prince, Ratcatcher, Wren, Yushuv, and the Wyld Hunt rages around and in Talat’s Howe… and “Even the Unconquered Sun may not be enough to save them both.” (Book 3 Cover)
Thoughts on Book 3
All the threads Dansky has written throughout three novels finally mesh into one final sweeping finale. The disappointing factor of any Trilogy is that at least one major character bites it. The truth is no different here, although whether or not it meant anything is up to debate. I like the hanging ending, and think it really gives a sense that this world continues… it isn’t the end all be the entire world.
Final Thoughts
Dansky writes good popcorn fiction. I haven’t read a series of books this many times since my Goosebumps or Dragonlance days. He writes in a rich world that is not critical of what the rulebooks say and tells an interesting story. He is able to convince us that this series events is not the end all be all of the world… which is a little odd, considering that’s what the back covers seem to push… but anyways, its nice to see a grey ‘good ending with possibility of more stories” unlike, say… Lord of the Rings. I enjoyed the variety of characters and the places Dansky took his stories. The names were especially well done… not too over the top by definitely exotic. The most annoying thing, and a habit with White Wolf, is the scourge of typos. There are at least several in each book, enough for me to notice… and of course, it’s Popcorn reading. But fun, totally engrossing, Popcorn reading.
Style: 4/5 (Classy and Well done) Substance: 2/5 (Sparse)
