A Plague of Giants is the first book in Kevin Hearne’s new series, The Seven Kennings. I enjoyed Hearne’s Iron Druid series and was glad to get a copy of this new novel from NetGalley. The good news is, NetGalley expects one to 1) Finish and 2) Review each book. The bad news? We have to 1) Finish and 2) Review. I almost didn’t make it through #1.
A Plague of Giants begins with a bang. A tidal mariner sees an invasion force, scuttles many ships and warns her country’s leaders in time to repel the invaders. Right away this gets us interested. What is a tidal mariner, who are these invaders, what is going on here? We get hints of the magic system with this tidal mariner’s story: She expends part of her life each time she uses her kenning (magical gift, in her case water-related), and large tasks cost her years. That sounds intriguing!
I settled in to read the rest…only the next section bogged down. And it got worse. Slower, and slower until the only things keeping me reading were a guilty sense of duty and a dim memory that thee Iron Druid novels have slow spots that are not too long.
By 25% of the way through (thank you Kindle for telling me how much more to endure) I thought seriously about skimming the rest and writing a short, negative review. By 30% through the book starts to pick up. Some of the disparate strands of story start to come together, book has more action than politics, we learn about a few new characters with interesting stories.
The Good Points
Hearne uses the device of a bard recreating and retelling first-person stories to show snippets from 10 characters in 6 countries. Not all the character have kennings and of those who do, they differ. This method gives us a plausible sense of in-person viewpoint.
Some of the characters are fascinating. We are supposed to dislike the viceroy Melishev Lohmet, although I find him quite interesting. He is conniving, sneaky, sly, dedicated to himself first, last and always. He is despicable – but interesting and I enjoy his sections. Gondel the scholar and Nel Kit ben Sah are also well done.
Plague of Giants has a plethora of plot, big, little, over-arching, tiny subs, enough that it is challenging to keep the characters and their plot involvements straight. I wasn’t sure at first whether the two giant invasions were connected, and if not, which was the main plot. Hearne hints at some plots; for example, one narrator’s house guest seems more than she appears on the surface. On the good side he wraps up the main subplot by the end.
The Not So Good Points
It seemed to take Hearne several iterations to get the bard-telling-the-story method working well. I wouldn’t say the first few viewpoints were confusing – it was always clear who was talking – but it wasn’t clear how they worked together, or even if they were supposed to connect.
After a few character sequences the bard starts each new session by introducing the character and sketching the background, how the little vignette fit in time compared to other events. This is helpful to keep us focused and helps the pacing.
Characterization is uneven. Some of the characters stari out as semi-reasonable folk, then slide down to nasty, murderous thugs, notably Garin Mogen. Mogen is lava-born, controls fire, leads his people to escape the volcano eruption that destroys their home. He is quick tempered and won’t let soft considerations stop him from settling where he wants. Mogen views things like ownership, permission, unauthorized forestry as soft, simply unimportant. That part makes sense. What doesn’t make much sense is that Mogen not only has no qualms about killing people with fire, he relishes it. He wants to kill, to burn everyone who stands in his way. At first Mogen was one of the most interesting people, but we readers quickly decide he needs to go, just as fast as someone can get him gone.
I don’t recall reading it in the novel, but it is as though one becomes the element one controls and it takes the kenning bearer over. If that’s the case then it’s hard to see how Mogen had kept his people together as long as he did.
We are supposed to like Abhinava Khose (Abi) but I find him tedious, overly dramatic, in fact a typical older teen who thinks they are important. This is not a flaw in the writer, but my reaction to a spoiled brat who later makes good, solely by accident. In fact I think it’s to Hearne’s credit that he creates characters that are so realistic.
Some of the plot points were hinted. Refugee Elynea lives with Dervan, the main POV character and a close friend of his country’s elected ruler. She wants a job but when Dervan finds her one she is angry. Supposedly she is angry because she didn’t need his help, but I feel her response to situations is slightly off all the way. No doubt we’ll see more of Elynea in sequels.
The book does not have an ending. Hearne stops telling the story at a point where a couple sub-plots finish and the main plot takes a breather, but it is clear that the story will continue in sequels. I prefer books like The Iron Druid novels that flow sequentially, but one can enjoy reading them out of order.
There is no map and we readers need one.
Did I mention pace? The excruciating slow start nearly swamps out the good points. I don’t know whether a little more editing would help, or staying with one character longer at the beginning would make it more readable.
The pacing problems make A Plague of Giants hard to rate. Do I base it on the last half, 4 stars? The first quarter, 1 star? Let’s say overall 3 stars. Good story, interesting characters but a pace that derails the reader.
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