Green Rider Series: Book One

[bibliogramma]

Green Rider, Kristen Britain

This is the first novel in a series by a relatively new fantasy writer. Some of the tropes are very familiar: the unfairly maligned child/adolescent – in this case, merchant’s daughter Karigan G'ladheon who is expelled from school for fighting after being taunted unmercifully by nasty young nobles – with a great destiny whose life is altered by an event of great import when she finds herself, out of the blue, the only person who can complete an important quest that you wouldn’t really expect she would have the skills to fulfil, but being a plucky and courageous and resourceful and, let’s admit it, lucky young person of destiny, she does pull it off, and saves the day, only of course there’s a bigger quest waiting for her now that she’s taken the first step on the path to greatness. The overall plot, both of the immediate quest – treachery and corruption threatening the court of the good ruler – and of what seems to be the longer series arc – the awakening of an ancient evil – are also part of the standard repertoire of fantasy.

What makes or breaks a story like this is the details, the particulars – after all, a lot of what I said above also could be used to describe The Lord of the Rings or half a dozen other classics of fantasy – and Britain has done a very good job with those. There’s good characterisation, nice fast pacing, an interesting plot, and a slow unveiling of a backstory that holds a great deal of promise for future adventures. The hero is someone you care about and the world she lives in has a character of its own.

There’s perhaps more than a hint of Mercedes Lackey’s Heralds of Valdemar in the pedigree of Britain’s Green Riders, but then, I really like the Heralds of Valdemar, so that’s hardly a drawback as far as I’m concerned. This was a fun read, and I’ll be coming back for more from Britain.

Comments

[indongcho.livejournal.com]

The first time I read this book I didn't enjoy it much. It was far too predictable for me, and the romance screamed formula. Plus I was incredibly annoyed that Karigan didn't even name her horse- to me it spoke of a lack of imagination.

Who would, when traveling for that long, neglect to name the poor horse? This isn't the kind of book where the identities of the horses is unimportant.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

Re not naming the horse: I took that as part of the whole "I don't want to be a Green Rider, I'm just doing this becasue I am honour-bound to do it, and then I'll go home and have a real-life" thing that Karigan has going on. She really doesn't want to attach to this adventure she's having.

I do agree that there's a lot that's derivative here, but it still grabbed me. I think I have a weakness for plucky young girls caught up by fate, so that could account for it.

The second book is more complex, and less derivative.