We’re going to need a bigger sword
Review
Demon’s Tear by R E Sanders reminded me of a successful blind date on a runaway train. It took some risks, I wasn’t sure where it was going, but it all came together beautifully and now I want more.
It begins deceptively as a fairly standard military epic fantasy with a compelling set up: the country of Banahgar, one of the many varied kingdoms in the Jantakai, or Land of the Twin Swords, is isolated from the rest, and living its best life with a sort of Gaelic/Scandinavian-inspired people. It has a military whose different divisions have glorious names like Claihedehmore and Claihed and Sverlaeggare, and the people really like their swords, and I mean really like their swords. The warriors all have “Sword-Names” like The Dusk Wolf and The Bear’s Claws and The Moon’s Balls (one of which I might have made up). The author is clearly obsessed with swords, and this comes across brilliantly on the page, with move-by-move sword fights that you suspect the author could pull off in real life and characters described as changing their hold on a greatsword so they can wield it more effectively in a small room.
Into this sword-loving mix comes Eain Connow. Currently in charge of shaping up new recruits to be hardy warriors, but plagued by his family legacy of his grandfather being a traitor, he’s faced with the ultimate challenge when Banahgar is invaded by their old foes down south, and he must escort his charges up north to warn the country. At this point I thought I knew what I expected: a Bernard Cornwell-style entertaining romp in a high fantasy land. Eain would prove himself against the invaders! Banahgar would prevail (eventually).
But then… Sanders does something interesting. He goes wide, and switches narrative, not once but over and over again, showing us many of the other countries of the Land of the Twin Swords, and many of its characters, interweaving plots left, right and centre, and building up a larger Wheel of Time-esque plot involving (among others): the eponymous Demon’s Tear, a powerful gem an ancient demon needs to cement its comeback; the thieves who’ve stolen the gem; the heroes who will eventually come to protect them; and a whole other bunch of characters who they all encounter on their journey (and that’s not to mention the occasional scenes back in Banahgar of course).
It’s a bold choice—especially as, although this is not his debut, he’s still very early career—and in the hands of a less confident author, it would have ended up messy and convoluted, and wishing we’d stayed with those sword-loving folk in Banahgar. But you know what? I absolutely loved it. For three main reasons.
First, this is a fascinating world. Across the varied country alliances that make up The Land of the Twin Swords, Sanders inserts wild elves, dwarves, forest people, giants, and just enough mythology around them to make us desperate to find out more, and then in human terms paints some very distinct lands, including one which I’m pretty sure (note: not that sure) is meant to be Welsh-inspired, which you don’t see that much.
Second, Sanders doesn’t just take risks with the jumping around, he takes risks with the pace; for a long segment of the book the action just stops completely so a main character can get over their post traumatic stress in a farmhouse full of disparate folk; fifty pages of cosy fantasy just randomly inserted, but it works.
Third, Sanders is just a great storyteller. Whether it’s the frequent tales of the world characters tell round a campfire or the small scenes of characters who don’t appear much but you feel will appear a lot in subsequent books, Sanders is never boring, at once economical with the prose so the pace is fast but also able to focus on a character’s development beats when he needs to. It’s a great balance.
And then, just as I wondered if we weren’t bouncing around a bit too much, he brings many of the threads together in a fun ending involving a town ruled by gangs and the thieves attempting to play them off against each other, completing the book’s move from military fantasy to magic fantasy all the way to Locke Lamora. Let’s get this straight, this is clearly a first book in a series setting up the bigger plotlines for the next one. But when it’s this much fun? I’m fine with that.
Overall, this is a devilishly ambitious sweeping fantasy epic, part Wheel of Time, part Bernard Cornwell, whose numerous moving parts are kept from collapsing by Sanders’ secret weapon: he’s a seriously great storyteller. An addictive start to a promising series.
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