Giveaway Winners: Farlander by Col Buchanan

The 5 lucky winners who are going to receive a copy of Col Buchanan's Farlander (review) are:

• Andrea Chettle
• Joanne Saxton
• Marc Verrall
• Michael Morton
• Rich Daniels

Well done guys! I hope you'll like the book. Please drop by later and tell us what you think of it.

Giveaway: Farlander by Col Buchanan

I recently reviewed Farlander and I greatly enjoyed it, just like so many other bloggers (ediFanoB, Liviu, Graeme, the truth about books and our favorite Scotsman).

Now here's a chance for you to discover Farlander. For 5 lucky readers I have 5 copies of Farlander by Col Buchanan to give away thanks to the very nice and generous people of Tor UK (twitter). All you have to do is to drop me an e-mail at betweentwobooks at gmail dot com with your name, your postal address and the subject "FARLANDER".

This giveaway is UK Only and 1 entry per address or per name is allowed. Multiple entries will be disqualified from the draw.

I will be accepting your e-mails until 12:00 on April 1st and I will announce the lucky winners on this blog the next day.

Blurb

The Heart of the World is a land in strife. For fifty years the Holy Empire of Mann, an empire and religion born from a nihilistic urban cult, has been conquering nation after nation. Their leader, Holy Matriarch Sasheen, ruthlessly maintains control through her Diplomats, priests trained as subtle predators.

The Mercian Free Ports are the only confederacy yet to fall. Their only land link to the southern continent, a long and narrow isthmus, is protected by the city of Bar-Khos. For ten years now, the great southern walls of Bar-Khos have been besieged by the Imperial Fourth Army.

Ash is a member of an elite group of assassins, the Rōshun - who offer protection through the threat of vendetta. Forced by his ailing health to take on an apprentice, he chooses Nico, a young man living in the besieged city of Bar-Khos. At the time, Nico is hungry, desperate, and alone in a city that finds itself teetering on the brink.

When the Holy Matriarch’s son deliberately murders a woman under the protection of the Rōshun; he forces the sect to seek his life in retribution. As Ash and his young apprentice set out to fulfil the Rōshun orders – their journey takes them into the heart of the conflict between the Empire and the Free Ports . . . into bloodshed and death.

About the Author

Colin Buchanan was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, in 1973. The one constant in his life has been his love of writing. It was writing that lead him to his adopted home of Lancaster, England, where he gained a First in Creative Writing & Religious Studies at the University of Cumbria. In recent years he has mostly settled down, and loves nothing more than a late-night gathering around a fire with good friends. Farlander is the first novel in the Heart of the World series...

Review: Farlander by Col Buchanan

Title: Farlander
Author: Col Buchanan
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Tor
Publishing Date: 5 Mar 2010
Hardback: 384 pages
Series: Book one of The Heart of the World

Summary

Mercian Free Ports are the last unconquered lands standing before the Holy Empire of Mann. The shield, six bands of wall of sheer gray stone, towering some ninety feet in height, has protected the island of Khos for over three centuries. But the Shield of Khos is under siege and the full might of the Imperial Forth Army is taking its toll slowly on the city. Poverty reigns, food becomes scarcer by day, men die or go mad fighting in narrow tunnels under the walls. In all this misery, Nico, a young lad, desperately hungry, makes a mistakes and gets caught stealing a fat purse from a dark-skinned farlander named Ash. In prison, Ash visits Nico and offers him a second chance: to take him on apprentice, for Nico to become a Rōshun.

Don’t Judge A Book By It But...

Despite its central sword-wielding hooded figure I liked this cover. I probably looked past this person and saw the promise of a puzzling world on the background. After having read the book, it even makes more sense now.

Review

When I asked myself what I liked most about Col Buchanan's Farlander, my immediate answer was "the way he tells his story". It almost felt like Buchanan could write about anything and could still make it sound enjoyable. He has a powerful style that made me deeply connect with the story and the pages started to turn by themselves. The plot, even though sounding not very intricate, is very well constructed and satisfyingly intriguing.

I was glad to have a map but I must admit that I was a little apprehensive about the Farlander's setting. When I saw the zeppelin-like flying ship on the background of the book cover, I was somehow hesitant, asking myself how far the modern world would seep into the fantasy. I was pleasantly surprised with the result. Buchanan introduces some of the more modern sides of Farlander's setting in a very well planned and controlled manner without pushing the reader to a jump of faith. On the spiritual side, I loved the belief system that he created. The history of the Holy Order of Mann and their perverse faith are particularly poignant. In some parts, the story also contains a slight touch of magic without using the usual concepts.

Farlander's characters add to the charm of the book. Please forgive me the comparison but I thought I saw some Fitz (Robin Hobb) in Nico in more than one occasion. I'm sure Buchanan's smooth style has something to do with it too. Even though they don't jump out of the book, they are, in general, very enjoyable characters.

Buchanan uses also very satisfactory and harmonious parallel story threads. Without rendering them too sophisticated, he controls smoothly the flow of the story.

All in all, Col Buchanan's Farlander is an excellent fantasy debut that I greatly enjoyed. His engaging style is a good indicator for me to pick up his future books without hesitation.

Rating: 9/10

Quotes

"In the worst of days were laid the seeds of better times." - The Great Fool

"Do not judge a man for the path that he follows. Unless you have walked each and every step in the same direction, you cannot tell another where he is headed, nor what he leaves behind." - the Blessed Prophet

"The seeds of things show what fruits will come of them." - the Seer