The Eagle's Flight

The Chronicles of Adalmearc #1

by Daniel E. Olesen

Peace in the Seven Realms of Adalmearc is only as strong as those who rule them. With the death of the high king and his heir too young to assume the throne, political intrigues fill the landscape as the leading noble families scheme and plot their way to power. Meanwhile, enemies abroad sense the changes and make their own preparations.

Standing as a safeguard against both foreign foes as well as enemies closer to heart are the Order and its knights. Keeping the realms of Adalmearc united and at peace is their foremost duty. But when the strife turns political and the enemy is difficult to discern, when alliances shift and allegiances are torn, even the hitherto unassailable honour of a knight may become stained.

"The Eagle's Flight" compiles the first three of the Chronicles of Adalmearc. It is a journey into the fantastic world of Adal, its realms, peoples, cultures, and conflicts.

Note: Full e-book can be downloaded for free at www.annalsofadal.net along with a colour map in high resolution.

Genres: Fantasy

500 pages, Hardcover

First published May 12, 2016

About the author

Indie writer and freelance editor with a Masters in Comparative Literature, currently publishing The Chronicles of Adalmearc; every book can be downloaded for free from my website as they are published: www.annalsofadal.net

I am also a member of Sigil Independent, a guild of indie writers pledged to professionalism, publishing books of high quality and using industry standard methods. See more at: www.sigilindependent.com

Reviews

[Esme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intro:

This is one of six chosen by Ventureadlaxre for the semi finalist position, all books now have feedback for this grouping and I’ve read 3/6 of the semi finalists and plan to read the rest as part of the 100.

This book is one of the most mind blowingly detailed books I’ve read in a very long time, there’s an expansive list of both side and main characters, and most of those characters and their houses all have back stories. Those backstories all have ties to other houses that are both obvious and subtle and make for a really complex plot.

If you’re picking this one up give yourself a little bit of time to get into the world, it’s not one you can start and read for ten minutes then set down and come back later, you really need a good half hour or so to get immersed enough to remember the characters when you come back.

Plot:

There’s a bunch of plots going on, most of them revolving around characters grasping for power, whether it’s the priests trying to get into court as the Seer, or the Jarls vying over the Lord Protectors title most of what’s going on are power struggles between families, groups, and realms.

The book is split into three chronicles, and the first gets you acquainted with many of the Jarls, the lay of the land, the way the leadership of this world is set up etc. The second chronicle takes you to another part of the realm and follows some different characters (priests of the temple of Hamaring and the Queen), although there are some tie ins from the first chronicle, and then the third chronicle goes back to the story you started out with. The chronicles themselves are rather short but together it makes for a lengthy book of about 500 pages.

There’s back stabbery, warfare, politics on top of politics and strategy going on everywhere, there are so many Houses and families with their thanes and margraves and landgraves and knights and all that, there’s always something going on.

Characters:

There are so many characters, my god. What may be confusing for some is how similar the names are to each other, it makes for good world building but sometimes confusing reading, I usually focused on the suffix of a name to keep things straight. There are too many characters to list even a quarter of them, but for instance: Athelbold is Athelgars father, Isenhart is Isenwalds father, so you get an idea of who the families are but sometimes I wasn’t sure which member of the family was speaking at first.

Since there are so many characters I’ll just point out a couple bigger players:

The Quill – an older wiser mentor type, keeps the scrolls and libraries tended to and tutors a girl named Kate. Kate sort of works as a way to learn about the world through the eyes of someone being taught about it, sort of a classic student teacher narrative teaching you about the world you’re in.
Isenhart – he’s kind of a douchebag, he doesn’t shy away from physical punishment for his own kin, and doesn’t value life very highly. He’s grabbing for power and trying to take advantage of the volatile situation the realm is in after the prince’s death and the succession thrown into question.
Isenwald – Isenharts son and he has a possible betrothal to a rival jarls daughter Valerie
Athelbold & Athelgar, Athelstan & Eudmund – relatives to the jarl Isenhart most of them knights
Egil – The Quills apprentice, he was sent off at the beginning of the book to investigate the death of the prince to see if there’s more to the story. You also get some backstory to the world through this characters POV and get some interesting info about the elves.
Aelfwine – he is accompanying Egil while they trek out to the spot where the prince was killed, knows a lot about elves.
Theodora – The young queen, 16 I think, you see a lot of her in the second chronicle.
Nicolas – an archer and winner of a tourney, you see a bit of the army through his POV
Worldbuilding:

Extensive, I’m not even sure where to start, this is a fully living breathing world he’s created and the roots run deep.

There are little ceremonies and cultural tidbits throughout the novel, things like the Knighting ceremony, or how different areas of the realm have different ‘parting gifts’ whether it’s a knotted leather bracelet or bluebell flowers, every aspect of the world is laid out in detail.

You get to see a lot of backstory through Kate and some general knowledge of the world like their speech is known as Mearcspeech, or Adalspeech, or Nordspeech depending on who you ask and where you are – there’s a lot of that. If you’re in the north you refer to the leading priest as the High Priest, but in the south he’s the Archon, there’s just so many little details like that everywhere.

Pacing/Prose/Tone:

The writing is pretty straight forward, there’s not a lot of flowery metaphors or tons of descriptions, and it kind of felt like being dropped into skyrim almost with Jarls and Thanes and all that.

It took a little while to get into it because you’re getting your bearings in the world, but once things start moving and Isenhart starts fucking with things and the outlanders army starts invading things pick up the pace quite a bit.

Audience:

For people who love detailed world building with moving pieces that all work together
For people who like complex multi POV stories
For people who like historical fiction
For people who like Skyrim with elves and dwarves and talk of dragons and civil war
For people who like more grey/neutral characters without a clear good or bad disposition

[Jennifer (bunnyreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know what it is with me and these stories with ridiculously well-thought out world’s lately… but man, struck gold again on that front. I’ve mentioned before they aren’t always my thing because usually they’re draggy and I just fall asleep too easily these days.

This one, was more along the lines of the traditional style fantasy like Feist, or Williams. It’s a huge and fully realized world, full of people and culture- build right from the ground up, everything from trade routes, mining rights etc... up to political maneuverings of who is backstabbing who, to put their guy in play for the right to run the kingdom. It felt like the equivalent of reading a very plotty chess game. I like chess, and there’s nothing I love more than a good who’s out-thinking who, kind of story.

The author’s writing style set the scenes very well, giving a surprisingly large amount of information about the world, while still keeping the plots moving along and my interest up. This was good for me, it kept me coming back and reading, even when I was having difficulty keeping characters straight in my head. Which for a long while I could not keep track of who was who (even with some of them having different speech patterns and other clues to help keep them straight). Sadly, I am one of those people who just can’t remember names easily. I am a face person which of course, doesn’t work very well when reading.

Because of that, it took me a bit of time to really connect to anyone. The style also, was very non-sided (if that makes sense), so sometimes we see both sides and can even look ahead a few moves, though we maybe didn’t understand the motivations until all the pieces were out of play. It did give the people and world a more solid feel, but it also made it more difficult to root for any one person or to decide who was greedy and self-serving, and who only seemed greedy and self-serving until the dust settled.

The author does include a cast of characters and relations list for each house in the back, which had this been paperback I would have used the hell out of, but on the kobo app, not so much (they have the most irritatingly un-interactive app, getting the damn thing to bookmark instead of change a page is hard enough). Anyway, I encourage the other name-remembering challenged folks, to take advantage of it.
I believe there was a map as well, which should make all those die-hard map fans happy.

This may not have been the perfect story, but writing, editing, plotting, overall presentation all combined for a high-quality novel. Now, I have a few favorite characters, I will have to come back and see what happens in future novels.


Also- you know those scenic documentaries they do where they film from a balloon and travel up the coastline etc.. while giving you a short little run-down of the area as they go by? Well, that was how the book opened and I thought it was pretty cool.

[Noor Al-Shanti · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Eagle's Flight is an expertly written, thoroughly entertaining fantasy tale. And the best part? You can currently get it all for free through the author's website! http://www.annalsofadal.net/

When I first started reading it I was pleasantly surprised to find that the author did not hesitate to provide detailed descriptions of things like the layout of the capital city in a way that reminded me a little bit of Tolkien. And those descriptions really come in handy later when the city is embroiled in a war and I can clearly imagine where the troops are, what the walls are protecting, etc. Not many authors can pull off detailed descriptions without seeming overly info-dumpy, but Daniel Olesen does it extremely well in this novel.

This novel is filled with political plotting, battles, and a large cast of characters with conflicting motivations. There isn't necessarily one main character and I often found myself torn between the motivations of two characters who disagree or unsure about a character that I thought was my favorite, and so on. Various characters feature prominently throughout the book and their scenes are expertly woven together to give us a sense of the overall story and the state of the realm.

Finally, I thought I would mention the brief foray into a war with the invading outlanders. I'm used to picking up even the best fantasy books and finding that the bad guys or the enemy are based on Middle-Eastern cultures and stereotypes. While there was a definite hint towards the Middle-Eastern in their descriptions I didn't actually find the way it was handled to be much of an issue. They weren't vilified or overly stereotyped simply for who they were or for being different and while they did fight savagely in the war many of the leaders of Adalmearc did as well. Like I said this is rare and the author is to be commended for not relying too heavily on stereotypes.

Before this review turns too long I will conclude by saying I definitely recommend this book to any fantasy lover, especially those who love world-building. It was a satisfying read and I will be waiting for the next one!

[Lanzz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sebuah webnovel bergenre high fantasy dengan plot yang epik dan penuh dengan aksi peperangan, serta subplot politik yang detail. Recommended utk peminat siri novel Game of Thrones. Sebagai satu webnovel percuma, tak sangka kualitinya bagus seperti ni. Dahlah tebal. Scene aksi dan strategy peperangan diceritakan dengan detail. Cuma pembaca mungkin akan pening sikit dgn subplot politik yg rumit.

Plot novel ni rumit, sebab ada banyak watak2 utama. Tapi plot tertumpu pada kisah perebutan takhta high king di Seven Realms of Adalmearc selepas semua warisnya mati. Maka, golongan bangsawan yg tamak mula mencetuskan perang saudara, tanpa menghiraukan ancaman tentera musuh yg mula menceroboh dari selatan. Watak yg lebih menyerlah kisahnya adalah Adalbrand of House Arnling, pemuda bangsawan bawahan yg cuba membangunkan kembali keluarganya yg kini tanpa sebarang kuasa...

[M.D. Presley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been putting off writing this review for a while now, and that's probably because I'm still angry at this book for stealing so much of my sleep by keeping me up at night.

First thing's first, I know the author, though we met because I read this book and reached out to him. So take that disclaimer however you will. And with that in mind, let me say, this book ain't for no newbie fantasy readers. Mr. Olesen makes his audience work for every inch of their experience by never spoon-feeding a single plot point or simplifying an iota of character motivation. In fact, he's specifically made it a point to focus only on what can be directly observed by what the characters say and do rather than expositioning a damn thing in his prose.

Add to this an incredibly intricate world with its own regions, religions, cultures and histories (seriously, check out his website if you don't believe me), and you have an adventure that's not for tenderfoots. So if you're new to the genre, you should probably level-up a few times with some easy reads before you tackle this one.

But if you're sufficiently powerful and have a grizzled veteran's familiarity of the genre tropes and traditions, you'll earn your prize with some awesome characters all set against each other in a dizzying array of subplots. It's my personal litmus test for a good book when I want characters with opposing goals to both succeed, and this book passes this test with flying colors.

I can't award the full five stars it probably deserves because of both its difficulty as well as (and we've discussed this) its naming convention with members of the same family sharing exceedingly similar names. Yes, this entirely fits with the consistent fantasy world developed here, but it sure makes it difficult sometimes to tell who's speaking to whom. Still, totally worth it in the end.

[John Napier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, which I felt was very well written with an engrossing story.

It's about a medieval kingdom, where some of the powerful lords plot and fight to become the next ruler after the late King's passing, despite their realm simultaneously being threatened by outside forces.

The story is told through many different characters' eyes ranging from both commoners to nobles, and as such helps to give a feel for what life may have been like for them. There is also mystery and suspense to go along with some exciting battles and action.

Amidst all of this, there are some likeable characters to root for when they are faced with difficult situations, which often left me anxiously turning the pages.

There are 3 parts to this book, and felt that the final one nicely finished some of the plot lines whilst also setting the stage for this story to be continued in its forthcoming sequels. Finally, there is a map and further background information about its world at http://www.annalsofadal.net

[Jamie Edmundson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first noticed Daniel Olesen’s The Eagles’s Flight in the 2017 Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off. It was in the same section as Toric’s Dagger, and while neither book won through, they both made it to the semi-final stage, with Daniel’s book getting a rather more positive review than mine. It sounded like complex, historical, epic fantasy, which is right up my street, and so I treated myself to a read. I certainly wasn’t disappointed, though it’s a book that may not be for everyone. File under historical. With a capital ‘H’.



CHARACTERS
Like good epic fantasy should, The Eagle’s Flight gives us a feast of characters who inhabit the lands of Adalmearc. The point of view shifts from one character to the next with rapidity. Yes, some people don’t like this, but I do, and I appreciate that the writer trusts that I am intelligent enough to cope with it. The first part of the book centres on the capital, Middanhal, where the powerful nobility gather and politic in the reign of a vulnerable child king. The houses of Isarn and the Vale feud over political office – we are introduced to the leaders of each house, their brothers, children, cousins – and then, there are lesser houses, each with their own ambitions. Some men serve the Order, a military organisation whose duty is to preserve the unity of the kingdom and serve the royal house. Some serve in the Order while also serving themselves. Two characters who stand out are Athelstan, a famous knight and younger brother of the Duke of Isarn, and his squire Brand, scion of a family with royal blood.

In the second part we are transported to Haethiod, a border region where a foreign army has invaded. A new cast of characters are introduced here, including the young Queen of Haethiod, Theodora, the domineering dowager queen Irene, and Lord Leander, illegitimate son of the previous king. Finally, we return to Middanhal, where the complex politics of the capital have led to a state of war.

Given the highly medieval setting, the main movers and shakers in the story are noblemen, but we also follow characters with lower social standing and a number of female characters, who operate in a typical male dominated, medieval society. There is the odd elf and dwarf character, but these are fairly peripheral to the story, in this first volume at least.

I think it is fair to say that this book focuses on world-building and plot, and is therefore less character driven. The characters aren’t as obtrusive as you may find in A Game of Thrones or Joe Abercrombie’s books. But they are arguably more realistic, behave logically, are motivated by their own desires and loyalties, and I found the huge cast to be memorable and I cared what happened to them.



WORLDBUILDING
This is one of the strengths of the book, in particular the historical accuracy which underpins this creation of a medieval European fantasy world. Yes, nothing original about doing this, but it is done very well, which is more important. Right from the beginning, the world is given centre stage, as the narrator introduces the lands of Adalmearc to the reader. We are not yet looking through the eyes of any particular character, and Olesen often starts chapters with this omniscient view.

This is a fully thought out, functioning world. Does the reader need all the detail? Personally, I like this kind of detail to fully immerse myself in a fantasy story. But I know some people will be running for the hills at the thought of this overwhelming historicity. And that’s OK, not everyone’s the same. Can you stand one character asking a second about battle tactics to allow the author to give a lecture on army formations? This can be a bit clunky. But the trade off is battle scenes and sieges where characters have to make real choices with the resources available to them. And honestly, this is pretty rare in fantasy. There are no supermen here who can wield a sword and defeat an army. Archers don’t have limitless supplies of arrows. Generals can’t raise armies in a day. You get the point.

Finally, this is a fantasy book, is there any magic? Well. There are hints of it, of a bigger story emerging in the later books. But much like GRR Martin in A Game of Thrones, Olesen has kept tight control over this storyline to allow himself the space to introduce a realm largely inhabited by humans.



PLOT
So, without giving too much away, we have internal power politics driving the plot, the kind of strife that can divide people in the same realm. Then, an old threat returns. The border defences are breached by outlanders, a people who have raided in recent generations but now lead an army into Adalmearc. And, perhaps, the two are somehow connected. Can the rulers of Adalmearc unite to fend off the more serious threat? Olesen does a good job of not overfeeding us here, so that we are still not clear about the exact nature of this external threat…



…and that brings us to a question – Daniel, when the hell is the next book coming out? This one was apparently published in 2016. It’s a meaty read at 500 pages and I have no doubt was a time consuming thing to write. But hopefully book two is coming soon. I will certainly be encouraging people to read this one – no doubt Daniel would appreciate a purchase, but he is also giving away free copies on his website and through Sigil Independent, where loads of cool fantasy writers hang out.

[Elvira · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Eagle’s Flight is an Epic Fantasy story and Norse inspired. Its plot takes us to The Realms of Adalmearc doomed by tragic events in the royal family. The story depicts the characters and the social and political hierarchy of the kingdom, where strategic plots, back stabbing and other lovely intriguing games are to be expected.
The world building has been one of my favourite points of this book. It develops gently and attention to detail is exquisite. The reader doesn't get bombarded with world building information willy-nilly. It feels natural and coherent.
The language used is cleverly devised to fit its setting. It feels archaic and rich but not laborious. I particularly liked sections when rituals and folklore tales were told.
Another surprising element was the lack of a main character: The Eagle’s Flight has a choral setting. The events bring forward a diversity of main and secondary characters, as the different element of the story are woven in.
The character development is really strong, in particular the psychological one is abundant and detailed. This really helps create an intimacy and connection with the reader and hence with the story.
The geographical names, royal houses as well as first names are carefully chosen. They are musically connected in order to make them fit (i.e The House of Theodstan with Theodoric and Theodwyn) Clever! I loved this rhythm.
There is also a map included in the appendices along a list of the nobility names. The map is beautiful and extremely helpful to locate all the realms and understand the setting of the story.
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading The Eagle’s Flight as it is a great story told in a beautiful way.

[J C Steel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Eagle’s Flight tells of a troubled time in Adalmearc’s history; with an infant king on the throne, Sigvard’s line is weakened, there is insurgence among the barbarians on the far side of the Langstan wall, and powerful nobles jockey for power that rightly belongs to the throne. Rivalry is the order of the day, and there are influences within the capital of Middanhal willing to play those forces against each other, no matter the cost to the kingdom. As the net of information stretching across the kingdom trembles to the news, the Order of Adal has no choice but to try to keep the peace.

This book offers a rich and complex fantasy epic with a distinctly Nordic feel. The story’s perspectives span a kingdom, and its cast of characters reaches from the commander of the Order’s armies to a kitchen girl. Despite or because of the number of pieces in play, author Daniel E. Olsen has a masterly hand on the threads of the story. Although in some sections the level of description occasionally slows the pacing, it wasn’t enough to prevent me from enjoying the read. The characters are by and large well-developed, with plenty of depth and their own motivations, which always helps to draw me into a story, and the political backdrop of the various areas is convincingly detailed. Fans of this genre will be certain to find this a treat.

Reviewed for By Rite of Word.

[VexenReplica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun political manipulation and manuevering. Names are on the tad confusing side but there's an appendix at the end. This is incredibly helpful as I took breaks between each of the book's three sections.
Worldbuilding is awesome. Characters are amazing. I correctly guessed a few of the big surprises early on, but the reveal was nice. :) Although I would have liked the impossible marriage to come through at the end.
One of the things I really like about the characters is that you can sympathize with them even though you understand that their choices aren't going to play out well for them. Everyone is human in this world--while there is a "protagonist," we see the world through a myriad of lenses, and in some of these lenses, our protagonist changes into an antagonist. Everyone wants a bit of the pie, and while sometimes that works out dandy, other times... not so much, even for the protagonist (see: Brand skimpering away during the third go-around of the Adalthang).
I like the choice to jump locations in section two and then return to Middenhal in section three. Like I said above--awesome worldbuilding. I would have liked to see the return of some of the characters and events from part two in part three, but there was already a lot going on. Maybe down the line? :)
While the ending was a bit evident, that didn't make it any less exciting to read; it's like watching an action movie wondering how the slick hero or heroine makes it out of the fray this time. Hopefully more adventures for Brand down the line!

[Noor Al-Shanti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time I read The Eagle's Flight and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. I will also keep periodically trying to advertise this book until it gets famous :) Few books deserve that, but this one really does. Speaking of which, download it at the author's website for free now: http://www.annalsofadal.net/

In my last review I think I focused more on how amazing the world-building is, so this time I'll focus more on the characters. I usually read and write in the third person limited style where we hear the thoughts of every character and so we know exactly what their emotions are. Without letting us into their heads and by keeping a strictly removed third person point of view where we only see their outward actions the author of The Eagle's Flight still manages to make these characters extremely likable and human and awesome. I'm amazed by how I liked and sympathized with and kind of understood the motivations of different characters who ended up clashing completely.

When a war breaks out many of the characters end up being on the side that's not necessarily in the right, the facts of their family allegiance forcing them to be in situations that go against their honor or their inclinations and they have to navigate their choices. Many of the characters have interesting arcs where they grow and change and in the end it all comes together in a very satisfying way, while at the same time being only the beginning of a long journey for some of the characters.

I also really enjoy characters that don't just sit around waiting to be chosen and this book has them in ample supply. Everybody has realistic motivations and meaningful goals and they actually work to achieve them.

I bookmarked a couple of fun turns of phrase that stood out to me this time and I think they're vague enough not to be spoilery so I wanted to share them.

"... commanded, speaking as reluctantly as possible while still actually pronouncing words."

It's probably not as amusing without the context, but I just loved it.

"His hands grabbed a nearby hat and wringed it as if it were alive and he desired to break its neck; unable to do accomplish this, he flung it away."

Anyway, I'll end this now, but you should really check out this book. I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment and I know you will be too once you finish reading it.

[Luke Hindmarsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunningly realised epic fantasy.

It’s taken me a while to read The Eagle’s Flight. It’s not a quick read and it’s not a light one either. But it is worth the investment of time. Multiple characters and plots within plots combine with a breathtakingly detailed setting that feels as real as anything in our world. You’re left to decide whose side to be on but I found myself shifting allegiances at times. This is not as bleak as ASOIAF but it deserves comparison with GRRM’s book. I know. How original of me to latch on to those books. But here it’s necessary. Something I always hated about ASOIAF is the phoniness of much of GRRM’s prose and portrayal of a medieval world and its politics. It’s just never convinced me. Eagle’s Flight does. Totally.
The story delivers plenty of payoffs for the investment of time and I highly recommend it.
Criticisms - what’s the point of a review without them. Well it is slow going especially at first. Sometimes I felt I needed to make notes (I resisted the urge) to keep track of who everyone was and what faction I believed them to be part of. The point of view is from a the distance of an omniscient narrator - something which made it a little harder for me to ‘get inside’ the characters but it is masterfully done and this ultimately didn’t detract very much for me.
So what’s my verdict? A solid 9/10. Well worth a read if you like Epic fantasy and if you do, I think you’ll love this book. If you don’t, then it might be more of struggle but I’d still say it’s worth checking out as an example of how the genre can be at its best.

[Mette Øllegaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an ever unfolding adventure that suprises me in many ways. Both by the turn of events in the story, the level of detail in descriptions of people, landscape and actions but also in the well placed humour. Its a great story and it deserves a place in your next vacation.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review is here, on my blog!

This is actually a book in three parts, if you will. All in one volume but with three distinct story arcs.

The hardest part of reading it, for me, was that there are sooooo many characters in this thing, and many of their names are alike. The world is called Adal, but the continent (I think?) that it takes place in is Adalmearc, and the country that the first part of the story takes place in is called Adalrik. It’s not just places that have this prefix either, but characters as well. For instance, Adalbrand, who thankfully shortens it to Brand most of the time, lol. But, it got legitimately confusing sometimes when I was trying to remember who was who in the grand scheme of things. Athelstan and Athelbold. Konstans and Konstantine. Isenhart and Isenwald. That sort of thing. It isn’t unusual that fathers and sons and so on have very similar names here, but there’s just so many of them that it’s hard to keep track at first, lol. Trust me that it does get easier as you become more familiar with each character.

The first part of the story focuses on the Adalthing (yep, this too), which is a sort of meeting that all the jarls, thanes, margraves, and so on of Adalrik are invited to to hash out who is going to take the spot of Lord Protector of the land, since the king has died, his son the prince has died, and the only surviving heir is too young to take the throne. Much political maneuvering is done here as each jarl is trying to influence the results. There’s also a contest held just before it, with a joust and archery competition and what have you. And some other shenanigans go down in the land after the Adalthing is over. Many shenanigans! And this is just part of part one, lol.

I quite liked a few of the many characters in this book. Notably Theodora, the Queen of Haethiod, and Leander, the bastard son of the king (and her cousin). They were my favorites. Theodora grew as a character so much over her section of the book, and I loved it. There’s also Adalbrand, who is a nobleman taking over lordship of his house, while also trying to find his place among the knights of the realm. He is just returned from many years of training to be a knight and squiring for Sir Athelstan. I also really liked Ælfwine, who is quite an interesting person indeed. The King’s Quill (usually just known as Quill) is another character I liked to read about. Here’s basically the court scribe, but he has a fair deal of responsibility and influence among the court. There are others of course, like Godfrey, the mysterious vagrant, Troy the not-very-good-bard, and Adalbrand’s sister Arndis… but this thing is already getting long.

This book was indeed very, very long, and I found myself a little bored with it at first, but I’m really glad I suck with it. I don’t normally dig books that have very complicated political maneuvering and battling and so on because I often find politics and very detailed warfare (and by this I basically mean very detailed descriptions of strategy and troop movement/placement) kind of boring, but there was enough action and interesting characters and events to keep me interested in this book in the end. Right around 25% or so I found it harder and harder to put this beast down. Part 2 was absolutely riveting for me, all told. It’s really quite well written, with a whole slew of plot twists and unexpected happenings in it. You never really know what’s going to take place, and it legitimately surprised me more than once. The worldbuilding is great, and the characters and events were described in a way that made them easy to imagine. There was a lot of planning, and it all made sense to me. Like, this book sounds like it would fucking own my ass at a game of Risk.

Overall, I really ended up liking this one, even if it didn’t catch my interest right out the gate, it certainly caught it before the middle. I admittedly liked the second story much more than the first or third, as it takes place in a different country with different characters that I think I just liked better…. but the whole thing was pretty well thought out and well executed as a novel. Very, very detailed.

[Garrick Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

*A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW!*

“All roads eventually led to Middanhal.”


Man, this review was a long time coming. It was my fault honestly: work and other duties kept getting in my way. You see, The Eagle’s Flight is a story you need to dedicate a lot of time to. It deserves to have your full attention at all times. It has a living, breathing world that you need to immerse yourself into to get the most out of it. Like A Song of Ice and Fire, it tells of a realm that is as complex as our own. I wanted to experience it without distractions, because, just like ASOIAF, it is full of plotlines, characters, worldbuilding, lore, and other things you need to pay attention to. So, without further ado, let me pick up my rucksack, slap my trusty mare Pixie on the rump, follow this dusty road to Middanhal, and give you all a tour of this great, great land!

First things first, this book is massive. Nearly 1000 pages in eBook format. It comes with a map, family lineages, and appendices. And you’ll need them all. This world is huge, complex, and sophisticated. Its complexities are on the same level as ASOIAF (I hate to keep mentioning Game of Thrones, but it is true!). Houses, clans, families, alliances, etc. Those are all things you need to pay attention to to understand these chronicles. Take notes if possible! I know I did. As a commoner of Middanhal’s slums, I’m not the smartest man. But I can read and write. And so I understood the annals! Heed my advice, brethren! Tread carefully! It’s dangerous to go alone! Bring quill and parchment!

I struggled for a long time with the three chronicles within this book, truth be told. As a loyal servant of the Dragonlord, I always keep his secrets. As such, I won’t spoil any of the chronicles. I will, however, say that the story is gripping, unpredictable, immersive, and incredible. If you can get past the steep learning curve of the world, then the journey itself is far worth the hassle. Athelstan was by far my favorite character. I loved all the lore details, the politics, the character motivations, all the betrayals and back-stabbing, and the idea of a country being torn apart from within. It really makes the entire world seem alive and real. Although some characters were obviously created to serve as heroes and villains, others are much more complex and sophisticated. The various titles, houses, terms, and even the names will be confusing at times, but bear through it all. The battles, oh by the Alfather, the battles! They are so detailed! So tactical! So incredibly well thought-out that the author deserves the highest praise for not using the standard Fantasy tactic of “summon all our forces and just charge head-on with the enemy across a field and hope for the best.” Also, the world itself seems heavily inspired by Germanic, Norse, and Icelandic mythology, to the point where I wondered if the author himself had some heritage in these ancient cultures. It truly was a treat for me to see all the love and care he put into this world and story. The book is oozing with such compassion and admiration for Fantasy that it has to be commended.

I’ve made it to my destination. Bear with me. I must kneel. Here is my offering, oh holiest of holies. I pray that you will take this offering graciously and grant me a single wish. The Eagle’s Flight is a captivating, immersive read; one that I am so glad I dived into. My only wish is that more fellow Fantasy lovers like myself will give it a chance as well. It is far worth the time and effort needed to see it through to the end. And now that my offering is complete, I seek safe passage back to my brother’s home in Coldharbour. Together we will fish, break bread, and reminisce of things to come.

Until the sequel arrives…

[Mette Øllegaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I had already reviewed this book!

However its a great fantasy book, that takes you to a medival world of brave knights, evil schemes, power, love, corruption and just a dust of the supernatural.

The world is well described, and you can feel that a lot of thought has gone into it.

The characters are well thought out, there are the good ones, the really bad ones, and those that are looking out for number one and/or the family name. You will have to choose your own hero. Characters will change in your view over time and several supprising revelations will surface during the many different paths of adventure in this book.

The story it self is taking more time to describe the medival power play than fantasy. It works very well, and it makes you as a reader less strange to the world.

Dive in to this massive and well described adventure if you have abstinences for Game of Thrones or simply just love medival fantasy.

[Ben Lund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I truly did not not expect a book this good when I started out reading this.

I am wary of books that are free, or that authors are giving away in one way or another. I've been burned in the past, and most books like that are not the greatest, but this one blew my expectations right out of the water.

A fully thought out landscape, a system of ruling and order, that gives the feeling of being in exsistence for centuries, power struggles that feel real and immediate and alliances that come and go as situations change. Nothing feels contrived or put there just to exist. And it's so balanced, not just a book on war. There are battles, but there are also subplots taking place and travels being undertaken for different reasons. I can't wait to get into the next book (also free from the author) and see where this story goes. I think this author will be one that I will be following for years to come.

[Briony Loudoun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't perfect. I struggled through the first few pages, trying to get a grasp on the characters and world-building, to be honest it was a little of an info dump. But as I got further in I settled in better and found it flowed quite nicely.
Definitely a great effort at writing Epic/High Fantasy, very good world-building and character arcs, very George R.R. Martinesque in some ways.
I'm proud of you, Daniel, keep writing :)

[Peat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminded me a lot of Katherine Kurtz's Deryni series - a secondary world based on our own with a lot of exacting detail and little magic; dense but compelling.

[Shashwat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It had a great deal of palace intrigue, political strategy, and military strategy, things that I love in a book.