The Horsemen's Gambit

Blood of the Southlands #2

by David B. Coe

David B. Coe created a richly textured, unique world in his Winds of the Forelands, and topped himself with The Sorcerer's Plague, his first novel set in the Southlands of the same world. Divided by clan rivalries and ancient feuds, suspicious of magics wielded by longtime enemies, the folk of the South have lived in a state of truce for generations. But peace is shattered when a woman looses a deadly plague on the magical Qirsi people.

While some people seek to prevent the spread of the plague, others see in this disaster a unique opportunity. With the magical folk weakened by the decimation of the plague, their unmagical enemies might be able to defeat them and take back lands lost in an ancient war. Haunted by the specter of what would be a tragic and devastating new war, the Southlands are aflame with rumors of violence, pestilence, and treachery.

Coe weaves together engagingly complex characters, unique, unusual magic, political intrigue and a compelling, unpredictable story into a captivating epic that will enthrall fantasy readers. A potent brew conjured by a masterful storyteller.

Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Fiction, Epic Fantasy

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 8, 2008

About the author

David B. Coe is an author of fantasy novels and short stories. He lives with his wife, Nancy Berner, and their two daughters on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee.
He has begun writing a new historical fantasy series under the pen name D.B. Jackson. The first one is titled Thieftaker, published in 2012.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 rushed at the end, Tirnya is an underdeveloped character and the only female one in the entire book

[Teya Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Not a bad book, just much more boring than the first one. It was very much a bridge between the first and last book. I hope the last book is better!

[Ward Kehlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid sequel. Love the cast of characters Coe can create and keep up with.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Two of Blood of the Southlands continues the story of Grinsa, a Quirsi weaver (high level wielder of magic), and his wife and daughter in their quest for a place to live in peace.

Coe skillfully interweaves his main and sub-plots, keeping the story moving towards the climactic conflict that must come in Book Three. The new characters he introduces are well-drawn and believable and the conflicts are many and well-conceived.

I only have one complaint about the plot; it concerns Cresenne--Grinsa's wife, whom he has to leave behind while he goes off to try to find and kill a sorcerer whose curse is destroying Quirsi villages. (See Book One, The Sorcerers' Plague). Cresenne is required to join in the village's labors, but receives no compensation for her labor. Quite the contrary, she is forced to eat in a single man's tent to avoid starving since she has no food and the villagers won't sell any to her. While this story line introduces yet another obstacle the protagonists must overcome, it comes at the expense of credibility. To require one to labor without compensation is unlikely even in fantasy worlds. I wished Coe had reached for some other cause to bring Cresenne into conflict with her hostile hosts.

That said, I'm looking forward to Book Three.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in the Southland trilogy picks up where the first one left off. We're introduced to more characters and even though the source of the plauge has been stopped, it continues to spread weakining the Qirsi leaving them vulnerable to an attack that the humans have been dreaming of for years. As war brews in the Soutlands Grinsa's loyalties are tested. Once again he finds himself pitted between the Qirsi and the Eandi. Only this time his wife and the new home he hopes to make for himself are threatened. David B. Coe is an excellent writer. His characters are so extremely real and nothing ever feels fake or forced. He has a way with words and is very good at introducing alot of characters and making you like each and every one of them no matter how good or bad they are. The cast isn't quite as large as it was in the Forelands but it is every bit as intersting. I love these books.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in what will be a trilogy and it reads like a second book. One of those that bridges the first book to the third. It shows what leads up to the beginning of the next Blood Wars in the Southlands.

As much as I love the way Coe tells stories, I find that the constant switching and so many characters makes it hard to really like any character specificlly. The characters from the first series are probably the most developed ones in the series.

This doesn't come across as a book all about characterization, and readers really start to like characters in the next book as opposed to the book that they are reading currently.

My main complaint is that the book is slow moving and a little repetative at times. Putting that aside it's a really good book and i can't wait to see what happens!

[Clay Kallam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not so sure about David B. Coe’s series, The Blood of the Southlands. The first volume (“The Sorceror’s Plague”) was fine, but the new one, “The Horseman’s Gambit” (Tor, $26.95, 361 pages), has me in doubt. The plot, involving a designed plague that specifically targets a proud, arrogant warrior tribe, has a solid premise as a foundation, but Coe takes a long, long time to get the wheels in motion (one subplot involving a merchant with a deadly scrap of leather takes literally hundreds of pages to reach its blindingly obvious conclusion) and as a result, “The Horseman’s Gambit” too often lurches to a halt.

But if Coe returns to the pace of “The Sorceror’s Plague,” and can go in more unexpected directions in believable ways, then there’s still hope. Until book three comes out, though, I’d have to advise holding off.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the seventh book by David Coe that I have read and I have liked every single one of them. This is the continuation to The Sorcerors plague and again he has done a great job of creating just enough characters to keep the story interesting while at the same time not having so many that you forget who is who. He has even carried over one family, from his previous series that I am now drawing a blank on.

Anyway, it was another fun read and I am looking forward to when the next one becomes available.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad I made myself read this one, it's enjoyable, but not my favorite from Coe.

[Tim Wolfe]

It's been so long I can't recall specifically but in general I heartily approve of this author.