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The Warlocks of Talverdin #1
Nightwalker
After his guardian dies, Maurey is reduced from student to unpaid servant at his grammar school and bullied because of his black hair and eyes, which make him look as if he is related to the sorcerers who once inhabited the island. When it is discovered that Maurey is indeed a descendent of one of those sorcerers, or Nightwalkers, he is sentenced to be burned alive. He and his young rescuer flee for the Nightwalkers' hidden kingdom. Any reader who enjoys otherworld fantasy, or just a good adventure story, will not be able to put this book down.
- GenresFantasyYoung Adult
Library Binding
Published November 5, 2007
1 person is currently reading
200 people want to read
About the author
K.V. Johansen
28 books139 followersMostly, I write secondary world fantasy about people on the edges, with shapeshifters, demons, gods, and occasionally dragons. These days, I largely write for adults, though I've written many children's and YA fantasy novels and some children's science fiction, as well as picture books, plus I've been known to perpetrate literary criticism. I also write as Kris Jamison -- a contemporary lit book, Love/Rock/Compost.
My main scholarly interests are ancient and medieval history and languages, and the history of children's fantasy literature. What else can I say? My life is unexciting. I'm acquiring more guitars as I get older; music is very important to me even though I'm no good at it. I'm also, occasionally, an artist.
Here on Goodreads, I'm only rating/reviewing books I've really liked a lot. Sometimes I rate with stars, sometimes I don't, but a book is only on my Goodreads shelves if I liked it. For serious critical analysis from me, you'll have to turn to Quests and Kingdoms or Beyond Window-Dressing.
My main scholarly interests are ancient and medieval history and languages, and the history of children's fantasy literature. What else can I say? My life is unexciting. I'm acquiring more guitars as I get older; music is very important to me even though I'm no good at it. I'm also, occasionally, an artist.
Here on Goodreads, I'm only rating/reviewing books I've really liked a lot. Sometimes I rate with stars, sometimes I don't, but a book is only on my Goodreads shelves if I liked it. For serious critical analysis from me, you'll have to turn to Quests and Kingdoms or Beyond Window-Dressing.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 13, 2012
Reviewed by Carrie Spellman for TeensReadToo.com
Maurey used to be a student at the grammar school at Fowler College, but that was before his guardian passed away. Suddenly all of his tuition money, paid through college degree level, mysteriously disappeared. Now Maurey is an unpaid servant at the school, and whipping boy for bored students. In addition to being a charity case, he bears a striking physical resemblance to the sorcerers who were driven from the land many years ago. He is insulted, harassed, even assaulted, at virtually every turn. His only escape is the dark tunnels underneath the school. His extraordinary night vision helps him navigate and elude his captors. Until tonight.
Tonight he got away from the bullying students and ran directly into the King, along with the master of the school and the King's Chancellor. As a result of the impact, the chain around his neck bearing rings from his mother, the only thing he has that connects him to her, falls out of his shirt. First accused of theft, closer examination of the rings causes a much greater stir. Maury finds himself locked in a dungeon, waiting to be tried for sorcery. If his greatest fears about his ancestry are true, Maurey will undoubtedly be killed. His only possibility for help seems to be a very unlikely and unwise choice.
All I can say is WOW! I've read a fair amount of fantasy/paranormal books, and this is one of the best I've come across. Amazingly well-developed and imagined, both character and story-wise, intelligent, and witty. It's books like this, and the knowledge that it's only book one, that make me love this job!
Maurey used to be a student at the grammar school at Fowler College, but that was before his guardian passed away. Suddenly all of his tuition money, paid through college degree level, mysteriously disappeared. Now Maurey is an unpaid servant at the school, and whipping boy for bored students. In addition to being a charity case, he bears a striking physical resemblance to the sorcerers who were driven from the land many years ago. He is insulted, harassed, even assaulted, at virtually every turn. His only escape is the dark tunnels underneath the school. His extraordinary night vision helps him navigate and elude his captors. Until tonight.
Tonight he got away from the bullying students and ran directly into the King, along with the master of the school and the King's Chancellor. As a result of the impact, the chain around his neck bearing rings from his mother, the only thing he has that connects him to her, falls out of his shirt. First accused of theft, closer examination of the rings causes a much greater stir. Maury finds himself locked in a dungeon, waiting to be tried for sorcery. If his greatest fears about his ancestry are true, Maurey will undoubtedly be killed. His only possibility for help seems to be a very unlikely and unwise choice.
All I can say is WOW! I've read a fair amount of fantasy/paranormal books, and this is one of the best I've come across. Amazingly well-developed and imagined, both character and story-wise, intelligent, and witty. It's books like this, and the knowledge that it's only book one, that make me love this job!
October 26, 2008
Why I haven’t heard more about this series, I don’t fully understand. Being a fan of fantasy I’ve read more than my share and to find such a well written fantasy novel that is relatively unknown is always a surprise.
Although the novel doesn’t have the outstanding depth of other fantasy greats like Eragon and Harry Potter, I wouldn’t discredit Johansen’s story telling ability. Her world of Nightwalkers and sorcery is just as if not more entertaining than its lengthy counterparts. It would have been easy to fully immerse myself and read the entire novel in one sitting if I would have actually had the time to do so!
It’s faced paced which is always a plus with me and the elements of action, humor, adventure! The characters were likable and witty without seeming phony. It was just overall a good novel and an enjoyable read. I’m excited to start the next book.
Although the novel doesn’t have the outstanding depth of other fantasy greats like Eragon and Harry Potter, I wouldn’t discredit Johansen’s story telling ability. Her world of Nightwalkers and sorcery is just as if not more entertaining than its lengthy counterparts. It would have been easy to fully immerse myself and read the entire novel in one sitting if I would have actually had the time to do so!
It’s faced paced which is always a plus with me and the elements of action, humor, adventure! The characters were likable and witty without seeming phony. It was just overall a good novel and an enjoyable read. I’m excited to start the next book.
June 19, 2008
I thought this was good, and enjoyed it for the most part, but wasn't as blown away by it as others in the kidlitosphere were. Characters were nice (good dog!), but it seemed that the 'All Nightwalkers are evil and we good humans must kill them all' set-up was a bit too transparent too soon. And when it flipped, as it was obviously going to do, into 'All bad things were done by humans', with the odd exception, I started wondering a bit why that should be better. It's a problem in more books than this though. Ending felt a bit rushed too but was clearly setting up or another book or two...
abandoned
June 19, 2016I like the idea behind this world and its people but I found myself bored more often than not as I read this story. There were areas that I just skimmed through because it was more telling than showing, yet there were also times when I found myself gripped by the action. I only wish there had been more moments like those.
September 7, 2011
3 and 1/2 stars. I really liked the story and the characters, but it could have had more depth to it. I will keep reading the series.
January 31, 2024
Wonderful story, great world creation, and very smooth, easy read! Can't wait to read book 2!
February 29, 2012
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Nightwalker (2007), by K. V. Johansen
Feb9 by Karyn Huenemann
I was introduced to the Warlocks of Talverdin when I was sent The Shadow Road (2010), fourth in the series, to review for Resource Links magazine. I was so impressed by that novel— not even having read the first three—that I immediately bought the series. I have since read all four three times, and thus was perhaps lying to myself when I told myself that I had to reread them all to review them for this blog.
Nightwalker
Rereading Nightwalker, I was once again impressed by K. V. Johansen’s narrative abilities. Certainly, she has created a world that is internally consistent, as all good fantasy worlds must be; more than that, though, she has created a unique world that harks back to fantasy classics such as Lord of the Rings only in that narrative ability, not in content, nor in characterization.
At first, Nightwalker seems a traditional medieval-style fantasy, with the young orphan Maurey (although we do not initially know his name, as the text is presented in the first person) caught as less than a servant at the royal university in Dunmorra. Slowly, artfully revealed, we learn his tale: betrayed by the corrupt and power-hungry chancellor and his brother when Maurey’s self-appointed guardian died, his tuition and legacy were stolen, and he was reduced to the nothingness we find him in. His economic ostracization is compounded by his physical appearance: he is neither fair nor swarthy, as most humans, but white skinned with black hair and eyes: physical characteristics of the race of Talverdin, the “warlocks” from whom the land was wrested by force centuries earlier. This political dynamic is one of the primary powers of Johansen’s series, for her world both is and is not our own.
The geography of Johansen’s fantasy world resembles Europe and England far too closely to be accidental. Eswiland is England, invaded by the fair-haired Northerners long since; the Ronish Empire is the Iberian peninsula, still peopled by darker-skinned inhabitants; Berbarany is North Africa… But the comparison is never explicit, and the cultures only loosely parallelled; nonetheless, racial and cultural prejudices motivate many of the characters in Johansen’s world, as in ours. In the initial invasion, the Talverdin people were overcome and pushed west, beyond the mountains, where they now live protected by spells to prevent humans from entering what are left of their lands. An emissary of peace just before Maurey’s birth solidified the political antagonism, when the Queen of Dumorra, married as a child to a much older King, abandoned her station to become the lover of the Talverdin prince. The racial antagonisms, the political intrigues, the balance between personal desire and royal obligation are all handled extremely deftly: never so much as when Annot abandons her birthright to defend Maurey against the blatant and deadly prejudices of her relatives, or when Maurey, realizing his own position within the greater political mechanism, must choose between his noble obligation and the life of a new friend. Johansen does not succumb to the popular tendency to create a happy ending where expediency demands a different choice. That the novel ends well does not feel like authorial manipulation so much as the natural result of strong characters making the right personal and political choices. In such writing lies the greatness that we remember of Aragorn, of Faramir (in the book, not the movie!), of Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth… Some novels inspire the reader to aspire to ethical nobility: Nightwalker is one of these.
I suggest that anyone reading this review, who appreciates The Warlocks of Talverdin even a quarter as much as I do, write to Orca Publishers (orca@orcabook.com, attention Sarah Harvey, Orca Young Readers, Juvenile & Teen Fiction Editor) and let them know how much we want to see that fifth—and sixth, and seventh—installment.
Nightwalker (2007), by K. V. Johansen
Feb9 by Karyn Huenemann
I was introduced to the Warlocks of Talverdin when I was sent The Shadow Road (2010), fourth in the series, to review for Resource Links magazine. I was so impressed by that novel— not even having read the first three—that I immediately bought the series. I have since read all four three times, and thus was perhaps lying to myself when I told myself that I had to reread them all to review them for this blog.
Nightwalker
Rereading Nightwalker, I was once again impressed by K. V. Johansen’s narrative abilities. Certainly, she has created a world that is internally consistent, as all good fantasy worlds must be; more than that, though, she has created a unique world that harks back to fantasy classics such as Lord of the Rings only in that narrative ability, not in content, nor in characterization.
At first, Nightwalker seems a traditional medieval-style fantasy, with the young orphan Maurey (although we do not initially know his name, as the text is presented in the first person) caught as less than a servant at the royal university in Dunmorra. Slowly, artfully revealed, we learn his tale: betrayed by the corrupt and power-hungry chancellor and his brother when Maurey’s self-appointed guardian died, his tuition and legacy were stolen, and he was reduced to the nothingness we find him in. His economic ostracization is compounded by his physical appearance: he is neither fair nor swarthy, as most humans, but white skinned with black hair and eyes: physical characteristics of the race of Talverdin, the “warlocks” from whom the land was wrested by force centuries earlier. This political dynamic is one of the primary powers of Johansen’s series, for her world both is and is not our own.
The geography of Johansen’s fantasy world resembles Europe and England far too closely to be accidental. Eswiland is England, invaded by the fair-haired Northerners long since; the Ronish Empire is the Iberian peninsula, still peopled by darker-skinned inhabitants; Berbarany is North Africa… But the comparison is never explicit, and the cultures only loosely parallelled; nonetheless, racial and cultural prejudices motivate many of the characters in Johansen’s world, as in ours. In the initial invasion, the Talverdin people were overcome and pushed west, beyond the mountains, where they now live protected by spells to prevent humans from entering what are left of their lands. An emissary of peace just before Maurey’s birth solidified the political antagonism, when the Queen of Dumorra, married as a child to a much older King, abandoned her station to become the lover of the Talverdin prince. The racial antagonisms, the political intrigues, the balance between personal desire and royal obligation are all handled extremely deftly: never so much as when Annot abandons her birthright to defend Maurey against the blatant and deadly prejudices of her relatives, or when Maurey, realizing his own position within the greater political mechanism, must choose between his noble obligation and the life of a new friend. Johansen does not succumb to the popular tendency to create a happy ending where expediency demands a different choice. That the novel ends well does not feel like authorial manipulation so much as the natural result of strong characters making the right personal and political choices. In such writing lies the greatness that we remember of Aragorn, of Faramir (in the book, not the movie!), of Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth… Some novels inspire the reader to aspire to ethical nobility: Nightwalker is one of these.
I suggest that anyone reading this review, who appreciates The Warlocks of Talverdin even a quarter as much as I do, write to Orca Publishers (orca@orcabook.com, attention Sarah Harvey, Orca Young Readers, Juvenile & Teen Fiction Editor) and let them know how much we want to see that fifth—and sixth, and seventh—installment.
Read
November 17, 2014 The theme of this novel is prejudice, and the author manages to convey this theme through the voices, habits and descriptions of the events and characters naturally. The stories conflict is between the goodies, the wizards of Talverdine, and the baddies, the blond humans of Dunmorra. Both races have a long history of hating each other, and the reader is made aware of this by the effects of prejudice on Maurey as he recounts the tragic and mysterious story of his birth and how, all his life, Maurey has had to hide in the Talverdine blond society as a 'foreigner.' "No one would mistake me for a good Dounmoran like my golde-haired, blue-eyed mother. My eyes were black as night, my hair heavy, straight and raven black" ( Johansen, 13). Maurey, our hero, is subject to prejudice because of his pale skin tone, straight black hair and dark eyes that people connect to the magical race of Nightwalkers. "You're gonna get it this time, Night-eyes!" ( Johansen, 3).
March 3, 2016
Maury has always been bullied and teased about his dark hair and eyes, which make him resemble the sorcerers who once inhabited the island. When it is revealed that he does, in fact, have Nightwalker blood, he is sentenced to be burned alive. With help from a friend, Maury escapes and begins a journey to the land of the Nightwalkers to warn them of a plot to destroy them. I really enjoyed reading this young adult fantasy novel. It seemed fresh and interesting. I enjoyed the characters and the action kept my attention throughout the book. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
June 9, 2015
Fun, harrowing, a bit of a tearjerker. Not at all formulaic YA sf/f fare. Easily comparable to Tamora Pierce's works! Need to get on ordering the rest of the series before the warehouse decides to tell me NO!
September 9, 2013
Cute story, but not a whole lot of depth, not that I expected much given that it's under 200 pages long. A good commute book though.
June 14, 2014
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12541449
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12541449
October 18, 2008
Fun YA fantasy lit.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews