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The Annals of the Chosen #3
The Summer Palace
All of the world is kept in a delicate balance under the supervision of the Wizard Lord. It is his duty to govern lightly and protect his domain…but if he should stray from the way of the just then it is up to the Chosen to intercede. The Chosen are the Leader, the Seer, the Swordsman, the Beauty, the Thief, the Scholar, the Archer, and the Speaker, magically infused mortal individuals who for the term of their service have only one function--to remove an errant Wizard Lord.
But the new Wizard Lord has now changed the playing field by neutralizing all magic in his domain (both his own and that of the Chosen) and has successfully killed and/or blocked his adversaries and their challenges to his omnipotence. Sword (now on the run) must work alone to restore order to their fair land and unravel the mystery of the Ninth Talisman--which might be the salvation or downfall of all that is good in their well ordered land.
But the new Wizard Lord has now changed the playing field by neutralizing all magic in his domain (both his own and that of the Chosen) and has successfully killed and/or blocked his adversaries and their challenges to his omnipotence. Sword (now on the run) must work alone to restore order to their fair land and unravel the mystery of the Ninth Talisman--which might be the salvation or downfall of all that is good in their well ordered land.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 10, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 12, 2008
I have loved these three books from the very start, I think perhaps, because they remind me slightly about the Obsidian Chronicles, which I absolutely loved.
Watt-evans creates a simple, yet strange universe with wizards, ler, small communities and a strange ruling system that has been used for over 700 years. The main character, a man once called Breaker, but now called Sword, is sympathetic and also a man of action. He is constantly wondering about the world, about their ruling system, but in this book, he is also exploring the worlds around Barokan, exploring the Uplands.
I shouldn't tell you too much of this book, lest I spoil the fun of reading it, except to say that I found this to be the very best book of the three.
Only bad thing...sometimes Watt-evans describes the previous events too much, as if he wants this book to be a stand along book. You shouldn't read this book alone...you should start with the Wizard Lord, then the Ninth Talisman and then finish it off with this desert!
Watt-evans creates a simple, yet strange universe with wizards, ler, small communities and a strange ruling system that has been used for over 700 years. The main character, a man once called Breaker, but now called Sword, is sympathetic and also a man of action. He is constantly wondering about the world, about their ruling system, but in this book, he is also exploring the worlds around Barokan, exploring the Uplands.
I shouldn't tell you too much of this book, lest I spoil the fun of reading it, except to say that I found this to be the very best book of the three.
Only bad thing...sometimes Watt-evans describes the previous events too much, as if he wants this book to be a stand along book. You shouldn't read this book alone...you should start with the Wizard Lord, then the Ninth Talisman and then finish it off with this desert!
July 20, 2011
Worst book of the series. Slow as all hell, the ending would have been great if the wizard lord died after a battle but no he dies like a coward. The ending was also long as the line to hell, really fucking annoying.
December 14, 2009
So the author invents this world in which W, X, Y and Z are true. The characters have some adventures and then realize that W is easy to fix, X was fundamentally a bad idea, Y would never have happened if all the world's magic users weren't paranoid idiots, and Z actually was false all along. So then they have a world which is... well, very much like medieval Earth, except there's some magic which is mostly irrelevant.
I dunno. He was doing pretty well in the first two books in the series, but this is sort of a let-down.
I dunno. He was doing pretty well in the first two books in the series, but this is sort of a let-down.
April 11, 2021
‘The Summer Palace’ is the third volume in ‘The Annals Of The Chosen’, which began with ‘The Wizard Lord’ and continued in ‘The Ninth Talisman’. In fact, ‘The Summer Palace’ is the second half of the story told in ‘The Ninth Talisman’, which ended on a cliff-hanger.
The cliffs in question are the eastern cliffs that form one border of Barokan, the land ruled by the Wizard Lord. In book one, our hero Sword and the rest of the Chosen did their duty and killed an evil Wizard Lord. The Chosen are the Leader, the Seer, the Beauty, the Thief, the Scholar, the Archer, the Speaker and our hero, the Swordsman. They each have magical abilities granted by a talisman they wear. They must kill or force to resign any Wizard Lord that goes rogue and starts killing innocents or in other ways causing trouble.
So Sword killed the Dark Lord and that unworthy was replaced by another wizard who took the rather unwizardly view that Barokan could do without magic. He gathered an army and had his soldiers kill other wizards. There weren’t many. Then he turned on the Chosen, who might one day threaten him. Sword escaped and is a hunted man as the book begins.
Barokan is unsafe for Sword. The Wizard Lord is very popular with the ordinary folks because he has built roads, canals and bridges, improved trade and made everyone more prosperous. He’s also spread untrue rumours that the Chosen went rogue and tried to kill him. Sword decides his best option is to flee to the Uplands, a vast plateau atop the eastern cliffs where nomadic tribes live by following large herds of ara, a big flightless bird that supplies all their needs. The Uplanders are similar to the buffalo hunting Plains Indians of North America or Tibetans who live off yaks.
In the winter, when the ara go south and the plains are uninhabitable, the Uplanders stay in Barokan in the town of Winterhome, where the Wizard Lord also lives. Sword hopes to find sanctuary with them and then hide out in the summer palace the Wizard Lord built atop the eastern cliffs and kill him the following summer. To do this, he will have to winter in the Uplands, which no one has ever done.
The first half of the book, showing Sword’s life with the Uplanders, is reasonably enjoyable. After that, frankly, it gets boring. A plot that calls for the hero to spend most of the time alone is hard to bring to life. Sword goes over and over the details of his plan and wonders what his mum is doing and worries about the soldiers hunting the other Chosen and so on and on. Then there’s an ending and it’s all finished. Hey-ho.
It’s not a bad read because Sword is still a likeable character and the author has an effortless style that doesn’t strain the brain. On the other hand, it’s not gripping. If you’ve invested time in ‘The Ninth Talisman’, you’re probably inclined to finish the story here, but it won’t leave a large hole in your life if you don’t. The premise of Barokan is sound and the first book was entertaining. The second had good ideas but was incomplete. The third is a letdown, to be honest. Readable enough but not a must-have.
The cliffs in question are the eastern cliffs that form one border of Barokan, the land ruled by the Wizard Lord. In book one, our hero Sword and the rest of the Chosen did their duty and killed an evil Wizard Lord. The Chosen are the Leader, the Seer, the Beauty, the Thief, the Scholar, the Archer, the Speaker and our hero, the Swordsman. They each have magical abilities granted by a talisman they wear. They must kill or force to resign any Wizard Lord that goes rogue and starts killing innocents or in other ways causing trouble.
So Sword killed the Dark Lord and that unworthy was replaced by another wizard who took the rather unwizardly view that Barokan could do without magic. He gathered an army and had his soldiers kill other wizards. There weren’t many. Then he turned on the Chosen, who might one day threaten him. Sword escaped and is a hunted man as the book begins.
Barokan is unsafe for Sword. The Wizard Lord is very popular with the ordinary folks because he has built roads, canals and bridges, improved trade and made everyone more prosperous. He’s also spread untrue rumours that the Chosen went rogue and tried to kill him. Sword decides his best option is to flee to the Uplands, a vast plateau atop the eastern cliffs where nomadic tribes live by following large herds of ara, a big flightless bird that supplies all their needs. The Uplanders are similar to the buffalo hunting Plains Indians of North America or Tibetans who live off yaks.
In the winter, when the ara go south and the plains are uninhabitable, the Uplanders stay in Barokan in the town of Winterhome, where the Wizard Lord also lives. Sword hopes to find sanctuary with them and then hide out in the summer palace the Wizard Lord built atop the eastern cliffs and kill him the following summer. To do this, he will have to winter in the Uplands, which no one has ever done.
The first half of the book, showing Sword’s life with the Uplanders, is reasonably enjoyable. After that, frankly, it gets boring. A plot that calls for the hero to spend most of the time alone is hard to bring to life. Sword goes over and over the details of his plan and wonders what his mum is doing and worries about the soldiers hunting the other Chosen and so on and on. Then there’s an ending and it’s all finished. Hey-ho.
It’s not a bad read because Sword is still a likeable character and the author has an effortless style that doesn’t strain the brain. On the other hand, it’s not gripping. If you’ve invested time in ‘The Ninth Talisman’, you’re probably inclined to finish the story here, but it won’t leave a large hole in your life if you don’t. The premise of Barokan is sound and the first book was entertaining. The second had good ideas but was incomplete. The third is a letdown, to be honest. Readable enough but not a must-have.
January 4, 2019
Although it's an acceptable end to the "Chosen" stories, I felt that this story was pretty slow and had the bad habit of glossing over interesting details and over-emphasizing/beating to death others.
The story continues immediately from the previous novel ("The Ninth Talisman") in which the Swordsman previously known as Breaker has decided to take refuge in the harsh Uplands for the winter to enact his plan to fulfill his duty and kill the Dark Wizard Lord. He gets up there, stays with the Uplanders for a while, and ponders how he will survive.
He does a lot of pondering. Repetitiously.
You know how when you're reading a series, and each new book in the series does a quick review of the world at the beginning in case you forgot since you read the last one? This book (and the last one) does that, and then does it REPEATEDLY. Sword ponders how to survive, then resolves to push it to later. Then he ponders about the other Chosen. Then he ponders about ler, the mysterious spirits who bring magic. Then he learns something. Then he ponders AGAIN.
I'm not kidding- he frequently goes back to the same points. And since he's pretty much alone, he has no one to talk to, so he does almost nothing but think. I was hoping that Watt-Evans would spend most of the book focusing on surviving in harsh climates, and that this book would be more of a survival novel, or give us a chance to explore the Uplands. But instead, entire months can pass by with a "and so the weeks passed."
And then the book's over. And he explains what happens to others. Repeatedly. And they react. And they part, and he does it again.
And then the series is over.
So, while I enjoyed the first book, I feel like the series overall has a lot of unmet potential, and while I may read these books again, I feel like I could imagine a better sequel than the ones written, even if the plot followed the same beats. It would almost be more fun to re-imagine the spots that were glossed over and fill in the empty spaces the author left behind.
The story continues immediately from the previous novel ("The Ninth Talisman") in which the Swordsman previously known as Breaker has decided to take refuge in the harsh Uplands for the winter to enact his plan to fulfill his duty and kill the Dark Wizard Lord. He gets up there, stays with the Uplanders for a while, and ponders how he will survive.
He does a lot of pondering. Repetitiously.
You know how when you're reading a series, and each new book in the series does a quick review of the world at the beginning in case you forgot since you read the last one? This book (and the last one) does that, and then does it REPEATEDLY. Sword ponders how to survive, then resolves to push it to later. Then he ponders about the other Chosen. Then he ponders about ler, the mysterious spirits who bring magic. Then he learns something. Then he ponders AGAIN.
I'm not kidding- he frequently goes back to the same points. And since he's pretty much alone, he has no one to talk to, so he does almost nothing but think. I was hoping that Watt-Evans would spend most of the book focusing on surviving in harsh climates, and that this book would be more of a survival novel, or give us a chance to explore the Uplands. But instead, entire months can pass by with a "and so the weeks passed."
And then the book's over. And he explains what happens to others. Repeatedly. And they react. And they part, and he does it again.
And then the series is over.
So, while I enjoyed the first book, I feel like the series overall has a lot of unmet potential, and while I may read these books again, I feel like I could imagine a better sequel than the ones written, even if the plot followed the same beats. It would almost be more fun to re-imagine the spots that were glossed over and fill in the empty spaces the author left behind.
November 24, 2020
The Summer Palace is a fitting end to the Annals of the Chosen, and a solid read despite some very slow sections.
The Summer Palace follows off immediately after The Ninth Talisman. The Seer and Speaker have been murdered by the Wizard Lord's forces. The Leader and Scholar are both incarcerated in the Winter Palace. The Archer and Thief are nowhere to be found. Sword has escaped Barokan, and gone to the Upperlands to attempt to hide from the Wizard Lord's magic.
What follows is an, at times, extremely plodding read that goes more along the lines of Hatchet than a high fantasy story. However, I would argue that this buildup only serves to make the climax and fallout all the more exciting. The twist at the end, while not necessarily surprising, was still a satisfying way to conclude the story.
I would say that, if you enjoyed the prior two novels, you'll definitely enjoy The Summer Palace. It still features Watt-Evans's great, trim writing alongside Sword, who continues to be a superb main character.
The Summer Palace follows off immediately after The Ninth Talisman. The Seer and Speaker have been murdered by the Wizard Lord's forces. The Leader and Scholar are both incarcerated in the Winter Palace. The Archer and Thief are nowhere to be found. Sword has escaped Barokan, and gone to the Upperlands to attempt to hide from the Wizard Lord's magic.
What follows is an, at times, extremely plodding read that goes more along the lines of Hatchet than a high fantasy story. However, I would argue that this buildup only serves to make the climax and fallout all the more exciting. The twist at the end, while not necessarily surprising, was still a satisfying way to conclude the story.
I would say that, if you enjoyed the prior two novels, you'll definitely enjoy The Summer Palace. It still features Watt-Evans's great, trim writing alongside Sword, who continues to be a superb main character.
October 16, 2018
It's good in these troubled times to have an author as reliably readable as LWE. The dialogue may repeat and the situations a little contrived, but his characters remain earthy and consistently rational. One of the great things about LWE as a writer is that his situations are always imaginative, even when the characters are not.
This isn't the fastest moving book, but why should a novel about surviving a dangerous winter without any protections be action packed? It does bring the Annals of the Chosen cycle to a fitting close, and brings forward a few unexpected developments.
This isn't the fastest moving book, but why should a novel about surviving a dangerous winter without any protections be action packed? It does bring the Annals of the Chosen cycle to a fitting close, and brings forward a few unexpected developments.
June 14, 2020
2 stars, maybe 2.5 due to the last few chapters. This book was just very boring, almost nothing happened for the majority of it, and the main character spent most of the time by himself with just his thoughts. The final battle was over way too quick, and even though the aftermath didn't have much going on, it was still interesting to hear about what happened next, though this book while already short could have been half the length and not missed out on anything. It would have been much better to just make the second book a little longer.
August 20, 2019
Probably my favorite of the three. I enjoyed the pacing of the book, it brought in some ideas that I liked from the first two that I thought were undeveloped. And it had a nice twist towards the end that I was expecting, but not in the way that it happened. Good, but not going high on my recommend list.
February 4, 2020
The sword was great character the lore no pun intended was great just dragged a bit to much in the Uplander village and the end was disappointing you have all this build up to kill the wizard Lord but in the end he's nothing but a fat coward
June 15, 2012
This series continually improved as it progressed. A very satisfactory end to the trilogy where Watt-Evans manages to keep the nativity of his protagonist even after his previous adventures. I'm considering retreading the series with special interest in the commerce system to see if there's a deeper message there as I saw some pretty strong hints about that in the. Dry beginning and very end of this trilogy. Not an action-fest by any means but still highly entertaining and engrossing.
March 19, 2009
Another Watt-Evans-style story, with the hero trying to hide for an entire winter in an abandoned palace. Issues like food, water, warmth and light become as big a deal as killing the "evil" wizard. Worth reading if you like Watt-Evans; not a good place to start, though.
March 7, 2016
This conclusive installment is so good it could ask another book in the series. Great new detail and story development mark this third in the series as a treasure. Always creative with great characters.
June 7, 2021
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
October 6, 2016
It was a good book
Read
January 9, 2010ARC,Amazon received
April 6, 2017
Perfect ending to the series! The characters were well thought out and of course we have some surprises along the way.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews