The Grand Design

Tyrants and Kings #2

by John Marco

From John Marco comes the epic sequel to his thrilling debut military fantasy, The Jackel of Nar. An infamous warrior is once again caught between two irrexixtible forces, and his choice may change the world...

Prince Richius Vantran, the Jackal of Nar, has fled into exile. Meanwhile, Nar has exploded in civil war. The conflict is being waged between the religious fanatics of Bishop Herrith, who follow the Light of God, and the ruthless followers of Count Biagio and his Black Renaissance. As the terrifying slaughter mounts, fueled by the development of hideous new war machines, Vantran is offered a chance to ally with a third faction and take his revenge against his ancient enemy Biagio.

But Biagio, a master of deception and intrigue, has a grand design to gain total power that involves luring Vantran's new allies into a deadly trap. As for Vantran, Biagio has a special punishment: to strike the warrior-prince's only weakness...Vantran's innocent daughter. And Vantran himself will unwittingly seal the young girl's fate.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic, Roman

785 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Hello. Thanks for visiting my author page here on Goodreads. In case you don't know me, I'm John Marco and I'm a fantasy writer. My work includes the Tyrants and Kings trilogy and the books of the Bronze Knight Lukien.

My latest book, THE BLOODY CHORUS is now available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRTHJ768

Reviews

[Nick Borrelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for the entire Tyrants and Kings series (The Jackal of Nar, The Grand Design and The Saints of the Sword). I stumbled upon these books when I was working at Borders about 15 years ago. Back then I wasn't as serious as I am now about the content of what I read, so I admit that I picked up the Jackal of Nar because it had a really cool cover. After reading it I was blown away by how good it was. At the time I was just getting into fantasy, but I had read enough to know that I wanted to keep reading. Anyway, fast forward 15 years later and I decided to reread this series with a more discerning reading palate to see if it still holds up to what I remember all those years ago. And guess what.....it does! One of the things that makes this series so good and makes it work where other fantasy books fail is that the characters evolve and change so much over the course of the series. Just when you think you have a character figured out, they do something totally out of left field that you didn't see coming. Richius Vantran is one of the most unlikely of "heroes" as a protagonist. Constantly examining himself and his decisions, there is a vulnerability there that is easy to relate to. The setting of the story is also one that I was instantly attracted to. The almost steampunk-like city of Nar is such a compelling locale to be placed in the center of a fantasy story. That's another reason why I like this series so much, Marco throws out all of the usual conventional fantasy templates. There are no endless quests here - only excellent political intrigues and a fantastic story that will keep you turning the pages until your wife yells at you to come to bed. If you haven't read John Marco before, that is your loss. The good news is that you can redeem yourself by picking up the Jackal of Nar, start there, and continue to read everything he has published since then. The guy should have way more notoriety than he has. Hopefully that will change as he continues to put out amazing books.

[Stefan Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possible spoilers - You may not want to read if you haven't read The Jackal of Nar


This was a fantastic work by John Marco that only improves upon the solid foundation built in his first novel.

In The Grand Design, we pick up the story several months after the Jackal of Nar ended. Richius Vantran is settling into his life in Lucel-Lor...sort of. He still has a powerful thirst for revenge against Count Biaggio, who ordered the ruthless murder of Richius' first wife.

This installment in the Tyrants and Kings series once again contains the superb political intrigue, wonderfully well-rounded characters and tactical military battles that marked the first book. No one in the story is purely good or entirely evil. Each character has his/her own motives for what they do and in their own mind for the most part, what they are doing is just. The military engagements in this novel are again very well written and Mr. Marco moves us from the sweeping land battles of the first novels to mainly naval battles in this novel. The battles are filled with tension and written in a style that really allows you to see the difference between fighting on land and battling on the open sea.

An excellent novel that I would highly reccommend to anyone who has read The Jackal of Nar. If you haven't read The Jackal of Nar yet, what are you waiting for?!?!

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middle book of a trilogy. A guy with the sobriquet The Jackal is the hero of the story. He's sent into exile, and now the whole country is in civil war.

Way too long

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second and middle book of the ‘Tyrants and Kings’ epic fantasy trilogy by John Marco. It’s an awesome read, very absorbing, and it kept me fully engaged over the course of 785 paperback pages. That’s nearing doorstopper status and sometimes epic fantasy books that are that long will drag at several points along the way no matter how well the overall story is presented. But I never got that feeling with this one. Quite the opposite, in fact. I kept wishing for more free time to get back to it and, in fact, made more free time by carving out time from so-called necessities, like sleeping and eating...and my job.

The story picks up shortly after the events of The Jackal of Nar conclude, as one would expect. We are introduced to several new major characters (since so many of the characters in the first book are no longer among the living). Lots of swashbuckling action ensues but Marco doesn’t scrimp on the character development or the deeper plot. The characters are often gray rather than simply good or evil and even the filthiest bad guys have some redeeming qualities. The book can still be considered military fantasy, I suppose, because it does involve warfare on land and sea, but just as in the first book, I tend to see that as just part of the story. Like Star Wars, there is warfare and battles, but I don’t consider that military fantasy either. The title refers to the wonderful and complex plan that the major baddie has designed to gain the throne of Nar. It was fun to be a part of and see it unfold as I worked my way through the story. Intrigue abounds.

The middle novel of a three book set is absolutely vital to the overall trilogy. It doesn’t start or end but it must not simply be filler for the larger story arc either. To continue the Star Wars analogy, this novel, in many ways, works like The Empire Strikes Back. I was reeling, along with our heroes, at the end of this one and can’t wait to dive into the concluding piece. It’s wonderful to read a completed series and not have to wait for the author to complete it. This novel only cements my feelings that John Marco ranks right up there with today’s bright fantasy authors.

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first thing you must understand before you read this is that the sea comprises about 70% of the battleground. Therefore there will be a lot of technical vocabulary concerning ships and ship warfare. The first most helpful thing I did for myself was look up certain words such as dreadnought and schooner. The second most helpful thing I did was to look up starboard and port. Perhaps most people already know what they are, but I didn't, and when I looked it up, it helped immensely in understanding what was going on. But one thing I wish I had done for myself was write down the name of each ship, what kind of ship it was, and who's supposed to be on it.

Now, to get to the good stuff. This was probably my favorite out of the three. Not only did it contain my favorite character in the series, Simon Darquis, but the story truly was grand in scope. It was fascinating to see Biagio's plan unfolding, though at first, like the other characters, I wasn't sure he even had one. Each new character is something special, and many of them are used as pawns for Biagio's 'grand design,' as he calls it. Some of the most notable are Lorla, the teenage young woman in a little girl's body; the twin red-haired dukes Enli and Eneas, the latter of whom commands an army of the air, comprised of black ravens; and, my favorite, Simon Darquis, Biagio's love interest and the one he sends to abduct Richius' daughter. I feel like it was in this book that the shades of gray Marco is known for stand out the most. *Nobody* is purely evil or purely good. This is probably why I like his stuff so much. It was a struggle to get through because of all the new terminology, but it was well worth the effort.

This book deserves 5/5 stars.

[JMJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read about three quarters of this book years ago and knowing that I had enjoyed it, I wanted to read it again (very unlike me). Even though I remembered a good deal of the plot, I still revelled in Marco's story-telling ability.

This book has not just political intrigues, fanastical people and powers, strange landscapes but also a superb understanding of the motivations behind why people do the things they do. I believe I read a review that said something along the lines of 'no character in this series is black or white, Marco portrays everyone in varying shades of grey' and I could not agree with that more. The changing perspectives on characters and their actions are what keep this novel so fresh, even though some of the plot we already know (or think we know) what is going to happen. Marco has such skill in creating this imagined empire that I am just about to pick up the third novel to see how this all plays out.

[Joshua (ithildins) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hands-down phenomenal as a sequel - I still remember being enthralled by the Bishop's master plan - I never found the third book to finish out this series and I lent out the first book to a friend and have never gotten it back (I say friend - you book lovers understand the struggle of that situation) so I'd have to repurchase it to reread it all from the beginning.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just keeps getting better, the web gets tangles more and the characters truly come to life.

[Elvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second time through this series.. Loved it as much the second time around. Very memorable series for me.

[Ben Lund · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was rare in the fact that it was much better and more fleshed out than the original. I think that this book shows the author growing as a writer. The first book focused just on Richard "The Jackal". There were minor characters orbiting him, but that book was 100% about him. In this book, the world expands, we have kingdoms, we have different leaders, different factions, plots and counter-plots, it is a much more complex world. And I think that is what Marco does so well, his books lay out military maneuvering, and political scheming as the gears that move this world forward. There is no one big hero or villain that is just omnipresent over everything. The plot moves forward in incremental steps until the whole is revealed and we are almost as surprised as the characters. I know there is a third book, and I am excited to get to it, mostly because I want to know where everyone goes from here. There are still a lot of balls up in the air, and they've all got to land. I'm sure we will be introduced to even more characters that will contribute to the tapestry Marco is weaving for us.

[Chris Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the second in the tyrants and kings trilogy. And this book alone is the definition of epic. This was the first time, and only, actually, where I read a book with a gay character. It was done so well that I doubt the story and the character I’m speaking of may not have worked without this aspect. The way you see the world as this character travels to enact his grand design is amazing and it’s every bit of the epicness I speak of. And I haven’t even spoke about the main character, his wife, their daughter, or any of that. Highly recommend.

[Daniel Millard · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second installment in Marco's Tyrants and Kings trilogy quickly became exasperating and tedious for me to read, despite my moderate enjoyment of the first. Its interesting climax saves it from being a complete throwaway, but I felt there was a great deal of wasted space and irritation.

I complained considerably about Richius Vantran when I rambled about The Jackal of Nar, and I'll refrain from commenting much further, but will only say that he remains a fairly dull, selectively competent, and completely uninspiring protagonist. By and large, his tale of "make bad life choices and make everyone's life worse" in book one becomes a disease that infects, well, the rest of the world in The Grand Design. Less irritating is Count Renato Biagio, who comes into his own as a protagonist in this book. He's also inconsistent, but he at least is SUPPOSED to be insane. However, it is interesting to watch his "Grand Design" play out over the course of the story.

Time for the serious gripes: John Marco is frustratingly lazy and childish in a fair amount of his writing here. A large chunk of the book revolves around characters opposed to Biagio who are loyal to the "Light of God", the government founded on the Naren Church, which is a complete replication of the basic structure and belief system of the Catholic Church, except with almost all its beliefs twisted and made sinister and/or completely ridiculous. He even copies the entire Lenten cycle - complete with Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday, Lent itself, Easter, and a shallow similarity of the meanings of these events. This is frustrating not because its offensive, but because it's patently lazy and boring.

The Grand Design is one big swirling maelstrom of brutal revenge and sorrow, but without any truly striking plot hooks, fascinating characters, or gripping action. It winds up being a fairly bloated story about bad and short-sighted people killing each other, with a too-lean skeleton of a plot that tries to be interesting.

[Benji Greenspan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!!!!

[Brandon Matilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid read. Slow start but a riveting final 200 pages.

[T J]

The Jackal finds himself in another tough spot when he goes to exact his revenge on Biagio. His family is torn apart and it looks bad. This on exciting suspenseful read! I enjoyed this very much and look forward to the next book in the series.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was the typical second book in a trilogy that is pretty slow but sets up a great third book in every way but one, it doesn't do too much setting up of the third book. The action that was the focus of the majority of the first book was almost completely absent of this one. Also, the religion of Nar is a rip off of Catholicism that isn't even attempted to be hidden. As far as I know, the world is the creation of Marco, and not set in the far future of our world. So why does it make sense to have a religion almost exactly the same as one of the major religions of our world? The only differences between real and fake Catholicism literally comes down to single letters. For example, Judas is Judik or something like that. Totally absurd. In Marco's other trilogy, he does the same thing to Islam. I hate reading about religions in fantasy books, but it is something of a letdown when a supposed invented fantasy world has something major stolen from the real world.

Another thing that annoyed me was that in each book in the series you get a new supporting cast of characters. So you have to spend the time getting to know the characters and learn their back stories each book. The upside of this is that if a character annoys you then you know you probably won't have to be with that character for too much longer.

In spite of all of that, the book still kept me more or less interested throughout.

[Conan Tigard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the first book, I really enjoyed The Grand Design. The Grand Design is a well-written military fantasy that will quench the thirst of both military and fantasy fans. The plots are intricate and well though out. The characters are better developed and the pace of the story is perfect.

The tension that Marco creates lasts throughout the story from beginning to end. I swear, I was always anxious to read more and find out what was going to happen. And I was never disappointed with the unfolding of the events in the story. But beware, unlike a lot of tales, since this is a military novel, a lot of the characters die. I found that to be quite a shock, and sometimes I was disappointed when a specific character died.

But overall, The Grand Design is an excellent sequel to The Jackal of Nar and I look forward to the next book with a wetted appetite.

I rated this book a 9 out of 10.

[All the King's Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

While it's a 2nd book in a trilogy, the focus changes to completely different locations with mostly different characters. Many familiar faces return, but whereas the first book focused solely on Richius we have a lot more PoV's in this book and it really helps to expand the scope of the story and improves on the atmosphere.
I'm a sucker for sweet drama and I recently became a father of a little girl, so it should come as no surprise that I absolutely loved the Lorla-storyline and both the ending of that storyline and the ending of the Simon-storyline were absolutely gut-wrenching in its brutality.

I felt the dialogues were a bit off at times, a little bit too simplistic, but all in all it's just a small irritation in a overwhelmingly positive experience.

[K. Axel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is what I wrote in the book after reading it the first time; "The first book, the Jackal of Nar, gave me great hopes and expectations for this one, but no one can live up to that. Perhaps I was in the wrong place when I read the book, but it lacked the soul of the first book. Still there are some wonderful unforgetable moments."

The series as a whole are pretty good. The first book is without a doubt the best of them, but you definitely shouldn't stop there. What makes these books different from others are the darkness within them. They are very dark and gritty, perhaps more so than any other book that I've read so far.

[Stephen Glover · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is nearly 800 pages of dull storyline and flat characters who are instantly forgettable. Whoever quoted that this author has joined the ranks of Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, Stephen Donaldson and J.R.R Tolkien is clearly quite mad. These books are so far removed from the style of some of those classics its unbelievable.

This may be classed as one of those 'Dark' fantasy sub genres of books which I have learned is an alternative term for boring and badly conceived. I will probably read the third book in this series but only for the sake of completeness. This has not been an enjoyable series to read so far.

[Millerbug · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very good read. I really enjoyed Marco's world so far and his military fantasy. There is very little magic in this one, but plenty of action. The characters you think you will hate, you actually like and the characters you think you're going to like you end up disliking them. Very different fantasy. Loved the Ravens in this book, they were very creepy. Light romance story lines, and some tragic ones too. I am looking forward to the third book in this series. They just keep improving. :)

[Trey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first, but if you liked Count Biagio in the first book this is worth reading. The main character is in this book again, but I found myself skipping past his complaining and idiotic choices to follow how the two evil powers duke it out over the empire. Biagio reminds me of Thrawn from Star Wars books in that he always has the next move planned way in advance and knows what others will do.

[Bas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this sequel overall. But there were too many problems that held it back. The middle-act of the novel is a big drag and there were more than a few instances in which characters did something which I considered very 'out-of-character' only because the plot required them to.

The novel still had plenty of great characters and the writing was as fluid as ever. I'm hoping the last installment of the trilogy will be more to my liking.

[Bertrand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un livre assez sympathique et qui se lit bien poursuivant le premier tome en renouvelant l'intrigue assez facilement. Mais, car il y a un gros MAIS, John Marco utilise des raccourcis vraiment trop grossiers par moment, qui font faire ou dire à ses personnages un peu n'importe quoi... Plus un 2.5/5 qu'un véritable 3/5 mais j'ai passé un bon moment.

[Cal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our hapless hero again stumbles from one catastrophe to another. Every other character seems to have more surety of purpose that this bumbler. The effects of revenge on the morality of the principle characters is well presented. A decent story except for Richius, who is too befuddled and is left caroming from one event to the next like a pinball.

[Brant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent sequel to The Jackal of Nar. The villain, Biagio is the best part of this book. He transforms from a character you despise and later you find yourself sympathizing with him, and even liking him. Yet, he's still the villain. Great read!

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this author a lot. This is not my favorite book by him, but worth reading since it is #2 of a trilogy that overall is very good.

[Jon McDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good world building. Not happy about the grind to the finish with the cliff-hanger. Can never remember the guy's name when I am in the bookstore.

[A. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

[Travis Layman · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked the plotline and the characters. i like that everyone is not black and white. my favorite character was probably Lorla. she just seemed like a really interesting girl.