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Saga of the First King #2
The Ancient
Searching for his long-lost father, Bransen Garibond is tricked into journeying across the Gulf of Corona to the wild lands of Vanguard, where he is pressed into service in a desperate war against the brutal Samhaist, Ancient Badden.
On an Alpinadoran lake, just below Ancient Badden's magical ice castle, several societies, caught in the web of their own conflicts, are oblivious to Ancient Badden's devastating plans to destroy them.
Bransen becomes the link between the wars, and if he fails, all who live on the lake will perish, and all of northern Honce will fall under the shadow of the merciless and vengeful Samhaists.
The Ancient is part of the Saga of the First King, a four-book series that chronicles the early days of Corona, the same world as Salvatore’s bestselling DemonWars saga.
On an Alpinadoran lake, just below Ancient Badden's magical ice castle, several societies, caught in the web of their own conflicts, are oblivious to Ancient Badden's devastating plans to destroy them.
Bransen becomes the link between the wars, and if he fails, all who live on the lake will perish, and all of northern Honce will fall under the shadow of the merciless and vengeful Samhaists.
The Ancient is part of the Saga of the First King, a four-book series that chronicles the early days of Corona, the same world as Salvatore’s bestselling DemonWars saga.
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First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
R.A. Salvatore
606 books11.3k followersAs one of the fantasy genre’s most successful authors, R.A. Salvatore enjoys an ever-expanding and tremendously loyal following. His books regularly appear on The New York Times best-seller lists and have sold more than 10,000,000 copies. Salvatore’s original hardcover, The Two Swords, Book III of The Hunter’s Blade Trilogy (October 2004) debuted at # 1 on The Wall Street Journal best-seller list and at # 4 on The New York Times best-seller list. His books have been translated into numerous foreign languages including German, Italian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Turkish, Croatian, Bulgarian, Yiddish, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Czech, and French.
Salvatore’s first published novel, The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988, became the first volume of the acclaimed Icewind Dale Trilogy and introduced an enormously popular character, the dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden. Since that time, Salvatore has published numerous novels for each of his signature multi-volume series including The Dark Elf Trilogy, Paths of Darkness, The Hunter’s Blades Trilogy, and The Cleric Quintet.
His love affair with fantasy, and with literature in general, began during his sophomore year of college when he was given a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings as a Christmas gift. He promptly changed his major from computerscience to journalism. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications from Fitchburg State College in 1981, then returned for the degree he always cherished, the Bachelor of Arts in English. He began writing seriously in 1982, penning the manuscript that would become Echoes of the Fourth Magic. Salvatore held many jobs during those first years as a writer, finally settling in (much to our delight) to write full time in 1990.
The R.A. Salvatore Collection has been established at his alma mater, Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, containing the writer’s letters, manuscripts, and other professional papers. He is in good company, as The Salvatore Collection is situated alongside The Robert Cormier Library, which celebrates the writing career of the co-alum and esteemed author of young adult books.
Salvatore is an active member of his community and is on the board of trustees at the local library in Leominster, Massachusetts. He has participated in several American Library Association regional conferences, giving talks on themes including “Adventure fantasy” and “Why young adults read fantasy.” Salvatore himself enjoys a broad range of literary writers including James Joyce, Mark Twain, Geoffrey Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, and Sartre. He counts among his favorite genre literary influences Ian Fleming, Arthur Conan Doyle, Fritz Leiber, and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien.
Born in 1959, Salvatore is a native of Massachusetts and resides there with his wife Diane, and their three children, Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. The family pets include three Japanese Chins, Oliver, Artemis and Ivan, and four cats including Guenhwyvar.
When he isn't writing, Salvatore chases after his three Japanese Chins, takes long walks, hits the gym, and coaches/plays on a fun-league softball team that includes most of his family. His gaming group still meets on Sundays to play.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rasalv...
Salvatore’s first published novel, The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988, became the first volume of the acclaimed Icewind Dale Trilogy and introduced an enormously popular character, the dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden. Since that time, Salvatore has published numerous novels for each of his signature multi-volume series including The Dark Elf Trilogy, Paths of Darkness, The Hunter’s Blades Trilogy, and The Cleric Quintet.
His love affair with fantasy, and with literature in general, began during his sophomore year of college when he was given a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings as a Christmas gift. He promptly changed his major from computerscience to journalism. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications from Fitchburg State College in 1981, then returned for the degree he always cherished, the Bachelor of Arts in English. He began writing seriously in 1982, penning the manuscript that would become Echoes of the Fourth Magic. Salvatore held many jobs during those first years as a writer, finally settling in (much to our delight) to write full time in 1990.
The R.A. Salvatore Collection has been established at his alma mater, Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, containing the writer’s letters, manuscripts, and other professional papers. He is in good company, as The Salvatore Collection is situated alongside The Robert Cormier Library, which celebrates the writing career of the co-alum and esteemed author of young adult books.
Salvatore is an active member of his community and is on the board of trustees at the local library in Leominster, Massachusetts. He has participated in several American Library Association regional conferences, giving talks on themes including “Adventure fantasy” and “Why young adults read fantasy.” Salvatore himself enjoys a broad range of literary writers including James Joyce, Mark Twain, Geoffrey Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, and Sartre. He counts among his favorite genre literary influences Ian Fleming, Arthur Conan Doyle, Fritz Leiber, and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien.
Born in 1959, Salvatore is a native of Massachusetts and resides there with his wife Diane, and their three children, Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. The family pets include three Japanese Chins, Oliver, Artemis and Ivan, and four cats including Guenhwyvar.
When he isn't writing, Salvatore chases after his three Japanese Chins, takes long walks, hits the gym, and coaches/plays on a fun-league softball team that includes most of his family. His gaming group still meets on Sundays to play.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rasalv...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
August 10, 2019
'The Ancient' is the 2nd book in R.A. Salvatore's 'Saga of the First King' series. I recently read and reviewed the first book in the series, 'The Highwayman'. It was a five-star effort.
'The Ancient' is not.
Having bought in completely to the plight of Bransen Garibond, the Highwayman, I was fully prepared to follow him on his next exciting adventure.
However, for something to truly be an adventure, you have to believe the characters motivation for undertaking the mission is authentic. I didn't believe in his mission nor did I embrace Bransen's insistence on letting his handicap slow his travels as he refused to use the gemstone for long periods of time in hopes of better controlling his 'chi' on his own.
Bransen, as we learned in the Highwayman, was born with a serious handicap. He could hardly walk and barely talk. People called him the 'Stork.' When he used a gemstone, however, securing it to a headband especially, he was more than normal, superior to other men and monsters, able to run, leap and fight with deadly skill.
So, instead of taking on the disguise of anything else, he refuses to use the gemstone and travels slowly with his wife, Cadayle, and her mother, Callen, not suspecting that word went out before them to be wary of this one they call the Stork. And despite the extra training without the gemstone, he doesn't get any better.
So what are Bransen's options?
My first thought was, with all this stealing he does as the Highwayman, he needs to gather to himself more gemstones. What happens if he loses the one he's got? You need a bag of backups. He could also experiment. Do different gems have different effects?
Secondly, he could travel directly to Behr, the place where his mother came from, and learn the ways of the Jhesta Tu mystics, perhaps discover a real solution to his ailments.
But no. Bransen decides he wants to find out what happened to his father whom he never met and was an Abellican monk, a religion he frowns upon and wants nothing to do with. (Not giving anything away because the truth of this is in the first book - his Dad is long dead)
Naively, Bransen accepts information from Abellicans and boards a ship captained by Dawson McKeege to pursue his missing father with his womenfolk in tow. Dumb move. Out in the middle of nowhere, north of everything, the women's safety now in the hands of the captain and the crew, Bransen is pressed into the service of Dame Gwydre and a war for the northern land called Vanguard. They are fighting a powerful Samhaist priest named Ancient Badden.
Bransen reluctantly accepts his fate and goes to war. Cadayle and Callen disappear from the rest of the story, left to wait for his return, their safety secured as long as he fights and the war continues. Once the war is over, they promise he can take them and leave. This all seemed a bit far-fetched, but it is fantasy, so whatever.
Bransen is heroic in the war, of course, but the war doesn't seem to be anywhere near an end.
Hoping for a quick strike and ending, Bransen agrees to be part of a small party of warriors that will sneak behind enemy lines, locate Ancient Badden, and kill him.
Ancient Badden is nothing special. He's just an old magician capable of drawing energy from the earth, controlling a host of giants and trolls, erecting some magical crystalline castle in the middle of nowhere, drilling into the frozen ice, awakening and feeding with sacrifices a monstrous white worm.
The author introduces a host of other characters in other parts of this small world that fill up much of the book. I never came to care much for them. We basically endure their stories although the monk Cormack was mildly interesting, as was a violent rogue woman warrior called Vaughna. The others, Milkeila, Mcwigik, Toniquay, Bikelbrin, Giavno and Olconna were merely generic characters. I really had no interest in seeing the dwarves (powries) presented as merciful and honorable since the first book made them horrible dwarves deserving only contempt throughout.
The action in the book is first rate - right up to Salvatore's standards. The story was weak, as were the new characters. The lack of development for Bransen's character was disappointing. I'm hesitant to read the third book now. I'll probably put in on my reading queue but not anytime soon.
I'm hoping Bransen wises up, gets more gems, stops trying to control the Stork, and gets his butt to the Walk in Clouds. Three stars.
'The Ancient' is not.
Having bought in completely to the plight of Bransen Garibond, the Highwayman, I was fully prepared to follow him on his next exciting adventure.
However, for something to truly be an adventure, you have to believe the characters motivation for undertaking the mission is authentic. I didn't believe in his mission nor did I embrace Bransen's insistence on letting his handicap slow his travels as he refused to use the gemstone for long periods of time in hopes of better controlling his 'chi' on his own.
Bransen, as we learned in the Highwayman, was born with a serious handicap. He could hardly walk and barely talk. People called him the 'Stork.' When he used a gemstone, however, securing it to a headband especially, he was more than normal, superior to other men and monsters, able to run, leap and fight with deadly skill.
So, instead of taking on the disguise of anything else, he refuses to use the gemstone and travels slowly with his wife, Cadayle, and her mother, Callen, not suspecting that word went out before them to be wary of this one they call the Stork. And despite the extra training without the gemstone, he doesn't get any better.
So what are Bransen's options?
My first thought was, with all this stealing he does as the Highwayman, he needs to gather to himself more gemstones. What happens if he loses the one he's got? You need a bag of backups. He could also experiment. Do different gems have different effects?
Secondly, he could travel directly to Behr, the place where his mother came from, and learn the ways of the Jhesta Tu mystics, perhaps discover a real solution to his ailments.
But no. Bransen decides he wants to find out what happened to his father whom he never met and was an Abellican monk, a religion he frowns upon and wants nothing to do with. (Not giving anything away because the truth of this is in the first book - his Dad is long dead)
Naively, Bransen accepts information from Abellicans and boards a ship captained by Dawson McKeege to pursue his missing father with his womenfolk in tow. Dumb move. Out in the middle of nowhere, north of everything, the women's safety now in the hands of the captain and the crew, Bransen is pressed into the service of Dame Gwydre and a war for the northern land called Vanguard. They are fighting a powerful Samhaist priest named Ancient Badden.
Bransen reluctantly accepts his fate and goes to war. Cadayle and Callen disappear from the rest of the story, left to wait for his return, their safety secured as long as he fights and the war continues. Once the war is over, they promise he can take them and leave. This all seemed a bit far-fetched, but it is fantasy, so whatever.
Bransen is heroic in the war, of course, but the war doesn't seem to be anywhere near an end.
Hoping for a quick strike and ending, Bransen agrees to be part of a small party of warriors that will sneak behind enemy lines, locate Ancient Badden, and kill him.
Ancient Badden is nothing special. He's just an old magician capable of drawing energy from the earth, controlling a host of giants and trolls, erecting some magical crystalline castle in the middle of nowhere, drilling into the frozen ice, awakening and feeding with sacrifices a monstrous white worm.
The author introduces a host of other characters in other parts of this small world that fill up much of the book. I never came to care much for them. We basically endure their stories although the monk Cormack was mildly interesting, as was a violent rogue woman warrior called Vaughna. The others, Milkeila, Mcwigik, Toniquay, Bikelbrin, Giavno and Olconna were merely generic characters. I really had no interest in seeing the dwarves (powries) presented as merciful and honorable since the first book made them horrible dwarves deserving only contempt throughout.
The action in the book is first rate - right up to Salvatore's standards. The story was weak, as were the new characters. The lack of development for Bransen's character was disappointing. I'm hesitant to read the third book now. I'll probably put in on my reading queue but not anytime soon.
I'm hoping Bransen wises up, gets more gems, stops trying to control the Stork, and gets his butt to the Walk in Clouds. Three stars.
June 6, 2017
The second novel in the “Saga of the First King” tetralogy (itself a prequel series to the larger “Corona” series) feels a bit like the first book in a trilogy. While the main story line still revolves around Bransen Garibond (The Highwayman) and the search for his destiny, he and his immediate companions only take up a portion of the chapters. Many other characters are introduced as well, and most of them seem to have major roles in the larger world that Salvatore is developing, with the titular Ancient mage of the Samhaists taking center stage.
While I have been a big fan of Salvatore’s Drizzt novels, especially at the beginning, and still regard the The Dark Elf Trilogy Collector's Edition among my favorite fantasy epics, I tend to list his earlier Corona novels among the very best of his work. Mortalis is my favorite Salvatore novel and, in fact, I once attended one of his book signings where he told me that it was his favorite as well, at least so far. But somehow, this earlier set isn’t quite connecting with me the way those did. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve since been exposed to a lot of extremely high-quality fantasy reads or if it’s some other reason. Nevertheless, I am interested to see how these turn out so will turn to the next one, The Dame, in due course.
While I have been a big fan of Salvatore’s Drizzt novels, especially at the beginning, and still regard the The Dark Elf Trilogy Collector's Edition among my favorite fantasy epics, I tend to list his earlier Corona novels among the very best of his work. Mortalis is my favorite Salvatore novel and, in fact, I once attended one of his book signings where he told me that it was his favorite as well, at least so far. But somehow, this earlier set isn’t quite connecting with me the way those did. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve since been exposed to a lot of extremely high-quality fantasy reads or if it’s some other reason. Nevertheless, I am interested to see how these turn out so will turn to the next one, The Dame, in due course.
May 31, 2011
An important caveat to begin: R.A. Salvatore was so influential to my early reading habits, and to my eventual love for fantasy in general, that I have a hard time being wholly objective about his work. Having been reading his books for the past 15 years criticizing Salvatore feels like criticizing my grandfather; sure there's some validity to it, but it's a dick move.
So while I may have found authors I prefer to read now over going back and re-reading my well-worn copies of Homeland and the Cleric Quintet, Salvatore remains something of a literary sacred cow in my home. Which is why going back to Corona after a long absence and reading The Ancient was a mixed experience.
There are things Salvatore does as well as anyone else writing: his descriptions of tactics and combat are without equal in my mind, and are more exciting to read than a great deal of modern action movies are to watch (tangent: I get the impression that Salvatore would make either a great fight choreographer, or at least great source material for fight choreography). Yet his stories have started to seem lighter to me than they once did. Whether it's an over-familiarity with genre conventions or simply knowing the man's style of writing and characterization as well as I've come to there's less of an all-encompassing pull to this book. I loved the story and I read it quickly, but the characters didn't feel as deep or as rich as Artemis, Jarlaxle, Drizzt, Wulfgar, et al once did (oh who am I kidding, they still do).
So I guess what I would say is that this book is still a wonderful read, there is meatier fare to be had if you'd prefer. For me though there's still a little magic in Salvatore's pen, and I'm not sure I'll ever stop reading these books while he keeps writing them.
So while I may have found authors I prefer to read now over going back and re-reading my well-worn copies of Homeland and the Cleric Quintet, Salvatore remains something of a literary sacred cow in my home. Which is why going back to Corona after a long absence and reading The Ancient was a mixed experience.
There are things Salvatore does as well as anyone else writing: his descriptions of tactics and combat are without equal in my mind, and are more exciting to read than a great deal of modern action movies are to watch (tangent: I get the impression that Salvatore would make either a great fight choreographer, or at least great source material for fight choreography). Yet his stories have started to seem lighter to me than they once did. Whether it's an over-familiarity with genre conventions or simply knowing the man's style of writing and characterization as well as I've come to there's less of an all-encompassing pull to this book. I loved the story and I read it quickly, but the characters didn't feel as deep or as rich as Artemis, Jarlaxle, Drizzt, Wulfgar, et al once did (oh who am I kidding, they still do).
So I guess what I would say is that this book is still a wonderful read, there is meatier fare to be had if you'd prefer. For me though there's still a little magic in Salvatore's pen, and I'm not sure I'll ever stop reading these books while he keeps writing them.
September 15, 2018
It was amazing. Salvatore again shows us how excellent he is at character building, and his detail into scenes like swordplay is fascinating. The once-thought of as evil, honorless powries show their moral strength and sense of honor again in this book.
August 30, 2017
Second book in the Saga of the First King series and the second book to have The Highwayman as the main characters.
For me this was average at best. I really enjoyed the last book in the series but this one fell a little flat. I love the character of The Highwayman but he wasn't present in a large portion of this book. Salvatore had a bunch of side plots, which is usually a good idea but they just weren't that compelling to me. Yes there were a bunch of good fights and battles but they contained people that I didn't care about at all so even the fight scenes were anti-climactic. One last thing was the our resident bad guy (The Ancient) wasn't really all that bad. He didn't have a good backstory, his motivations were uninspired and there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to lose in the end.
So that is everything that was wrong but it still had Salvatore's writing and the main character was great. Good world building as well.
I'll round up to three stars.
This one just didn't click with me. I'm sure some others would find it better than I did and still others would find it worse - this book more than others I've read lately really came down to personal preference.
For me this was average at best. I really enjoyed the last book in the series but this one fell a little flat. I love the character of The Highwayman but he wasn't present in a large portion of this book. Salvatore had a bunch of side plots, which is usually a good idea but they just weren't that compelling to me. Yes there were a bunch of good fights and battles but they contained people that I didn't care about at all so even the fight scenes were anti-climactic. One last thing was the our resident bad guy (The Ancient) wasn't really all that bad. He didn't have a good backstory, his motivations were uninspired and there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to lose in the end.
So that is everything that was wrong but it still had Salvatore's writing and the main character was great. Good world building as well.
I'll round up to three stars.
This one just didn't click with me. I'm sure some others would find it better than I did and still others would find it worse - this book more than others I've read lately really came down to personal preference.
June 28, 2024
As stated in many of the other reviews definitely not as good as the first. This serves as more of a transitional story with lots of world building and a lot of new side character introduction. I actually really enjoyed some of the new characters, however this almost felt like it wasn’t Bransen’s story. Still a good read!
August 22, 2025
Didn't like it. Hated the main character. Felt like the book introduced a new person every few pages. Didn't elaborate on the badass wizard and dwarves enough
January 7, 2017
6.5/10
In the second book in the Saga of the First King Salvatore returns, once again, to his usual epic adventures with the famous Highwayman searching for his ultimate destiny in a world much different than he actually believed to know.
Even though the book feels a lot like a first in this “extra” trilogy rather than a second one, the story is actually much different, compared to the first one, with Highwayman playing only a small part here.
However, that is because Salvatore introduces in this book a lot of new characters; while in the meantime he continues to evolve the world-building with the Ancient mage of the Samhaists being in the center of all, and with the monks playing their plots and shemes behind their politics; as also introducing a “new” side from the Powries, which is and a really funny one.
The book in generally is quite introductory and slow in pace but, although it has certainly some action and humor here and there, it is unfortunately too overcrowded with characters for the story to evolve properly, let alone to be able to hold the interest.
On the other hand though, Salvatore manages to "save" the story on the last 100 pages or so but, I believe, not as well as he did in The Highwayman; while the ending, personally, left me with very mixed feelings.
Overall, I think that if it wasn’t for the Highwayman, which I really liked in the first book, I believe that I would have been even less interested in reading this book and keep going, page after page, but then again, as a fan of Salvatore's, I can’t say that it was boring either. Just mediocre.
In the second book in the Saga of the First King Salvatore returns, once again, to his usual epic adventures with the famous Highwayman searching for his ultimate destiny in a world much different than he actually believed to know.
Even though the book feels a lot like a first in this “extra” trilogy rather than a second one, the story is actually much different, compared to the first one, with Highwayman playing only a small part here.
However, that is because Salvatore introduces in this book a lot of new characters; while in the meantime he continues to evolve the world-building with the Ancient mage of the Samhaists being in the center of all, and with the monks playing their plots and shemes behind their politics; as also introducing a “new” side from the Powries, which is and a really funny one.
The book in generally is quite introductory and slow in pace but, although it has certainly some action and humor here and there, it is unfortunately too overcrowded with characters for the story to evolve properly, let alone to be able to hold the interest.
On the other hand though, Salvatore manages to "save" the story on the last 100 pages or so but, I believe, not as well as he did in The Highwayman; while the ending, personally, left me with very mixed feelings.
Overall, I think that if it wasn’t for the Highwayman, which I really liked in the first book, I believe that I would have been even less interested in reading this book and keep going, page after page, but then again, as a fan of Salvatore's, I can’t say that it was boring either. Just mediocre.
April 6, 2008
I love the highwayman character and the stuff i loved in the first novel is found in the second novel. In this book the character is explored more deeply as well as other intriguing character have popped up in the story. Salvatore is able to keeps the pace going in this book. The plot is well developed and as always the characters are always interesting. After all these years he is still my one of my favorite authors.
March 31, 2012
My first R.A. Salvatore novel...and to be honest if it wasn't for the character of the Highwayman, it might have been my last. The Highwayman was the only thing I really liked about this book, the rest were just...kind of there.
November 7, 2023
This took me way longer than I want to admit. Normally, Bob's (Salvatore) writing takes me several pages worth of reading to pick up the pacing, but once I do, the train runs off the track until the end. This story was a slog for me to read... for more than half the book. I don't recall taking as long for the Highwayman which enticed me to continue the adventures of the "Stork".
While Bransen Garibond aka the "Stork" is within the book, he feels incidental to the grander tale being told for quite some time, makes many questionable decisions once he is the focal point, and yet steals the story near the end. His wife and mother in law, even less so involved. Somewhere along the line, everyone knows his secret identity, which was a draw for me. Very Jeckyll & Hyde, or more like the current Marvel's Hulk, being highly intelligent in his human form, yet nigh unbeatable in his alter-ego. But if he is exposed then why continue to be a cripple? or even pretend? And ultimately, why follow his tale?
However, much ground is fettered away beforehand, telling differing views/stories surrounding Mithranidoon lake. The Abellicans are annoying in their fervent conversion methods, the Alpinadorians are equally as steadfast in their beliefs and get their equal measure of book space. Those factions tussle for a few then just quit (for specific and detrimental reasons for a certain character). The disgruntled powries are humorous yet out of sorts from their normal conventions. But got the few chuckles to be had from me. And much time is spent building up the bad guy, in the form of the titular Ancient Badden with his world domination plans and thoughts, along with his trolls and great worm.
The world building is necessary, I'll admit, but not exciting nor engaging enough and less so in the second book of the quartet. Did I just miss this guy in the first book? Why wait until now to introduce the bad guy (let alone off him in a fantastic effort?) Whatever, it all felt like familiar (repeated) ground. By the time Bransen is transported across the lake and forced into being his super-self for Dame Gwydre I needed a bingo card to keep track of which faction was which and why.
Once the disguise was off, the train left the station. Characters were thrown in willy-nilly, and died just as easily to further the finale. I gave the book 2 stars for finishing it. The third star is for the last quarter of the book - capture, rally, and defeat. Action and sword play everywhere. And a dragon, woohoo. Have to mention powries, pissing in a fountain. Hilarious!
This felt more like Brother Cormack's story than Bransen. Perhaps there is more world building to come in the next entry The Dame but I can't say I am eager to jump into it. And can't quite get into the lairds bickering everywhere. Tedious.
Hopefully, this Saga of the First King goes somewhere noteworthy. Decent enough fantasy for now. Recommend Salvatore as always, but don't start with this one.
Thansk for reading.
While Bransen Garibond aka the "Stork" is within the book, he feels incidental to the grander tale being told for quite some time, makes many questionable decisions once he is the focal point, and yet steals the story near the end. His wife and mother in law, even less so involved. Somewhere along the line, everyone knows his secret identity, which was a draw for me. Very Jeckyll & Hyde, or more like the current Marvel's Hulk, being highly intelligent in his human form, yet nigh unbeatable in his alter-ego. But if he is exposed then why continue to be a cripple? or even pretend? And ultimately, why follow his tale?
However, much ground is fettered away beforehand, telling differing views/stories surrounding Mithranidoon lake. The Abellicans are annoying in their fervent conversion methods, the Alpinadorians are equally as steadfast in their beliefs and get their equal measure of book space. Those factions tussle for a few then just quit (for specific and detrimental reasons for a certain character). The disgruntled powries are humorous yet out of sorts from their normal conventions. But got the few chuckles to be had from me. And much time is spent building up the bad guy, in the form of the titular Ancient Badden with his world domination plans and thoughts, along with his trolls and great worm.
The world building is necessary, I'll admit, but not exciting nor engaging enough and less so in the second book of the quartet. Did I just miss this guy in the first book? Why wait until now to introduce the bad guy (let alone off him in a fantastic effort?) Whatever, it all felt like familiar (repeated) ground. By the time Bransen is transported across the lake and forced into being his super-self for Dame Gwydre I needed a bingo card to keep track of which faction was which and why.
Once the disguise was off, the train left the station. Characters were thrown in willy-nilly, and died just as easily to further the finale. I gave the book 2 stars for finishing it. The third star is for the last quarter of the book - capture, rally, and defeat. Action and sword play everywhere. And a dragon, woohoo. Have to mention powries, pissing in a fountain. Hilarious!
This felt more like Brother Cormack's story than Bransen. Perhaps there is more world building to come in the next entry The Dame but I can't say I am eager to jump into it. And can't quite get into the lairds bickering everywhere. Tedious.
Hopefully, this Saga of the First King goes somewhere noteworthy. Decent enough fantasy for now. Recommend Salvatore as always, but don't start with this one.
Thansk for reading.
March 27, 2019
This was quite an amazing story. Unfortunately, I listened to it on audiobook which I tend not to pay attention so I may have missed quite a bit. Even so, it still grabbed me and pulled me in (even while I was tuning it out and playing cards) to make me cringe and gasp and flinch as terrible things happened. Really, this story was too real. People I loved and liked died and were tortured. And when I really did gasp aloud and whisper "Oh no!" In complete horror. I hated the things that happened to the good guys. And when select ppl died, I got so depressed.
Which is why I don't read/listen to these kinds of books. But I didn't know what I was getting into. And I got it free. So . . .
Read it. And you don't have to read book one first. I didn't. I didn't even realize there was a book one until about halfway through.
But don't read it if you can't stand gruesome events and gory (but not ridiculous over the top kind of gory) details and where it's like real life where anybody could die.
But read it. It has a happy ending.
As happy of an ending where ppl die could have....
Which is why I don't read/listen to these kinds of books. But I didn't know what I was getting into. And I got it free. So . . .
Read it. And you don't have to read book one first. I didn't. I didn't even realize there was a book one until about halfway through.
But don't read it if you can't stand gruesome events and gory (but not ridiculous over the top kind of gory) details and where it's like real life where anybody could die.
But read it. It has a happy ending.
As happy of an ending where ppl die could have....
April 16, 2020
The Ancient, book 2 in Corona: Saga of the First King was written by R.A. Salvatore. Salvatore is also known for writing the popular saga of Drizzt Do'Urden and the Demonwar Saga. This series is a prelude to that Saga.
This reads like the off brand cereal version of those previously listed series. The characters show no character growth and are stale, and make decisions that make no sense, logically. The magic system is vague and unimaginative. The land in which this story takes place, is bland and lacks history to add context to the actual story.
This overall, is a slog of a book compared to other high fantasy series of the same ilk. Maybe the next book in the series will change all of this.
This reads like the off brand cereal version of those previously listed series. The characters show no character growth and are stale, and make decisions that make no sense, logically. The magic system is vague and unimaginative. The land in which this story takes place, is bland and lacks history to add context to the actual story.
This overall, is a slog of a book compared to other high fantasy series of the same ilk. Maybe the next book in the series will change all of this.
November 18, 2017
For me the second book of the series is mainly about the opposition of two religions, an ‘old’ and a ‘new’ one which can be even the paganism vs the early christianism. The best thing is that neither one is the ‘right’ one, the leader of the old one is a bloodthirsty maniac, opposing the insensitive and bigoted new. Of course besides all of these we got a great, exciting story as well.
July 25, 2018
I read it with the audio book and I enjoyed it more.
It was harder to track the world since the map wasn't really used.
It also took a bit for all of the stories to combine, and therefore it took a while for me to invest in the stories. It's also a different layout than the first one so I had to acclimate.
But once I got on board it was a great story that I looked forward getting back to.
It was harder to track the world since the map wasn't really used.
It also took a bit for all of the stories to combine, and therefore it took a while for me to invest in the stories. It's also a different layout than the first one so I had to acclimate.
But once I got on board it was a great story that I looked forward getting back to.
December 31, 2023
This was just awful, I found the first book in the series to be absolutly lovely but this was just such a horrible step down so much so that I'm not sure if is want to continue with the series or not now.
This was boring, unengaging, dry character, jumped around too much, terrible scene setting and the worst world building. I was desperate for this to end.
This was boring, unengaging, dry character, jumped around too much, terrible scene setting and the worst world building. I was desperate for this to end.
October 13, 2017
Clearly meant as a building-to-something book, introducing a lot of new characters, most of which aren't all that interesting, and with an awful lot of talking about motives and caps. I'll keep reading the series, but I can't say that this one would enamor me to the series if it was my first.
October 17, 2017
I could not get into this one at all. Mostly conceited and unlikable characters who don't die when by all appearances they should. A battle between religions I couldn't care less about. And an "ancient" power basically felled by a man and his sword. Bah!
December 18, 2021
An okay entry. 3.5 outa 5. Its a good, fast paced Salvatore book even though a lot of it seems like it could have been cut and been its own book. Perhaps should have. But in the end it comes together ok, and you're still in for a fun time.
April 6, 2022
Felt like I was getting introduced to new characters every other chapter, then these characters refer to other new characters i don't know. It got boring quickly. I'm surprised because i really liked the preceeding book
April 23, 2022
3.75 stars for me this was enjoyable. I don’t think you need to read it as it’s a separate story from the first and both could be read as a stand alone just with same characters. I did 5 star the first book.
February 16, 2023
Book two continued at the high-level book one finished on, and wasn't weighed down by the same problematic start. It seems clear that Salvatore is assembling an awesome ensemble cast for this series. I can't wait to see what happens when they all assemble.
February 29, 2024
This whole series seems to use same patterns as Drizzt books. Lonely noble outcast as a hero and internal monologues before chapters. Story is enjoyable, but from time to time really cruel and unbearable, and somewhat directionless.
May 30, 2017
I like the character The Highwayman and enjoy his journey, his failures and his triumphs. Salvatore leaves one feeling poignant, even in victory.
September 20, 2017
Very slow throughout and the characters were pretty boring.
December 31, 2018
Forgettable.
February 25, 2020
Found this book at a used book store, and loved it, in the process of finding books 3 and 4.
March 26, 2020
I didn't love it. Still enjoyed the descriptions of the battles [though less than in the past], but just didn't feel much connection to any of the characters.
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