Travis Daniel Bow

This was an amazingly written, intense adventure story. It's easy to label it “fantasy,” except it has none of the trappings you'd expect in a fantasy tale. No magic, no elves, no dwarves, no dragons. I kept waiting for Bow to mention some lore about the dragons of old or some secret magic spell, but nothing of the sort ever comes – and you don't miss the standard tropes, not really, because Bow's world is so vivid.

The story centers around Timothy, a young boy who's abducted by tyrannical invaders called Huctans. He's eventually rescued, and joins up with the Band, a group of rebels who stand against the oppressors. Once hidden in the forest with the rebels, Timothy undergoes intense training to become a Thane, the deadly and resourceful spy-warriors of the Band.

At first, I feared Timothy was going to be the Chosen One, the Shining Example of Goodness, but Bow doesn't create such one-dimensional characters. While Timothy does try to do the right thing, he also makes plenty of mistakes and sometimes says things that are foolish or heartless. His shyness is the main cause of his troubles: when Timothy has a clear task set before him, he's efficient and well-spoken, but during “down times” he either fumbles or feigns indifference.

The other characters are also interesting, from Timothy's “brother” Robert, a natural leader, to Jesher, the driven Thane who nonetheless knows when the end has come. The psychological interplay between the cast is detailed and completely realistic. Relationships change subtly, over time, as the characters grow and tension builds, and the changes aren't always predictable.

When not describing his characters, Bow is immersing us in the forests, towns, and dungeons of this world. His sentences are crisp, usually giving us plenty of detail without grinding the story to a halt. I say “usually,” because Bow relies heavily on narrative to tell his tale, and I think in certain parts dialogue would work better to advance the plot and get us close to the characters.

The story features a truly extraordinary training sequence, and I'm a sucker for those sorts of things. We feel every bump, bruise, and insult Timothy absorbs as he's pushed physically and mentally. While entertaining to read, it frustrated me that Bow didn't throw him into more missions, which are, of course, another form of training. There are some missions, and they're all suspenseful and help develop the characters, but then the novel moves to its closing chapters, and Timothy's life is transformed.

There are some flaws in this novel, though – not in the writing in particular, but in the structure. The chapters are named after characters, and we follow around various ones in third-person throughout the novel. However, this is Timothy's story, and he gets the lion's share of the chapters, while some characters only get a few short pages. It creates a huge imbalance, and I'm not quite sure why Bow chose to lay out his novel this way.

Another issue is the flashbacks and the prologue. I don't want to get all writing handbook here, but there's a reason seasoned writers are skeptical of these. Take the prologue: by the time I got to the part of the story where it matters, I'd forgotten everything but the barest details. It could've easily been worked into the middle of the book, once we understand all the factions and the stakes involved.

The flashbacks are also stuck in the front of certain chapters in what I thought was a clumsy way. Most of the flashbacks serve only as backstory for the reader. Again, Bow could have woven these into the real-time plot - for example, by simply having one of the characters tell a story - where they would have been much more useful.

I think “Thane” would have been even stronger if Bow used an omniscient narrative style, so he could move through time and space at will, rather than trying to stick to third-person limited, but then tacking on stuff in an effort to make the story clearer. You can do a lot of heavy lifting with flashbacks, but they have to at least somewhat sync with the present-day plot.

All in all, though, “Thane” is strong enough that I have no hesitation putting Book Two on my reading list. If it's anything like Book One, it will be full of wonder, pathos, and incredible characters, and will keep me excitedly turning the pages for hours on end.… (mais)