Review: Rise of the Ranger by Philip C. Quaintrell
Blurb:
THE ECHOES OF FATE, A PROPHECY UTTERED UNTO THE WORLD A THOUSAND YEARS AGO, CANNOT BE DENIED…
Mankind has lorded over the land of Illian for a thousand years, building on the ruins left by the elves, as if it were their birthright. A thousand years is a long time for an immortal race to see the truth of things, a truth that has remained unsaid for a millennium - elves are superior. They are faster, stronger and connected to the magical realm in a way that man could never grasp. Illian should belong to them.
Unaware of the shadow that looms in the east, the six kingdoms of man are fractured, unallied, and clawing at each other’s gates for more power.
This isn’t just war set to ravage the land, but a slaughter - the world of man cannot hope to survive.
Thrown into the heart of this war is a man known by many names; an Outlander of the wilds, an assassin, a ranger. Asher was born a thousand years ago, to a life he doesn’t remember. Forty years of brutal training and killing for money has beaten the earliest years of his life away, leaving his ties to the oldest of evils a mystery to all…
RISE OF THE RANGER LAUNCHES AN UNMISSABLE EPIC FANTASY SERIES.
Review:
Aside from the Cradle series by Will Wight, this is one of my first entries into the world of Indie Publishing. Of course, I've heard all of the negative stigma against indie published books: too many typos, poor quality, quantity of releases over quality, generic plots and characters, etc. As I embark into this new (for me) world of publishing, I hope to debunk all of that negativity and kill the stigma like Asher kills a bunch of Arakesh. And for the record, no typos that I could spot.
The Prologue starts with a bang a thousand years in the past, right in the midst of something called the Dark War. Right away, the reader can tell they are in for a modern take on a lot of classic fantasy elements. There are elves and humans, at first seemingly similar to the likes of Tolkien, and of course dragons. Later there's mention of dwarves and centaurs (C.S. Lewis), as well. In The Rise of the Ranger, the modern take on these elements is that the battles can be quite brutal and there's more romance with fade-to-black scenes alluding to intimate relationships. I can get behind some comps I've seen to John Gwynne (although the battles aren't as brutal), or The Witcher.
The most surprising choice for a debut author beginning a long series is the large number of POV characters. I think there's about 8 different characters you will get inside the mind of, though about 5 of those take up the bulk of the book. It's an interesting choice since most fantasy series start off with a lower POV number to not overwhelm the reader before ramping it up with each entry as the world expands. For that reason, it is a bit difficult to get invested into the characters in The Rise of the Ranger when you may not see them for another few chapters as Quaintrell works at setting the stage and scene for the main plot. One aspect I am grateful for, is Philip doesn't contrive ridiculous ways for all 8 characters to converge at the end. I mean, I don't mind that if it's a 400,000 word epic fantasy novel. It ceases to be unbelievable when it happens in half the words with characters seemingly continents apart. In this case, there are two convergences that happen in very believable ways by the end that feel satisfying and realistic.
Where Quaintrell really hits the mark is his characterization and pacing with the ranger, Asher, and other companions. Even with all of the POV characters, it's easy to feel Asher is the main guy and that's a good thing. There are a lot of layers of nuance to him that I can see, even if it hasn't all been revealed, and he's far from a simple, cookie cutter character. He’s also not some farmboy to fame twenty-something, but rather a middle-aged rugged former assassin that has already lived a hard, brutal life. It’s a breath of fresh air for me. Likewise, pseudo-paladin Nathaniel, who belongs to a dogmatic order that reminds me of the White Cloaks from Wheel of Time, also has a lot of conflict and complications to his worldview. He's loyal, to a point, but isn't beyond being able to assess a situation and look at it from an outside perspective. Of course, it helps that he's somewhat of a black sheep in the order, but I felt his arc the most relatable of the bunch.
We do get some POV characters that are elves and they are far from your typical woodland, immortal peacekeepers. These elves have been hurt by an extreme level of generational trauma and they've had to adapt to survive. I enjoyed reading the three main elf characters and how they process the world compared to their expectations. One of the main themes of Rise of the Ranger seems to be taking a step back at all you thought you knew about people, cultures, races, and to not be afraid to change your perspective if what you thought you knew isn't true. It comes up over and over again and it's a theme I can get behind.
I do have a few main gripes that some readers might find unimportant, but they took me out of the story a bit. Aside from the occasional cringe dialogue between characters, the sudden formation of a sexual relationship between two characters was jarring. Pretty much, right off the bat, despite both never having seen a member of the other's race, man and elf, fall head over heels with each other almost immediately. Now, I don't care for romance in my reading anyways, but this just felt too abrupt. It felt like two high school kids that finally got the courage to admit they like each other and now they are in love, ready to be married. Now, I get that Quaintrell probably wanted to establish just how passionate his elves are when it comes to emotion, but it felt very unbelievable to me. My last gripe is, one of the bad guys felt very tropey, in a bad way. As in, a mustache-twirling caricature type of bad way. I hope that, if they stick around, some backstory will be provided to help flesh out a more developed villain instead of what we get here.
All of that being said, the best part of Rise of the Ranger is the ending. Two main set pieces occur simultaneously between chapters as the aforementioned two separate groups of characters converge in different continents, all relevant to the overarching story. Did you always want to see what would happen if an army of assassins stormed a keep? I didn't know I did, but I'm glad Quaintrell had us covered! The final fight scenes were cinematic and heart pounding. We do get to see a dragon in all his fury as well as a truly sadistic army of savages that had my heart drop on more than one occasion. I'll say this, Philip isn't afraid to pull punches and what you think will happen definitely doesn't. It was all glorious as it ripped my heart out and stomped on it. What can I say? Us fantasy readers are masochists at heart. We know pain is coming on an emotional level and not only do we anticipate it, we pay for it again and again! I am happy to say that the stakes felt very real and no character is safe from an untimely demise, sometimes even unceremoniously.
I was surprised at the very end as a particular plot thread I didn't expect to be wrapped up in this book suddenly was accelerated and taken care of in the last couple of chapters. Fortunately, in light of what happened, it wasn't too jarring and it set up tasty possibilities for the sequel and the series, as a whole. I highly recommend this book to any fans of classic fantasy elements with a modern take and who enjoy deeper themes mixed in with the usual action found in this genre. This isn't a book that has elves and dragons for the sake of having elves and dragons because they are cool. There is a depth here that will keep the reader thinking long after they have closed the book.
Read Elli's review of Empire of Dirt (The Echoes Saga: Book 2)
