REVIEW: Royal Exile by Fiona McIntosh

Royal Exile by Fiona McIntosh
Publishing Information: Paperback; 464 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins 5 January 2009
ISBN 10: 0007276028
ISBN 13: 9780007276028
Series: Book of the Valisar Trilogy
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson


Back of the book: "From out of the East they spread like a merciless plague -- destroying kingdom after kingdom and the sovereigns who had previously mocked the warlord Loethar and his barbarian horde. Now only one land remains unconquered -- the largest, richest, and most powerful realm of the Denova Set...Penraven. The Valisar royals of Penraven face certain death, for the savage tyrant Loethar covets what they alone possess: the fabled Valisar Enchantment, an irresistible power to coerce, which will belong to Loethar once every Valisar has been slain. But the last hope of the besieged kingdom is being sent in secret from his doomed home, in the company of a single warrior. The future of Penraven now rests on the shoulders of the young Crown Prince Leonel who, though untried and untested in the ways of war, must survive brutality and treachery in order to claim the Valisar throne."


Fiona McIntosh's Royal Exile has been sitting in my to read pile for nearly a year and it was not alone. Truth be told I was tired of looking at the title and decided to give the book a shot. The book starts out like many other fantasy novels do, a peaceful and successful empire is rapidly destroyed by a invading horde of barbarians. In an effort to end the conflict the empire prepares for the worst and makes plans for the heir of the throne to vanish and seek his revenge and reclaim his kingdom when he is older and able to gather the appropriate force to deal with the threat.


It sounds good on paper and many of us have read that story on more than one occasion. Usually it is told very well and I find myself looking for more of the story. Royal Exile did not deliver on my expectations. The characters were far to black and white for my taste. If someone in the story was bad they were completely evil with no grey areas. Same could be said for our heroes. They had no shortcomings. I like my heroes to be full of valor but I do not expect or want perfection. I think that is where the story started to unravel for me.


It takes very little time for things to get ugly in the vast and impressive empire that McIntosh set up for us and for a kingdom that was alluded to being vast and powerful they did not put up much of a fight to save their citizens or claims of property. While I can see a king holding his soldiers back to save his own parcel of land the Emperor of Royal Exile did not even bother to do that. He simply had his right hand ride out and deliver terms for surrender. Surprisingly enough the barbarians do not even bother to listen to the offer. While there may be some powerful empires that do not require the use of a standing army in fantasy, I have yet to see one. The empire in Royal Exile seemed to be ruled by a pansy with some narrow-minded flunkies.  McIntosh missed the boat when she outlined her ideas on how a kingdom is to be ruled and it was no wonder that it was steamrolled by anyone with a sword.


While this is a trilogy, and I am told that it does in fact get better in the later books in the series, I have no plans to return to McIntosh's world. I found myself laughing at some of the moronic things that took place in the novel. When I reached the end of the Royal Exile I actually had to wonder if I had gone anywhere. It felt as if the book hardly moved at all or at least came full circle. There was a great idea in there somewhere, it just never came to fruition.


Plot  5
Characters  4
Style  5


Overall  4.5/10