I’ve been playing a lot of Grim Dawn recently. It’s an amazing action RPG with neat magic system, interesting storyline, and action a plenty. Frankly, I’m addicted, and as soon as I finish writing this, I’ll load it up and knock out a quest or two. The Warden by Daniel M. Ford reminded me so much of Grim Dawn. It was fun; it has a neat magic system; and I didn’t want to stop reading it.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.
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TL;DR
The Warden by Daniel M. Ford is a fun fantasy adventure set in country village where secrets, the past, and an ancient threat are stirring. The result could be an end to the peace between humans and orcs. Warden Aelis de Lenti is the only hope to stop the evil before war once again breaks out. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Brandon Sanderson.
From the Publisher
A Most Anticipated Book of the Year for GoodReads and FanfiAddict
A Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Editors’ Pick for Amazon
For fans who have always wanted their Twin Peaks to have some wizards, The Warden is a non-stop action adventure story from author Daniel M. Ford.
There was a plan.
She had the money, the connections, even the brains. It was simple: become one of the only female necromancers, earn as many degrees as possible, get a post in one of the grand cities, then prove she’s capable of greatness. The funny thing about plans is that they are seldom under your control.
Now Aelis de Lenti, a daughter of a noble house and recent graduate of the esteemed Magisters’ Lyceum, finds herself in the far-removed village of Lone Pine. Mending fences, matching wits with goats, and serving people who want nothing to do with her. But, not all is well in Lone Pine, and as the villagers Aelis is reluctantly getting to know start to behave strangely, Aelis begins to suspect that there is far greater need for a Warden of her talents than she previously thought.
Old magics are restless, and an insignificant village on the farthest border of the kingdom might hold secrets far beyond what anyone expected. Aelis might be the only person standing between one of the greatest evils ever known and the rest of the world.
Review: The Warden by Daniel M. Ford
Aelis de Lenti was head of her class at the Magisters’ Lyceum. She passed the tests of three colleges of magic, one of only 11 to do so. She’s a skilled Abjurer and Enchanter; she was also the best Necromantic student in the Lyceum. For all her successes, she’s assigned to a village on the northern border between the human kingdom and orcish civilization. Aelis expected a posting in a city, to live a life she’s used to, and to be respected for her accomplishments. Instead, she’s sent to village where the sheep outnumber the people, the literacy rate is doubled with her arrival, and life is hard. Merchants drop by once or twice per year, and the decadents wines and liqueurs that she’s used to are in short supply, but only because the supply she brought with her is all there is. Aelis is a Warden, though. That means that the village and its people are her responsibility. She’s part lawkeeper, part doctor, part governor, part helper, and part protector. Aelis can’t not take her job seriously. She hates it and wishes she were anywhere else. But she devotes herself fully to the village. She helps mend a fence; she reads letters brought by the post; she provides care for the injured, justice for laws broken, and teacher to a child.
When adventurers from the North come into town, villagers begin to act strangely. A murder is attempted. Aelis must figure out what is going on and track down the killer. In the process, she learns that the North isn’t a sleepy, little place where she can pass the time tending sheep until she can transfer. Ancient evil stirs along the border, and its rise threatens the peace between humanity and orcs.
The Warden by Daniel M. Ford is a first person point of view novel that follows Aelis as she settles into the job of Warden. All chapters are told in Aelis point of view. There are some flashbacks to her university days to help fill in backstory. The pacing is even and keeps the reader moving through the story. Ford balances action and character work well. This is a book that Brandon Sanderson fans will enjoy.
Necromancy
Ford has an interesting take on Necromancy. His magic users study it so as to combat it. They aren’t raising the dead; they’re dispelling them. They’re not draining the life from people; they’re preserving their life force to repair bodies. The ancient art of Necromancy is illegal, and now the art has been inverted so that the practitioners are Necrobanes, i.e. a bane to the existence of necromancers. As part of their study, Ford’s necromancers make an intimate study of the body. Aelis is skilled at anatomy and actually uses her skills as a surgeon in the book. It was a delight to see necromancers in a different light than the pure evil normally associated with them in fiction.
Quest Driven Action
The Warden felt very much like a story from a role playing game (RPG). Aelis went on quests where the loot was friendship, trust, and emotional/personal growth. This isn’t a criticism; I think it worked for this story because the plot wasn’t the main point. Aelis fitting into the village and growing into the role of Warden was. She reassesses the villagers even if she can’t throw away all her stereotypes. She’s impressed by the culture of the Orcs as she’s confronted by their reality. She learns that sophistication and erudition can exist outside cities. The quests are simply how she develops her character.
Integrity
Again and again throughout the novel, readers see that Aelis has integrity. She does what’s right even if she knows it may come back to haunt her. She is the arbiter of the law in these here parts, but she practices nuance and compassion in her sentencing. She looks for the complications and hopes for the best in people when other Wardens would have chosen an execution. Aelis doesn’t relent when she knows she’s right. She’s not above tossing her authority around when she needs to and will swallow her pride if that gets the job done.
She also has success after success after success. Her setbacks don’t feel like setbacks. The cost she pays for some successes are high, but her winning is never in doubt.
Structure
As I wrote earlier, Aelis’s story is a series of quests, which provides a sort of structure to the novel. Each quest sort of builds into the others that takes Aelis further into the secrets of the North. It feels like a linear progression towards the end. However, the climax or peak of the book happened at about 80% of the way through. There is a denouement, and the Aelis gets another quest. The book ends in the middle of this final quest, which will be important for future books. But because of the big confrontation at 80%, the final quest just didn’t feel as important as its meant to be. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a cool quest, and it’s got me looking forward to book two. It just felt like a non-ending, though. It was almost as if the opening few chapters of book two were attached the end of the book.
The Warden is small by fantasy standards. It’s 320 pages long, which is a third of an epic fantasy novel. Did the editors feel it needed padding? I don’t know. This ending is an odd way to cap off an excellent book, though.
Twin Peaks?
The blurb for this book references Twin Peaks. I never watched the show; so, it’s possible that I’m missing references and allusions that would be clearer if I had seen Twin Peaks. If you’ve seen the show and read The Warden, let me know in the comments if the show informs about the book.
Conclusion
Daniel M. Ford’s The Warden is a fun start to a new fantasy series. It has action, character development, tough moral choices, and a neat magic system. Like Grim Dawn, The Warden had a lot of hype surrounding it. Daniel M. Ford delivered in all respects. Fans of Brandon Sanderson will love this book. Highly recommended.