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Review BY TERRY GRIMWOOD Author, The Exaggerated Man
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 On
the face of it, The Riddler’s Gift is every inch a fantasy novel. It is
big, contains a map and is the first part of a series. It is also
utterly compelling. From the opening sequence set in the night dark
streets of a small rural town to the dramatic, blistering climax it
kept me turning those pages and rooting for the Light to win through
over the Dark. This is Greg Hamerton’s first novel and as such, is quite an achievement. The plot is tight, the action well-paced. The story uncurls at just the right speed, presenting mystery after mystery, layer on layer. Most of the characters are well drawn and believable. The sympathetic ones really gaining the reader’s support and, well, sympathy, the negative characters, suitably twisted and hate-filled as they seek to bring chaos to a peaceful, well-ordered land. I found myself angry, saddened, and all the time, on-edge, wondering and hoping… Set in the enclosed, skilfully-drawn land of Eyri, cut off from the rest of its world after a power struggle between powerful wizards at the beginning of the world’s history, the novel tells the story of Tabitha, farmer’s daughter, tavern maid, musician and vocalist who is fighting for a place in a prestigious singing contest. Her mother is no ordinary farmer’s wife, but skilled in the arts of Light-biased magic and Tabitha has ambitions of taking up the same craft. But dark, literally dark, forces are gathering, in the form of Cabal, a servant of the Dark itself, and his disciples, one of whom is a particularly vicious character whose resilience to murderous attack is second only to that of poor old Rasputin himself. War threatens Eyrie, threads are weaved and Tabitha finds that her relatively modest ambitions take her down an unexpected path to a higher purpose than she could ever imagine. Added to this is brew are flavourings of drug-running, treachery, some fearsome monsters from the nether regions and a well-handled, affecting love story, all watched over by a group of god-like wizards whose task it is to maintain the balance, even if it means gains for the Dark and losses for the Light. This idea of balance throws up some intriguing moral dilemmas. The wizards are essentially good, yet cannot intervene if it will swing events in favour of the Light. How far do they go? Is it right to aid the Dark? I do have a few criticisms. Those dark characters, wonderful as they are, are sometimes a little too dark, as in possessing no redeeming features at all. There is no guilt, no torment, no inner-tussle between their black-hearted ambition and the layers of humanity present in even the worst of us. However, their complete abandonment to the Dark does have a resonance, once on a path to destruction, there is a human tendency to follow that path to whatever terrible conclusion lays at its end. Counterbalancing this however, the followers of the Light are more complex, with failings and foibles aplenty, making them more believable than their foes. The Riddler, a more ambiguous player in the game and filled with gleeful mischief is a masterly creation. The world itself seems a little clean for me. A mediaeval type world would, perhaps be more chaotic and dirty, but this a small gripe because this is a fantasy after all so by its very definition, it is well, fantastical. On the whole, however, I thoroughly enjoyed The Riddler’s Gift, was absorbed, enthralled, swept along by the story, engaged with the characters, their moral and philosophical dilemmas and physical challenges and am certainly looking forward to the next book. |
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