Devlin's Luck

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

2.5 stars

Devlin is a tortured soul who wants to die, so he becomes the country's Chosen One because it pays a fortune (which he sends to his brother's widow) and he's sure to be killed soon. Sounds exciting, but don't bother putting on your blood pressure cuff because it wasn't.

Devlin's sure he's going to die during the initiation ceremony (boring), but, unfortunately, he doesn't. And so we accompany him on his journeys which read more like a book report than an adventure. Descriptions are dull, people are dull (though a few had such potential), fights are dull, monsters are dull. And the language is dull. For example, Devlin doesn't see things, he beholds them. He doesn't talk to people, he has speech with them. He doesn't put on clothes, he dons garments. And he doesn't go to bed, he seeks his quarters. Here is part of the most exciting scene of the first book, when Devlin is fighting a guy who is trying to kill sleeping travellers in an inn. Devlin has just managed to wake up one of the travellers (by shouting “Awake, awake,” not “Get the hell out of the damn bed!”), so he says to the traveler (while he's holding off the killer with an axe):

“What are you called?” Devlin asked, never taking his eyes off his opponent.
“Dalkassar.”
“Rise Dalkassar, and call to your companion. And arm yourself. This man tried to kill you.”

Fantasy Literature