Talion: Revenant by Michael A Stackpole

9/10

A stand-alone novel, this could have quite easily fit into a much grander series of books, reminiscent of Eddings or Feist. Though, by itself it is a wonderful book and really is great fantasy fiction. Talions are the guardians of the realm, they exist to provide military aid or prevention but are autonomous in their power, no single government controls them. The greatest of the Talions are those with the skulls upon their palms, the Justice Talions. These men and women seek out the evil doers of the realms and meek out their justice. Either by punishment, judgement or the greatest of deeds, the taking of souls.

One of the greatest aspects of this novel is that it is written in alternate chapters, past or present centred around the hero, Nolan ra Sinjaria, this works surprisingly well, each chapter from the past links well with the next chapter before or after it, often giving the reader insight or explaining actions and events. The struggles the main character must go through before ever obtaining any power or ability travel the book, whilst you see him in his fully evolved adulthood from the beginning and then continues to show his adult choices.

The characters are wonderfully portrayed, often with an innocence and heroism that draws many readers to fantasy, though the men and women are often flawed and thankfully rarely presented as two-dimensional. Nolan is the sort of person ever reader would strive to be, hard working, wilful, with a zest for life as he struggles through life.

The magic is an interesting part of the book, but never overbearing, it is more of a tool than the story which is fantastic as it allows you to really concentrate of the scenarios rather than attempting to understand the origins of the Talion's power.

A wonderful book, which if it were part of a series could be immense, yet works superbly as a stand-alone. I urge everyone to read this book from a relatively little known author. Simple, joyful fantasy that is light hearted, but realistic in it's moral and ethical standings.