Kendulla by Robert Le Normand

8/10

Khompchoi and Sharwendai were likeminded and worked towards the betterment of mankind; Kendulla, however, was of a different ilk. Whereas Khompchoi and Sharwendai were happy merely to preside over all worlds and help things along without and direct involvement, Kendulla wanted more. His plan was simple enough. He would take over one world at a time. He had forever… As immortals always do.

Kendulla approaches heroic fantasy from a new angle; our world and the medieval setting essential to fantasy collide in a tale of bravery and companionship. The book opened just like a David Gemmell novel, you are thrown straight into the middle of a fight where the heroes display almost superhuman skills of combat. This is heroic fantasy and this is how it should be. Then, suddenly, the chapter cuts to a space station and I was aware that this was not your standard fantasy novel but something a little different. The chapters are short and snappy, the pace fast, characters are introduced evenly and the initial confusion that numerous new names and locations sometimes causes is easily avoided.

The characters were all larger than life, highly skilled and (almost) invincible. My favourite character was Brendian, the fifty-eight year old professional soldier. The reason I liked him so much was due to his sense of honour and his decency. He was also given the most back-history of any of the characters and the story of his lost love was very moving. Kendulla is written in the third person allowing the story to be seen through many eyes - it was a good story, full of excitement and action, very easy to read and a real page-turner. My favourite moment in the story was the battle that occurred near the books climax, I thought the events were described very well, especially the use of the archers and I could really visualise the scene.

Organised in three rows, the first rank fired on command, then on second and then the third by which time the first rank were ready again. This kept the shower of arrows constant, giving the infantry much needed cover. Once the foot soldiers made it to the walls the archers' strategy changed. Longer arrows were employed and set alight. These were aimed to land inside the castle rather than at the battlements. All this was designed to minimise the defence tactics used by the castle's inhabitants.

From: Kendulla by Robert Le Normand

If I could have made any changes to Kendulla I would probably like to have seen the pace slacken at times and the character development become more prominent. Hopefully the sequel will provide this as the characters in the book have real possibilities.

Robert Le Normand must have an avid interest in Japanese martial arts, from the katana to the kimono; the theme came across strongly in the book. I would recommend Kendulla to fans of heroic fantasy; if you have read and enjoyed books by David Gemmell then you would certainly enjoy what is found within its pages.