cedar_grove | Power Corrupts

"You know the irony of all this," Tarja remarked to the young rebel, "is that we've started a war despite ourselves. When the Karians learn that their envoy was killed on Medalon soil they'll be over the border in an instant. The alliance is well and truly broken."

Tarja to Ghari, in Medalon by Jennifer Fallon.

Imagine if you will a country in which division of 'church' and 'state' is absolute. In fact, in which, in times past there was a secular campaign to drive out any and all association to faith and rule of law in anything other than the state. Thus you have the province of Medalon. Ruled by a twofold organisation, the 'Sisterhood of the Blade' and the 'Defenders' The male and female ruling and policing hierarchy… where the First Sister's rule is law, and the Lord Defender's sword (and those of his men) protect her right to rule.

Now picture this province being sandwiched between the 'Monotheistic' Kariens in the north, and the Pagan Hythrian and Fardohnyans in the south, add in a pinch of pagan resurgence in the province itself, and you have a recipe for disaster that's simply divine, (pun intended!)

All is not well in the peaceful province of Medalon. The ordinary citizens are unhappy (yes, yes, you expected to hear that the peasants are revolting, didn't you?) It's all because the cliché that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely just happens to prove very true within the Sisterhood, where the First Sister is so blinded by her own arrogance that she plays right into the hands of those that would see their own agenda furthered, their own supremacy secured… and caught in the middle of it all, two unsuspecting youngsters – who just happen to be 'related to' the First Sister herself. You'll excuse my language, I hope, but she really is a ruthless bitch.

What I both loved, and loathed about this novel, the first in The Demon Child trilogy, is that there's no relief or salvation by deus ex machina – because whenever the gods do intervene, it just causes a whole heap more trouble for the poor protagonists. It's gritty, it's dark – though with enough humour scattered around so as not to drive the reader toward suicidal thoughts – and a refreshing work of fantasy where magic stays, for the most part, in the background, and it's the schemes and struggles of the ordinary people that provide the joys and pains of the story. The treatment of the 'gods' and 'demons,' and a race of demi-humans called the Harshini, (a peaceful race that used to live in Medalon until the Sisterhood drove them out, who provide an interesting balance within the novel,) is very interesting. It could be the subject of a debate all of its very own, but doesn't intrude on the story. The characters are as they are, true to their beliefs, refreshingly so at times, and that makes for some interesting conflicts and character development. There are also plenty of skeletons in various closets which add further complications.

The writing is tight and well paced, despite the book being over 600 pages in length. It certainly doesn't feel that way, as the novel moves from event to event to event – and exposition is given through dialogue for the most part, and the occasional character memory. It's overall a very well crafted book, and I look forward to reading the second book of the trilogy.