The Runelords

The Runelords #1

by David Farland

Young Prince Gaborn Val Orden of Mystarria is traveling in disguise on a journey to ask for the hand of the lovely Princess Iome of Sylvarresta when he and his warrior bodyguard spot a pair of assassins who have set their sights on the princess's father. The pair races to warn the king of the impending danger and realizes that more than the royal family is at risk--the very fate of the Earth is in jeopardy.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Audiobook, Magic

613 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

David Farland is the author of the bestselling Runelords series, including Chaosbound, The Wyrmling Horde and Worldbinder. He also writes science-fiction as David Wolverton. He won the 1987 Writers of the Future contest, and has been nominated for a Nebula Award and a Hugo Award. Farland also works as a video game designer, and has taught writing seminars around the U.S. and Canada. He lives in Saint George, Utah. He passed away on January 14, 2022.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidf...

Reviews

[Mark Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one a long time ago - probably very close to when it was published in 1998. I'm prompted to review it by David Farland's untimely death a few months back.

It's a fun fantasy story that centres on one strong idea and runs with it ... apparently for 9 books!

I don't tend to stick with series for the long haul and I think I only read the first two in this one.

The magic that drives this story is clever in that it not only provides all manner of super-powers to our heroes and villains, but it also involves a large fraction of the population, requires sacrifice, and opens the door to all manner of strategies.

Essentially, any person can opt to give (via rune magic IIRC) an aspect of themselves to someone else. Those aspects are things like health, grace, speed, strength, sight and so on. The givers of such thing find themselves greatly reduced, if they gave their health they will be sickly, if they gave their strength they will be too weak to stand etc. They need to be looked after for life.

The recipients gain in the relevant aspects. The character we start the book off with has (and here I hazard a wild guess) the strength of four men, the speed of two, the health of three. So he is strong, fast, and heals fairly quickly.

By the end of the book we meet a warlord who is the centre of a great web of such gifts and has the power of many thousands. He heals so fast that a sword blade can pass through him and the wound will be all but repaired by the time the blade clears his flesh.

Such threats encourage more citizens to gift their lords and kings, and an arms race spirals, producing god-like opponents.

(a streamlined version of this idea powers The Will of the Many)

Rather than meet the most super-powered protagonists head on, one strategy is to seek out their hordes of disabled sponsors and slaughter them instead, thus robbing the focus of those gifts.

Putting the magic aside (and it does dominate the story), it's a tale of greedy invaders vs right-minded resistance, following the fortunes of a young warrior-noble as he progresses through conflict and his own personal development (there's a love interest as I recall).

I remember it as being written to a good standard with the ideas being the star of the show.

I'd call it 'old school' fantasy without any slight intended, and encourage anyone looking for some swords and sorcery fun to go check it out.



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[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a reasonably good swords-and-sorcery type of fantasy adventure, well thought-out and with a very unusual magical system, and popular enough that it's a series of eight books so far. But I just could not with the way that their magic worked. It was highly disturbing, and it ruined the entire book for me.

The magic functions on a system of "endowments": using the magical spells, one person permanently (until either the giver or the recipient dies) gifts another with his or her personal attribute: strength, speed, good looks, intelligence and so one. If you gift someone your good looks, you're permanently ugly. Strength, you're permanently weak, to the point of being disabled. Supposedly it is voluntary, but blackmail/threats/family pressure etc. combine to force many people to give away their strengths.

So the bad guy has done this to thousands of people, and the hero only to a few dozen. Good to know.

It was kind of a downer overall, not just because of this awful magical system ... but, well, mostly. I had no desire to continue with the series, and I gave away my copy of this book.

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I truly enjoyed this one. It is old school traditional fantasy with some interesting elements, notably the use of runes and the endowment system. The latter, which is the driving factor of this world’s magic system, makes for a truly unique dynamic and directly affects the narrative. As such, although there is lots of familiar territory, there is also a lot here that you are extremely unlikely to find anywhere else.

Having been published in the 1990s this is a product of that era. That’s to say, it isn’t as edgy as contemporary fantasy fiction. It’s cut from similar cloth as other fantasy works published in the 80s and 90s, which is in fact why I decided to give it a try. Nostalgia… and I was looking for something in the same vein as Memory, Sorrow & Thorn (The Dragonbone Chair) or Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone (The Briar King) or even the Riftwar Saga (Magician). All that and the fantastic cover art courtesy of Darrell K. Sweet. As it turned out, this hit the spot without being a clone of the big hitters. It is high (epic) fantasy in the grand tradition, though, and competently executed. I’m probably just starting to show my age, but there seems to be a sweet spot in terms of Fantasy that appeals to me. In my opinion a lot of the new stuff has lost its sense of wonder in the continuous quest to be grittier, more cynical and more realistic. And isn’t realism the opposite of fantasy? Every so often I still want to swept away into magical worlds filled with fascinating creatures and where the real world doesn’t intrude.

The author has populated his world with some interesting races and critters such as duskin, nomen and reavers (among other things). It also looks set to be a pretty big story, with different factions and a layered sense of established history and lore. This latter part, especially, is executed quite well.

I subtracted a star because of some pacing issues early in the book. All in all, this series is off to a good start and I’ve already started hoarding the sequels for when my next fantasy phase hits.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man versus Nature. Writ large.

Or larger, if you consider we're dealing with whole armies concentrated into a single man or the Earth in the other.

This is an epic fantasy that's competent in characters if not in extensive worldbuilding. But more importantly, it runs with a very, very cool idea. And cool ideas are COOL.

The skinny? Attributes can be given or taken from people and added to other individuals. Use runes plus guile, absolute force, or desperate pleading, and then you've got some insanely powerful superheroes and supervillains. Think that Jet Li movie, One, but instead of sucking, make the possibilities unlimited for all characters. Want super eyesight? Take 100 the good eyesight from a hundred people, let them go blind, and become hawkeye. :) Same for Wit, Endurance, Metabolism, Glamour, or others.

Have the big bad become a god with all these attributes. He is the sum of all men. Now set the overmatched hero against him.

Cool, right? Simple, fun, and interesting. Not classic literature, but FUN. :)

[J.L. Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

“When you behold the face of pure evil, it will be beautiful.”



There was an interesting use of magic and augmentation of power(s) in David Farland's The Runelords. Characters can essentially become 'the sum of all men' by coercing or forcing others to give up attributes like intelligence, stamina, strength or vision. For all practical purposes, this gives them superhuman or godlike abilities. In some cases, the augmentation process Farland describes feels more barbarous than an execution. However cruel, and Farland lets you understand that there is cruelty involved even when someone willingly gives up attributes, this augmentation makes for an interesting system that is very engaging.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This following review was an assignment for a fantasy literature course at BYU.

The Runelords

Author, Title, Facts of Publication

The Runelords was written by David Wolverton and published in 1998. The author used the pseudonym David Farland to market the book because he wanted it on store shelves in the F section as a marketing strategy. David Farland is a Mormon and LDS themes such as covenant making and sacrifice thread through his work.
Setting
The book takes place in the fantasy kingdom of Rofehavan where wights haunt the forests, frowth giants trample the underbrush, wizards cast ancient spells, and an unstable feudal society struggles for order. Farland, as I shall call the author, creates an extremely unique world, even for fantasy standards. It is a medieval world with swords, axes bows and arrows, and other primitive weaponry. Electricity does not appear to play a part in their technology. Magic is their source of energy.
The book begins just before Hostenfest, a holiday honoring the Earth King. The action covers five days from the nineteenth day in the month of the harvest (sometime in the Fall season) to the twenty third. Most of the story takes place in the province of Heredon distinguished by the giant forbidding Dunnwood forest.
Of great importance to the story is its political setting. Rofehavan is a large kingdom made of smaller provinces each governed by a family of Runelords. The political situation is unstable due to a lack of central government. Runelords are constantly in conflict over power. This instability is augmented by inequalities produced by the giving of endowments. Runelords receive endowments such as strength, wit, stamina, vision, and metabolism from their subjects making them many times stronger, faster, smarter, and healthier than normal men while their subjects become derelicts, fools, and mutes. Commoners sacrifice their attributes to their Lords in return for money or protection. Besides creating many ethical questions, this practice causes a political dilemma similar to a modern day nuclear arms race. Every lord must take endowments to be strong enough to fight his enemy. They continually try to one-up their opponents taking more and more endowments until eventually a lord may become so powerful and destructive that he threatens the entire world. With this political debacle, the stage is set for war.

Plot

The story begins with Prince Gaborn Val Orden of Mystarria. He and his father, King Mendallas are traveling to Castle Sylvarresta just north of the Dunnwood forest to celebrate Hostenfest and arrange Gaborn’s marriage with Princess Iome Sylvarresta thereby uniting the provinces of Mystarria and Sylvarresta. This is an important political union to unify provinces against the inevitable threat of Raj Ahten, King of Indhopal. In his travels north, Gaborn stumbles across Raj Ahten’s army marching towards Sylvarresta. With haste, Gaborn races through frowth giants, nomen, and enemy scouts to warn King Sylvarresta that his castle will soon be under attack. The king organizes his forces in defense, but Raj Ahten easily conquers the castle without force using his voice and glamour endowments to convince Sylvarresta’s forces to open the draw bridge and serve him. Knowing that Raj Ahten will kill him if caught, Gaborn flees the castle. He does so with the help of the earth wizard Binnesman who makes him covenant to serve the earth in return for great powers. Meanwhile, Raj Ahten pillages the city and takes endowments from hundreds including the king and princess who are left stupid and ugly respectively. Gaborn helps them escape Sylvarresta and swears to protect them. He loves Iome even though she has lost her beauty.
Meanwhile, King Mendallas Orden marches his troops to defend the fortress of Longmot and the forty-thousand crucibles there hidden. He also sends his guard, Borenson, to slay all of the innocent dedicates of Sylvarresta who are providing Ahten with super powers. Raj Ahten conquers Longmot killing everybody but one soldier. With the death of many of his dedicates, he is weakened and flees to the south. Gaborn and Iome reach Longmot to find it in ruins and King Orden dead. The spirits of the Dunwood visit Gaborn and christen him “The King of the Earth”. He marries Iome and prepares to confront Raj Ahten in future novels.

Characterization

Fantasy characters are usually categorized into races such as elves, humans, or orcs, and then into classes such as knights, barbarians, wizards or clerics. Farland invents several new races and classes not seen in traditional fantasy. For example, some new races are the sixteen-feet-tall Frowth Giants, the ape like nomen and the deadly reavers. He develops the new classes of runelords, flameweavers (fire wizards who I think are of the human race), and the Days. The days are perhaps the strangest new characters. They are a network monk-like people who follow nobles’ and document their lives.
To me, the most interesting character is Borenson. Early in the book, he is developed as Gaborn’s impeccably loyal body guard. Farland uses a comment made by Gaborn’s Day to foreshadow that he may not be that good of heart, “If I may be so bold, I fear that he has all of a dog’s finest virtues but loyalty…He’s an assasin. A butcher, your Lordship. That is why he is captain of your guard. (pg. 59).” Borenson laughs in battle and seemingly takes great delight in killing. The climax of his violent nature occurs when he follows King Orden’s order to slay all of the innocent dedicates in Castle Sylvarresta. His conscience overwhelms him and he is thrown into near insanity later killing King Sylvarresta himself. He is considered one of the good guys, and the reader feels sympathy for him. Borenson is a fascinating character faced with terrible decisions.

Point of View

The book is written in third person omniscient. The narrator jumps each chapter to describe the perspective of a different character so the reader knows the thoughts and actions of the heroes and villains.

Theme

The work suggests various possible themes. For instance, the adversary makes evil look good. Raj Ahten conquers Castle Sylvarresta by tricking the defenders into believing he is good. The defenders were, “overwhelmed by a monster’s glamour and voice,” and did his bidding. Ahten commanded them to surrender “with great force, with a sound of gentleness that slid past all of Iome’s defenses.” Raj Ahten is a type of the great deceiver, Satan, who “gently slides” past our defenses until we are under his complete and utter control. Surely, that is how Lucifer led away a third of the hosts of Hell.
Another theme, religious in nature is that power comes from making and keeping covenants.

Style

Farland uses a matter-of-fact style. The novel is a literal narration with relatively limited figurative language. He develops the story through narration and dialogue between characters. He presents complex, thought provoking ideas through his narration of events and circumstances without straying far from the plot to address them. He allows the reader to do that on his own after introducing the reader to an alien world with different rules and ethics. An important characteristic of his style is the abundance of vivid descriptions of violence.

Personal Reactions

Upon completion of the book, my most obvious reaction was, “hey, where’s the closure!” It was a gripping tale keeping me turning the pages in expectation of a satisfying ending that never came. Fantasy often does this, but with The Runelords it was unusually unsettling.
I found the concept of giving endowments of stamina, metabolism, and intelligence very clever. In video games (which I consider the most widespread medium of fantasy adventure in modern times), a character gains levels and strength based on mathematical formulas using a set of statistics. The statistics always include strength, stamina, intelligence, speed (metabolism), and so on. By the end of the game, the character is super-human. To me, it is obvious that Farland knowingly incorporated the common statistical attributes from role-playing video games into his novel.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have here what (I hope) is to be the opening book of a new epic fantasy series. This is another series I've "been meaning to get to" for years. It lay waiting as I read other things.

The world here is built around a society that has grown up since a devastating past war (have we seen that before?) with a race of creatures called Reavers. They were not human...in the least. They came from deep underground and from a source of life unlike any surface life. It was a near thing but just before humanity would have been wiped out a hero arose (seen that too I think??). There was a man who arose as Earth King. The people of this world had learned to transfer attributes (brawn (physical strength), grace (physical dexterity), wit (memory and clearness of thought), metabolism (speed at which the body's processes operate), glamor, voice, stamina, sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, talent, will, etc.) from one person to another. Thus "common people" became a source of these things for the royalty and the knights of said royalty (also wives, daughters, etc). One "hero" took thousands of attributes and (according to legend) became The Sum of All Men. He "supposedly" wiped out the Reavers.

But now, they are returning.

Raj Ahten now seeks to be "the next Sum of All Men"...only he isn't so picky about his "dedicants" being willing. He steals, forces and just takes endowments leaving people too weak to move and almost too weak to breath, people so ugly they are hard to look upon, people so lacking in grace they can't walk and can barely relax their lungs to breath... His people who owe high taxes are forced to pay with an attribute, people in debt can sell an attribute for money.

You get the picture.

Now Raj Ahten is almost unkillable and he leads a hoard of "Invincibles" (his Super Knights) to conquer lands that won't line up.

However there is one (New King) who stands against him and (Possibly?) for the earth.

You need to read it to find out as I think you'd be ticked off if I gave spoilers.

Pretty good. I can recommend this one.

[Andrews WizardlyReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 I really enjoyed this read. If you ever wondered what Brandon Sandersons 90s Grimdark fantasy would feel like. This is fairly close. It’s not Grimdark but the magic system itself is dark and not for everyone. I had a few issues with this story but will definitely be continuing.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

QUICK STORY: As various nobles fight it out, Raj Ahten, the villain, takes over various lands one by one. Prince Gaborn and his father try to stop him and in the process involve another kingdom called Silvanesti. But, there is a greater need . . . the Earth is rejecting humanity and only one such as Prince Gaborn can fully protect and extract the powers/mysteries of the Earth.
SHORT WORD FEELING: Good prose but characters weren't entirely fleshed out as much as they could; great idea on endowments and how they would work on the body; flaw with villain since he was fooled and was supposed to be a genius.

GENRE: Fantasy (Epic subgenre)

CONCEPT: Lords of the lands can drain locals to increase their own powers which creates a race or super human beings and even Gods; one particularly powerful lord devotes himself to taking over the focus on two kingdoms (who are about to marry son and daughter).

MARKETING APPEAL: The endowment idea is fresh and creative. Never been done before. Promises an epic scope; battles between nations; a somewhat complex villain; a love story (not a good one though!), earth and fire magic; surprises and some economical and moral issues regarding the endowments

SCORING: Superb (A), Excellent (A-), Very good (B+), Good (B) Fairly Good (B-) Above Average (C+), Mediocre (C ), Barely Passable (C-) Pretty Bad (D+), Dismal (D), Waste of Time (D-), Into the Trash (F)

DIALOGUE: B- STRUCTURE: B+ HISTORY SETTING: B CHARACTERS: B EVIL SETUP/ANTAGONISTS: B+ EMOTIONAL IMPACT: B- SURPRISES: A- LITTLE THINGS: A- MONSTERS: B+ PACING: A- OVERALL STYLE: B- FLOW OF WORDS: B- CHOICE OF FOCUS: B- TRANSITIONS/FLASHBACKS/POV: B COMPLEXITY OF WORDS/SYMBOLISM/THEMES: B-

OVERALL GRADE: B

OVERALL STYLE: See EXTREME ANALYSIS for information (below). I also liked how each chapter had a title that revealed what was going to happen . . . sort of similar to how Moorcock set up his ELRIC series.

LITTLE THINGS: The mention of the Days (scribes who travel with important people and keep track of their doings and who know all and report to a superior) was very interesting. Additionally, the mention of the TIME LORDS was interesting, too. Archetypes of earth vs fire with the magical system. And, another cool thing: forts that are protected with magic so that heavy duty spells don't destroy the place....

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and engaging novel by Farland to be sure. This is the beginning of the sprawling Runelords saga, first published in 1998, and am planning on reading the next. The events in TR take place in only about a week, but Farland puts a lot of action into that week. TR reads as epic pulp fantasy, and that is not a bad thing; this is not a deep read, but, as far as popcorn reads go, you could do a lot worse.

The world Farland builds here is complex and vast; clearly, he is laying the groundwork for at least a few sequels. While many complex societies are hinted at, the main focus is upon Rofehaven in the north, itself divided in a somewhat 'classical' feudal system of kings and such under a loose alliance. In the South dwells the kingdoms of Indhopal and Inkarra, with a similar feudal structure holding them together, but Indhopal has united under one king-- Raj Ahten (get the Indian vibe with only the name).

The title-- Runelords-- refers the very particular system of magic found in the land. Via certain incantations and the use of 'blood metal' irons/runes, people are able to 'endow' others with various capabilities, such as 'wit', 'stamina', 'glamor' and so forth; this leaves the endower bereft of what they endow. For example, endowing sight means that the endower is now blind but the person so endowed now has 'far-sight'. The Kings/lords all have many endowments and protect the people who gave them, so called 'Dedicates', who are 'stored' for lack of better works inside the lord's keep. When the person endowed dies, the endowment returns to the original person and they cannot give an endowment again. People often volunteer to give endowments to their lords as that will help them protect the land and such; nastier lords buy endowments from the poor, for endowments must be given freely.

Our main protagonist, Gaborn, is a prince of one of the northern realms and the story starts off with his journey to Sylvarresta; a great feast is about to get underway in celebration of the 'Earth King'-- a figure of lore who united the Northlands and kicked out the reavers over a thousand years ago. Little does he know, but Raj Ahten is planning a strategic, covert strike at Sylvarresta to bring the northlands under his power. Raj Ahten has thousands of endowments and seeks to conquer the world in his name. So, in the space of just a few days, Farland chronicles a massive invasion and the ensuing battles. There are other magics at work besides endowments, however, related to the elements (earth, water, fire and air) but these are largely something of the past; that is, until know...

I can see people being turned off by the system of magic, I mean, endowing people with traits and leaving yourself bereft of them is pretty low, but in a way, it does make sense and Farland has a field day with the implications. Some people, for example, can become 'vectors' who serve to channel other endowments to one person (like a lord). So, a vector can be ensconced safely at home while the lord rides to war and yet still people can give endowments to the lord via the vector. It sets up some complex motivations and moral dilemmas. If you seek to weaken a King, the easiest way is to kill the Dedicates who endowed him/her.

Perhaps my biggest gripe regarding RL is that Farland tries to pack in a bit too much here-- not only do we have the Rune magic and the elemental magic, but we also have bizarre monsters like 20 foot tall giants (hominoid, but not human-like), reavers who are gigantic and wield earth magic, wizards and more. Still, a fun page turner. 3.5 stars, rounding down.

[Daniel Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I said in my review of On My Way to Paradise, I don't know how I missed Dave Wolverton back in the late 1990s, but I'm sure it had something to do with starting college, doing more homework and reading fewer novels, and, probably, girls.

Whatever it was that distracted me at the time, I've found Wolverton, or Dave Farland as he goes by for his fantasy novels (and which name I'll use from here on out since this is a fantasy novel), and I feel like I've discovered some kind of not-so-hidden local restaurant that, for whatever reason, no one ever told me had amazing sandwiches. And everyday, right about the same time, I can't help but want to trek back over to try a new sandwich.

Farland is just like that. I read On My Way to Paradise, and loved it, but I couldn't help but ask: was it a one-hit wonder? Since it had been a while since I'd read any epic fantasy, I decided to pick up The Sum of All Men. I finished the late-Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series back in January, and I hadn't touched the genre since. Books in epic fantasy tend to be door stoppers, and it takes some commitment to pick up a new series (just ask George R.R. Martin fans who have endure not only long periods of time between installments in his Song of Fire and Ice series, but the very real possibility that the good guys just won't win in the end...or even in the middle, for that matter. But I digress). After putting it off to finish one thing and another, I finally dug in, started reading, and soon found myself lost between the pages.

A lot of reviewers and readers will note that The Sum of All Men breaks new ground, manages to come up with a magic system that is fresh and original, and it's true. However, this isn't what I liked so much about The Sum of All Men, though it's clearly a clever system of magic. On the contrary, for me the magic system, something of a "shameful economy," as I think one of the characters calls it, creates conflicts and conundrums for Farland's protagonists while empowering their enemies. No, it isn't the magic that I find so interesting, though clever it may be, nor the fantastical creatures, bloody battles, or imaginative world. It's all very fascinating and contributory to a great tale, but clever ideas are a dime a dozen in fantasy.

Rather, what I like is Farland's writing and the way his characters resonate with me. Because although set in a land that has more in common with medieval Europe and crusade era Arabia, the characters face quandaries and decisions and complex relationships that are human and natural and believable. They act like real people, not pawns of a writer's pen, and whether it is the power of the story, the deft and gentle use of symbolism, or the interweaving of myth, Joseph Campbell-style, by the time I had finished The Sum of All Men I felt as much for the characters as I might for people I really know.

I even sympathized with the apparent villain. Yes, he was "the bad guy," but it wasn't so black and white why he was the villain. Not unlike On My Way to Paradise, it was in the grey and difficult to see decisions that made the characters live on the page.

Ok, I know. It's silly to care about the fictional, ink on paper people that fill a novel. And there are a lot of good books out there that can make readers feel, so to speak. But what is good reading but a way to understand and see through the eyes of another for a while? It doesn't matter whether it's on a ship hurtling through space between the planets, a farmer trying to eek out a subsistence on a Depression era farm, or a bevy of sisters trying to catch the eye of the newly wealthy, and very handsome, Mr. Darcy: when a book can make you feel, believe in the imaginary characters, it's worth the time and it's worth finding more of it.

Farland is, for me, a newly discovered secret, and I can't wait to share the secret with others, not to mention read more. I've got his Nightingale, one of his more recent books, waiting next to the bed, and I've just put in an order from Amazon for Brotherhood of the Wolf, and I can't wait to start both.

[Traci · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was "okay" but I didn't "like it". Two stars seems a bit harsh but going by the goodreads guidelines here.

I hadn't heard of this series before it kept cropping up on twitter. I thought it would be another Jordan clone of the eighties and nineties and in that aspect anyway I was surprised. It has a unique magic system reminiscent of Brandon Sanderson and must have seemed very new at the time.

Rulers enhance their abilities, their looks, speed, power, voice, hearing, sight etc., by taking the sacrifices of their subjects. Leaving the giver without. Leaving them as hags and old men, sloths that cannot move, mute, deaf or blind. Interesting concept but here think more C.S. Lewis than GRRM. My problem is that both the heroes and the villain uses this method. And as long as it is done in love and the disabled are looked after it's all good. Maybe I'm too independent, actually if you knew me you'd laugh at that statement, tell me to go right because there's a fire to my left I'd go left just to spite you, but I cannot see giving or receiving such gifts. Nope. Sorry.

The book is just a little too idealistic for me.

Characters I have already forgotten the names of.

I hate love at first sight, I know not very romantic of me, lust at first sight sure. I love love. I do. But...well in the first few chapters our hero prince arranges the marriage of his bodyguard and a woman they just then met. And they're both more than fine with it. They're happy. And our prince has fallen in love with our heroine even though they haven't officially met. And she falls in love with him from less than an hour while her kingdom is preparing for battle. Priorities you know.

My biggest pet peeve with books is repetition. Really. It gives me headaches. And I feel like screaming when a word or two is used too much. Here it was pragmatic in the first half. Metabolism in the second.

Okay. I didn't mean for this to be so negative. It wasn't the worst I've read. I finished it. And if I had read it ten years ago I might have liked it a lot.

I would recommend it to fans of Brandon Sanderson, especially if you loved
Elantris. To fans of Robert Jordan. And to anyone who can't get enough of traditional fantasy.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 stars. One of the more original "systems" of magic I have read about in some time. I thought the author did a decent job of exploring the results of the system as well though I thought the story and the prose were just okay. Still, a pretty good read.

[Steve Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.0 stars.

If I had to describe this book in one word it would probably be "meh". I think the author was trying to hard to create an epic fantasy novel. The story was "okay", the magic system "okay", the character "okay". There seemed to be 2 kinds of magic in this world, one was called giving endowments. In this world a person could give a personal quality to someone else making the other person stronger. Some of the possible traits that could be giving were: sight, stamina, metabolism, hearing, smell, strength, glamour, and probably a few more. So if a person gave their sight away, they would be blind but the other person would have the eyesight of 2 people. Now this only worked while both parties were still alive. So if someone gave away their strength, they would not be able to move at all and would have to be taken care of for the rest of their lives. The main bad guy in the story has thousands of endowments and wants to rule the world.

I just never quite got behind this magic system. It did not seem efficient. Wouldn't it be better to have 1000 strong individuals fighting instead of 1 strong individual and 1000 invalids. Not to mention, who would willingly give up some attribute and live like that the rest of their lives? That is another catch, an endowment would have to be freely given and not taken by force or it would not work.

The second part of the magic system which was not talked about as much is the magic of air, earth, fire and water. I thought the fire wizards were over the top with their power. It was also a little weird at the end that the good guys "won" some how and yet they lost almost everything.

Nothing I read makes me excited to read the rest of the series. Again nothing was that bad, just not enough there for me to continue with the series.

[D.M. Almond · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Runeloards was everything I wanted in a fantasy. David Farland's world really blew me away. It feels ancient and believable in all the right ways, without clinging to racial tropes of the genre. He is one author that I could say surprises me with the decisions he makes throughout the story. I kind of ran through reading this without even realizing how fast I was devouring the tale. I'm already moving on to the second book now with an eagerness that excites me.

[Llona ❤️ "Così tanti libri, così poco tempo." · Rating 2 out of 5]

ndf
sistema magico innovativo! (ma immorale immorale immorale immorale immorale immorale)
personaggi noiosi
prolisso oltre la mia personale capacità di sopportazione

[Eric Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

9% done:

So, I first came across David Farland way back in the day writing as Dave Wolverton with Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia. It was a perfectly adequate Star Wars adventure notable more for the people, places, and things that it introduced to the then-fledgling Star Wars Expanded Universe than for actually being a good book. At the time, there was the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn, which were probably the best 3 books that the SWEU ever had to offer, and Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyres, which was a long, boring, stupid waste of time. It's not the worst Star Wars book, but I credit it with setting the bar so extraordinarily low early on and ushering in the worse books that followed. Courtship was firmly in the middle. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. It was merely ok. Though the author was clearly not extremely well versed in the source material and made some very bizarre extrapolations from it, he did manage to expand the expanded universe in a meaningful way, which is more than I can say about Kathy Tyers. Disney has even adopted some of his additions to Star Wars lore into the new cannon, for which he probably goes unrecognized, and uncompensated, except by those of us who remember where those things all came from, and who dreamed them up.

Why do I bring this up? Well, because this book is basically the same thing. It's a perfectly adequate fantasy adventure. It's not great, but it's not terrible. It's a little on the generic side, but not enough to put me off of it... yet... I mean, I did just start reading it after all. It probably gets better. I hope.

23% done:

Okay, this book has some rather large problems. The biggest three are that it is very high on exposition, and very low on plot and character. I like to call this Cinematic Universe Syndrome. For the last ten years or so, Disney and Marvel have been absolutely killing it at the box office with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ever since then, you've had Warner Brothers trying to do the same thing with DC Comics, which has had very mixed results, and been an overall financial failure, and the butt of many a joke over the last few years. You've had Sony try to do the same thing with various properties, including Spider-Man, and Ghostbusters, both of which flopped hard. You've had Universal trying to do it with their monster movies, and failed hard. The thing all of these failures have in common is that they want to start out at the top, without building the foundation below them first. Marvel didn't start out with a cinematic universe. They started out with one good movie. It wasn't the best superhero movie ever made. But it had very likable characters, and it told a good story. From there they made another movie. And they did the same thing. And another, and another, and another, and THEN they pulled it all together into a big cinematic universe after setting up the characters with stories of their own that set the stage for the shared universe between them. The problem with all of the others is this. They're so focused on building that cinematic universe up front that they forget that the first movie also has to be a good movie. It has to tell a story that people like, about characters they enjoy. No one cares about future movies you might make. They're not watching those. They want the movie that they ARE watching to actually be a good movie too. If you tell a good story about entertaining characters the first time, people will always come back for more, especially if they are of the same or even better quality like the Marvel Movies have been.

This is a problem that has been plaguing movies for the last decade or so, but it's also started seeping into books, and it needs to freaking stop. Yes, I realize that this book predates all of that, but it has the same problems, so I'm lumping it in with them. This book is so focused on setting up future books that it forgot that it also has to be a good book in itself, and actually tell a story, and have characters that people care about in it. I've fallen into that same trap myself, believe me, it is an easy thing to do. I've just spent the last six months completely rewriting a book almost from scratch because I messed it up so badly the first time in trying to set up the universe that the story is taking place in before actually telling the story. I'm rectifying that mistake, David Farland can't, as this book has already been published. There is so freaking much exposition setting things up in this book that there just isn't any room for more than a rudimentary, bare-bones plot, or any character deeper than bland, boring, unlikeable drones that have zero personality, or reason to exist.

I don't know if I'm going to finish this one. It's pretty hard to get into because the author is so focused on building the structure of the series here in the very beginning, that he's not telling a story, or developing characters. I'll give it another few chapters to pull me in, otherwise, this one's going back for a refund.

30% done:

Yeah, no. I give up. This book is boring, has terrible characters, if you can even call them characters to begin with, and zero plot. As with all books I am unable to finish, this book gets one star by default. Like, seriously. If you want me to enjoy your book, you need to stop world-building in the beginning long enough to introduce some real characters, and actually start telling a damned story. I don't give a damn about your setup if there is nothing else to read about. Also, another thing that really annoyed me in this book is the fakey fantasy names. Yes, most fantasy books have some pretty out there names. But here, every single person’s name was just absolutely ridiculous. Every time someone is named I’m just rolling my eyes over it. Some times fantasy authors just go way too far with the names. This is one of those times.

[Leon Aldrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Amazon Review:

The Runelords is that rare book that will remind you why you started reading fantasy in the first place. Much of the setting--and even some of the story--is conventional fantasy fare, but David Farland, aside from being a masterful storyteller, has built his world around a complex and thought-provoking social system involving the exchange of "endowments." Attributes such as stamina, grace, and wit are a currency: a vassal may help his lord by endowing him with all of his strength, for instance, and in turn the vassal comes under the lord's care as his "dedicate," too weak to even walk. A Runelord might have hundreds of such endowments, giving him superhuman senses and abilities, but he then must care for the hundreds that he has deprived of strength, or beauty, or sight.

[Brian Durfee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will admit that Dave is a personal friend of mine and I read this book in manuscript form about a year and a half before its publication. From what I remember, the draft I read was a bit more dark and gritty than the book that eventually came out in print. I think I liked his original draft more than the finished product. It seemed the editors at TOR kinda had him lighten the tone and ending a bit. I could be wrong, it's been about 13-14 years since i read both the manuscript and the published novel. And Dave, if you ever read this review, and if i missinterpreted the two versions I read, let me know. All in all, Runelords is a good fast-paced fantasy novel that should go in any fantasy lovers collection.

[Kara Babcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read The Runelords, or at least The Sum of All Men, when I was much younger. I like to revisit books I think I enjoyed when I was younger but don’t remember now. If I like them still, hoorah; if I don’t, then I get to better understand how I have changed over the years. The Sum of All Men falls in the middle of that spectrum: it’s an enjoyable book with intriguing fantasy elements, but the characters and story vary from pedestrian to poor.

Most of the praise for this book will involve the magic system that allows the eponymous runelords to be so runic and lordy, so I guess I’ll be a sheep and follow the herd on this point: this book totally has an original magic system. Instead of casting spells and counting mana, David Farland allows his characters to take “endowments” of attributes from other people through the use of magic runes. Taking an endowment of brawn robs someone of their strength—if you die, they get it back, but if they die, you lose that strength as well. So there’s an interesting, somewhat parasitic relationship going on here. Part of the moral conflict of the book concerns the propriety of accepting endowments from poor people in lieu of payment they can’t make any other way—and then you have the Big Bad, Raj Ahten, who just takes endowments at the tip of a sword and laughs nefariously when he thinks no one is looking.

That’s not the best part of the magic system, though. If Farland had stopped there, it would still be original and interesting. He takes it further, though, and explores some of the natural consequences of taking endowments. For example, if someone gives an endowment of wit (thereby losing theirs), any endowments of wit they receive automatically transfer to the person who got theirs originally—they become vectors. Later, Farland asks what happens when you create a chain of vectors and then have the person at the head of the chain give an endowment to the person at the tail—you get a ring! It’s so unfortunate when authors create interesting worlds or systems of magic but then leave the corners unexplored. That Farland takes full advantage of the rich possibilities of runes and endowments is definitely praise-worthy.

It’s much harder to be impressed with the protagonist, Gaborn Val Orden. He—shockingly, I know—turns out to be a nice guy with only the best of intentions in mind. He doesn’t take endowments, by force or as payment, only instead taking them if they are granted “willingly” out of “loyalty”. I’ve seen some good arguments about how this is a distinction without a difference, and Gaborn is just as culpable in what is essentially a system of slavery as his less scrupulous father or the nasty Raj Ahten. These criticisms are spot on and illustrate how Gaborn’s lack of self-awareness undermine his heroic role. However, I think it’s worth pointing out that most epic fantasy set in a pseudo-medieval world suffers from some level of this problem. How many epic fantasy books are about princes or princesses attempting to win back the throne from an usurper? The feudal system, and absolute monarchies in general, suck and are tantamount to slavery. Yet we’re supposed to cheer for the “rightful rulers” and their heroic pluck anyway. If anything, Farland is just making this cognitive dissonance within the fantasy genre more overt—though, by not subverting it, he doesn’t make the situation any better.

Gaborn is an uninspiring protagonist at best. His heroism is ordained rather than earned (or even particularly innate). I could deal with this, except that Gaborn spends most of this long story not doing anything important. Yeah, he rescues the princess from the tower and (maybe) spurs his father to sacrifice himself for the Greater Good (the greater good!). But The Runelords is not exactly the high-octane adventure you might want from a book of this size. Gaborn spends most of it either riding towards or away from Castle Sylvarresta.

(I’m not even going to touch the whole episode at the beginning where he arranges a marriage between his bodyguard and a hot peasant girl they meet in this foreign kingdom. Sooooo much wrong with that.)

Did I mention Gaborn has a love interest? Gaborn totally has a love interest. Her name is Iome. She’s beautiful, apparently, and more so with endowments of glamour—but then she has to give glamour to Raj Ahten (because he wants to be the fairest of them all!) and becomes super ugly, and this bums her out.

Now, I’m going to cut Iome a little slack here. She isn’t shallow, and I don’t think Farland is being shallow when he writes her lamenting her loss of beauty. Iome is undergoing significant trauma here. Raj Ahten has killed her mom and turned her father into a drooling idiot in front her. And now he’s taken her looks—which, even if not important to her, were a part of her for so long that not having them is weird. It would be like me losing all my hair suddenly: I would get over it, because it isn’t really important whether I have hair or not. But I would be super uncomfortable for the first little while. We don’t have time to see Iome get over it (for reasons I will not get into, spoilers). And we’re told that the endowment also constantly undermines any self-confidence she is trying to regain. Finally, even if Iome is innately not shallow, she has still spent her entire life growing up being told that she is “beautiful” and that her external beauty is linked inextricably to her worth as a person. This narrative, unfortunately present in our society, fucks up girls.

That doesn’t excuse the heavy-handed way in which Farland has Harry Styles—er, I mean, Gaborn—swoop in and proclaim loudly and explicitly that “Baby you light up my world like nobody else … You don’t know you’re beautiful / That’s what makes you beautiful.” Because, yes, what Iome totally needs after having her self-worth quashed by a man by being robbed of her external “beauty” is for another man to validate her and her beauty! Farland could have had Iome rediscover and reaffirm her sense of self-worth herself.

And that’s essentially the disappointing truth about The Sum of All Men and a lot of similar fantasy fiction: it could be so much more subversive, but it isn’t. This doesn’t necessarily make it bad in the same way that The Big Bang Theory’s increasing tendency to make fun of geeks/nerds rather than with geeks/nerds about geek/nerd stereotypes doesn’t make it bad. (I don’t think the show is all that funny anymore, alas, but I can still appreciate the way in which it is constructed and its stories are told.) Nevertheless, by playing most of the tropes straight (even if, as in the case of the magic system, they are played very expertly) Farlands only achieves competent mediocrity rather than innovative excellence.

I can’t say I’m surprised. The blurb on the front cover of this edition is from Terry Brooks, and there’s another on the back from Kevin J. Anderson. Both of these authors share Farland’s comprehensive grasp of the scope and potential for setting in fantasy and science fiction at the expense of shallower characters and predictable stories. The result is the type of book that’s probably an OK read—there are worse novels to be stuck with on an airplane or in a waiting room. But it’s not going to blow your mind.

[Marianne Dyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a writer who reads rather critically, I often find myself guessing the ending of a book, and sighing in disappointment as the plot plays out exactly as I'd expected, or worse, falls apart into meaningless mush. Well, not so with this book!

Farland really is a master writer. There's no wasted exposition. The setting is alive with details. Each character was expertly drawn and different from every other character in ways important to the story. Their lives intertwined with purpose, and their respective goals led to conflict and emtional tension that played out in action-packed scenes executed with perfect pacing.

I read this book because I took a writers' workshop from the author, and I was curious to see how he applied what he taught. Though my intention was to analyze the story looking for things like subplot setups and tension building situations, after the first few chapters, I just jumped on a horse and rode alongside the characters on their unfolding adventure. It was too much fun to stop and analyze everything. This then, is the goal of my own writing--to use the techniques he taught so well that like well-stitched clothing, the wearer is so focused on the look and feel of the garment that they never think about seams and fasteners.

The ending of this first book in the series was very satisfying, and yet the wider world conflict left me aching to read what happens to these characters next.

[Will Caskey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know at all what to think about this series.

There's its basic concept of people being used like livestock to give superpowers to a few boneheads. It does dwell on the...DUBIOUS morality, but not in a way that really provokes any thought or reaction.

There's the naturalist religion that is SORT OF a counter to the rampant rune use and possibly a stand-in for christianity. But then it veers off into fairly arbitrary moral standards and inconsistent miracle-work (okay, maybe that reinforces the christianity angle. But to what end?).

There's the extensive side plot dedicated to a man having his testicles torn off and then regrowing them.

There's the monsters (Reavers) who are...well they're just monsters. There's not a lot to say about them.

It's certainly not Bad fantasy. But it is very confusing, and not in a way that makes additional reading seem like a good time investment.

[Ettelwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Suma všech lidí mě pekelně zklamala. Tato sword and sorcery záležitost, která se ovšem daného podžánru nedrží striktně za ručičku, si paradoxně vylámala zuby na tom, co se mělo stát její předností. Veskrze originální a myšlenkově dobrý magický systém.

Lidé pomocí odkazu mohou darovat svoje vlastnosti aka sílu, metabolismus, krásu, paměť a sluch ostatním. Samozřejmě o tyto vlastnosti sami přicházejí a stávají se hluchými, slepými, hloupými a pomalými. Říká se jim Zasvěcenci a většinou se shromažďují v nějakém chrámu, aby se o ně někdo postaral. V době válečného konfliktu jsou také první v hledáčku.

Tak v čem je zakopaný pes? Možná v morálním hledisku a jeho časté absenci. Protože tato forma magie také velice často sklouzává ke zneužívání. Matka okrádá svoje dvě děti o krásu a inteligenci, aby se třetí dítě mohlo vdát do bohaté rodiny. Věc, která se tu řeší asi tak vážně, jako párek k večeři. Ugh. Dále tu máme princeznu, která jednoho ze svých podaných nazývá hloupým poté, co podlehne síle hlasu, které o stránku později sama podléhá. Lidé, kteří dobrovolně odevzdali svůj odkaz rozumu jsou nejednou popsaní jako smrdutí idioti a mrzáci. No a nemorální získávání odkazů ze strany morálního krále je tu prazvláštně téměř okamžitě, jen tak smeteno ze stolu. A nakonec je tu král, který je obdařen mnoha odkazy, aby mohl chránit své lidi, ale když přijde na lámání chleba, zůstává ve své věži. Tadá. David Farland si hraje na strany dobra a zla. Sice zasévá do svých postav určitou formu rozervanosti, ale tyhle dva póly jsou značně vytyčené a pokud z nich chtěl vyklouznout, neudělal to bohužel vůbec dobře.

Runovládci se s určitostí dají užít. Tedy do doby, než vám dojde, že jsou na trvalý stav toho prožitku, až zbytečně natahovaní. Kromě jiného tu potkáte šablonovité postavy, které vám nenabídnou víc než mají předepsáno. Všechno jde po povrchu, styl psaní poměrně hbitý. Místy logické nesrovnalosti, časové nevyváženosti, velké skoky, jak v příběhu ,tak v postavách.

Strašně ráda bych o nich řekla něco hezkého, ale vždycky, když si na ně vzpomenu, tak nějak spíš ve formě naštvanosti. A taky mi až dost často na mysl přijdou katapulty a to, jak se ve sváteční dny využívají.

Možná se ke dvojce jednou vrátím. Možná

[Jared Millet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am so on the fence about this book. It has a lot to admire and a lot that's just "blah." In the end I can't say that I enjoyed it, but what rubbed me wrong the most about this book is the most ingenious, original, and crucial part of the story - the magic system. It skeeved me so badly I almost quit reading several times, but I toughed it out to the end. I'm glad I did, but I won't be picking up any more in the series.

First, the other bits: Intellectually, this is a really complex and rewarding novel. Farland excels at creating complicated moral and strategic quandaries for his characters and playing decisions out to their logical conclusions. Emotionally, it's not as hard-hitting as it wants to be. The problem is that the characters don't seem to have any personalities or emotional traits outside of what is dictated by the needs of the story. In other words, if the events of the story hadn't happened, there would be no reason to care or invest in any of these people - not the bland, heroic prince or the noble, kind-hearted princess (both tropes that bug the hell out of me) or any of the other rulers, warriors, and scullery maids. Culturally, the novel is also bland and delves into a bit of Tolkienesque racism (the heroes are good, wholesome European analogues, the villains are evil, treacherous Middle Eastern analogues).

But the big draw for the book is the magic system. The titular Runelords are nobles, warriors, and the like who grant themselves superpowers by taking "endowments" from other people - endowments such as brawn, stamina, wit, sight. A Lord might have the Wit of ten men, the Brawn of twenty, and the Sight of five. That's all well and good, but the problem is that it's a zero-sum game. Each attribute the Runelord gains is lost completely by the "dedicates" that he takes them from. In other words, in taking the strength of ten men, the Runelord in question makes ten other people cripples without the strength to even crawl out of bed.

In short, this system is horrific. What bothers me in the book is that it's not treated as such. The big bad, Raj Ahten, is a man who abuses this power by taking thousands upon thousands of endowments, making himself the Sum of All Men. Even on the small scale of the average Runelord, though, it's a practice rife for abuse and exploitation. Some nods are made in the direction of it being a noble act to only take endowments when absolutely necessary, but for the most part in the novel it's treated as if it's no big deal for a king or duke to become a superman by maiming and crippling dozens of his subjects - and we're supposed to empathize and root for these bastards.

On a personal note, I imagine this book bothered me more than it should have because I've lived with a disability my whole life and generally resented people whose bodies function properly. The thought of some aristocrat inflicting disabilities on purpose for their own personal benefit pushed my "HULK ANGRY" button repeatedly for the length of the whole novel. Yuck.

[Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

*NOTE: SPOILER*

Overall it wasn't that bad, but left me very disappointed. I think this was mainly due to the fact that I thought the author had some very promising ideas with a good plot, making a bad final quarter of the book leaving me feeling empty and dissatisfied.

The original 'Endowment' concept was pretty interesting. The book was too long for what the storyline required, consequently, a lot of it was a tad boring. And i didn't like how there was no victory for the 'hero'. The blurb promises a good battle at the least! Yet there wasn't one until the end and that was just more of a slaughter... i was left thinking 'ok, what is the earth king going to do.. oh yes, NOTHING.' The disappointment was magnified due to the ridiculous length of the book which should of been half the size at best. The Sum of All Men is just a story of how the bad-ass has just about everything going for him...ugh can you imagine 600 pages of that?

I dont quite regret reading it, although i would certainly not recommend it. Needless to say i will not purchase a sequel. (Thankfully, this one only cost me 15p :P )

[Dave Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read this over 5 years ago its hard for me to say that I like it now. At the time my mind was maybe a little more open to the concepts and my teenage mind reveled in its fantasy glory. But now I think I would find it a little too cliche, (a term I hate to use) perhaps it was aimed at the younger market of reader, in which case it is spot on and deserves 5 stars! But as a now 20-something reader it is hard to imagine that I would fall for Farland's ideas of love at first sight and heroic self sacrifice.

Farland is however a brilliant action writer, fight scenes flow and give a real sense of impending danger but overall I think it the book may lack some of the more gritty human elements, lust for example is ignored.

The magic system of giving endowments is the element of the Runelords series that I still love to this day. Giving endowments in honor of your king to help the kingdom, allowing even the weakest of common men to lend his hand to save his kin.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5. Because I got so involved that I got upset. The bad guy is very very bad and I don't like being too upset.

Epic high fantasy with a richly imagined and fully fleshed world, where RuneLords take endowments of Wit, Voice, Smell, Brawn, Sight and more from people. Most Kings and Lords do it to protect their people. Some others, force people to give endowments leaving them unprotected and defenseless.

This is a story of good and evil and the shades of grey in between. Of and one who has taken so many endowments as to be inhuman and those who must fight against him. It's a story about a boy coming of age. Battles, Honor, life and death. I was swept away immediately and the story has really only just begun. I already bought the next book. I think there are 8.

[Joebot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series deserves more fanfare than it has garnered. The world-building here is top shelf. We have two main magic systems that vary widely but mesh together perfectly. The effects of being a Runelord are so well thought out and portrayed, same being said for its cost.

The characters here are deep and well thought out. Some definite stand-outs; and I can see one of them becoming an all-timer for me. I hadn't read this book in over 20 years, and it felt great to revisit some of my old friends.

Great world-building. Great characters. Great prose. The plot, though, failed to grasp me the way the aforementioned things did. Solid book all around though.

[Zan · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Farland's Runelords (The Sum of All Men as it was originally called), is a book that leaves me of two minds - a classic fantasy throwback to the era and vein of Tad Williams and Robert Jordan, Farland presents us with a world that's in some ways painfully stereotypical and dully familiar, but one with just enough novelty and captivating elements inserted that it rises above some of its duller contemporaries.

So let's get the bad out of the way - we're talking utterly milquetoast white people anglo-celtic-nordish-generic forest & fields & castles fantasy. Princesses and Kings and Princes and Guards and Wizards, etc. We're talking a plot of invasion and war, strained relations between neighboring kingdoms, and virtues of nobility, chastity, honor, all the same stuff you've read a hundred times before. We're even going so far as to talk about the evil invader being a dark skinned androgyne with a harem and slaves and a horde of barbaric black trolls and monkey-men and they live in the desert and have vizeers named shit like Salim. Really, just breaking stuff here. Shocking.

What is shocking though, is how the introduction of the first style of magic, endowment, plays with these time-obliterated tropes. See, in this world, people can 'endow' their physical abilities from one to the other. Someone gives up their strength, becomes an invalid, and the person receiving the boon now has the strength of two men. You can do this with your intelligence, dexterity, constitution, charisma (hey wait a minute...), among other attributes - but this unbalancing of person is played with in so many variations and in so many situations it becomes core to the moral philosophy of the thing - should the hero take on attributes of another person at direct personal cost? Should he kill the people the villain is feeding off of? Simple questions play out into more and more interesting forms to where Farland really does complicate what seems like a straightforward setup at first.

Even better, honestly, is how he plays the characters. I don't think the writing here is much to speak of - There are minor sections, particularly dealing with the concept of the 'Earth' that are much better than the rest of the mostly expository, straightforward writing - and the plot just kinda bounces back and forth and goes until it ends and clearly there's more to come. But the characters have nuances to them that go much beyond the stark good and evil you might expect - to some level, the best character is the main villain Raj Ahten. Though yes, he is imbued with so many of the worst orientalist stereotypes, he's also a very fallible, likable character? His viciousness is matched by his equal propensity to... kinda fuck up a lot? He's not some scheming overlord as first it seems, and I'm pretty curious where he ends up in the future. While not everyone gets a turn to show another side of themselves to his level, there's usually at least a bending, a slant from normal that means the book feels a bit more thoughtful than you'd expect.

It's not a book - or likely series - that I'm personally going to fall in love with. There's simply not enough of the great bits, and much of the book ends up being mundane running around a generic fantasy world. But they are there, and I suspect if you yearn for the days of 90's epics, this is well worth a go, and could easily become a favorite.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sum of all men is the first book in David Farland's epic fantasy series the Runelords, that currently consists of 8 books with book 9 (the tale of tales) being published next month. The Runelords is a series that captured my imagiation with book one and has since become a series that i have much treasured and loved, which is new & completely origional and i could not compare David Farland's work to any other author as it is just so unique. It is a captivating story that is complex and detailed which creates much more momentum and depth as you read on through the series of books, with book 1 being the launchpad of a catalyst of events that are set in motion and which i found to be utterly facinating & so interesting.

This is an adventure that is so exciting and one which swept me away completely, that i was transported along a voyage of descovery and delight; it was just so exciting. The characters are distinctive and uniquely captivating that you follow them on thier journey into the unknown, which is full of non-stop action and drama that will literally take your breath away. The characters were really interesting and inventive and i greatly admire David Farland's imagination and creativity, which is so facinating and a real treat to behold. The action was bloodstained and fast-paced with a fluidity that kept you reading on, and as a concequence i was unable to put this book down even for a second because i was so engrossed within the storyline. As i read each book and new installment within the Runelords series i was dazzled by how great the storyline was and how each new book seemed to be even better than the previous one, being more exciting and interesting with the storyline becoming even more complex and facinating.

This book did take me a few chapters to get into and it took me a while to understand and come to terms with the world that David Farland had created, the geneology & the characters and the places; as each fantasy story is different and some are more complex than others which does vary and depends also on the particular writers style. Once i had read a few chapters and delved into the storyline then i was wisked away into an exciting world that was filled with action, drama and commotion and so i thus continued with book 2 and onwards. Anyone who enjoys fantasy fiction then i urge you to try David Farland as he is such a great writer and his work is truly magical and spellbinding. I was completely captivated and i have loved this series and the journey that it has taken me on and the author should be listed on one of the greats for this particular genre.

A really gripping and exciting read that will have you on the edge of your seat and unable to put the book down because it is just so interesting & deep. David Farland's Runelords series is majestic and epic and is truly spectaular and i urge all lovers of the fantasy genre to read them.