Exile by Martin Owton
Blurb:
‘Exile’ is a fast-moving tightly-plotted fantasy adventure story with a strong thread of romance.Aron of Darien, raised in exile after his homeland is conquered by a treacherous warlord, makes his way in the world on the strength of his wits and skill with a sword. Both are sorely tested when he is impressed into the service of the Earl of Nandor to rescue his heir from captivity in the fortress of Sarazan. The rescue goes awry. Aron and his companions are betrayed and must flee for their lives. Pursued by steel and magic, they find new friends and old enemies on the road that leads, after many turns, to the city of the High King. There Aron must face his father’s murderer before risking everything in a fight to the death with the deadliest swordsman in the kingdom.
Review:
So this is one of two books I reread to fully review. Partially since it’s been a hot minute since I’ve stared at any of Martin Owton's work. But, I sat down and reread it for this review, and was pleasantly surprised. It’s a somewhat otherish read compared to what I’ve read this year, “City of Masks” aside. I say this because it’s a sword and fantasy setting. We have Aron, who has a sword and goes to town with it on people, and wizards and gods who are just there doing magic shenanigans.
If I had to sell this to sword and fantasy enthusiasts, I’d give them this snippet:
“Aron of Darien got into hot water by dueling those who’ve exiled him and his liege from his homeland, and this is part one of one his escapades.”,
and since that blurb doesn’t do it justice, I’d have to do the rest here. So bear with me as I try to bring my thoughts about it into the world.
To start off, we have the characters. Aron of Darien, and the children of the Earl of Nandor. There are others, including the Earl of Nandor's wife, and that is a whole can of worms that can be opened in book two’s review at some point. So, Aron of Darien. Son of a Blademaster, exiled due to a lord betraying his house to the highest bidder. What does he do as a person? Study the blade and revenge kill as many of the highest bidders folk as possible. Which leads to those people chasing him about the capital city. And him having to take a hiatus. Coincidentally, that hiatus brings him to Nandor, a small earldom with a really antagonist blademaster, who ends up getting himself killed. Does Aron grow as a character? Kinda, not really. But it was cool seeing him have to deal with the consequences of his own actions, as well as others. Then we have the children of the Earl of Nandor. Technically the main characters of the book. Each one grows in a unique way. Each one has their own trials and tribulations to suffer through. And each one interacts with Aron at some point in time. But for them, it’s a process, they’re learning the ways of the world.
After that, there’s the plot. As I said before, Aron’s on the run from the lads of Caldon, since he started picking them off in duels, and that brings him to Nandor, and the saddened Earl whose son is being held ransom by the Sarazans. So Aron is asked to go rescue the Earls firstborn, alongside the firstborn's cousin, who is, for all intents and purposes, a snake. But Aron doesn’t want to, and while deciding, his action of killing the blademaster (who started a fight with him) winds him up in more trouble than he already was in. This is all within the first 20 pages of the book. The rest of the book is a fetch quest with lots and lots of shenanigans, with a bit of a bitter ending, with the promise for more.
Lastly, we have the world building. There’s no map but the reasonably spaced pace of the novel does a good job at balancing out the lack of map. Gods and Goddesses exist, however they are more or less in the background, waiting in the dreams of man to either entice them or kill them, at least when mortals seek for them. As for the wizards and wise women, they have magic that they wield about. At least with what we see in the book, a wizard is more or less only limited by their own strength and imagination.
If I had to critique a thing about this book, it’d be that the writing felt a bit wooden at times, and that the story would’ve fit the children of the Earl much better. Mostly due to everything happening to Aron, with him not seizing the initiative. Everything happens to him, and so everything he does is a reaction. Whereas it’s not that way for the Earls children, they have agency, they learn and grow. However, that is my own opinion, and you’d have to read the novel yourself to build your own opinion about it.
TLDR: If you’re a fan of sword and fantasy, as well as a main character who is going about like Conan from a few decades ago, this novel is for you.
As always, thank you for reading this long overdue review and I hope that I’ve helped add another novel to your TBR pile or onto your next read pile. If not, don’t fret, we have plenty of reviews up on SFF Insiders. Inserted here is a link to a random review up on the site. It might be sword and fantasy, it might be something completely different. Who knows. There’s a ton of genres represented on this site.
Wherever you are reading this, have a good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good night!
