The Crusader Road (Pathfinder Tales #21)
When the aristocratic Vishov family is banished from Ustalav due to underhanded politics, Lady Tyressa Vishov is faced with a choice: fade slowly into obscurity, or strike out for the nearby River Kingdoms and establish a new holding on the untamed frontier. Together with her children and loyal retainers, she’ll forge a new life in the infamous Echo Wood, and neither bloodthirsty monsters nor local despots will stop her from reclaiming her family honor. Yet the shadow of Ustalavic politics is long, and even in a remote and lawless territory, there may be those determined to see the Vishov family fail...
My Review:
I've read quite a few Pathfinder Tales already by a variety of authors. I believe that the Pathfinder Setting is very exciting and should be worth a peek from Dungeons & Dragons (Forgotten Realms) fans. I know there is some animosity between D&D and Paizo (Pathfinder) roleplaying systems and each have a fan-base that is usually very supportive of only one of the roleplaying systems. I feel that great fantasy books by good authors rise above their roleplaying settings and are there to give us (hopefully) a good and entertaining experience.
Michael A. Stackpole doesn't disappoint in this exciting frontier tale that takes place in the Echo Wood. These woods have a mind of its own. Add Fey such as sprites, or goblins and blood-thirsty ogres, and things can get very challenging very fast.
The book starts off with an exiled family having to relocate to Echo Wood. They try their best to tame the surroundings so that they can live out their exile in peace. Unfortunately, the peace they seek is very hard and very slow in coming.
The Crusader's Road is a solid fantasy story with good action, but it is also a coming of age story with a dash of young romance. For this, I also recommend this book for our much younger readers as well.
The story moves along at a good pace and none of it seemed too heavy or slow. Action was spread out well. The author's use of his military knowledge in this book is also very well done. It didn't seem overly martial though. Character development was well done, but I wished we had a bit more insight into certain characters. Naturally, as a fan of magic, I wish the book would have included even more magic in this story.
The author wrote a very fine story here of frontier lawlessness and good old monster bashing fun!
Like so many Pathfinder Tales before, The Crusader Road is a good fantasy story that should attract many readers of the genre. It is certainly a book you might want to give a try even if you are currently only reading Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance books.
I'm sure fantasy readers would be pleased to end up having this book on their shelves at home (or cave). Happy Reading!!
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