Review: Laws and Prophecies (Sword’s Edge Chronicles, Book 3) by L. S. King
When change comes too fast, sometimes your only hope is to grab the tiger by the tail and ride it!
When Alcandhor was about fourteen years old and thus a “stripling” Ranger, his father took him up the mountain to view the Ranger stronghold city Zaidhron in Thane Valley. By this point Alcandhor’s older brother, Valdhor, had already left Zaidhron and his birthright to Thane behind. As the oldest he should have succeeded their father, but he voluntarily left his right to Thaneship behind and moved out to his own bounds to take up the life of a Ranger chief.
This leaves Alcandhor, the youngest child in his family, to be his father’s heir and take over leading Ch’shalna Clan – the Rangers. Predisposed to the study of history and science, the boy is naturally un-inclined to seek leadership. Now, however, he must face that he will be Thane in the future.
But that is not the main reason why Alcandhor’s father, Ranger Thane Saldhor, has brought him up the mountainside. Viewing what will one day be his lands is part of Saldhor’s reasoning but not the whole of it. For there is a well-kept secret up in these mountains: someone lives here, someone very important. Someone who should be long dead….
The Story
Fast-forward from the opening prologue to the present, where Alcandhor is leading the triumphant Rangers into Zaidhron. He orders that the two Rogues they have captured be imprisoned and commands that Nandhel be “cut off” for his crimes in Children of the Enaisi, adding more punishment to the younger man’s final days of life prior to his and his compatriot’s execution. With the Rogues’ threat finally put to rest, plus Marcalan and Tam’s marriage, the entire city is going to celebrate. Banquet time!
A Thane’s work is never done, however, and Alcandhor is loath to join in the celebrations. At least until he sister Sarinna reminds him how much his people need him even in their merry-making, as if their Thane cannot have fun, how can they? Sadly, Alcandhor’s ex-wife did her work too well by convincing him that everyone sees him as weak, feeding into his own sense of unworthiness until he believes that his family and entire clan would be better off without him. That is damage that cannot be undone in a day, let alone a few short weeks, especially weeks that have been so fraught with danger and change.
Further complications arise as Alcandhor seeks to unravel a series of prophecies. Are the original writings that they can check and confirm in the Portal Complex’s computers, or are they elsewhere? There is also the Conclave to confirm the Aethling, Randhal, as the new Laird coming up in a few weeks’ time. All the nobles will assemble to go over the young man’s record and decide if Randhal is fit to be Laird. The poor boy is being nagged to marry, too, as his clan is weakened and has shrunk from a healthy size. He not only needs an heir, he needs a bigger clan!
More trouble is on the horizon as well. Prophetic dreams assault Alcandhor, members of his clan call Question on his actions, and a sense of foreboding hangs over him regarding one prophecy in particular. It is unthinkable. He does not want it to be true. But times are changing, and change brings danger. To protect his people – his world – Alcandhor may have to pay a price he desperately hoped to avoid. Can Alcandhor overcome his doubts to save his world and family, or will the seeds his ex-wife planted bloom into horrific fruit and cripple him when he is needed most?
The Characters
A secondary character during the prior two novels, Alcandhor takes center stage in Laws and Prophecies as he tries to navigate a world increasingly rocked by change. The rebels of the first book are neither quiescent nor have they forgotten their desires, making an already fraught situation worse. Soon this proves to be a bigger issue than all of Alcandhor’s other problems put together, as who can stop scheming nobles who have abused their power for so long that they think they can get away with anything – including upsetting the treaty with the Enaisi?
Marcalan and Tam, while they fade into a secondary position in this adventure, still get their chance to shine. With her marriage now solidified, a great deal of Tam’s repressed memories and personality starts to surface alongside the temper she inherited from her father. That scares her more than it does those who know her, meaning Marcalan has his work cut out for him reassuring and calming her, a task he seems surprisingly suited to the longer the story progresses.
Sarinna, Mattan, and Haladhon – all side characters from the previous books – receive greater screen time here. Haladhon’s family is finally revealed while Mattan demonstrates just what he is willing to risk for his family, proving in the process where Alcandhor gets some of his stubbornness. Sarinna shows herself to be quite savvy but also a bit too blasé where she shouldn’t be. Sometimes, letting the wrong people flatter her leads to trouble that could have been avoided!
The World
The world develops further here, bringing a reader back to familiar territory while explaining some of the nuances of what was previously established. The Enaisi “Worshipers” are shown a bit more and the law is explicated in a direct form: if the nobles try to their plan, then they will upend the treaty with the Enaisi. So accustomed are they to thinking of the Enaisi as rescuers that they have forgotten what the Rangers have always remembered: not all the Enaisi like humanity. The treaty specifically states that Ch’shalna clan is to be the sole security on their world or else. If the nobles try to change that, forget the havoc such an adjustment could cause in their own society. It could lead the Enaisi to come down on their world like a megaton nuke!
Politics
None.
Content Warning
It is not stated plainly, but to “cut off” a Ranger (or anyone else) means to castrate him, so Alcandhor’s punishment for Nandhal before his death is pretty severe. So are the risks Alcandhor takes early in the book to protect his clan. There is again a view of prisoner abuse, as Alcandhor is captured and mistreated, and there is a suicide that occurs off-screen. The hanging of Nandhal and his fellow Rogue is also shown, though it isn’t dwelt on. Neither is Marcalan and Tam’s “nestling,” though there is a peek at that early in the novel. Childhood abuse is also brought up and shown in some of Tam’s memories, as Valdhor was not a kind father nor a kind man.
Who is it for?
Fans of L. S. King will love this novel, as will those who enjoy sci-fi/fantasy fiction. As noted before, fans of Andre Norton and The Lord of the Rings will be thoroughly entertained by Laws and Prophecies; it builds a world as deep as Tolkien’s, yet it brings in tropes those familiar with Norton like and wish to see in modern fiction more. Those who want a good political thriller with a deep world in which they can become lost will definitely want this book. Young readers who hope to sink their teeth into a series with meat on the bone that will get them thinking about life in general, politics in some specificity, and the law as well as prophecy should acquire the book posthaste. If a reader wants to spend a whole day buried in a novel, then this one and its predecessors will do the trick!
Why buy it?
Laws and Prophecies is an adventure novel like no other, and it is part of a series of same. That is rare anyway, but these days? Why not buy some good, solid fun and spend time enjoying it?