Karigan G'Ladheon, daughter of a wealthy merchant clan, ran away from the prestigious school at Selium after a fight with a nobleman's son led to her unfair expulsion.
She worries about how to face her father even as she rankles at the injustice... until a dying man on a winded horse stumbles across her path. He is a Green Rider, a
messenger for the king of Sacoridia, and with his last breath he extracts Karigan's oath to deliver the message in his saddlebag, unopened, to King Zachary without delay.
He also warns of great danger, but the black arrows in his back take his life before he can explain more. Though no Green Rider herself, Karigan wouldn't be her father's
daughter if she took oaths lightly, and she's as loyal to the crown as any good citizen. Reluctantly, she climbs into the saddle on the man's horse - and into a wild and
dangerous adventure. Dark and ancient evils are afoot in the land, and the message Karigan bears may mean the difference between life and death... not just for King
Zachary and Sacoridia, but for the known world and beyond.
Review
Karigan's adventures start nearly on the first page, and don't let up until the very end. If the story sags now and again, Britain's world was interesting enough to
keep me reading until it picked up again, which it invariably did. Once in a while, Karigan's stubborn refusal to accept the obvious got irritating, but on the whole she
proved a reliable, strong heroine. Some loose ends are left dangling at the end of the book, but the main plot wraps itself up with an appropriately spellbinding
conclusion. Amazon claims that there are more books in the series available; I expect I'll end up tracking down the next one someday to see how Karigan fares. All in all,
an enjoyable read.
After her traumatic adventures with the Green Riders of King Zachary - adventures involving magic, ghosts, monsters, and worse - Karigan G'ladheon tried returning to the
life she'd left, that of a wealthy merchant's daughter. But the call of the Riders, the hoofbeats pounding through her dreams, refuses to release her so easily. Even the
spirit of Lil Ambriodhe, first of the Green Riders, adds her voice to their summons... until Karigan wakes to find herself astride her horse Condor, halfway to the castle
in Sacor City, clad only in her nightgown. Reluctantly, she finally cedes defeat, once more donning the golden brooch and green cloak.
She returns to a different city than the one she left. The Rider numbers are dwindling, their secret powers growing unreliable. The court of young King Zachary rumbles not
just with the usual intrigues - alliances made and broken, ambitious lord- and lady-governors jockeying daughters for the bachelor ruler's favor - but with darker tales. The
breach in the ancient D'yer Wall between Sacoridia and the cursed Blackveil Forest remains, the arts of repairing the magically-enhanced structure lost to the years, and
through it dark influences spread over the land. Soon, the undead enemies of Sacoridia shall stir from their imprisoning tombs, bringing to bear powers that none alive know
how to defeat. In desperation, Karigan must turn again to her strange bond with the spirit world... but can even the ghost of Lil Ambriodhe save the kingdom from a
thousand-year-old evil?
Review
A worthy enough sequel to a good fantasy, First Rider's Call picks up some time after the first book ended. Britain includes enough refreshers in the narrative to
bring readers back into her world and its many characters... enough that new readers might even be able to enjoy it. This tale, like the first, has a few lulls in the action,
but not enough to derail the story. The history of Sacoridia and the force behind the Blackveil come into play, as does the reason for Karigan's strange bond with Lil
Ambriodhe's spirit; both are related without excessive infodumps. Britain builds a world that is both familiar and unique, putting some nice original touches on the usual
quasi-medieval fantasy realm. As for the characters, they did their jobs, and were mostly rounded enough to genuinely care about... and if Karigan grew a bit irritating by
refusing to accept what's laid out in front of her, well, it's hardly the worst case of Plot-Extending Stubbornness I've ever read. While, of course, there's every hint of
a third book, enough wraps up here that I could walk away satisfied. I suppose I ought to keep an eye peeled for Book 3 next time I visit Half Price Books...
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