In Exile by Joanne Hall

Joanne Hall

Joanne Hall made a dazzling debut in 2006 with the story of two young men and the woman they rescue from drowning with the epic sword & sorcery fantasy Hierath.

One of the young men --King Alex-- fell in love with and subsequently married Lydia, the girl, only to be betrayed and his regime overthrown by his childhood friend Valery.

In Exile

Now in exile, a young barmaid encounters the men of the Wolfpack, Valery's feared death-squad. Shen the barmaid is then grabbed on her way through an alleyway, but her 'assailant' is Bale, King Alex's trusted lieutenant.

Back at her rooms it emerges that Shen is Lydia, hiding from the Wolfpack; Bale tells her that Alex is alive, and she agrees to ride north with them to rendezvous with her husband. Her cousin Meganne and Meganne's husband Jorge insist on accompanying her to the meeting.

This had one unfortunate consequence; one or two riders on their own are far less than a group of four particularly when two of the group are strikingly beautiful women -- and Meganne has 'the glamour' the ability to bewitch men, which she seems to be hardly aware of, but which makes her hard to forget by those she's used it on.

When they meet with Alex, the group grows to five, and their progress becomes even harder to disguise. They narrowly evade capture by the Wolfpack, and seeking sanctuary in the island castle of Northpoint they gain another by 'rescuing' Valery's new wife, although she has at first little desire to be rescued.

Influences -- Lord of the Rings vs Lankhmar

There is still much to be admired in Hall's new novel, such as the detail that she brings to her imagined world, and the likeability of her characters, and she has gained in the assurance of her writing since publishing Hierath, so that In Exile is a stronger novel than its predecessor. Like Hierath, In Exile is a much more human work than the template fantasies such as Lord of the Rings and perhaps owes more to classical American series such as Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar.

But there are also a number of caveats.

First is the characters themselves -- particularly Alex, the King and his wife Lydia who behave at times in ways that simply don't ring true of people in their position (they seem astonishingly content to leave their son in the care of others while riding around Hierath in a large group drawing attention to themselves; yet they are possessed by an enemy ruthless enough to wipe out whole communities).

The novel itself seems content to meander along in search of a plot, and really only begins to gain momentum as it gallops toward its conclusion in the court of Telesia.

In Exile is very much the middle volume of a trilogy and should be read as such -- the prelude to a strong conclusion.

Cover for In Exile

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