Quasi-Review: The Binding of the Blade series

Rhetoric class was fantastic today. Now, this may not seem to have much to do with the title, but bear with me. It was fantastic in multiple senses of the word, first, because it's always awesome, and second, because of the fantastic way it made me think about history. And because of the way it reminded me of a fantastic fantasy series by L.B. Graham called The Binding of the Blade (which you may have guessed by reading the title of this post.)

The Binding of the Blade series takes place in the mythical land of Kirthanin which, unlike most fantasy stories written after Tolkien, does not feature dwarves or elves anywhere inside it. Instead, there are unique races like Great Bears and Malekim (interesting hyena parallel, now that I think about it), and a few other creatures that are pretty standard in fantasy, like dragons and giants.

What makes the series interesting, though, (and what reminded me of it in Rhetoric class) is the fact that Kirthanin's history is a roughly biblical analogue (the author is a Christian). Here's sort of a simplified summary: Mankind (and the other creatures) were created by the Allfather, and everything was peacefully ruled by the twelve Titans (who are servants of the Allfather) until some of the Titans rebelled, killed the rest, and almost conquered the entire place until I don't want to give away any more of the plot. You get the picture. The backstory is much more complicated in the books than this, but those are the basic points. I'm pretty sure the guy who wrote the books was a postmillenialist, because of the way the main plot treats the final defeat of evil, but I'm not sure.

In any case, L.B. Graham is a pretty decent writer, so the books make a good read. There are parts where the writing is a bit clunky (I think the characters talk mostly in plain english, which is easier to read but unusual for a fantasy novel. Most use a more grand style. It's something to get used to.) You should also be somewhat forewarned that he doesn't always respect narrative conventions, especially when concerned with main character safety (I've said too much already). All in all, the five books in the series are well worth reading, and I recommend them heartily.

Number score thing: 1.5 (Read the scale. This actually stands for pretty darned awesome.)