Papyrus

If your ancestor was the last king’s champion, one that failed to prevent the king’s demise, you might want to live a simple life of service perhaps to redeem your family name. Gavin Kinshield is such a person. The stamp of failure in his name and his own immediate tragic past have moulded him into a lone warrant knight. We start The Kinshield Legacy watching Gavin Kinshield inexplicably solving the first piece of a puzzle that has prophesied the next king, the last having died some two hundred years prior.

The pauper-to-king tale is not a particularly new one, but I found it interesting that we start with such a clear message that this lone wolf is destined to be king. Kinshield, convinced of his unworthiness, tries to find a way to avoid his destiny and as the novel progressed I was reminded of the adage that the person who most wants power does not deserve it and the person who most deserves power does not want it. On reflection, this could probably be considered a key message in The Kinshield Legacy.

Given that Gavin Kinshield is the hero of the story, being able to connect with him becomes an important success factor for the novel. Luckily, I found him easy to relate to. As more people become aware of his destiny, the pressure on him to accept his place in the two hundred year old prophesy increases and I could definitely empathise. As his tragic past is revealed, I developed an understanding of his need for emotional distance. Additionally his character is a blend of noble principles, self-loathing, promiscuous proclivities and an initially baffling lack of reliability. I always like characters with some light and shade to them.

Of course, Kinshield isn’t the only character. We have a strong female character in Daia Saberheart, the warrior woman from the Viragon sisterhood. She becomes a travelling companion for Kinshield and also fleshes out our appreciation of Kinshield using her third party perspective. Interestingly, Daia is also denying her heritage, throwing away her elite station as a lord’s daughter and taking up the simpler life of the hired sword. It is not surprising when the two develop an understanding and even affection for each other.

Other characters were not quite as well drawn, but played significant roles in the development of the plot – including the very interesting Sithral Tyr. Although perhaps a tertiary character, the author obviously felt that Tyr was worth further exploration because she wrote a novella on his back-story. I haven’t read this yet, but I intend to.

Although this novel didn’t break too much new ground, it was a completely satisfying read as a traditional fantasy. The first book, while setting up a larger story with this novel, also completed an important and entertaining story arc. I now feel that I know Gavin Kinshield and Daia Saberheart and would like to continue their quest with them and to me, that’s a successfully opening novel to a series. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4/5

Price at the time of review: $2.99 US

Available: Amazon, Smashwords, Diesel, Kobo, Barnes & Noble

Author site: http://www.kcmay.com/
GoodReads page: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7040020-the-kinshield-legacy