The Runelords: The Sum Of All Men (The Runelords, Book 1) - Hardcover

Farland, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312866534 ISBN 13: 9780312866532

Publisher: Tor Books : Tom Doherty Associates, 1998

Synopsis

A young prince-wizard embarks on a journey to a far-flung fiefdom to marry a princess, a journey that soon becomes a matter of life and death

About this title

Review:

The Runelords is that rare book that will remind you why you started reading fantasy in the first place. Much of the setting--and even some of the story--is conventional fantasy fare, but David Farland, aside from being a masterful storyteller, has built his world around a complex and thought-provoking social system involving the exchange of "endowments." Attributes such as stamina, grace, and wit are a currency: a vassal may help his lord by endowing him with all of his strength, for instance, and in turn the vassal comes under the lord's care as his "dedicate," too weak to even walk. A Runelord might have hundreds of such endowments, giving him superhuman senses and abilities, but he then must care for the hundreds that he has deprived of strength, or beauty, or sight.

Runelords excels because this novel idea is not mere window dressing--Farland uses it to explore fundamental questions of life and morality. The story's hero, the young Runelord Gaborn, struggles to define his role in this "shameful economy" while keeping his commitments to himself, to his people, to the woman he loves, and to the earth itself. We end up asking ourselves the same questions: Should you choose your friends based on insight or virtue? Is it better to be just or good? Competent fantasy lets you escape to adventure in faraway lands, but exceptional fantasy makes sure you have something to think about when you get back. Runelords accomplishes the latter. --Paul Hughes

From the Publisher:

"The Runelords is a first-rate tale, an epic fantasy that more than delivers on its promise. Read it soon and treat yourself to an adventure you won't forget." --Terry Brooks

"When I reached the end of this first volume, The Runelords, and saw grace arise from a devastating battlefield where too many great hearts lay dead, Farland had earned the tears that came to my eyes. It was not sentiment, but epiphany." --Orson Scott Card

"The intriguing hook behind Farland's first novel--and launch of a new fantasy series--is a complex magical technology whereby abilities such as wit, brawn and stamina are transferable from person to person. The magic is basic to Farland's story, not just painted on, and it and the society in which it plays out are rigorously and imaginatively elaborated." --Publishers Weekly

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Books : Tom Doherty Associates
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0312866534
• ISBN 13: 9780312866532
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 479