A wandering bard and his companion make landfall on the strange, mist shrouded island of Creyak. They are greeted by a singular man, Hashath the King. Unfortunately the king is dead and frozen. If you haven’t guessed by now, Talus is the wandering bard and that king finishes out the title of Graham Edwards mythically and historically flavored mystery Talus and the Frozen King. We know Talus is the bard, but the story is told from the point of view of his companion Bran, the fisherman and shipbuilder who travels with a heavy heart. This character set-up is quite common, after all, the best known detective in fiction Sherlock Holmes, has his partner Watson and even The Dark Knight Detective has his Robin so Talus the inquisitive Bard has his Bran.
Edwards works with a very straight-forward mystery structure, murder, investigation, solution, but what happens between those pillars of the structure make for a very entertaining read. The island of Creyak through the absolute rule of Hashath, has all but cut itself off from the world, shrouding itself in privacy and superstition. Now that the king is dead, his eldest son is in line for the throne. Of course, things are not that easy. Tharn, the king-to-be, is at first very untrusting of Talus and Bran considering their arrival coincided with the king’s death.
Suspicions run rampant throughout the village, everybody from Tharn to Talus, to all of Tharn’s brothers are at one time or another thought to be the murderer. When one of the suspects himself turns up dead, another layer is added to the mystery. Soon after, enemies of Creyak arrive causing more chaos. These people are led by a man named Farrum, who once fought Tharn’s father for the right to rule Creyak. When Bran and Talus split up to learn more about the people of Creyak, which in turn, would ideally lead them to the solution of the mystery, Bran realizes there’s a stowaway on Farrum’s boat. Right, so there are many suspects and many layers for Talus and Bran to unfold in this strange land.
Part of what makes a good mystery enjoyable are the characters because frankly, going in, the reader pretty much knows the mystery will be solved when the book is finished. In the case of Talus and the Frozen King, I thought Talus and Bran were both engaging characters who had a deep past that was hinted at from the start, but in the case of Talus, becomes only minimally clear by novel’s end. The people of Creyak felt genuine and the king-to-be Tharn stood out as a man torn between duty to his people’s traditions and how he wants the village to live on in the future.
All told, Talus and the Frozen King, was an extremely enjoyable novel, Edwards kept me turning the pages at a very rapid pace. I liked Talus and Bran quite a bit and very much hope Edwards has more tales of Talus up his sleeves and the fine people at Solaris provide him the venue in which to tell these stories.
Recommended
© 2014 Rob H. Bedford
Published by Solaris Books / Mass Market Paperback ISBN 978-1-7810-8199-0
March 2014 / 333 Pages
http://graham-edwards.com
Review copy courtesy Solaris Books
