The story of an outcast who manages to raise himself above his humble beginnings to something greater is a Fantasy staple. Anthony’s latest treads a similar path to many, but this first volume of an immersive Fantasy is worth sticking with until the end.
This lengthy book begins Robin Hood-style in the forest of Shavine where Alwyn and his fellow outlaws, led by Deckin Scawl, live an existence always in danger of being caught and hung. When Deckin and the gang are ambushed, Alwyn escapes, but is then caught and sent to the mines as punishment. There he learns to read and write and hence becomes known as Alvin Scribe.
Alwyn is affable enough, although from the beginning I was aware that this is Alwyn’s story. His narrative may be a tad unreliable, or at least economical with important details – we are, after all, dealing with a character who has lied and thieved to survive to this point in his life. He is an intriguing character who is a killer and has been brought up to be a good one. Besides all of this the story, as told by Alwyn admittedly, shows that he is intelligent, caustically witty and has his own sense of worth. I wouldn’t say that he is a likeable rogue, but the motivations for his actions are understandable.
Much of the book is then about Alwyn’s journey, both physically and metaphorically. Whilst trying to gain vengeance for the deaths of his outlaw colleagues, Alwyn also discovers that Deckin may have left behind clues to something that he was expecting Alwyn to find. With a book title like The Pariah, (note: an outcast who is despised or rejected) it shouldn’t be too difficult to work out that whilst Alwyn is persistent in his denial of some sort of religious awakening, it becomes clear that something happens to him along the way.
When Alwyn finds himself conscripted into the King’s army under the command of Captain Lady Evadine Courlain, it becomes clear through her apocalyptic visions that he and the Captain have a connection with each other. Alwyn finds himself drawn to the lady, but as the book continues, he also finds himself in a dilemma. By defending Evadine, and therefore fighting for the King, he finds himself personally allying himself with the rebels.
And by the end of the book it is clear that Alwyn is also involved in bigger things, whether he wants to be or not. There is, of course, a cliff-hanger ending.
With over 560 pages, it must be said that The Pariah takes a little while to get going – in fact, I made it about 100 pages or so before it really grabbed my attention. To give a fairly adult feel to the book, the novel is gritty and sweary without being too extreme, but a word of warning, though – the battle scenes in the book are not for the faint-hearted, although it could be said that they should not be. Anthony does not spare the reader the gory, graphic details of how messy such battles could be.
But all of that scene-setting and character building in those first hundred or so pages does make sense and pays off towards the end, by developing those old-school themes of loyalty and betrayal in an easily recognisable setting.
On the downside, there’s a couple of points where the sense of disbelief is stretched a little. There are plot contrivances in places, the most glaringly obvious one being where a character reappears who miraculously knows lots of obscure information to give Alwyn and the overarching plot momentum. This is attempted to be explained, though I was unconvinced.
Despite this, it can’t be said that The Pariah is a poor read. By the end things are moving along at a cracking pace, and most pleasingly of all, things do not always go the way I expected. The characterisation and world building makes it worth your attention and despite the odd convenience The Pariah is a great book to wallow in. Fans of immersive Fantasy will find a lot to enjoy here in this solidly entertaining read, which I enjoyed a great deal.
The Pariah by Anthony Ryan
Book One of the Covenant of Steel
Published by Orbit, August 2021
576 pages
ISBN: 978-0356514550
Review by Mark Yon
