Marshall Ryan Maresca’s debut, The Thorn of Dentonhill, is one of the first novels to be published which was workshopped in the Book Country online writer’s community. The novel takes place in a city with both a magical university and dark streets populated by gangs and crime lords. Though set in a secondary fantasy world, Maresca infused elements of superhero fiction into the tale for an engaging and rather seamless blending of those two, as well as other, genre tropes or codes.
Veranix Calbert is a student at the University of Maradaine learning the history and uses of magic. He mostly keeps to himself, aside from a few close companions: Kaiana, a young woman and his closest friend who works in the custodial department of the University; his roommate Delmin; and his cousin Colin, a high-ranking member of the Rose Street Princes [a street gang]. Veranix mostly keeps to himself because when he isn’t in his dorm or classroom he roams the streets of Dentonhill trying to bring down the drug kingpin William Fenmere, the man responsible for both the death of Veranix’s father and the mindless state of Veranix’s mother. Veranix also has something of a Harry Potter/Dumbledore relationship with Alimen, the chief instructor of Veranix’s studies at the University. Alimen helped usher both Veranix and Kaiana into the University’s society and there’s a sense that he knows far more than he lets on about Veranix’s double life. Kai is aware of Veranix’s double life, and as the novel begins, she’s the only character who does. Alimen pushes Veranix to be a better student because he both worries for the young man’s safety and sees great potential in him.
On one of his nightly patrols, Veranix breaks up an exchange between another gang and one of Fenmere’s crews is in the process of a transaction of goods. Rather than the drug Fenmere’s people usually peddle, Veranix finds a rope and a cloak that are enchanted. This added to his already magically aided abilities, such as his acrobatic leaping, provides Veranix with a nice power set, to borrow a comic book phrase. As a result of his continued efforts at squashing Fenmere’s activities, he earns the moniker Thorn, as in a “thorn in the side of Fenmere.” Veranix obscured his face to keep his identity hidden so nobody knows what he looks like, but his moves and tactics are always recognizable.
Maresca balances the narrative between Veranix’s activities as a student and his escapades into the night. Both provide a great amount of tension. He also doesn’t reveal all of Veranix’s past initially or even all of it by novel’s end. His cover story is that he was part of a traveling circus group until his father finally settled in Maradaine so he could get a magical education at the university.
One element I liked was the role prophecy had (or rather didn’t have) on the plot. The magic items Veranix acquires are supposed to be used for a ritual that can take place once every 47 years and while that ritual does play a part of the plot (or is even revealed) towards the conclusion, it has little to no bearing on Veranix’s daily life. Well, excepting for the fact that some of the magicians and criminals want those magical items, but this isn’t a novel where prophecy takes a major precedence in the plot.
The relationship between Kaiana and Veranix is filled with tension, Kai continually warns Veranix that he could get hurt or that his identity might be discovered. Veranix pushes the boundaries of what she’ll do to protect him and his identity. There’s a bit of romantic tension between the two, but at this point their relationship seems open to go in any direction. That is, Maresca hasn’t pigeon holed them as a romantic, but he hasn’t closed off that possibility either. I found it a bit refreshing that they didn’t end up paired up in this fashion, despite the rumors about the two of them that were floating around the University’s campus. However, when Delmin is finally introduced to Kai, Delmin finds himself drawn to her and not just because of their shared concern for and relationship with Veranix.
Maresca’s debut is a fun, engaging fantasy that evoked elements of swashbuckling sword and sorcery and superhero fiction/comic books (think Batman and Spider-Man). In that sense, I would suggest readers who enjoyed Michael R. Underwood’s Shield and Crocus would find The Thorn of Dentonhill to their reading tastes. I found some resonance with Doug Hulick’s Tales of the Kin and Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastard novels (more for the dark setting and relatively tight cast). I also couldn’t help thinking of the film The Warriors in the way that Maresca portrayed some of the street gangs/organizations in the novel. Not a bad resonance, I would think. I found the characters to be empathetic and the world to have just enough detail that I’m intrigued to read more about it. Bottom line, this was a fun and entertaining novel. A Murder of Mages, the follow-up, is already set for publication and I look forward to reading the further exploits of these characters.
Recommended
© 2015 Robert H. Bedford
Mass Market Paperback, February 3, 2015, 400 Pages
ISBN 978-0-756-41026-1
Excerpt: http://mrmaresca.com/wp/?page_id=632
http://mrmaresca.com/wp/
Review copy courtesy of the publisher, DAW
