Book Review: The Guns of Ivrea by Clifford Beal

A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Guns of Ivrea by Clifford Beal

Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of Tales of Valdur

Publisher: Solaris (February 9, 2016)

Length: 371 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Piratical fantasy? Yes, please. I love me some seafaring scoundrels. Throw in some mercenaries and mermaids, and The Guns of Ivrea sounded like a maritime journey I wanted to take.

Unexpectedly, we’re also given a good dose of politics and religious lore. The book opens very cinematically, deep in the tomb of Saint Elded, the revered prophet of the faith. A young monk named Acquel is with a maintenance team checking for damages when he accidentally glimpses Elded’s body and discovers a shocking secret that can shake the foundations of the entire church.

Suddenly, Brother Acquel finds himself marked for death. He barely manages to escape, though not before slipping away with an ancient talisman belonging to the dead saint. Acquel’s desperate flight leads him straight to the doorstep of Captain Strykar, leader of the Black Rose mercenary band. In need of a new holy man, Strykar allows Acquel to travel with them, leaving the monk in the care of the company sutler, the widow Timandra. Meanwhile, they are on their way to the coastal city of Palestro where pirate princeling Nicolo Danamis commands the largest fleet in Valdur and carries out his privateering activities for the king. However, Danamis’ recent dealings with the Merfolk have made his devout men jittery and unhappy, and his latest trade may prove to be his undoing.

This book is sure to be a crowd-pleaser, and if you’re fond of breakneck action and twisty political hijinks, you’ll definitely find lots to like in The Guns of Ivrea. Clifford Beal keeps things moving at a quick pace, applying his tight plotting and solid storytelling skills to ensure something interesting happens in every chapter. Battle sequences are plentiful and exquisitely detailed, creating an atmosphere so rich and thick that you can practically smell the cannon smoke, though these scenes are still succinct and smooth enough that they do not wear out their welcome. The intrigue surrounding Brother Acquel’s startling discovery—and the extraordinary relic in his possession—is also a mystery that rests comfortably on the narrative, and as we follow along with the story, the big question surrounding the truth of Saint Elded’s identity serves as motivation to keep the pages turning.

So it was a surprise when I found that I didn’t feel as connected to the story as I thought I would be. Even now I’m having trouble putting my finger on the cause of this detachment, but my best bet would be on the characters. What felt lacking was a layer of intimacy, which ultimately kept them all at arms’ length. Despite the entertaining plot, it was hard to feel invested when at the end of the day I felt no great concern for the characters’ fates, though they were enjoyable enough to follow. I knew Danamis and Strykar had a complicated friendship because that’s what the narrative told me, not something I felt. Brother Acquel’s acceptance into their fold was likewise a relationship that was more told than shown, as was the monk’s romantic involvement with Timandra, which I didn’t feel emotionally at all. Similarly, Danamis’ alliance and subsequent bond with the Mer princess Citala in the in the later parts of the novel also felt under-developed.

But speaking of the Mer, by far the coolest thing about this novel is Beal’s unique take on these creatures of myth. They are abhorred and mistrusted by those who live on land due to the teachings of the human religion, which revile the Mer for being abominations and inferior beings. We didn’t get to see much of the Mer in this book, at least not as much as I’d hoped, though their history plays a very important role in the overall story.

It would be very interesting to see what the author has planned for the rest of this series. I hope the more time I spend with these characters, the more I’ll get to come to sympathize with them, but right now Beal has certainly hooked my attention. The Guns of Ivrea is an energetic and suspenseful fantasy that blends nautical adventure with political intrigue and religious conspiracies. I’ll be looking out for the sequel.