River Secrets

This is the third instalment of Hale’s trilogy about the struggle between two warring nations in a vividly imagined fantasy civilisation. The war between the pastoral kingdom of Bayern and its militaristic neighbour Tira is over, following a battle in which a mysterious Bayern ‘fire speaker’ has incinerated a tenth of the Tiran army. The novel opens with peace talks in which an exchange of envoys is agreed. Razo, a runtish young forester, is chosen as one of the Bayern warrior company who will spend a season with their embittered enemies. Unknown to the Tirans, the fire-speaker herself, his friend Enna, is also amongst the company. She has taken a vow never to kill again, but almost as soon as they are in enemy territory, the burnt corpses of Tiran soldiers begin to appear around their camp, and the fragile peace becomes increasingly endangered.

The story is very skilfully paced, the sense of impending catastrophe never relenting as the author takes time to develop a romantic attachment between the rustic Razo and the Tiran ambassador’s daughter, and to cultivate a yet more unlikely friendship between him and the capricious Tiran king. The tone of the writing is lyrical but incisive, with vivid evocations of changes of scene and mood. The trilogy as a whole is highly recommended for its skilled balancing of romanticism and realism.