Eagle Sage (Lon Tobyn Chronicles #3) by David B. Coe

David Coe does an excellent job of completing the Lon Tobyn Chronicle trilogy, begun in "Children of Amarid", followed by "The Outlanders". I had expected this final volume to bring war between the two parts of the known world: Tobyn-Ser and Lon-Ser. After all, the first two volumes of the trilogy seemed to be setting that up. And indeed, war seems to be coming as the plot details the arrival of an Eagle, binding to a mage which historically has only occurred when a war leader is required. But no. Coe masterfully takes us in an altogether different direction, capitalizing on major events from the first book which I had believed to be resolved.

Taken as a whole, this trilogy has truly been a hidden gem. It’s traditional fantasy to be sure but original in concept and well executed. There are no elves or dwarves, no plots derived from D&D game systems. David Coe holds a PhD in History, a background that I can’t help but feel was valuable in the world building. The social and political structures are realistic despite this being a fantasy world. The characters are well developed and engaging and even though there are a lot of them they are all genuine and memorable. I still find it difficult to believe these books were the debut novels by this author. As I noted on a previous review of book one, the version I read shows a copyright date of 2000 (mass market paperback published in 2001). Since that time, per the author, all three of the the books in the Lon Tobyn Chronicles have been re-released from Lore Seekers Press and include a thorough edit with improvements to prose, syntax, etc. However, none of the story or character development was altered.

As a fan of the author’s "Thieftaker" novels and stories under the pen name D.B. Jackson I had wanted to try his traditional fantasy.  Frankly, I was skeptical because the covers look like most of the other ‘80’s and 90’s fantasy tomes and I have struggled with many of those in recent years. But there is something to be said for this sort of fantasy. It’s not grimdark or dystopian fantasy and you’ll not find much in the way of foul language littering the pages. Just an excellent fantasy story that you could read aloud to your 10-year-old or your grandmother.

Very glad I took this chance. I’ll be reading more from Mr. Coe.

The Outlanders (The Lon Tobyn Chronicles) by David B. Coe

The second book in the “Lon Tobyn Chronicles” picks up approximately four years after the events of book one, "Children of Amarid". One of the main characters from that first book has spent much of those four years interrogating their only prisoner from the attacks of the neighboring lands of Lon-Ser. He convinces his friends in the Order of Mages that is in their best interest to attempt to form a peaceful coexistence with that land but others within the Order are not inclined to agree. The resulting internal struggle forms the beginning of much drama that unfolds in this second novel.

Once again, the author does an excellent job of world-building, this time concentrating on Lon-Ser which is a much more advanced civilization than the rather typical fantasy setting of Tobyn-Ser introduced in book one. Their use of mechanical and technological advancements would grant them a huge advantage in any conflict. But such advancements of course, do not prevent individuals from craving power and prestige and thus their political leaders often advance by assassinating their predecessors. 

This novel does suffer a tiny bit from “middle book” syndrome. While I enjoyed the settings, the characters, and the plot development, I knew there was a final novel still to come. So the climactic moments, while nicely done, were perhaps a little less climactic than what will likely be the case in book three.  Having said that though, I greatly look forward to that final novel to see how all these characters interact and whether or not peace will reign.

Children of Amarid by David B. Coe

The people of Tobyn-Ser have a long history of trusting and relying upon the benevolent actions of an order of mages known as the Children of Amarid. But now, this trust is rapidly eroding as crops are destroyed, villages are burned, and innocent people are being killed, seemingly at the hands of these same mages. Are these renegade mages at work or is it something more dire? A young man named Jaryd, newly recognized as a mage, finds himself at the center of the effort to unmask the nature of the evil invading their lands.

I was introduced to the works of author David Coe through his Thieftaker novels and stories, written under the name D.B. Jackson. I liked them so much that I’ve wanted to go back and try his more traditional fantasy and I’m very happy I did. This book is actually his very first published novel and is the first part of the “LonTobyn” trilogy. I found it to be an excellent read with vivid characters and an interesting plot. The world building is nice, as is the magic system. It is not without the sort of flaws that one might expect from a first novel, however. For example, I thought it could have used a bit more focus in some areas and occasionally the plot was uneven and meandered a little too much. There was also quite a bit of background presented in fairly large info dumps, but he handled this in clever ways such as through a story from somebody or a lesson for Jaryd, allowing us to learn about some of the history right along with him. 

But these are nitpicky issues, far outweighed by the sheer fun of reading a traditional fantasy novel filled with as much hopefulness as peril. It’s not “grimdark” fantasy or hard-boiled; you’ll find no f-bombs here. In style it resembles Raymond Feist’s “Riftwar” series. I like almost all kinds of fantasy and relish variety so have no problems with grimdark, etc. But it is nice every once in a while, to read a smooth-flowing fantasy yarn that doesn’t leave you with a feeling of dread.

So, I offer my strongest compliment I can ever give to a first book in a series: I can’t wait to read the next one.

Updated: The version I read is dated 1998 but per the author, all three of the LonTobyn Chronicles have been re-released from Lore Seekers Press. After a thorough edit, making improvements to prose, syntax, etc. but not to story or character development, some 20,000 words have been pruned from this first volume. My comments about a meandering and uneven plot are likely no longer relevant.