A1 is Green Rider, the first book in the series. Read the post here.
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This is the first book I have read from my Extended Reading Challenge, and am I ever glad I started with it! It was fun, exciting, and built more of the characters and stories from the first book. I was so into it, I even found a place to read it online during my breaks at work because I couldn't stop thinking about what was coming next. My husband was a little upset that all I did was read in the evening all this past week.
First Rider's Call picks up two years after the events of the first novel and follows Karigan's first duties as she finally commits her life to the Green Riders. There is a brief interlude at the very start of the story which is one year following the first book where Karigan is forced to hear the call of the Riders by a mysterious ghost. Then it jumps another year forward and she is a full fledged Green Rider on an important diplomatic mission for King Zachary and that is where the story really starts to get going.
I took six and a half pages of notes while reading this one, there was just so much interesting stuff going on! I have, thankfully, for this post narrowed it down to this things I really want to write about. There were multiple story layers going on at once and it was a bit difficult to decided on what I wanted to focus on. Between the stories of the D'Yer Wall, Blackveil Forest, magic returning to the lands of Sacoridia, the big baddie, more development of Karigan's character and building character relationships, all mixed in with the revelation of the history of Green Riders; I did manage to find things to really latch on too.
Karigan's character development was a big thing for me. I mean, she is the main character, so I would hope her growth would hook me, but it wasn't just that. The author does a fantastic job of using Karigan's doubt in herself as a young Rider and flashbacks to her life as a member of the G'ladheon merchant clan to really show how much she has grown and chooses to continue on and become an excellent Green Rider as the book moves through the story. Karigan doubts herself because she never envisioned her life beyond becoming the head of clan and taking over her father's business and then the events of the first book happened and now she is hearing the Rider Call and it won't leave her alone. She also doesn't feel as in control of her special ability as everyone else and she feels like they're all constantly watching and watching out for her, as though she can't handle herself. Which is absolutely not the case, because even though trouble does tend to find her and follow her around, she always manages to find a way to figure it out and help. I really like that about her.
In addition, she also finds out some major news about her family heritage at the end of the book and it really gets to her because of what happens to her and those around her throughout the story. It all directly relates. This builds into all the of Green Rider heritage that comes to light during Karigan's adventures in this instalment. Karigan finds herself with an unlikely, and other-wordly mentor in this novel and it really helps her to build her commitment to the Riders. Much of the heritage and history of the Green Riders was lost throughout the hundreds of years after the Long War and Clan Wars. Some of it was preserved in their reverence of the First Rider, Lil Ambrioth, and her heroics as leader of the Green Riders and major player in the defeat of Mornhavon the Black. More about what happened to her, and the Riders, throughout the many years after the Long War comes to light during the book. It was really interesting to read the snippets about the past and how they played into the present of what was happening to Karigan and the other Green Riders.
One of the other things I really enjoyed about this book was the development of other characters as well. You get to learn about some of the other Green Riders that are newly introduced. (One scene in particular with Karigan and three of the other Riders - Osric, Justin and Yates - had me laughing out loud.) As well there is more building on characters that appeared in the first book as well: King Zachary, Laren Mapstone, Fastion, Mara, Lady Estora, Alton D'Yer and others. The one most interesting to me this book, was that of King Zachary. You learned more about him personally, his point of view, his history, family, hope and dreams. And all of it was not just through the eyes of other characters this time. There were parts particularly from his view-point.
As I mentioned, there were lots of story layers to this section of the series and the relationship between King Zachary, or Zach as I like to call him, and Karigan. Not just their political one of her as a Green Rider and him as her King, but their personal one. There were parts that surprised me, and I was really rooting for Zach throughout the whole book, because he was so awesome, but by the end of it... I was really mad at him. Like really mad. But thank god Karigan, in the story, was having none of it, so that was a bonus. (I cannot elaborate on this more because SPOILERS.)
- I really, really enjoyed this book and I am seriously looking forward to the rest of the series. Which, by the way, is on book six and currently has no definitive end in sight. My friend, Rebecca, is beyond excited that I am liking it. She is the one who recommended it to me and she doesn't know anyone else who has read it, so she finally has someone to talk with. She is also a great sounding-board when I need to *squee* about things that are happening on the pages. I'm sure I've said it in a previous post about Green Rider: I highly recommended this series for fantasy lovers.
- I know not everything needs to be made into a TV show, or a movie, or movie series; but when I really get into books, I always imagine what they would be like in a different medium. And some books really deserve to just stay books because that is the format they are best consumed in. I feel both ways about this series. I kind of want them to get more mainstream, so there are more people to talk about them with, but at the same time, I'm being super protective of how awesome the books are as they are.
