Product Description

Life has been good on the world of Ranadon, illuminated both day and night by the light of its greater and lesser suns. The dark ages were banished by Belagren, High Priestess of the Shadowdancers and her political position seems unassailable. However, a series of events escalate, breaking old alliances and breeding new and deadly rivalries. A volcanic eruption divides the seas between the kingdoms of Senet and Dhevyn, and an ill-omened sailor is thrown onto the island of Elcast. His arrival is a catalyst - baring old hatreds and secrets best left hidden. He brings fear to the Duke of Elcast and Antonov, the influential Lion of Senet is drawn to the island. The second sons of these powerful individuals develop a strong friendship, but it may not survive events set in motion by their ambitious families ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #124308 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

Customer Reviews

A brilliant new fantasy trilogy
Many consider Tolkien's masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, the benchmark to which every other epic fantasy work is compared. The first book in The Second Sons Trilogy leaves the reader with the impression that this series will receive top marks in that scale. Jennifer Fallon creates a craftily depicted world with characters the reader will love or hate with passion. I became so engrossed in the story that I could not put this book down until I finished it.

Ranadon once again has two suns surging through its sky, but its inhabitants have suffered greatly in the past when one of the suns disappeared and the Age of Shadows began. The High Priestess, Belagren, with the help of a great mathematician, Neris, discovered the secrets about the Age of Shadows, which is a natural phenomenon that depends on the orbits of the suns. In her eagerness for power, Belagren used this information to her advantage and claimed that the Goddess spoke to her and told her exactly were the sun would return, granted that certain sacrifices were made. It all worked out, and Belagren gained considerable power through this stratagem. However, Neris sealed the secrets inside a deadly Labyrinth, and threw himself off a cliff, presumably dying.

In her need to know when the next Age of Shadows will return, so as to prove her communication with the Goddess, Belagren convinced the Lion of Senet, ruthless ruler of the strongest kingdom in Ranadon, to search for Neris because she suspects the genius is still alive. Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Dhevyn, which is "controlled" by Senet, the second son of Duchess Mirna of Elcast is being trained to be a physician. He is a bright boy and is thrown in the middle of the action when the Lion of Senet and Belagren arrive to Elcast looking for a very special prisoner, who was left unconscious in the coast after a tidal wave made his vessel the victim of a shipwreck.

The plot is complex but easy to understand, with religion and politics cleverly intertwined in a mix that achieves a similar effect on the reader to the one "Dune" accomplishes. There are many characters, but with the help of the character list and the masterful descriptions the author elaborates, it is reasonably easy to keep track of them. I would recommend following the story closely with the map provided, at least until the reader gets a clear idea of the geographical location of the different places mentioned. This will make the book a lot more enjoyable and easy to follow. Finally, an extra benefit in this trilogy is that it is already written in its entirety, thus, there is no need to wait a long time for the next two installments, which have already been published in Australia and New Zealand. If you like epic fantasy I highly recommend you read this book and discover what Fallon has to offer.

An entertaining and enjoyable read
It got off to a slow start, but this turned out much better than I thought it would. It's the characters that make the story and I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen to all the different people involved. Okay, it might not be deep and meaningful stuff, but this book had me really engrossed for the past week. An entertaining and enjoyable read.

great talent!!
I was looking for something new as I was pretty much up to date with the popular fantasy writers. Well....I am sure Jennifer Fallon is now one of my preferred authors.

A little slow on the start but this book develops into a fantastic story of court intrigue.

Dirk Provin is an extremely intelligent and is happy with his life untill he is claimed by the Lion of Senet to come and work at his court.
In the meantime a sailor well known to most non-supporters of the Lion of Senet is shipwrecked and thrown onto the island of Elcast. This opens up the story big time!!!
Revelations all over and characters are very well developed.

The book is fantasy however there is not a lot of magic, spells or wizardy this book is more about kingdoms, invasions, intrigues and rivalries.

I am happy that I ordered this book and will finish the triology for sure!