"On her long journey home from school after a fight that will surely lead to her expulsion, Karigan G'ladheon ponders her uncertain future. As she trudges through the immense Green Cloak forest, her thoughts are interrupted by the clattering of hooves, as a galloping horse bursts from the woods.
The rider is slumped over his mount's neck, impaled by two black-shafted arrows. As the young man lies dying on the road, he tells Karigan he is a Green Rider, one of the legendary messengers of the king of Sacoridia.
Before he dies, he begs Karigan to deliver the “life and death” message he bears to King Zachary. When she reluctantly he agrees, he makes her swear on his sword to complete his mission, whispering with his dying breath, "Beware the shadow man...".
Taking on the golden-winged horse brooch that is the symbol of the Green Riders, Karigan is swept into a world of deadly danger and complex magic, her life forever changed. Compelled by forces she cannot understand, Karigan is accompanied by the silent specter of the fallen messenger and hounded by dark beings bent on seeing that the message, and its reluctant carrier, never reach their destination."
There are times when a book's cover will just… well… summon you. It'll be a book cover that commands you–from a bookshelf in some random bookstore–to buy and read it. While this year I managed to find a small piece of territory in the science-fiction space opera sub-genre (bless your sweet ASS Tanya Huff for creating Torin Kerr), my itch for a strictly traditional fantasy book had yet to be fulfilled. Until I saw a mass market copy of Kristen Britain Green Rider at my local Barnes & Noble, and immediately became enchanted and curious by its cover. It was giving me T. A. Barron The Ancient One tease (my favorite fantasy book). Ever hesitate from being burned before, I waited matters out. And each visit it kept calling. No. Screaming actually.
But 500 pages for a fantasy book takes determination and stamina for a reader like myself, so I needed it in the comfort of a hardback if I was going to take it on by the book's weight alone. Ordered online. Spent five days reading it (took a day off so it would've been four). And it was a win! For once, I got shit right for myself based solely off a cover.
Nevertheless, I’ve stated this before how I’m not that great at taking on fantasy novels. Why? Maintenance. Upkeep. And little much-needed reference materials to draw from as I delve into all these innovative and imaginative lanes authors have created for themselves and readers. I always need just a little something extra to remain anchored into the story. And I can say brevity on the exposition concerning world-building and magic systems is essential to my reading experience. I guess that brevity is what separates the "epic" in "epic fantasy" from... well... I guess "fantasy." Forgive my ineptitude on the subject, because Green Rider does away with all my fantasy-reading anxieties and here’s why...
"Karigan thought desperately. She thought back to summer evenings in an empty warehouse on her father's estate where the cargo master practiced swordplay with her. For one lesson, he left the wooden practice swords leaning against the wall and devoted the session to what she could do with her bare hands."
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"'I once asked her what she wanted to do with her life,' Rendle said. 'She told me, something adventurous. She wanted to be a merchant like her father. It is not many children who choose to follow their parents' footsteps.'"
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"She dreamed also of her mother's ring, which Jendara wore. Sometimes she dreamed that her mother chastised her for her carelessness. Other times, her mother held her in a warm embrace.... How did a simple schoolgirl ever get into such a mess?"The quick backstory of the lead character, Karigan, is simple enough. Her father created a successful shipping business out of nothing. This put her family in the spectrum of influence and aristocracy, though they are humble and quiet living below their means. Her mother died some years ago, leaving just Karigan and her father. And, also, leaving Karigan with very little baggage about the loss to mull depressingly over. To further her educational purposes, she went to an elite school where she was later suspended because she crossed a governor's son on the practice field. A big no-no.