Sunday Funday – The Price of Valor by Django Wexler

 Something easy to overlook when you’re neck deep in a series of books that you enjoy is that you are in a series of books.  In a way, writing a one off book is far less daring than beginning a series.  When I picked up The Thousand Names, it was a well written book, very deep and rich with characters that were enjoyable relatable.  The action was exceptionally well written, and most of the time my heart was in my throat along with the protagonist.  The book involved several twists, and was run by a largely unknown genius who views men and women as pawns on a chessboard.  Is he good?  Is he bad?  We don’t really get any of his internal dialog, and the satisfaction from being just as lost as the men and women he orders about is not something to undersell.

However.  There is always a risk taken by an author willing to push forward with more books.  What if the action doesn’t live up to previous entries?   What if the character development isn’t up to par?  Can the intrigue and mystery last?  Sometimes, knowing when to end a particular series is just as important as knowing how to end it.  There is a significant risk that an author can overplay his or her hand with their material.  I’m looking at you Richard Goodkind.

Django Wexler, however, has gone into The Price of Valor with his eyes open.  He has an almost instictive knowledge for the pitfalls of long running series.  How some authors, as amazing as they may be, can bloviate about nothing to expand word count.  Robert Jordan, for all his talents, jawed on endlessly about riding skirts, and jackets, and dresses, and swishing them.  It… it got old, fast.  It’s those little things that Django does so very well.  

There’s never a sense of going through the motions just to pad the story.  The action, plentiful and gripping, involves a real sense of danger.  The magic is a light touch, but still crafted into vital sections of the story.  The story drips with a sense of menace wholly unique to the world Django has created.  One of the characters can warp through shadows, yet there is never a moment where Django writes himself into a corner and relies on such an ability to get him out of it.  

The large battles, a mainstay of the Musket and Wizardry genre, are still incredibly well written.  Once more, Janus bet Vhalnich leads his troops to victory.  Rather than just harp on how amazing Janus is in combat, Django instead focuses on what his orders cost.  Winter Ihrenglas is forced to make a horrendous choice to maintain Janus’ trust with her, against the better wishes and judgement of the very woman whom she loves.  It’s…  brutal.  To see the cost of his victories laid bare in that fashion.  

Moments like these, where we aren’t sure if Janus is villain or hero, is what keeps me coming back for more.  In the end, no one can best him on the field.  But what are his deeper motives?  What ticks behind the eyes which see so much, the mind which “plans deep”.  I, like the men and women who serve under him, have absolutely no idea what truly moves him, where his ultimate loyalties lie.  And just like Janus’ troops, all that we can do is follow orders and hope that the future is a bright one.