- Title:
- Irona 700
- By:
- Dave Duncan
- Pages:
- 402
- Rating:
- 4
Fantasy at its most enchanting: An original and absorbing tale from a master storyteller about the profound effects of a single life on the battle against ultimate evil
It is Midsummer Day, the beginning of the year 700, in the city of Benign. All the children born in the year 684 celebrate their joint sixteenth birthday by passing in front of the statue of the blind goddess Caprice—but only one will become the Chosen and join the Seventy who govern and guide the city.
Much to her surprise, Irona Matrinko, one of the many children of an impoverished fisherman, is chosen. Irona 700 moves into the palace and, with the help of a new mentor, recognizes and cultivates her great talent for guiding wars: strategy and tactics, leadership and inspiration.
As Irona gives her life to the city, an ancient enemy, Maleficence, attacks again and again, corrupting Irona’s friends, destroying her lover, and continually defeating her grandest plans for peace and harmony. Along the way, Irona becomes a masterful politician, a shrewd judge of character, and, even at great cost to her personal happiness, a true heroine.
This was quite dark, and a pleasant change of pace to Duncan’s Eye of Strife. It’s unusual to have a female lead, But Irona is powerful and grows well into the story. I probably will reread it for more enjoyment rather than gulping it down but it kept my interest and there’s huge scope for future novels in the setting I think, were Mr Duncan to ever wish to revisit.