Book Reviews: The Jackal of Nar
Tyrants and Kings by John Marco. Book 1.
I had to think long and hard about whether I would review this book. For starters, it was released almost ten years ago. Also, I decided right at the outset these reviews were my way of sharing with you the books I was in some way surprised to have enjoyed, or that I fell utterly in love with.
The Jackal of Nar was heavy going. Normally I breeze through books but this one took me a great deal of time. By the time I put the books down I felt like I had achieved some massive feat of endurance. Maybe I had.
The more I thought about it, the more I realised the problem wasn’t with the book, it was with my expectations. I’ve come to expect the people I like to survive at least until the end of the first book. I expect this even when the characters are fighting in some sort of war. I suspect my fantasy gateway drugs set me up for that. For the longest time I thought that in fantasy only the bad died young. Though clearly a fantasy novel, the Jackal of Nar is grounded in reality when it comes to the chances of survival during a battle.
Much of the book revolves around war. It’s a situation which brings out the best and worst in everyone and emphasises the existence of moral grey areas. Some characters do good things for good reasons and bad. Likewise, they do bad things. Some who start out heroes become distinctly less so and others who start out as villains turn out to be far nobler than we first believed. Lives were lost needlessly, sometimes gratuitously. It really was war. It left me a little shell-shocked.
After a certain amount of recovery time, I decided I did like the book in my own, roundabout way. I may not have enjoyed it exactly, but I don’t regret reading it. If nothing else, it made me think. And I like to think.
If you’re looking for some light, fluffy reading, look elsewhere. It’s not a bad book, it’s just not an easy one. If you’re after something a bit more serious, this isn’t a bad choice.