Review of Wysard by Carolyn Kephart

Book reviews from August 2002

Wysard by Carolyn Kephart
fantasy
? pages, ISBN: ?
Review scribbled down on the 25th of August 2002
I rate this book 6/10: **********

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In this fantasynovel, you will follow Ryel Mirai, the Lord of Markul, from his youth until he is a fully trained Wysard. Already as a child, his mother and father know that their son will not live a normal life. His fathers twinbrother whom is a Wyzard, arrives late one evening and even though Ryel does not want to follow in his path, years later he leaves his home to visit his uncle and learn the knowledge of Wysards. His whole youth his spent in the castle Markul where wysards devote themselves to the Art of Sorcery. Ryel proves to have a special talent, although he surely is a bit lazy with his studies. Due several strange events, it is apparent that dark forces are working, and several of the Wysards has died horrible deaths when they least expected it.
When Ryel finds out that his mother is severly ill, and that only Ryel with his magic powers can save her, he leaves the Wysards to heal his mother. On his travel back home he realizes that saving his mother is not the only quest he is out to solve, the dark forces are more powerful than ever, and he is the only one that can do something about it.
This is Carolyn Kepharts first novel, published in 1999. Carolyn Kephart studied English literature at Penn State University, with focus on the literature through the Medieval, Renaissance and Restoration periods. This book is remarkably thin for being a fantasy novel; you are normally used to these thick never ending books with > 700 pages. With 187 pages you ceratainly wonder what is left out.
Well, what is not in this novel is the large elaborated background information, with it's good and bad; you do not have to learn every little detail of all events, but I also gets the impression sometimes that things are happen a bit too fast with proper explanation. The book is the first of two books, the story is completed in the second book "Lord Brother". I find the book a bit is a bit too much on the soft side; a bit too much talk about love etc in it, I prefer more action in a fantasy novel. Nevertheless; You will find the story interesting and with an original take that the hero is a trained wysard rather than someone that suddenly finds that he has special powers, and you want to find out how Ryels adventures will end.