The Sacred Band

Starred review from August 1, 2011
This triumphant conclusion to the Acacia trilogy vindicates Durham's resurrection of a major character in 2009's The Other Lands. Corinn Akaran, queen of Acacia, used her ever-growing magical powers to revive her brother Aliver to aid her defense of her kingdom. But there are no simple resolutions to the challenges facing Corinn and her siblings, and the gap widens between the means she employs and the ends she pursues. Durham provides a graphic and chilling look at how far Corinn is willing to go to advance her cause as she brutally massacres opposing armies, and that's just the beginning. A smooth plot, Corinn's well-developed character, and Durham's stellar prose and rich imagination will have many traditional fantasy fans hoping for future books set in this turbulent world.

October 1, 2011
Durham (Gabriel's Story, 2002, etc.) brings his sci-fi Acacia Trilogy to a satisfying close. Samuel R. Delany meets Cormac McCarthy meets J.R.R. Tolkien as the striking and subtly powerful Corinn Akaran settles into queenship over the Known World just in time to take up arms with the Other Lands. "We're at war," she says, matter-of-factly. And war it is, with supposed allies turning tail and threats of invasion putting a decided downward cast on the scene. Corinn is a tough cookie, but she nurtures an abiding hope that her son, Aaden, will prove himself as "the greatest Akaran monarch yet." Naturally, opportunities abound for him to show his stuff. Meanwhile, Corinn's brother Aliver is on hand to help, having miraculously come back to life after having been killed in the second installment. ("You were dead before," says Aaden. "Exactly," replies Aliver. "I like you better alive," responds Aaden, having thought the matter over.) Durham is a master of the swords-and-sorcery genre, with the bonus that this is swords-and-sorcery with spaceships that give the Millennium Falcon a run for the money; the trilogy, this volume included, tends to be talky, but it's the right kind of talky, without wasted words. He also takes time to paint scenes in words that other writers might brush away, as with this description of a book-filled library: "Tall windows cast elongated rectangles of red-gold sunrise light, but the room's candles still burned, thick ones that jutted through the tables like tree trunks and burned with flames the size of spearheads." That's a world worth fighting for, and Durham's pages are full of thrilling action that would do Tolkien proud. A close, yes--but with wiggle room for more Acacian adventures. At any rate, on the strength of this installment, Durham's many fans will be clamoring for more.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 15, 2011

Having discovered the magic contained in the long-lost Book of Elenet, Corinn, now Queen of the Known World, unwisely demonstrates her godlike powers. Her brother Dariel, sent on a dangerous mission to the Other Lands, contends with a number of exotic tribes who could either pose a threat or become an asset to the Known World. Corinn's sister Mena and her sentient flying companion, Elya, travel to the northern lands to confront the dangerous Auldek, whose alliance with slavers provides them with the source of their apparent immortality. The conclusion of Durham's trilogy (The War with the Mein; The Other Lands) ties the threads of these separate stories unto a satisfying climactic world-changing battle. VERDICT Strong writing, intriguing characters, and a richly detailed background--along with the possibility for future development of Durham's scenario--make this fantasy epic a winner for those who enjoy large-scale fantasy along the lines of George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2011
Durham's sprawling epic fantasy trilogy comes to an end with this final volume, which follows The Other Lands (2009). The Acacians are preparing for war with their enemies, the fierce Auldek, and Queen Corinn Akaran has mastered a powerful weapon: The Song of Elenet. Not only does the Song allow her to lay waste to her enemies on the battlefield, but it also gives her the ability to resurrect her older brother, Aliverand control him. Her sister, Mena, is scouting ahead in preparation for the coming war, while their younger brother, Dariel, remains separated from his siblings and his lover. As she prepares for Aliver's coronation so that he can rule with her, Corinn is blindsided by the return of the exiled Santoth, a band of sorcerers who put a deadly curse upon her in order to harness the power of the Song. Readers who began the Acacia trilogy with the first book, when the Akaran siblings' father was overthrown by a warlord, will find themselves immersed in this absorbing, far-reaching conclusion and the many story lines it wraps up.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)