Of Swords and Parasols

 Fire and Sword is the second book in Brown's Keys of Power trilogy.  Like most fantasy trilogies, the middle book is largely maneuvering the characters into place for the main action of of the last books: start the war, forge alliances, establish any relationships that still need establishing, etc.  As a result, though still very solid and a good follow-up to Inheritace, though there was no blowing away.  There was still some punching in the gut, though.


However, one downside:  DID NO ONE EDIT THIS FREAKING THING???  There are all sorts of agreement and pronoun and grammatical errors throughoutthe book, which is a problem the first one didn't have.  Though the most major problem was a slip that changes Berayama's parentage, which has a fairly major plotpoint in Inheritance.
 

 In the kingdom of Kendra(this universe likes to gives its countries people-names)  Queen Usharna is dying.  A powerful monarch, Usharna has 4 children from 3 husbands.  Berayma, the crown prince, is kind, generous, a good leader and as smart a pile of bricks.  His father is never really mentioned.  Probably because poor Berayma is rather disposable.  Next in line is Areava, proud, aristocratic and too aware of duty and obligation for her own good.  The only affection she ever allows herself to show is towards her younger brother, Olio, a very sweet and kind prince whose unfortunate stammer sometimes leads people to think he's slow.  Their father, unfortunately, was executed as a traitor.  The youngest son, Lynan, pretty much makes Berayma look smart(though, as he's the hero, we assume he gets better) and is even more aware of his mixed heritage than anyone else is, spending all his time trying to find people who knew his father.  His father was Elynd Chisal, was a commoner and a slave who became Kendra's greatest general and helped Usharna win wars and eliminate slavery.  Was lucky enough to become the love of her life and the king in the process. (Can you say "If you ask nice, I'll publish the prequel one day"?  Yes, yes you can.)