Deepwood Fen has a tangled mess of a plot that feels very unapproachable to explain, but I promise is smooth sailing when you get into it. At a high level, the story is about a vassal state to an oppressive Empire that is bucking at the shackles. The vassal in question is the city-state of Ancris (located in the Deepwood Fen, a massive forest). Populated by the nature-loving Kin, Ancris is a rich location with many factions that have strong opinions on their Imperial overlords. The Red Knives in particular are absolutely not having it and have planned a violent revolution via raising and controlling an undead god. Understandable, some of the other powers in Ancris are not super cool with the Knives controlling an unstoppable immortal minion, despite also not loving the Empire, so there is a whole lot of friction going on. We follow a member of the Red Knives, a priest of a different religious faction, an investigator of the Empire, and an independent dragon singer as they all poke and prod a dangerously explosive situation until things begin to catalyze.
As always, Beaulieu is a master of making a location feel alive and a character in its own right. Ancris has a tangible rich history and identity that feels inspired by the Sherwood forest – a location filled with rakes, rogues, and enterprising individuals. One of the aspects I really like about Ancris is it has this vibe of a small neighborhood scaled up to a metropolis. People know each other, or at least know of each other. Every time characters meet other characters they are either distantly related to them or know them through acquaintances or reputation. It gives Ancris a very unique and memorable feel, even before you begin taking in its fascinating ecology, traditions, and structure.
The world itself is also brimming with mystery and magic. The centerpieces, as alluded to by the book title, are the dragons. Giant mounts that people of the world bond with, these reptiles come in a myriad of colors with different powers and they have dispositions that feel like the cross of a horse and a dog. The Empire exclusively bonds with metallics (golds, silvers, bronze, etc.) and has banned the bonding of chromatics (green, red, blue, etc.) which are native to the Deepwood. The Kin have a culture of bonding with chromatics and are understandably pissed. In Dungeons and Dragons fashion, each dragon has characteristics to their breed – primarily a unique breath weapon. The dragons are so much fun and I want one immediately. While they do get a ton of page time, I can’t help wishing that they were given an even larger piece of the pie. Beaulieu understandably wanted to spend the majority of his time on this intricate political knot he created, but unfortunately, he made super cute giant dogs that I want to roll around on the floor with so he kinda shot himself in the foot with his own success.
I am a bit uneven in my affection for the characters of the story, but the range goes from beloved to enjoy a lot. I would argue that Rylan the dragonsinger and Lorelei the inquisitor are the most central characters and I adore them. Rylan is a proxy for Ancris and Lorelei the Empire at a high level, and they both do a good job characterizing the good and bad (mostly bad in Lorelei’s case) of both forces. The other characters are all interesting, but they often serve more as vignettes that progress the rest of the central story. There is a child with special magical powers among the Red Knives, and while she is quite nice she feels fairly empty outside her ability to move the story along.
The story of the book is very enjoyable and kept me fully engaged the entire time I was reading the book. All the characters saw nice progression, and the ending of the first book left me excited to read the forthcoming second. But, I do think the narrative suffers a little from too much focus on elements that are weaker in the scheme of things. As mentioned earlier, the world/dragons/city are the real gems in this book. We spend so much time on the political machinations and mystery of what the bad guys are doing that it can start to feel a little overbearing and I began to pine for more time in the dragon pens learning cool facts about these incredible mounts. I don’t think this is a huge criticism, but I do think I could have enjoyed the book a little more had our time been partitioned slightly differently.
The Dragons of Deepwood Fen is an explosive new entry from Beaulieu that builds the foundation for a story that will undoubtedly reach the same heights as his Sharakhai series. The dragons of this world are exciting, and the culture of Ancris sucks you in and makes the pages of the book come alive. If you are looking for a new book to start the year off right look no further.
Rating: The Dragons of Deepwood Fen – 8.5/10
-Andrew
An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.