Russell Kirkpatrick: Across the Face of the World

Reviewed by MARK CUBEY

Geography tutor and passionate cartographer Russell Kirkpatrick took 16 years to write his fantasy trilogy Fire of Heaven but the investment seems to have paid off, with a handsome packaging of this first volume under the Voyager trade paperback imprint and strong local sales.

Kirkpatrick's dedication to building his fantasy world of Faltha — a medieval, quasi-northern-Euro land of 16 kingdoms with quasi-Scandi names — is obvious from the introductory maps (there's also the obligatory glossary at the back). And these comprise but a fraction of the atlas he spent a whole year developing.

It's a pity that he didn't pack more into the story. It's a rambling, linear, 500-page read with all the key fantasy elements — heroic band of adventurers, implacable ancient evil, long journey, epic landscapes, etc — but I didn't find enough creative spark to ignite my imagination or slake my thirst for gruesome chills and complex plot swerves.

That said, the wintry world that the characters inhabit is well evoked, and there's enough untold mystery among the collection of heroes to hold the interest of less demanding readers through the sequels (book two, In The Earth Abides the Flame, drops in August, and the final part, The Right Hand of God, next February).

Owners of PalmPilots and other hand-held devices can access e-book versions in Palm, Adobe, or Microsoft formats, though I would have expected links to these and some preview chapters from the sequels on Kirkpatrick's website. It does provide useful biographical information and many more detailed maps.

* Harper Collins, $31.99

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