The Mercinary Code

I wanted to break my recent sci-fi binge with some solid fantasy. Nothing too quirky, just some old school, bread and butter action adventure with swords, heroes, and bloodshed. The Mercenary Code did not disappoint.

So here we have three main storylines occurring simultaneously within broadly the same land, primarily following one character each with a nice smattering of other perspectives to give a broader view to each series of events. They are, loosely, as follows. A lad with a withered arm from a town of burly woodsmen who has overcome his lack of physical prowess by sharpening his mind to a relatively keen edge. A tormented solider in a ‘Night’s Watch’ style army of outcasts and runaways charged with keeping the goblins from raiding from the mountains. And finally, a mercenary captain at the head of his company of hand-picked bad-arses as they partake in another season of the perpetual series of wars that have held sway over their homeland for the past two centuries. All in all, a solid start. Exactly the sort of story I had a hankering for. The story itself looks like we’re going to be following a good old ‘Chosen One’ story arc, though we aren’t entirely sure who said Chosen One will be just yet. We think we know, and it could well turn out to be said person, but it also might not. And speaking for those of us who absolutely love a Chosen One story, I liked this aspect. So, that’s the stage set, so what about the content?

The writing style is good. The language can drag out a little on occasion with overly long exposition dumps, but overall you’re never left wondering what’s going on or, more importantly, who out of the many changing perspective you are currently hearing from. Sure, the perspectives aren’t super distinctive, but Moss always ensures that you know exactly from whose eyes you are currently staring through.

The universe that Moss has created is based around a kingdom whose king was assassinated two centuries prior, resulting in the kingdom shattering (hence the series name) into a series a warring city states that are constantly vying for power, with no city allowed to have more than a token standing army. As such, most of the fighting is done by companies of mercenaries, who rules and customs are dictated by the titular mercenary code; rules on conduct, company sizes, and just about every other aspect of running a perpetual state of war like civilised folk that you could think of. There are also other races within the world. As mentioned, goblins make a good showing. I’m personally a big fan of goblins, so this I like. There’s also dwarves, though we only meet one or two in Book 1 and we don’t really learn much about their culture and such. There are some elvish types who aren’t called elves, which is good for anyone who is aware of my unabating loathing of elves. I’m usually not too keen on the rehashing to existing races when writers are given the opportunity to create something all their own, however it isn’t so much of an issue here as the other races are very much in the background for the most part, with the story primarily concentrating on the troubles of humanity.

Now so far I’ve been pretty positive about the book, and don’t get me wrong, I did like it, but I do have a list of aspects which I wasn’t so hot for. Firstly, the book just ends. I hadn’t looked at my iPod in a long time when the book decided to finish, and I had no idea that the end was coming. I thought it was just the end of another chapter, then suddenly… Epilogue. I mean, I immediately went out and bought the second book, so mission accomplished I guess, but gods below, a little more closure would have been great. Second issue, the three stories never actually meet up. Again, I was sure that they were going to before too long and then the book just ended, but I was eagerly awaiting at least a little crossover between our three stories, and then I got nothing. Boooo. Next, there are no female perspectives, or at least none that I can remember. There are a lot of character perspectives in this book and there are times when woman are about, but never was there a female perspective. I know I’m the first person to wop out the criticism stick for forcing diversity or representation or whatever into a book when it doesn’t need to be there, but even this was a little too much for me. Women do exist in this world, so when you’re giving out voices so freely, you’d think that the fairer sex would qualify for at least a little appreciation. Next, there’s a lot of plot amour in this book, or rather, our heroes consistently getting saved out of absolutely nowhere. It kind of lowers the stakes when you know that every high intensity moment is going to end with someone swooping in at the last minute time and time again. Finally, and it’s only a pet peeve of mine that some people love, but there are a lot of songs in this book, and if they aren’t being sung, they kind of just turn out a little lame.

All in all, I liked the book, but it could have been so much more, constantly tickling at greatness but never quite reaching it. What it does have in spades, and what made me immediately go out and buy the sequel, is potential. And potential is something I’m willing to bet upon, at least for one more book.

As for narration, I’ve come across Simon Vance a time or two, and he’s never disappointed. This is no exception. There aren’t really any performances that shine so bright as to make you reach for your sunnies, but that’s due more to the writing than the voice acting. The man delivers a fine performance.

Personal Score: 3.75 stars

Professional Score: 3.75 stars