Take a classic David Eddings and make all the characters unlikable in a variety of ways and you get the group brought together.

I was expecting a lot more from this, as what I'd read about Grimbert painted him as THE voice in French fantasy. Well, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to be disappointed then.

It wasn't that this was bad, it was just mediocre. And I was not led to believe this was going to be mediocre. I feel kind of cheated actually. ( )

Middle-high fantasy and I have a mixed record. I prefer it to high fantasy, but I find that it sometimes falls pray to many similar cliches as high fantasy.

This one did. The occasional urge to yell "you're not Tolkein," definitely occurred. Which is a shame because the book was a lot better when Grimbert did his own thing rather than a third-rate Tolkein impersonation.

One detail I did like was the response of one male character from the Matriarchat of Kaul to another male character giving a woman orders. It was very "who do you think you are?!"

I didn't feel that the story was deliberately dragged out (although the reveal of part of the secret of the island definitely was), but it's definitely part of the 'part 1 of X' fantasy tradition.

The thing is, I want to know about what happened to the characters that hasn't been folded back into the main plot (yet). So I think its been successful in that aspect, if slightly frustrating in the plot development part.

The book starts with three questions. Precisely 1/2 of one of the questions has been answered. One other question was introduced and answered and one new question has been set, which I suspect will be part of the plot for the remaining books.

The characters do suffer from a certain genericness, especially at the beginning, but they grow into more interesting characters along the way, which I think is all that can be asked for.

I'm very tempted to hunt on Amazon.de for the next one. ( )

I picked this up because I got the second one in the series through Goodreads' First Reads program, and figured I should start at the beginning.

Apparently, Grimbert is a popular, prize-winning author in France - this is his first book to be translated into English. There are, at this time, no fewer than 13 books in this series.

'Six Heirs' is basically an introduction to the characters and the scenario. Long, long ago, a mysterious emissary invited representatives of local kingdoms to a meeting on a small island. The representatives - those that returned - never spoke of what transpired during that meeting, but they may have passed their secrets down to their descendants. A tradition has sprung up for the descendants to meet at the island every three years for what has become something like a festival and family reunion.

However, now, someone seems to have hired the sinister assassin-priests of Zuia to wipe out every 'heir.' As you might guess from the title, six of these random people get together and try to figure out what's happening to their friends and family, and why. We've got: the lovelorn village boy, Yan. The object of his affection, Leti. Her guardian, the older wise woman, Corenn. A peaceful giant, Bowbaq; a warrior: Grigan - and finally, the handsome and roguish actor, Rey.

Things unfold in a manner in concordance with the standards of the fantasy genre. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger - which makes me glad I've got the second book ready-to-read.
( )