|
|
|
published 1997; paperback 1997, DAW
Ring of Intrigue continues the story begun in Ring of Lightning, a tale about a powerful family, the Rhomandis, who control an usual source of energy, the leythium Rings. The most recent volume in the Dance of the Rings trilogy lacks the intrigue promised in its title and once I was finished with it I couldn't remember much of what happened.
I was left, however, with a strong impression of the story's central figure, Mikhyel Rhomandi. Mikhyel is one of three Rhomandi brothers who are political heirs to the city of Rhomatum and its surrounding countryside. Mikhyel has guided the politics of his city since he turned 13, but has grown up emotionally stunted as a result of an abusive childhood. Mostly a peripheral character in Ring of Lightning, Mikhyel takes center stage in Ring of Intrigue as he travels among various cities in an attempt to keep them allied with Rhomatum.
Mikhyel doesn't have much of a grasp on simple human feelings, behaving like a medieval Mr. Spock. He allows himself to be sexually abused to keep his abuser from using his brother, and even becomes buddies with his rapist, without apparently suffering any mental or physical anguish. This practically defies belief. Later on he becomes violently enamored of a Khoratum Ringdancer, which also defies belief, because up until that point, Mikhyel has been presented as lacking the ability to enjoy sex, much less to actively desire it. I don't know that I quite buy into his personality, but at least he's interesting.
Outside of Mikhyel's emotional tangles, Ring of Intrigue is disastrously dull, beyond even what one usually expects from a middle-trilogy book. An invasion by rival forces from the city of Mauritum, which has been alluded to since the first volume in the trilogy, does not materialize. Another plotline from the first book, involving an electricity-producing machine that could put the leythium Rings out of business, is not advanced. Instead, the reader gets about 750 pages of nobles making transparent plots that couldn't fool a baby and that never pose any real threat to the main characters, a confused and confusing storyline about whiny ex-Khoratum Ringdancers who just want to dance again (gag me!), and annoying leythium creatures who magically whisk people around, divest them of their clothes, and make incomprehensible demands of them. This last might be meant to serve as comic relief, but I wasn't sure.
Other things that bothered me included an apparent lack of consistency between Ring of Lightning and Ring of Intrigue, and the way that the author dropped hints that might or might not have been foreshadowing. For example, much was made of the brothers Rhomandis' ability to link to each other telepathically in the first book, but in the second book all their girlfriends and/or wives have the talent too, apparently acquired just by hanging around with them. Many hints are dropped pointing to the idea that Nikaenor Rhomandi's wife Lidye is not on their side and might in fact be: a) possessed, b) a traitor, or c) simply a manipulating wench, but no evidence to support a theory is provided.
Overall, I can't recommend Ring of Intrigue. I'm willing to bet that readers who have read the first book and who really want to see how the story turns out could skip this book and go straight to the concluding volume, without missing anything that couldn't be picked up later from the context. And if you're set on buying and reading Ring of Intrigue, well, afterwards it could serve as a dandy doorstop, thus allowing you to get your money's worth.
Review by Sara Lipowitz
Reviewed July 2, 1997
ISBN 0-88677-719-4
 |
See other reviews of Ring of Intrigue at Amazon.com |