# The Amber Citadel - Freda Warrington



## Mark Robson

If you like your fantasy stories to be far reaching, complex and with well drawn characters who are often driven by lustful urges rather than by honour, or some other high calling, then you could do far worse than to check out The Jewelfire Trilogy by Freda Warrington. Acclaimed as one of the most accomplised writers of fantasy in the UK, Freda lives up to her reputation with the first in this trilogy, _The Amber Citadel_. 

Tanthe and Ysomir are sisters living in the village of Riverwynde, two thousand miles from the capital city of Parione. Ysomir is deeply in love with Lynden, the son of the village leader, but Tanthe has bigger dreams. Her love is of literature, and the dream of a more civilised life - life in the big city. The entire continent has been at peace for over two hundred years, but, not surprisingly for an epic fantasy, evil is stirring deep within its heart.

Freda's world does not sport elves and dwarves, though there are races that you might equate to them. The Aelyr with their elusive power and their mystical beauty feel very much like an elven race, whilst the subterranean race of beings called the Zampherai might remind one of dwarves (even if their appearance is not at all similar to the Tolkienesque image). The race through whom evil manifests itself are called the Bhadradomen, a mouthful by any standards, though for the most part I did not find the names in this book too taxing on the mind. 

The majority of _The Amber Citadel_ follows a quest by Tanthe, Lyndon and Lynden's brother, Rufryd, who seek to recover Ysomir from the clutches of the King's conscripting forces. The King, long known to be wise and good, has been deceived by the forces of evil and undertakes a great project to build a tower of epic proportions. In doing so, however, he is raping the earth of it's resources, and upsetting the delicate balance between man and his surroundings held in place for centuries by something called the Xauroma. It is for this building project that Ysomir has been conscripted.

Despite the complexity of the setting, I found Freda's style easy to read and compelling. I was a little taken aback by some of the language used by the lead characters at times, as I felt some of it would not have been out of place in a gritty New York crime film, rather than an epic fantasy. However, even this seemed to mark Freda out as different from your 'run of the mill' fantasy writer. The story does not pull away from sex scenes, but plows right on regardless, giving the reader the opportunity to experience even the basest of the lead protagonists' emotions. Often it is these liasons, and the characters' responses to the actions of others through these encounters, that give the protagonists a feel of reality not often seen in works of epic fantasy.

I enjoyed this first book of the Jewelfire Trilogy very much. I shall certainly be reading the other two in the very near future.


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