The Book of Years is a four-volume series of fantasy novels by Peter Morwood. The story chronicles the events in the life of Aldric Talvalin, High Clan Lord.
The Horse Lord introduces the Alban culture, which is a mixture of Western and Eastern chivalric medieval cultures. Although the general flavor is of Western European style and design, many of the cultural elements, particularly the emphasis on honor and duty are taken from Eastern (particularly Japanese) influences. Aldric's family and clan are eliminated through treachery. He is the lone survivor. He is rescued by a passing wizard, who nurses Aldric back to health, adopts him as his foster son, and provides him with the skills and tools necessary to achieve vengeance against his enemies and reclaim his homeland.
The Demon Lord sends Aldric into a province of the Drusalan Empire on a mission for his king. The Albans want to stir up internal turmoil within the Empire so that the Empire will not turn their eyes on Alba. Aldric's mission leads him to a remote Overlord with an offer of weapons and other assistance to stir up rebellion. However, during his mission he becomes entangled in more malevolent internal plots that lead to patricide, sorcerous murder, and the raising of a demon that wreaks havoc in the local citadel.
In The Dragon Lord Aldric continues on his mission to infiltrate the Drusalan Empire. This time he's recruited by the Drusalan secret police to rescue a princess from a castle as a gambit against the Drusalan Emperor's enemy, the Grand Warlord.
The Warlord's Domain (also known as The War Lord) deals with the aftermath of Aldric's adventures in the previous novel. After rescuing the Emperor's sister, he is granted free rein in the Empire. However, one of his enemies is very much alive. Voord has risen from a lowly soldier to become the new Grand Warlord, with all of the power and prestige that this position entails. He is determined to use his power to exact revenge on a certain troublesome Alban that has foiled all of his previous schemes.
Morwood also wrote two-volume prequel series: The Clan Wars. This series chronicles the rise of Clan Talvalin through the viewpoint of one Aldric's ancestors: Bayrd Talvalin (who is somewhat of an Expy in many respects.
The Book of Years provides examples of:
- Cool Sword: Isileth Widowmaker. She's made of Thunderbolt Iron, over 2000 years old, has a wickedly sharp edge, and tends to simply exude lethality whenever she is drawn.Forged was I of iron Heaven-born. Uelan made me. I am Isileth.
- The Dreaded: Both Aldric and his mortal enemy Voord both fit this trope, depending on which side of the good/evil divide one falls. Aldric's enemies grow to become terrified of what he will do to them once he catches them. He commands a dragon to burn down an entire fortress simply because he needed a funeral pyre for his friend that died inside. Voord, on the other hand, uses his fearsome reputation as a member of the Drusalan Secret Police to instill terror in his enemies. It doesn't work on Aldric.
- The Empire: The Drusalan Empire is a classic example. It's divided into numerous provinces (Drusul, Tergoves, Vlech, etc.). Much of the conflict revolves around internal strife between the Emperor, who rules from a political perspective, and his chief rival, the Grand Warlord. The Grand Warlord is much more interested in expansion and conquest.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Perhaps fantasy mix-and-match culture would be more appropriate.
- The Alban kailin are essentially westernized samurai, with the katana and wakizashi being substituted for an european-style longsword and a caucasian-style short sword, as well as a ritualized form of suicide, though the method differs (stabbing one's own heart with a special dagger instead of slicing open the stomach). At the same time, the story of the horse lords coming over the sea is reminescent of the Saxon and Norman invasions of Britain, with the names of the island's various provinces even being similar to the main British kingdoms.
- The Drusalan Empire is a mix of various ancient and more modern imperialist powers. The Imperial colour being red and the use of cataphracts as heavy cavalry evoke the Roman empire, but the Warlord's colour being black as well as the fact that they have a secret police whose symbol are the twin thunderbolts make a direct parallel to the Third Reich. The political situation wherein the emperor is simply a figurehead and the warlord holds all real power is, however, lifted directly from historical feudal Japan.
- The plateau of Jevaiden from The Demon Lord is named after the French plateau of Gévaudan
, and has problems with a similar beast.
- Fate Worse than Death: Sedna's father condemns Voord to this in War Lord by casting a spell that bars him from death. This causes all the wounds he had received that were healed by his Healing Factor to re-open without killing him, leaving him in constant agony.
- Honor Before Reason: The Albans' hat. Their culture is obsessed with honor. Aldric is considered extreme even by their standards. However, this generally works towards his favor as his more casual enemies who are familiar with Alban culture tend to steer clear of pissing him off. His mortal enemies on the other hand...
- Klingon Promotion: Voord's stock in trade. As a member of the Drusalan Secret Police, this is almost expected, but Voord's approach is excessive even for them. Ultimately, he murders his way up to becoming the Grand Warlord of the Drusalan Empire.
- Manipulative Bastard: Voord Ebanesj.
- In The Horse Lord he's behind Duergar's infiltration of Dunrath Citadel, leading to the slaughter of Aldric's entire clan and family.
- In The Demon Lord Voord manipulates Sedna ar-Gethin to summon a demon lord (she was trying to summon something quite different) which leads to the downfall of the Geruath family.
- In The Dragon Lord Voord frames Aldric for the rape of a high-class courtesan and also attempts to frame Aldric for the murder of the princess that both Aldric and Voord are supposed to rescue. she lives
- In The Warlord's Domain Voord rises to the rank of Grand Warlord, captures Aldric, preys upon one of his childhood traumas, and then persuades Aldric to save Voord's soul from being devoured by a demon. Aldric's sense of honor is such that he won't even let his worst enemy suffer a Fate Worse than Death.
- Master Swordsman: Both Aldric and his foster father, Gemmel, qualify. Gemmel trained Aldric. Kalar cu Ruruc might also qualify to a lesser extent though he is ultimately defeated by Aldric in The Horse Lord.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: In Dragon Lord, Aldric suspects that Kathur's name, which just means "vixen" in Drusalan, is just a nickname given to her for her auburn hair.
- Really 700 Years Old: Gemmel is a wizard who has lived for centuries. It's never stated exactly how old he is, though, but certainly a long, long time.
- Revenge: Aldric's reason for staying alive in The Horse Lord rather than committing ritual suicide as his honor demands."En mollath venjens warnan," he said harshly. "The curse of vengeance be upon thee, Duergar Vathach my enemy. Thy life will pay the weregild for my father. On my blood I swear it."
- Squishy Wizard: Averted pretty hard. It's explicitly stated more than once that High Magic (the most powerful form) requires tremendous physical strength and stamina. It's possible to circumvent this limitation with demonic assistance, but demons always demand a price.
