The First Binding

At 10% of the way through: Before having looked at other reviews, I was a bit ummmm…. perhaps a little over-inspired by Rothfuss (which I read back when it came out and can hardly remember). The main character’s overblown prose is somewhat irritating, but still not sure how much that’s deliberate as opposed to the writer’s style - it’s clever if the former. Only just getting going with the ‘back story’, so next need to see how that works in. It’s a long book… lots to go! When finished: Much better after the back story starts; still weakest when it strays into fan fiction - we have several more scenes that even I spot as Rothfuss rewrites. Overwrought prose will pull you out of the story at times, but we do have a remarkable world, strong characters and some wicked twists as baddies are revealed. I quite like its slow-burner pacing, and excellent portrayal of the value vs costs of things. Cliffhanger ending. I’ll read the next one. Thank you to @kithrup@wandering.shop for giving this away.

A weary, mysterious narrator is encouraged to tell his life story. His story starts in abject poverty, and, against all the odds, the narrator learns all sorts of powerful magics and skills. In the framing device, the narrator's notoriety is hinted at, but that's all in the future of the bulk of the story. If that sounds a lot like another rather more famous recent SFF hit... Yeah. Look, it's Name of the Wind, but with some smallish hints of a sort of Hindu-inspired mythology, and the magic school is a monastery rather than a university.

The writing is sometimes awkward, but it's awkward because RR Virdi is trying to affect a certain style. It doesn't always work, but I kind of have a grudging respect for the ambition. Virdi has a weird liking for awkward zeugmas such as: "The poor and well-to-do didn't wear colors like that. The stark vibrancy drew eyes, made a show of wealth, and required the latter to keep clean in a world where road dust inevitably found its way to your clothing." (kindle loc 7994) and "The kind of residence that only the wealthiest of travelers, just short of nobility and the comforts provided to those, could afford" (kindle loc 8136).

Story-wise, it's fairly predictable. About 80% of the way through I realised that this was going to be one of those books that works harder to set up the sequel than it does to give the current book any kind of satisfying conclusion. I was right.

The pacing of the book is kind of clunky. There were long stretches where I didn't feel like anything was happening. There were scenes that, I guess, were trying to build up a picture of Ari and his monastery friends that descended into cringey unnecessary banter. The jumps back to the narrator and his audience seemed oddly timed, and the whole thing just felt a bit flabby.

But, y'know, I finished the book. I liked the world building. When Virdi's prose works, it's nice enough to read. I probably won't read any sequels.

I received a copy from the publisher. My reviews are always honest.

I've been following R.R. Virdi's inspiring journey for a while now and have been eagerly awaiting this release.

I have also been in a reading slump for months, basically for most of 2022, and I was worried that I wouldn't manage to tackle this 800 page book, but the opening drew me in right away, and I rarely looked up to check Twitter on my phone. That's a rarity nowadays.

The First Binding is the first novel in a new epic fantasy series, Tales of Tremaine, infused with South Asian world-building elements, and if you've read The Name of the Wind, you will without a doubt compare the two.

The opening and pacing in general is slow. Virdi takes great care to build the characters, world, and plot without rushing, but at no point did I feel impatient. On the contrary, I enjoyed every single tangent Ari, the Storyteller, takes the reader on.

Virdi uses, much like Rothfuss, a frame narrative. At the beginning Ari arrives in an inn, just like Kvothe, and ends up telling his story. Told in first person, The First Binding jumps back and forth between the past and the present, but there isn't just a story within a story, several narratives are woven through the main plot, and I found all of them gripping.

The world-building and magic system are rich and immersive, and Virdi's prose is beautiful, even lyrical at times. Ari is a fascinating character, flawed, troubled, impulsive and can't keep his mouth shut, but he's also caring.

There is a magic school (of course) and I'm not a huge fan of that setting or the coming-of-age theme, but this is mostly a novel about stories and storytelling, and the emphasis lies more on the importance of found family, friendship and kindness.

I highly recommend The First Binding to every epic fantasy fan and am assuming that in a decade it'll be remembered as one of the cornerstones of this genre.