The Soldier Son Trilogy

Shaman's Crossing:

This book describes the start of Nevarre Burvelle's career as the soldier son of his family. In a land named Gernia that is sometimes reminiscent of the midwest, the story revolves around Nevarre's childhood and his stint at the Cavalla Academy.

The character of Nevarre is built very well, as are the supporting characters of this tale. This book lays the foundations of Nevarre's future as a plague strikes the academy and he sets out on a journey.

Forest Mage:

Continues the tale of Nevarre as he leaves the academy and starts for home. He has recovered from the plague, but this recovery is not all what it seems to be. This book is more long winded than the first, but is very strong in world-building. Nevarre seems to lose some of his personality and is a rather stagnant character in this part of the trilogy.

Renegade's Magic:

In short: a disappointing ending to the series. Nevarre seems to lose whatever little character he still possesses and the storyline becomes very unclear and mystifying towards the end of the book. Everything ends satisfactorily of course, but this book tore down whatever was built up in the first two books of the trilogy. I much recommend the Assasin Trilogy or the Tawny Man series (both by the same author) to this one.

There is a somewhat 'go green' theme to this trilogy, which seems to be the one redeeming factor which I can see. And to think that I couldn't wait for the US publication of the final book and purchased it from UK!!