RuneScape: Betrayal at Falador by T.S. Church, from Titan Books, is the first novel set in the kingdom of Asgarnia and the RUnescape world. It can both serve as an introduction to the game if you’ve never played and as a supplement if you’re an avid Runescape player.
Before I give you my thoughts I’ll give you some other information.
Runescape Betrayal at Falador Synopsis
In the kingdom of Asgarnia, though the Knights of Falador defend the land and protect the people, they face threats that clamor from all sides and from within. Enemies mass at the borders, and a killer stalks the night, killing innocents and slipping away unseen.
When a young woman appears in the teeth of the storm, her sudden arrival launches a chain of events that endangers the very fabric of magic. And unless the knights can solve the riddle of Kara-Meir, everything they hold close may be lost. Their one hope may lie in the hands, not of a knight, but of an untested squire named Theodore.
Writing Style
The thing that struck me quite often during my reading was the style of writing by the author and how it seemed, inconsistent throughout the book. A sentence like "...from whence it plummeted..." would be juxtaposed on the same page with a phrase like "...he hollered..." It just seemed extremely uneven in style from time to time and that would often pull me straight out of the story and force focus on the wording and the writing.
As a writer myself, I strive to make the actual writing semi-transparent so that the readers can focus on the words and not worry about how I am giving them the information. That generally means trying to make the style as consistent as possible throughout an entire story, article or book. This isn’t a really major flaw in the book, just something that I noted rather more often than I would have liked while reading it.
There were also some scenes regarding military strategy and battle plans that I thought questionable. Either because of the tactics employed in the battles or the way they were explained in the writing. This also gave me pause time and again and made me think I should consult an expert in some of the regards.
