Courtney Schafer’s Underread Treasures review series has been as advertised, and it’s given me plenty of excellent TBR fodder. That includes Lorna Freeman’s Covenants, which I bought a couple years back and had spent that time languishing in the corner of my bookshelf. But the week before the new Bingo year (yes, this review is late) is always a great time to start long books, and I was excited for the opportunity to dig into a new-to-me epic fantasy.
Covenants takes place in a world filled with all sorts of magic, from elves to elemental spirits to sentient trees, cats, and dragons. But most of that magic is relegated to the lands outside the nation at the story’s heart. Or at least it was, until a young soldier with royal lineage is tasked to escort a feline ambassador to the capital to see whether they can convince the king to crack down on the murderous border banditry and avert a war between magical and mundane.
While it came out in the 2000s, Covenants absolutely scratches the itch for those nostalgic for the chunky epics of the 80s and 90s. Though it’s not especially long on prophecy, the lead has all the hallmarks of a chosen one. There’s also a mage who knows a lot more than he’s letting on, a wise military leader with his own noble lineage, royal families plagued with underhanded relatives, a corrupt clergyman, and a couple soldiers who seem to exist only to antagonize the heroes. Not to mention fantasy swears that aren’t half as seamless as they want to be. There’s nary a hint of the gritty fantasy boom that would come soon after, but if you’re looking for classic tropes, Covenants has them in spades.
Calling something tropey is usually an insult, and there are moments when the critique fits here. I mentioned the fantasy swears already—and you could add the overuse of the epithet “silly ass smile” or the sheer number of times someone stomps on the lead’s foot to shut him up—and leaning so far into the character archetypes also makes it pretty easy to guess where the inevitable betrayals will arise. But on the whole, the tropiness doesn’t come off as stale so much as it reminds the reader why those tropes exist in the first place. Because Covenants is a remarkably entertaining read. There may be bad eggs in the military, but the wise mentors and camaraderie in the ranks make it easy to invest in the success of a generally likable group. And the lead’s connection to so many different groups—the human aristocracy, the mages, the elves, the dragons, the trees—imbues them all with a degree of sympathy and drives the narrative toward peacemaking as opposed to conquest.
It’s a long book, but it doesn’t feel quite so long during the read. The seeds of conflict are sown early, and the uncomfortable partnership between human and magical give the initial journey depth beyond the traditional fantasy travelogue. What feels like the main thrust of the plot isn’t played too slowly, coming into full swing by the midway climax and opening up for something even bigger in the back half. The book does open a trilogy, but in true epic fashion, it leaves the reader on a sufficiently satisfying note that one could easily read the first book without committing to the other three.
Covenants isn’t a book that’s going to convince the undecided that epic fantasy is a new favorite subgenre. There are a few intrusive tics and thoroughly telegraphed plot points. But for those with existing affection for the subgenre, it’s a blast of a read liable to remind them why they found epic fantasy to be so much fun in the first place. It’s full of magic, cultural clashes, likable characters, and the rest of the ingredients for an entertaining tale that reads easily and delivers emotionally.
Recommended if you like: classic fantasy.
Can I use it for Bingo? It’s a Cat Squasher with a One-Word Title, including plenty of Politics or Court Intrigue and a bit of Feasting Your Eyes.
Overall rating: 16 of Tar Vol’s 20. Four stars on Goodreads.