A review by nick_borrelli
The Grand Design by John Marco

5.0

This review is for the entire Tyrants and Kings series (The Jackal of Nar, The Grand Design and The Saints of the Sword). I stumbled upon these books when I was working at Borders about 15 years ago. Back then I wasn't as serious as I am now about the content of what I read, so I admit that I picked up the Jackal of Nar because it had a really cool cover. After reading it I was blown away by how good it was. At the time I was just getting into fantasy, but I had read enough to know that I wanted to keep reading. Anyway, fast forward 15 years later and I decided to reread this series with a more discerning reading palate to see if it still holds up to what I remember all those years ago. And guess what.....it does! One of the things that makes this series so good and makes it work where other fantasy books fail is that the characters evolve and change so much over the course of the series. Just when you think you have a character figured out, they do something totally out of left field that you didn't see coming. Richius Vantran is one of the most unlikely of "heroes" as a protagonist. Constantly examining himself and his decisions, there is a vulnerability there that is easy to relate to. The setting of the story is also one that I was instantly attracted to. The almost steampunk-like city of Nar is such a compelling locale to be placed in the center of a fantasy story. That's another reason why I like this series so much, Marco throws out all of the usual conventional fantasy templates. There are no endless quests here - only excellent political intrigues and a fantastic story that will keep you turning the pages until your wife yells at you to come to bed. If you haven't read John Marco before, that is your loss. The good news is that you can redeem yourself by picking up the Jackal of Nar, start there, and continue to read everything he has published since then. The guy should have way more notoriety than he has. Hopefully that will change as he continues to put out amazing books.