The Griffin or the Agate

Mitchell Smith is a tricky writer. His prose lopes along at an easy gait and he has a deft, natural touch with dialogue, so much so the reader might be lulled into thinking there's not much going on in Kingdom River, his latest release.
     The reader would be wrong. There's a great deal happening beneath the surface. Set a generation after Snowfall, the first book in the post-apocalyptic trilogy, Kingdom River focuses on the new powers-that-be in the climatically-altered North American continent. The Khanate, fronted by an enormous army, has travelled from what used to be Russia over the ice and down the Pacific coast to threaten the country of North-Map Mexico and their leader, Sam Monroe. Sam had been only an infant in Snowfall but now finds himself in a bind. Despite an amazing string of military successes he has the Khanate on one side and the Vast Middle Kingdom on the other, ruled over by Queen Joan, who knew him when he was in swaddling clothes. Adding to his stress is the arrival of an 'ambassador' from Boston-in-the-Ice, a precocious young girl with abilities that cause both astonishment and concern.
     With little other choice Sam and a few trusted companions head off to the Middle Kingdoms with hopes of forging an alliance while his army sets to the unenviable task of harrying the much large Khanate forces. The future of a world that has vague memories of what used to be but no way to bring those days back again rests on something as simple as a possible arranged marriage and a reluctant princess - reluctant in more ways than one.
     Smith hits all the right notes in this quirky, engaging book. The courtship between Sam and the princess Rachel is a tad clumsy but kept brief - perhaps by a wise editor? In any case Kingdom River does not suffer from the usual middle book malaise and is an interest work in and of itself. It's not necessary to read the offbeat Snowfall in order to read this release, but it's not such a bad idea either, know what I mean? Of course you do.   §

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