This has got be one of the heaviest Fantasy novels I've read in years. It's the first book of three, but I do have the impression that certain holes are filled at the end of each book. At least, that's what I gather from reading the blurb of book 2, [book:Les Larmes du Désert|19229448]. But you must read the books in order, without a doubt.

But first, a little history: It all started in the spring of 2015, when I had (finally?) discovered the French SFF market. And the bi-annual event Trolls & Légendes in Mons, Belgium. This was the perfect place for me to explore said market. There I met Feldrik Rivat, who told me about his first books, the trilogy Les Kerns de l'Oubli. The setup sounded interesting to me and I bought the books.

Two years later, I finally found the time right to start reading them. In a very positive mood, I travelled to Almenarc’h. And discovered that many characters were involved in what was going on. The kingdom was under attack. King Alkar has an advisor, a dark priest of an enemy kingdom, Saham. This reminded me a little of Wormtongue in Lord of the Rings (I still have to read these books, though). And so Alkar relies heavily upon Cataxak, the dark priest, who has more power than Alkar imagines.

As written, there are many POV's, which results in each chapter revolving around a different character: Next to the aforementioned two, there's:
* Roch, the city's chief guardian
* Erkan, Roch's and Siham's son, who's sent into exile (hence the title of the book) since he formed a threat to Alkar's throne (internal competition or something like that). But everyone who's exiled is also drugged (hence Oubli, from the verb oublier = to forget) and he/she doesn't remember any more who he/she was
* Awana, goddess, mistress of Erkan, ... Towards the end of the story, she will have a baby from Erkan (this is important to lift the curse on Erkan); she also guides Erkan back to the civilised world, but can't provide him with full details, as this could cause him to fail and thus end in serious disaster
* Siham, Roch's wife and "storyteller" in the book (Cataxak will later blind her for conspiring against the king)
* Milena, Alkar's wife, queen, mistress of Roch, ...
* Telleran, an old/veteran Sage-Warrior, of whom Erkan and Pelmer are/were his disciples
* Ulnhor, former king, under whose rule the Big War was fought
* many more, including a truckload of secondary characters

When king Alkar has a divine moment - yes, it's not just a kingdom under threat, there are also gods involved -, he interprets the words so that he can (finally) rule over everyone and be the sole ruler. For that, he decides to take drastic measures to protect the kingdom. This passage reminded me of the Kingpriest Trilogy in the Dragonlance series. Here too, the kingpriest wants to save the world (i.e. bring good to the world and eradicate evil), but does not realise that in doing so, he will disrupt the balance (yin-yang, if you will) and the world will not be better off; on the contrary, even. In fact, in this position, he considered himself more important, mightier than the gods, which lead to the (first) Cataclysm.

There's, obviously, also magic involved: out-of-body experiences, mainly to travel faster to distant locations, or take possession of someone else's spirit, or ride along and see the world through the eyes of others.

But again, the kingdom is under attack, and not everyone likes Alkar or his way of ruling. They also find his place on the throne illegal (in the light of Erkan's situation) and thus conspire to kick him (together with his dark advisor, Cataxak, who also acts out of self-interest) out. For that, however, a lot of planning must be done, and many obstacles conquered, in various circumstances and locations.

(BIG spoiler) In the end, all will be clarified, as the curse is lifted, that certain characters are members of an age-old lineage and are thus family members, although not everyone is aware of this. But when this news is communicated... mouths fall open and the world doesn't look the same any more.

At the back of the book, there's a character guide, a guide/glossary explaining typical aspects and places of the world (Kerns), and a list of a dozen used terms (lexicon) that appear as the story progresses. These appendices are very much needed and worthwhile. More authors, who write stories with multiple characters and POV's should add such a list to their books. [author:Guy Gavriel Kay|60177], for example, also does this.

Interesting detail on page 231: Al Charmak = l'homme sans nom. Now we know how the publisher got its name. Or was it the other way around? (Feldrik having used the name of the publisher for his story)

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Conclusion: The story itself or the idea behind it (kingdom under attack and so on) is not spectacular or new, of course. But it doesn't mean it's not interesting, entertaining, ... On the contrary. I quite liked the setup, what the story was about, the different POV's, and so on.

My main problem was the language. I've read several French novels so far, each of course containing words or expressions I don't/didn't know, and which I could easily look up in a dictionary, but said words also didn't really stop me from reading on and understanding the story.

Feldrik Rivat used old/archaic French (in itself, nothing wrong with that), with an adapted style (especially for the characters Telleran and Cataxak, for example), which formed a serious break on my reading and understanding. I kind of felt like this horse (click here). Proof of that: At some point I was halfway (page 200) and had to start all over, since I had forgotten what I had read and couldn't even explain the big lines.

Should I be angry at myself for not understanding the language enough? Should I be angry at the author for having, in my humble opinion, overdone it with the style and heavy wording? I understand that language is an important aspect in books, especially if the story covers many centuries, but one must not expect from one's readers to have an expert knowledge of linguistics, by manner of speaking. So, very important advice: When reading this book, and French is not your native language or you don't master the language sufficiently enough, take your time, don't rush it, and be close friends with the (online and/or offline) dictionaries.

I'll have to read [book:Les Larmes du Désert|19229448] (book 2) soon enough, in order to not forget what happened previously, but for the time being, something English or Dutch, please. ;-) ( )