Son of Cayn by Jason McDonald. The Cayn Trilogy Book #1
Introduction
Xandor the ranger has a mission from Marcus, the leader of the Kral’s Secret Service. Xandor must infiltrate a caravan headed out of the city of Pazard’zhik with his crew including Chert, Jasper, and Grendel. The caravan is smuggling soap. Soap? Yes, soap. Xandor’s crew must determine where and why the soap is being smuggled. The answer to those questions will task his courage and determination.
Summary
Jasper is hired as the caravan’s cook by the caravan leader, Dragahn. Dragahn drives the Chuckwagon and Jasper rides with him. The second wagon is driven by Sachin, the financier of the caravan who has just hired Grendel, a half-orc, as his bodyguard. The third wagon is driven by Pyotr, the horse doctor, with the cook’s helper Lucky sitting by his side. Xandor is a Ranger and Chert is a dwarven cleric. They try to discover the secret of the soap but are unsuccessful before the caravan leaves the city. They follow the caravan trying to complete their mission. The caravan goes through the Plague Lands, into the haunted forest, and approaches its destination.
Xandor and Chert fight deadly foes along the way. The people of the caravan must also contend with Marco the Knight, Kourash who is a beast, and the unnamed villain leader. Secrets are revealed, enemies are uncloaked, and the next book of the series is set up.
Recommendation
Son of Cayn is a brisk and well-drawn adventure quest. The novel was influenced by Dungeons & Dragons. There is a human Ranger, a dwarven cleric, a human mage, a half-orc, trolls, orcs, elves, and other fantastic beasts. The novel reminded me of the first law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie because both series are about a group on a quest and the setting is dark. I like the smuggling soap plotline. It was very inventive. There were a few things that could have been better. It took too long to establish that Marcus sent this crew to investigate the smuggling operation of the caravan. That should’ve been clearer earlier. There were one too many battles with Xander and Chert defeating a fantastic beast. They both almost get killed again and again and Chert heals them back to full health. Xandor’s powers, like the cat thing, appear unestablished.
My main issue was the villain wasn’t revealed until over halfway through the novel. Early viewpoints from the villain would have increased the tension. I like the Russian names and background including the references to the Christian church. The orcs and other beings are referred to as Sons of Cayn which is an interesting background element. I like Xander’s crew and plan to follow them on their next adventure in book 2 of the trilogy.
