The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick

This is a fantasy on a grand scale.  This book is the first of the trilogy.  It could be read as a stand alone but I have all three and look forward to reading the next two.  The bulk of the action takes place on the CHATHRAND, the largest ship on the seas and the last of an ancient class whose creation is lost in the sands of time and antiquity.   The story is one of empire building, treachery and loyalty.

The Chathrand is a great setting for the story.   Redick populates the ship with a Noah’s Ark complement of strange and interesting beasties.  The protagonist is Pazel with Thasha as a close second.  Pazel is gifted with tongues due to a spell laid on him by his mother.   He may or may not be an orphan but he feels like one.  Thasha lives a life of restricted privilege.   They are a classic princess and pauper potential love story which does not happen in this book.   

There is a wealth of action and an enormous cast of characters.   The characters are multidimensional.  Redick did not take the simplistic route of clear cut good and evil, he populates his book with many more than 50 shades of gray.   The plot is intricate but not confusing.   Machiavellian is a good description.  

I recommend the book.
 

 Web Site:  http://www.robertvsredick.com/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.