This is a trio of fantasy novels; the first two were written in the
mid-’90’s, and the third was published a month or so ago. All concern an
unlikely hero named Bahzell Bahnakson–unlikely because…but hold that
thought.

A thousand years ago, the continent of Kontovar was the home of a vast
and sophisticated civilization. Humans, elves, dwarves, and hradani
lived together, and mostly in peace. Then came a war in which the black
wizards tried to take over Kontovar. Wizards aren’t much good as foot
soldiers, even assuming they feel moved to try, and so the black wizards
magically enslaved the wise, peaceful (but immensely strong) hradani and
turned them into fierce berserkers.

The black wizards lost in the end, but the war ruined Kontovar. The
survivors fled to another continent–including a small contingent of
hradani, no longer enslaved but still subject to fits of berserk Rage.
Hated and hunted for their role in the war (though it was no choice of
theirs) and with hair-trigger tempers (and you really don’t want
to see them when they are angry), the hradani have since scraped out
a barbarian living in lands no one else wants.

A thousand years later, the hradani are still hated and feared by the
other four races of men. Bahzell Bahnakson is a hradani.

He’s also the son of the most progressive of the Hradani lords, and in
addition to being large even for a hradani (who are the tallest of the
races of men) he’s somehow acquired a strong sense of justice. As a
political hostage to another clan, he surprises the eldest son of the
clan lord on the verge of ravishing a serving girl. Rape is practically
unheard of among the hradani–their women are not subject to the Rage, and
hence are highly valued–and rapists are dealt with harshly. Bahnak
cannot turn aside, and so he thrashes the evildoer, ties him up, and then
to save his own life (and that of the girl) takes it on the lam.

After securing the girl’s safety, Bahnak must go forth into exile; having
been a hostage, he cannot go home without forcing his father to renounce
the treaty under which he was held and starting yet another war. And as
he travels he starts having dreams. It develops that the War God wants
Bahnak to be one of his Champions, to sally forth righting wrongs and so
forth. Bahnak wants no part of it–the gods have never done anything for
the hradani, and so the hradani want nothing to do with the gods. But
the War God is persistent, and the result is a foregone conclusion.

Oath of Swords contains the part of the story I’ve described
so far, up until Bahnak’s eventual capitulation; it’s a delightful
picaresque and goofy fantasy, and it made my laugh frequently.
The War God’s Own continues the story as Bahnak learns what
it means to be one of the War God’s Champions; there are Dark Deeds
Afoot, and the War God has Champions to thwart them. The goofiness
continues, and indeed it’s rather surprising how much fun you can have
following an extremely competent, dedicated paladin around and about.
In fiction these days, paladins are supposed to be stuffy pantywaists who
can’t get the job done because they insist on following the rules.
Bahnak follows the rules and gets the job done too.

Windrider’s Oath, on the other hand, was something of a
disappointment. The book suffers from
the same bloat as the latest Honor Harrington novels. The plot is adequate, but
the pacing is lousy; too little happens, and it’s related in so much
detail for so many points of view that the
suspense cannot be maintained. (I’m beginning to think of this as
Weber’s Disease.) The book would have been much better at half the
length. Worse, the goofiness that made the first two so endearing is
largely gone.

If Weber writes another book in this series, I’ll read it; I like the
characters, and I’m curious about what happens next. But I begin to fear
that Weber has jumped the shark.