ACACIA Review - Pacing

I'm almost finished with part one of ACACIA, so I thought I'd pause and say a few words about the pacing. It reminds me of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. In that novel, I went into the book knowing that everything up to a certain point was a prologue. I knew that Claire would go back in time, but getting to that point was agony. However, once I got there, I was blown away by the rest of the book.

I'm going through a bit of the same thing with ACACIA. Like Outlander, it is a book that you read for the long haul. Some books are like snack-packs, devoured quickly. This novel is a giant bag of M&Ms, best read in chunks.

However, I know that what one person finds fast-paced, another will find hopelessly plodding. I could not put down Charles Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop, but when I lent it to a friend, she returned it to me, unfinished.

I'm not nearly to that point, and I don't expect to be. The king is not quite dead yet. He has made a last request to his treacherous chancellor , but since the chancellor is not really evil, he is conflicted about what to do next. Maeander, the middle-born prince of the Mein, is every bit as evil and despicable as I thought he would be. Really, some of the things that David thought of for this villain just chills the blood.

My favorite character so far is Leeka, the general. I feel the most connection to him. For all the other characters, there is still a bit of separation. But Leeka is fighting for his life to bring word of an invasion, and who can't help but admire a 48 year old general who still kicks butt? However, I have the terrible suspicion that this character is doomed to die. I hope I'm wrong.

Aliver, young heir to the Acacian throne, is my next favorite character. The conflict between him and his peers is still unresolved; in fact it has not even been mentioned again. The prince has done nothing that makes me think he will turn out evil. Since I know from the cover blurb that there will be a jump in time, I find myself looking forward to seeing him as a grown man. In fact, I'm downright impatient for it.