You should be geeking Bransen Garibond.

Bransen Gairbond is a hunched-cripple who can barely walk and can’t even get through a sentence without succumbing to a horrible stutter.  He is an orphan who lost his parents to sickness and execution who is raised in a monastery by a monk named Garibond.

Bernivvigar is an evil ruler, Prydea is his sole confident.  He rules the rand with religious bias and executes those who disagree.   So when Bransen discovered the Book of Jhest and the soulstone hermatite, gift left over from his departed mother, Bransen begins the arduous task of infusing his body with magic, straightening his chi and learning the ways of Jhest.  This transforms him from the cripple he is to the dexterous vigilante called The Highwayman.

Why care?

The story of Bransen Garibond, as told through the Saga of the First King, is a Corona novel written by R.A. Salvatore.  The world of Corona, as made famous by the DemonWars Saga, was Salvatore’s fantasy world he wrote in during his dispute with TSR.

The story of Bransen has a very traditional feel drawing from comic book media, the masked vigilante who gains unheard of powers, and traditional fantasy, a humble boy who becomes a great hero.  This leads to an interesting and original, while keeping with the fantasy borders, first book.  The plots of the book are fairly deep, ranging from religious intolerance to the effect a war between to fanatical nations has on its people.  The character development grows as steadily as the plots, using idea and concepts like should a soldier be loyal to his believes or his country and how to stop what you hate without becoming it.

The familiar writing of R.A. Salvatore, best known as the creator and writer of Drizzt, brings his lifelong enthusiasm of martial arts and melee combat, and his natural ability to describe both in words, into his fictional world.  We see a similar melee grace in the fencing, something normally reserved for Artemis Entreri or Drizzt Do’Urden, added with a kung-fu element that feels like your reading a Jet Li or Jackie Chan movie.

The Sage of the First King is a brilliant series that Salvatore-ians will love and that fantasy and comic fans will find enjoyable and refreshing.