Lord Geder Palliako discovers an ancient order of priests that can tell truth from lies and help him gain control of the Antean Empire. The Dragon's Path is the first book in Daniel Abraham's Dagger & Coin series of high fantasy novels. The main thrust of the narrative follows four POV characters--Cithrin, a young ward of the powerful Medean bank; Marcus, an old mercenary captain notorious for his involvement in a rebellion in a kingdom called Northcoast; Dawson, a powerful Baron in the militaristic nation of Imperial Antea; and, most notably, Geder, the bookish son of an Antean Viscount and officer in the Antean Army with no notable accomplishments or attributes to his name.
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The World of the Dagger & Coin is populated by 12 humanoid races, all of whom were created by a master race of Dragons who ruled the land long before the beginning of The Dragon's Path. All references to the Dragon's Path throughout the novel seem to use the phrase as a euphemism for the path to war and destruction. Of the twelve races, the Firstblood (pure humans) are the most powerful, with that power centered around the kingdom of Imperial Antea.
The story begins with the Antean army flexing its muscles by threatening the Free City of Vanai. Geder is grudgingly along for the campaign, as is his duty, but most of his comrades view him as a fat incompetent. The Antean army ultimately invades Vanai, where Cithrin is ward of the local branch of the Medean Bank. Her master, Magister Imaniel, gives her the important task of escaping the occupied city with the wealth of the bank and fleeing to the Medean Holding Company in Northcoast. Cithrin disguises herself as a boy and joins a caravan led by Marcus. They escape the city with the Medean Bank's wealth just before the Antean invasion is complete.
In Camnipol, the capital city of Imperial Antea, Dawson is busy politicking against his rivals at court. Since many of his rivals are in charge of the Vanai campaign, he seeks to press his position with the king by causing the campaign to flounder. Well aware of Geder's bumbling reputation, Dawson convinces the Antean King to make Geder Lord Protector of occupied Vanai, hoping Geder will make a mess of things and embarrass his rivals.
At first, Geder is a failure as planned. The citizens of Vanai resent his ineptitude and they rebel against his rule. When the thin-skinned Geder sees his citizens burning an effigy of him in the street, he orders the entire city sealed and burned to the ground. Despite the barbaric nature of the slaughter, the powers in Camnipol are impressed with Geder's "stern leadership." He returns to Camnipol where he is the toast of court.
Meanwhile, Cithrin finds no easy path to return the wealth of Vanai to the Medean Holding Company in Northcoast. She decides to pretend to be the Magistra of a new branch in Porte Oliva and uses the wealth of the Vanai branch to fund her operations.
Back in Camnipol, Geder takes his father's advice and leaves the politicking of the capital to go on a sabbatical in the far east. He journeys to a remote region of the world known as the Keshet, where he discovers an ancient priesthood of a spider goddess. The spider priests have the supernatural ability to tell truth from lies. Their leader, a man named Basrahip, agrees to return to Camnipol with Geder and help him bring the goddess back to the world.
Geder uses the priest's ability to help Dawson and his wife Clara expose their enemies at court. Dawson's preeminent rival is put to death for treason, and the king names Geder Lord Protector of his son, the prince and heir to the Antean Throne, Aster.
In Porte Oliva, Cithrin's deception is discovered and Paerin Clarke, an emissary from the Medean Holding Company, comes down to investigate her illegal branch. Paerin listens to Cithrin's explanation and realizes she has done a decent job holding together profitable bank branch. He agrees to let her stay on as the nominal Magistra of the Porte Oliva bank, but he installs notary to oversee all of her decisions.
Best part of story, including ending:
The story moves a little slowly and spends more time focusing on the fine points of medieval banking than it needs to. Geder's story is much more engaging, but it's crippled by the overbearing presence of Cithrin and Marcus' narrative.
Best scene in story:
Geder uses Basrahip's truth sense to expose Dawson's primary rival at court. That rival is taken before the Antean king and executed.
Opinion about the main character:
Geder is a fascinating anti-hero. He is the butcher of Vanai, and in many ways a thin-skinned coward, yet we still root for him to succeed.