AND SO IT BEGINS is the first in a series called Prince And Trader. Due to the country's reliance on trade, the traders are exempt from military duty, and one such, Derek, picks Kherin off the floor when he drowns his sorrows in a tavern. Unknown to the prince, his older brother Adrien was injured in that last attack, and now experiences seizures and a wound that won't heal. Is this poison, illness or something more sinister? The messengers don't dare to include the matter in reports. Out of favour, the younger prince is now sent off with Derek on a trading mission in the opposite direction. Kherin knows he's being got out of the way. Is it because he was getting attached to one of the stable boys? Derek's saying nothing, but he secretly finds the prince attractive. And he's more than willing to take a detour through Gravlorn....

The fantasy is a little slow to get under way but once we see some action and movement it picks up and the detailed atmosphere adds to the richly realised land. Magic was used in Llarien many years ago but has been forgotten, and only a few ancient tomes remain. The northerners speak a foreign tongue and wield axes, but Kherin realises that if they shave their long hair, and dress like his folks, they could have been crossing and mingling unseen. He becomes determined to capture one and talk with him.

I would have liked some female characters beyond tavern wenches, amid the plentiful cast of men. This adult story features two gay men who gradually fall into a deep relationship, held apart by the prince's status but brought together by shared danger. There is next to no magic, but hints arise that the series will feature stronger use of spells. Similarly we have not seen strange beasts or ensorcelled swords, just a cold and wet medieval world, in which character building is the author's aim. RG Green has left a clear lead in to the next instalment - fantasy readers will do well to start with AND SO IT BEGINS before the tale gets more complex.

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