Sons of the Oak: The Fifth Book of The Runelords

David Farland

Nov 2006 · Runelords Book 5 · Sold by Tor Books

About this ebook

Certain works of fantasy are immediately recognizable as monuments, towering above the rest of the category. Authors of those works, such as Stephen R. Donaldson, Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind, come immediately to mind. Add to that list David Farland, whose epic fantasy series continues now.

The story picks up eight years after the events of Lair of Bones and begins a new chapter in the Runelords saga focusing on Gaborn's son, Fallion. Gaborn, the Earth King, has been traveling far from his home, to strange and unknown places. While beyond the edge of the earth, he finally succumbs to the accelerated aging that comes from all of the endowments he has taken. His death is the signal for a revolution, an attack from the supernatural realms by immensely powerful immortal beings.

These forces have discovered that Gaborn's son is the resurrection of an immortal, one whose potential power is so great that he might be able to reorder the entire universe. Fallion's enemies have decided that they must control him, and failing that, destroy him. He is only a child, but he is the heir to Gaborn's kingdom, and so must flee to the ends of the earth to avoid the destruction of all that Gaborn accomplished.

One of the mightiest of contemporary fantasy epics continues.



At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

Compared to the first four books this one comes off as a juvenile attempt at fantasy. The writing feels rushed and devoid of direction and at times the author even forgets things that happened in prior books. Duke Paldane for instance is alive and well despite the fact his face was slapped off in an earlier book. I don't suggest this book to any fans of Gaborn and Iome, their story is done and what is left was handled so badly it's not worth the investment.

Great book

About the author

David Farland (1957-2022) was the New York Times bestselling author of the Runelords fantasy series including Chaosbound, The Wyrmling Horde and Worldbinder. His other works include the Whitney Award-winning historical novel In the Company of Angels, and the young adult novel Nightingale, which won the International Book Award, the Grand Prize at the Hollywood Book Festival, and the Southern California Book Festival.

Winning first place in the 1987 Writers of the Future contest for the novella On My Way to Paradise, Farland became one of the contest’s judges in 1991. He also co-edited volume eight of the contest’s annual anthology series, subsequently editing volumes nine through fourteen, and later volumes twenty-nine through thirty-seven. As Dave Wolverton, he wrote many science fiction novels including Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia, and was a finalist for the Nebula and Philip K. Dick awards.

Farland was also an English professor of creative writing at Brigham Young University where he held writing workshops. His students included Brandon Sanderson, Eric Flint, and Stephenie Meyer.