Conqueror's Moon by Julian MayMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have not been reading enough Julian May. What was I thinking? I loved the Saga of the Pliocene Exile books when they were new--great characters, great setting, engrossing plot, amazing language--and thought her writing was exceptional. I should have read Conqueror's Moon long ago, because the same characteristics are found in this novel. Of course.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I bought this new in 2005 and set it aside. That was about when life and busy-ness intervened, making big fat fantasies time out too often for me, and I just stopped opening them. Now, I'm looking at them again, and pulling this off the shelf, finally, I'm reminded again how much I love her writing. And even as I write this, I discover that she passed away in 2017. Damn. I was just thinking I would try to find her at a convention or something, because I'd love to meet her. Get an autograph. Too late. :( A remarkable writer, incredible talent. Someone to be missed, for certain, though she has left us her books.
My favorite character in this novel is Deveron (Snudge) but there are so many great characters--Ullanoth, Prince Conrig, Ansel, Beynor. Along with each character comes a constellation of well-defined motivations and conflicts, all of them interacting with one another. This creates a dynamic plot where where many plans are made and attempted, yet no one's plans go forward without a hitch. I find the complexity and maturity of the plot, emerging as it does from complex characters, very engaging.
A similar complexity is evident in the prose. It's clear and sharp, with just the right word in just the right place. Since the 80s, when I was reading The Many-Colored Land and its sequels, I've always been amazed at how often that "right word" is new to me, and yet utterly perfect. Thirty years later (30?!) there are fewer such new-to-me words but still more than I find with any other author. I like reading smart language, and that's what she offers.
The author's precision (preciseness?) extends to the action, where scenes of men and women sailing ships, operating machinery, doing battle, climbing mountains, riding horses, doing magic, or engaging in any other action are rendered with unusual clarity. The mechanics of movement, of the interaction of humans and the physical world--or the supernatural world, for that matter--are impressively accurate in detail and well-imagined, and I believe that the author's glittering vision reaches the reader's mind remarkably intact.
That is my experience, anyway. The description of a group of boys tasked with sabotaging a bridge mechanism, for instance, is told with such confidence on the author's part, with such a comprehensive understanding of what must happen, that I marvel at it. It's like she saw it as it occurred and just wrote it down.
One more note regarding the author's mastery of subjects in the novel--the magic system is impressive. I rarely care about this topic, though I see it often discussed by other readers and writers. However, it was so well done here that it deserves special mention. The way magic works in this world, which includes the sources of it (unusual), the cost to the users (painfully high), and the difficulty and danger in managing it (frightening!), adds a wonderful extra dimension to both setting and plot. It is important to the plot, but also used to inform characters, making it integral to the story in a way that is especially effective.
This is a solid novel, with a satisfying arc leading into its sequels, and it was a pleasure to read. Julian May is gone, but I'm grateful she left her art for us, including books I have yet to look into. I look forward to them, even as I hope many new readers discover these treasures.
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