Where I Didn't Really Care In The End

Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I like the setup for this. I like the mix of fantasy races and familiar Tolkienesque setting. I'm up for it. And I was excited to see it's a Russian author behind it--made me super curious.

But it's not a good book. In fact, I probably should give it a 2, since I've given a 3 to many books I liked better. But it sorta tricked me into going on long after I should have DNF'ed, and I have a self-imposed mostly-followed rule that I don't give a 2 to a book I finish.

The truth is, though, that I didn't like it. The plot is an amorphous mess and the pacing is all over the place. The novel is centered a quest that sounds pretty cool, but the party of adventurers don't even start until more than 350 pages in. Then they meet random difficulties over the next 200 pages, all while still at the early stages of the journey to the place where the crucial artifact is hidden. I'm not gonna try to stick with it. No book two for me.

Anyway. Disappointed.

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Rediscovering a Fantasy Master

Conqueror's Moon by Julian May
My 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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Where I say what's right with Django Wexler's books, for those who didn't know yet

The Guns of Empire by Django Wexler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you read the first three books, you probably already know you will enjoy this book, so you don't need someone (like me) telling you so. If you haven't read the first books, there's not much point in me telling you to read this one--I'll suggest the first book, which I also liked very much. Off you go. ;)

So, with no real audience for this review, I'll still say into the void--this is a great book. Great series, actually, and I highly recommend all of it. There are a lot of reasons to offer up my praise, but the two most compelling, for me, are the author's handling of characters and the realistic portrayal of a military campaign.

In reverse order, since this is going into the void anyway, one of the most impressive things about the whole series is the accuracy and completeness of the author's portrayal of war and soldiers, of camp and campaign and battle. The action and descriptions ring true, with the force of genuine scholarship, so that whatever errors it might contain are beyond my ability to detect or trip over. The effect of that, of course, is that the story hits home more deeply because the reader (well, me) believes it more. In addition, and this is not a minor point, it makes the story more fun.

Returning to characters, this is also a strong point from the beginning of the series. The author has not only created a number of well-drawn, comprehensible, captivating, distinct, round, dynamic characters with interesting arcs, but he has given us as many female characters of that type as male. More, perhaps, if I were to take a tally, and maybe someone wants to accept that job....

Winter is my favorite character--complex and damaged but noble and heroic--though I also love Bobby, and her arc here is spoilerly awesome. Sothe's action is fun to read, and Cyte has become a new favorite, and on and on. I also admire Marcus, and identify with him, and see Janus as an impressive, complex, mysterious, iconic leader, and enjoy any scene with Give-Em-Hell, etc., so there's a great balance that, to me, feels organic rather than forced.

This sharing of the narrative load among many personality types, between men and women, and between civilian, soldier, noble, and officer, makes the story feel more layered and satisfying, as well as more significant thematically and emotionally. And more fun. This helps carry the reader on (well, me again), which matters, because even though it's a long (comparatively long) book, it seldom drags. It's nearly always a pleasure to start the next chapter.

So, in a nutshell--good book. I liked it.

One book to go. It's out in hardcover, so that's cool... but that would just not look right on the shelves next to 4 paperbacks. Nothing I can do. It's a thing. So, I'll have to wait just a bit. But I'm looking forward to it. And in the meantime I may check into his kids' books. They look good, too. :)

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Where, with unearned confidence, I both praise and critique a very fine author. With apologies. ;)

The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brian Stavely is a good writer, and deserves the reputation he has earned for being a serious author of fantasy. He is inventive, creating an exciting world and cosmology, but also knowledgeable enough about religion and philosophy and history (subjects he has apparently taught) that his world works. It is believable rather than contrived, which makes the action feel more real and more plausible, and makes the characters more human. The intersection of religion and politics is treated in a sophisticated way that gives the novel real depth and even actual meaning outside the imaginary world where it takes place.

One of the things I enjoyed in this novel is that the main characters mostly move forward and succeed by using their skills--awesome characters being awesome. (™!) Too many novels create conflict by having the MC screw up constantly, making bad decisions, or ignoring good advice, and the author doesn't give us too much of that. The characters have skills and intelligence that they apply to their problems in a rational but human way, and their success is generally through their hard work and sincere effort. Though they do fail sometimes or choose wrong sometimes, it is in keeping with their personality and the laws governing all of them, in the same way that great teams don't win every game. In other words, it feels natural or organic. These interesting people are doing the best they can, and I'm still feeling sympathetic towards them two books in, even some of the bad guys.

I wish the novel had moved along a bit more, though. I almost stopped a couple times when the strategizing and arguing and other slow-moving sections made it a chore, with 300 dense pages still to go. It was worth it in the end, obviously, but I didn't always pick up the book with pleasure or put it down entertained. (After reading a few books where characters cross the open steppe, I'd have to conclude that it's just not a good idea, from a narrative perspective.) Personal preference, I suppose. YMMV.

Yes, I will look for book three. I'm still cheering for the characters, and rooting for the author. Hopefully, that's where all the questions will be answered, and all the awesome characters do awesome things.... ™ ;)

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