When I have a problem reading a book, it’s rarely the obvious things
that bother me. Well, bad grammar and spelling, of course, but that’s
usually glaringly obvious within a couple of pages, so it’s easy to
avoid. Cardboard characters, trite plots, over-reliance on action, poor
dialogue, info-dumps – I might criticise a book for these flaws but they
rarely cause me to give up on it. No, what does it for me is
implausibility. It’s ironic, in a genre like fantasy that is absolutely
dependent on arcane powers, creatures and entire worlds that don’t (and
can’t) exist. I’m quite happy to read about wizards and elves and
dragons and all sorts of whatchamacallits, but show me an inconsistency
and I’m likely to toss the book against the wall. And so it is with this
one.
First, the good stuff. The world-building here is awesome,
without qualification. The setting is eastern, with sarongs and
teahouses and satay and forms of martial arts, and that’s all very cool.
It never feels derivative, though, because there’s a very ingenious
magic system based around the moon and sun. One society in this world
(known as Skyfall) worships and derives power from the moon, the other
from the sun. Rather neatly, those powers are very fitting: the moon
powers, if overused, cause the user to go mad (lunatic, get it?); sun
power users can move instantaneously, like a sunbeam. It’s all very well
thought out. There are some good action scenes, which are very well
described, and the Lunar and Solar powers give these an unusual twist.
There are some interesting characters, particularly Marin the... well,
not sure what he was. Were-tiger?
Now for some so-so stuff. The
settings are never very well described. The Solar people live in an
amazing crystal underwater city, and I really wanted to spend some time
just walking around such an unusual place to get a feel for it. Sadly
the plot races on, so there’s never a chance to linger. Then there are
the characters. Chandi, the female main character, starts the book by
helping to kill her betrothed. Yet she moves on from that with scarcely a
thought about him, and he’s quickly forgotten altogether. Ratna is
another important female character, the daughter of the Lunar leader,
married off to the Solar Emperor to cement a tenuous peace. I really
wanted to know how she felt about that, how she got on with her husband,
whether she felt used or betrayed. Yet she seemed very unemotional and
accepting about it. I’d have liked to get to know the Emperor, too.
And
then the problems. A number of things happen without sensible reasons.
By sensible, I mean things that make sense within the world. Obviously
authors can make up whatever rules they want for their worlds, but
internal consistency is paramount. Here are some examples that failed
for me. In the very first chapter, a Lunar character has over-used his
powers and gone mad (lunatic). Chandi reports him and is sent off to
kill him. But she is weaker in combat than he is, and only outside help
manages to do the job. Since lunacy is a well-recognised problem, with a
standard penalty (execution) it makes no sense to use one-on-one combat
to carry it out. The state would surely have devised a more appropriate
legal arrangement (with a trial, possibly? Just a suggestion). The
fight makes for a great scene, but it’s quite illogical.
Another
example. When Chandi and Ratna arrive at the Solar capital, they are
greeted by Naresh (the male main character), riding some kind of sea
monster. But he isn’t a member of the elite guard who usually do this,
and someone else has to control the monster for him. Why then was he
sent? The only reason is that the author needed to introduce him into
the story.
Yet another example. Ratna, now the Emperor’s wife,
wants to take her child to watch some celebration. The pair set off
through the crowded city escorted only by Naresh and Chandi (who spend
the whole time studiously pretending they’re not going to end up
together by the end of the book). And the city isn’t friendly, since
there was a previous assassination attempt. No, I don’t think so. Two of
the most important people in the city, just wandering round in the
crowd? Two people who, if killed, would precipitate a war?
This
was the point where I gave up. For those who aren’t bothered by this and
don’t mind the rather episodic and jerky telling of the story, this is
an interesting attempt at something out of the ordinary. I got 20% of
the way through, and it may be that some of the issues mentioned are
addressed later in the book. It just didn’t work for me, however. One
star for a DNF.
No comments:
Post a Comment