Review: 'Spirit of Shehaios' by S A Rule

And so on to the final part of the 'Shaihen Heritage' trilogy. I am rather at a loss as to where the story is going at this point. The second book seemed to tie up a lot of loose ends with neat little bows, leaving a more or less stable situation, and there isn't an obvious big threat looming on the horizon. In addition, the most interesting character by far in the first two books was the mercurial Kierce, whereas the focus this time is a quartet of blank-slate characters - the painfully naive priest Aruath, the new king Sheldo, Caras's daughter Alsareth, and the son of a merescaii nobleman, Qintal. None of them enthuse me particularly.

The story is quite slow to get going this time. Book 2 opened with a major crisis, and everyone scrambling to react, but this one opens 10 years later, so there's a fair bit of backstory to be filled in, as well as several characters to be established, so it feels very leisurely. This is not necessarily a problem, but given the lack of an obvious threat, it seems a little like ambling around just passing the time until something happens. Qintal's sojourn in the southernmost reaches of the empire is a nice little look at some more of the world, but it doesn't appear to have a clear (plot-related) purpose, beyond establishing his character.

I am a little surprised at some of the distances involved. Qintal's journey to the southern outpost takes several months at sea, followed by 200 days by land - that's more than a year of travel. Assuming months and years are the same in this world, that's a very, very long journey. Yet from there Garro gets to Qivor and back in a couple of months, and Qintal gets himself back in a very timely fashion. I'm not quite clear where Qivor is, but I thought it was further north than that suggests, although later in the book it's proposed that a ship would sail down the east coast to reach Shehaios. Very odd. A bigger map might have helped. On the other hand, Alsareth is able to magically swap bodies to effectively teleport herself from Qivor to the minstrels' holding in Shehaios, just to spend the night with her lover. What a convenient plot device.

Fortunately it's not long before the fragile peace begins to crack, and all hell breaks loose. I'm not sure why it is, but this book is not quite as absorbing as the previous two. I find it much easier to set aside for a while. This is partly because it's set in Qivor, which I find much less interesting than Shehaios. It's just another city, and there's not much effort to paint in the backdrop, so it feels rather a nothingy sort of place. I'd like to know a bit more about it - the architecture, the street life, the way the inhabitants live, but there's not a lot to go on. Then there's the fact that most of the familiar faces from the first two books are either absent or very much in the background, apart from Caras, who was never my favourite anyway.

The main problem is Alsareth. I applaud the author for addressing the issue of a female magician, but she really is a dull character, too dull to sustain the story. She dithers and drifts, and then is irresistibly drawn to the enemy after a single glance (oh dear), after which she interferes with her father's sensible course of action because she's in lurve (oh dear, oh dear, oh dear). I'd like to slap her, but I don't think it would do any good. She's hopeless. Now, it turns out that she does have a cunning plan to convert the arrogant and fanatical Qintal to Shaihen values, but how much of this is devious political manoeuvring and how much is motivated by self-interest and lurve is unclear to me. I just don't like her much. Some of her interactions with Qintal had a certain spark, but beyond that she seemed rather flat. I felt that as the magician, she should be living in Shehaios instead of tinkering in her father's political world. Ditto Sheldo (who is the king, after all). In fact, I'm not quite sure why anyone from Shehaios is in Qivor (apart from Caras). Qintal himself turns out to be a much more interesting character, and the clash of cultures when the arrogant merescaii warrior strides into Shehaios is the best part of the book. More Shehaios and more Qintal would have improved things no end.

It's not that this is a bad book, at all. It is just the comparison with the first two that makes it seem weak. The first book had a light, fey touch (with dragons, unicorns and a phoenix), a terrific plot and lots of humour. The second book was much darker, but everything followed logically and the disintegration of the charismatic Kierce was fascinating. This book feels more lightweight. The setting is less interesting, the characters are mostly rather dull and the plot, while having a fair amount of action, feels trivial - tribal unrest in an Imperial city doesn't compare with a people fighting overwhelming odds in a desperate battle to keep themselves and their culture alive. We are on the wrong side now, as it were - this story is mostly told from the Imperial side, and we never quite develop the same sympathy for the downtrodden ascaii or the angry merescaii.

Even the magic is more perfunctory here, merely a convenient plot device. It is rather cool that Alsareth's magic is different from Kierce's - that seems logical to me - and I like that she sees people in colours, which explains why she's drawn to the passionate Qintal, whose energy transforms into particularly vivid colours. But the haziness of her ability to read minds also gives her less clarity as a character - she too is slightly fuzzy and wishy-washy. I am not at all clear why Kierce gave his cloak to Aruanth and his staff to Sheldo - maybe I missed something, but I didn't notice either an explanation or a purpose for this. Either way, this too would tend to diminish Alsareth's ability, I would have thought.

To be honest, the first two books worked very well as a duology. This one feels as if it was bolted on afterwards simply in order to tie up a loose end or two. I understand that there is a further trilogy in the pipeline, set many centuries after these events, so it may be that some of this book is actually setup for the later works - Aruath, in particular, may be important in some way, as the epilogue hints. Nevertheless, this is a perfectly readable story, and is, in many ways, very well crafted, with a number of events and characters from the earlier books turning out to be significant here. The author is brilliant at carrying these many threads from book to book. And the humour is back. I am torn between three and four stars, but I'll be generous.

[Edit: October 2012. It appears that the author has been swept into an outbreak of Real Life (tm). I can only hope that she will eventually get back to the writing. Fortunately, the first three Shehaios books remain available from Amazon.]

Review: 'Staff of Power' by S A Rule

Moving straight on from one book in a series to the next is a matter of both pleasure and trepidation. The pleasure comes from meeting old friends again in a familiar setting - another whole book about Shehaios! But it's a nervous moment too. Will it be different? Will things get worse? Or possibly much worse? Will some of those old friends, who survived against the odds last time, meet a different fate this time round?

Rule starts by recapping the previous book. First, by a brief overview, then by another look at the dramatic finale from a different point of view, and finally, by some background exposition. It's difficult to do this sort of thing well. I would love it if authors would take the Tolkien route, and put all the backstory in an introduction - it works for those who've read the book as well as newcomers - but it's old-fashioned, I suppose. Some authors sprinkle snippets throughout the book, some just expect you to remember and some (as here) spread it thickly upfront, which gets a bit heavy. Too much exposition too soon weighs down the book's opening, but Rule just about gets away with it.

I suppose after the dramatic turn of events at the end of the previous book, and this being the middle book of a trilogy, it was inevitable that this one should spiral straight into a miserable state of affairs. All the characters are in difficulties, and sliding into hopelessness. Things feel fairly hopeless to the reader too. The naive Shaihen are pinned down under the heavy hand of the Imperial army, there are barbarous raiders along the borders and the Emperor has decreed that everyone must conform to his own choice of religion. Nice King Rainur is dead, and Kierce the magician is paying a high price for his own mistakes. A very high price - some scenes are quite horrifying to read.

One has to hope that the old adage holds true: things have to get worse before they can get better. But this is a lot worse, and for most of the book everything that can go wrong does. I have to say, there were places where I hesitated to turn the page, fearing the next outbreak of awfulness. It was all perfectly logical, following on from earlier events or resulting from the characters' own nature and decisions, but still, I don't much enjoy this kind of relentless grimness, it's not why I read fantasy. I don't like Bombadil-esque tweeness either, but I do look for something with just a hint of upbeatness about it. Fortunately, towards the end of the book things start to look up a little, and there are hints that expectations and ambitions are becoming more realistic, and the Shaihen may be able to make an accommodation with the occupying Imperial forces.

One of the main themes of this book, made more explicit than in the previous episode, is the difference between the Shaihen hippy-dippy spirit-of-the-people tolerance, the irrational violence of the ascaii raiders and the fanatical, if illogical and hypocritical, followers of Tay-Aien (a rather sensible sounding religion underneath, interpreted somewhat flexibly by its adherents). I feel the author draws all the various factions in extreme black and white, in order to underscore the good and bad points, and it comes across as rather heavy handed. I would have liked a little more grey on all sides, instead of what appears to be a simplistic Shaihen-good, others-bad dichotomy.

Nevertheless, the fairly basic magic system (the Lord High Magician, Kierce, has the power to read and manipulate minds, and thus create illusions) is used to excellent effect here. We saw a little of this in the first book, when Kierce finds nothing but incoherent fear and ignorance in ascaii Orlii's mind, and now this is multiplied manyfold when he mingles with the greater numbers of raiders. It's a very effective technique, putting the reader literally into the mind of various characters, and Kierce's disintegration is beautifully drawn and very believable and sad. Kierce's magic is a little convenient sometimes - it also allows him to heal potentially fatal injuries, and also to swap bodies, thereby leaping from place to place, neither of which seem to be quite consistent with the basic premise, but never mind. It allows the brilliant manipulation of Ravir, which creates some electrifying moments.

This book wasn't as enjoyable as the first, mainly because of the catalogue of downright depressing events which fills the first three quarters of it, and a somewhat darker, more edgy, tone. The plot isn't quite as absorbing, to me anyway, but it is still exceptionally well thought out, and the main characters, Kierce and Caras, and perhaps Cathva, become much more complex over the course of the book. I was less sure about the developments regarding Elani and Madred, which seemed a bit contrived, and the ending, especially the rather too simple and romantic resolution of Aruath's problem, didn't quite ring true. I'm not sure what to make of Aruanth. He has potential but I will reserve judgment until I have read the third book. Overall, very slightly disappointing compared to the first book, but middle books are often thus. Four stars.

Review: 'Cloak of Magic' by S A Rule

Some fantasy books sort of parachute you into the middle of the action, and hurl bits of information around in a whirlwind, and it can be several hundred pages before you begin to get your head above water (if you'll excuse the clashing metaphors) and work out at least some of what's going on. I hate that type of book, and fortunately this is quite the opposite. It starts slowly, with characters immersed in their world, and the background is released at a nice steady rate, so that it's not hard to keep up with what's going on. It's very pleasant to feel that you're at least a step or two ahead of some of the characters, anyway.

The world-building is rather good. Shahaios is a very believable and distinctive place, not so much because of any wildly original flora or fauna or climate (it feels vaguely European or perhaps Canadian to me, with forests, lakes, bears and deer, although there are unicorns, dragons and phoenixes too, to liven things up a little), but because of the carefully thought out social structure, which differentiates it from the standard sort of low-technology pseudo-medieval world. It feels a little utopian, but that's fine, this is fantasy. The evil Empire from beyond the mountains, on the other hand, is entirely conventional (it had a Romanesque feel to me). The magic is of the best type, too - simple but powerful, and with plenty of scope for development as the series continues.

Of the characters, Kierce is the most interesting by far. I liked the idea of the young man with unusual powers who uses them to win games and to get laid. Well, of course he does. So obvious. And when he reluctantly becomes the Lord High Magician, he discovers that politics is just another type of game. He also has a terrific sense of humour - I'm a sucker for a book that makes me laugh out loud. Caras is much less interesting - a worthy but dull (and very stupid) bloke. It's difficult to make such a character sympathetic, and I have to admit it took the entire book, but I did eventually get to that point. Orlii, the apparently mindless captive, is a wonderfully complex character, whose growth over the course of the book is entirely believable and deeply disturbing. Of the rest, although they are only lightly sketched out, and some need just a little more depth to make them truly shine, generally they succeed as rounded characters.

The plot, such as it is, relates the uneasy alliance between the militaristic Empire and the naive Shaihen, with their simple farming and hunting lifestyle, and built-in sense of equality and respect. They address everyone the same: first name for familiarity, or more respectfully as 'lord' or 'lady', from the barely adult farming girl, to the King himself, who is more of a 'first among equals' than a ruler. The political machinations associated with the arrival of the Empire's soldiers (after the King marries a daughter of the Emperor) are the usual sort of thing. It is the culture clash between the two very different lifestyles which provides most of the interest, and the author brilliantly conveys the near impossibility of either side trying to understand how the other's mind works. It's hard to elicit answers when you don't even know what questions to ask.

The widest gulf is in their belief systems. The Empire has a mish-mash of gods, with individuals believing in and worshipping their own selection from the available pantheon. Some are fanatical about their particular god, some are more pragmatic, and the gods themselves seem to require different responses from their adherents. And there are devils and demons and a hell, and a great deal of fear. The Shaihen, on the other hand, have no gods or demons, just a single magician, able to read and manipulate minds and tap into the spirit of the land and its people. Neither side really understands the other, and, most intriguingly, the Imperials, quite happy to believe in a myriad of invisible gods, are quite unable to believe in Kierce's magic. They assume it's just illusion, and if they see incontrovertable evidence, they shy away in fear from his 'sorcery'. It's a fascinating juxtaposition.

The story builds well, becoming a real page turner. Partly this is due (aspiring authors take note) to Rule's neat little chapter titles. It's very trendy these days to name each chapter for a specific character (so you turn the page and think - oh no, not him again!), or else there are no titles at all beyond the rather dull 'Chapter 17', which makes it easy to put the book aside. But when you finish a chapter and the next one is called something intriguing ('Encounter with a dragon', for instance, or 'Kierce makes an entry') it's all too easy to think - hmm, well, just one more chapter then. The book is well written, with only a few small typos and some odd chunks of repetition in the middle.

The climax of the story is both inevitable and very moving. This is not a story of great wars or wizardly duels, although there are a few battles and magical outbreaks along the way. This is about people, and how they understand and misunderstand each other, how they try to do what others want of them or try to avoid it, how they deceive themselves and others. Mostly, it's about illusions, and what happens when they are stripped away. It's a terrific book, actually, well thought out and absorbing. It reads perfectly well as a stand-alone, although it's actually the first part of a trilogy. An enjoyable read. Four stars.