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OtherRealms Issue 21 Part 08
Electronic OtherRealms #21
Summer, 1988
Part 8
No Prisoners!
Laurie Sefton
Copyright 1988 by Laurie Sefton
Journey To Memblar
Burning Tears of Sassurum
Sharon Baker
Avon, 280pp, $3.50 each
0-380-75113-5
**+
A Fall of Princes
Judith Tarr
Tor, 401pp, $18.95
0-312-93063-1
**+
Wild Cards IV
George R.R. Martin (Ed.)
Bantam Spectra, 467pp, $4.50
0-553-27628-X
***+
Sorcery and Cecelia
Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
Ace, 197pp, $2.95
0-441-77559-4
****
Sheepfarmer's Daughter
Elizabeth Moon
Baen, 506pp, $3.95
0-671-65416-0
****+
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars
Thomas M. Disch
Doubleday, 72pp, $11.95
0-385-24162-3
****+
I'll have to admit it -- I'm a bit of an old fogey when it comes to
what I like in my books. I'm generally looking for:
1. A protagonistic force
2. An antagonistic force
3. A reason for the two to meet
4. A place for them to meet
In other words; I'm looking for a good guy, a bad guy, a conflict and a
venue. I'm even willing to have alterations in the above: the
antagonistic force doesn't even have to be sentient. A "struggle
against the elements" story is just fine by me.
But I am fussy about my protagonist. I want to have someone to root
for, a protagonist that gives me a reason to have me want her succeed.
I don't want a protagonist who just happens to be slightly less slimy
than the "bad guys" in the story. This is one of the problems I have
with cyberpunk; there really isn't anyone to root for.
Journey to Memblar
Burning Tears of Sassurum
Unfortunately, this sociological bent has invaded the fantasy market.
Swap out a socio-genetic experiment gone bad with the prevalent
futuristic cyberpunk locale, and you have the world that Journey to
Memblar and Burning Tears of Sassurum is set on.
An experiment gone bad just begins to describe the world of Naphar. Two
of the three races planted there are mutually antagonistic. Each
considers the other worthy only to be slaves, and characteristically,
they have set up religions supporting their beliefs. The soil is
poisoned with selenium, so most of the indigenous fauna is poisonous.
The inhabitants survive by ritualistically butchering their slave
class. The third race, quite wisely, has chosen to remain hidden from
the other two races; they are revered as demi-gods. The politics and
social structure within the two overt races are as cruel as the
ecology; most spend their lives scratching to survive, and hoping not
to be sold into slavery. Even the ruling classes plot each other's
downfall with astounding viciousness.
In this world we find Cassia, a slave to the small manikins, her young
master Jarell, and a runaway slave, Tadge. Through a series of
adventures, Cassia finds out her true parentage, and Tadge's evil
former master is destroyed. And throughout their adventures, the three
never stop bickering at each other, distrusting each other, and falling
into the wrong hands because they can't get along with each other.
What is especially disturbing is that nothing changes. The two overt
races still hate each other, religious and political corruption continues,
and the rest of the world is still slogging it out to survive. Even
Cassia, the one expected to learn and grow throughout the book, retreats
into religious fundamentalism. By the end of the second book, I couldn't
find a character I liked, much less a character I could root for.
A Fall of Princes
Judith Tarr's latest, A Fall of Princes, is the third book in the
Avaryan Rising trilogy. I was looking forward to this book as the
ending of one of the best fantasy trilogies yet. I was wrong. Two and
one-half of books are wonderful; the last half of the third book unravels
everything that the previous books created. Mirain, the son of the sun
god, and the hero of the first two books, is unveiled as a charming
psychotic. Most of the secondary characters, instead of being the supporters
of Mirain, are shown to be in collusion to bring about his downfall. I
felt as if I had been tricked; even though all the bad guys turned out
to be bad guys, all the good guys turned out to be bad guys.
The two protagonists in the book, Sarevan and Hirel Uverias, are the
sons and heirs Mirain's kingdom of Keruvarion and the Golden Empire of
Asanion. Sarevan comes upon Hirel after he has been stripped and
completely shaved by his jealous brothers. Sarevan brings Hirel back to
health, and is repaid when Sarevan is mortally wounded; Hirel brings
Sarevan back to Mirain's court.
Sarevan is an immensely likeable character. He is psychologically and
physically mutilated beyond recognition by his father's enemies, who
include Sarevan's grandfather. Hirel Uverias, while much more likeable
by the end of the book, is still in turn victim of Mirain's enemies, and
tormentor of Sarevan. At the end Mirain doesn't even gets the final dignity
of dying; he enters suspended animation instead. No one wins in this book.
Wild Cards IV, Aces Abroad
Wild Cards IV, Aces Abroad, recounts the adventures of aces and jokers,
victims of an extraterrestrial virus, on a fact-finding mission for the
United Nations. A large portion of the book is the journal of Xavier
Desmond, the so-called "mayor" of Jokertown. The journal, while also
offering a differing view of the previous story, also gives insight to
the plight of the joker.
While the core group, is the same; Peregrine, Dr. Tachyon, Fortunato,
Puppetman and the rest; new aces and jokers are introduced for the
local stories, namely in Central America and the Middle East. An
interesting trend; some of the jokers and aces introduced have
personality traits that are very closely aligned with their mutation.
Is this some cause-and-effect relationship?
My only problem with the Wild Cards series so far is the quantity and
quality of sex scenes. There are too many for the level of quality.
There are not a few SF writers who have written erotica; perhaps Martin
should use these writers in a future volume?
Sorcery and Cecelia
Sorcery and Cecelia is a lovely little work by Patricia Wrede and Carol
Stevermer. The story is set in Regency England with a twist; this
Regency England has sorcerers and wizards. Other than that, all is as
Jane Austen would have described. The "season", the "bon", and the
"Society", made up of nobles and landed gentry, are all there. The
entwining plot of magic adds to the romp. I have to admit, I knew who
was going to end up with whom 1/3 of the way through the novel, but the
getting there was the fun. I'd love to see more of this.
Sheepfarmer's Daughter
This is the first of Elizabeth Moon's trilogy, The Deed of
Paksenarrion. Paksenarrion, or Paks, runs away from an unwanted
betrothal to join a mercenary army. She is hardened as a fighter before
she goes out to battle; she survives an attempted rape andaccused of
assault. The battle scenes and their aftermath are what pulls this
novel beyond so many fantasy novels. People rarely die in a noble
manner in this book, they either bleed to death or die from gangrene.
Which, if you think about it, would be correct for a medieval milieu.
Sorcerers and healing draughts are available, but they're expensive,
and aren't wasted on foot soldiers.
Sheepfarmer's Daughter is an excellent beginning to the trilogy. The
characters ring true, and I didn't want the story to end. I'm looking
forward to the rest of the trilogy.
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars by Thomas Disch is a delightful,
insightful delicious read. Even if you haven't read The Brave Little
Toaster, sneak this charmer out of the Juvenile section for your very own.
OtherRealms #21
Summer, 1988
Copyright 1988
by Chuq Von Rospach
All Rights Reserved
One time rights have been acquired from the contributors. All rights
are hereby assigned to the contributors.
OtherRealms may not be reproduced in any form without written
permission from Chuq Von Rospach. The electronic edition may be
distributed or reproduced in its entirety as long as all copyrights,
author and publication information remain intact.
No article may be reprinted, reproduced or republished in any way
without the express permission of the author.
