Novel Beginnings 1: Brown, Carey, Irvine, and Stackpole

Here is the first batch of Novel Beginnings.

ERIC BROWN – HELIX (2007)

I haven’t read Eric Brown before but have seen his name around; his most current work, Kethani, also looks intriguing. Anyways, Helix starts off with a good opening line:

The year was 2095 and planet Earth was dying.

That got me to at least read on; the first chapter set the stage–describing a planet that’s resources have been exhausted by Culprit Numero Uno: humankind. The main character, Hendry, a retired ship technician (or pilot, it isn’t entirely clear early on), lives alone in the remnants of a small commune in Australia. He ends up joining the interstellar ship Lovelock on a search for a new home for humanity (or at least a few thousand folks). Classic sci-fi stuff. I read the first long chapter of the novel, Graveyard Earth, through page 46 (each chapter is comprised of smaller “sub-chapters” with number titles, so that One – Graveyard Earth is comprised of sub-chapters 1-5). Yet on page 47, Two – Agstarn, the narrative switches, presumably to the
planet Agstarn, describing an all-too-human-like alien culture. At this point I began to lose interest. I read the first sub-chapter, but have not as yet continued. Will I? Perhaps. I am somewhat curious, but not enough so that–about a week later–I haven’t picked the book up again.

This loss of burning interest illustrates a problem many novels face, as I see it: Switching viewpoint characters periodically, and early-on as in Helix. The set-up of Agstarn didn’t really excite me, perhaps because it was too human. Perhaps Brown has some surprises in store for us, and I am just curious enough that I might read on.

JACQUELINE CAREY – BANEWREAKER (2004)

Carey is best known for her Kushiel books, which I was never drawn to read, for various reasons. But after reading the review on the excellent SFReviews.Net I was curious enough to give Banewreaker a shot (despite the, admittedly, poor title). The premise is catchy: Take a Lord of the Rings-esque world and tell the story from the perspective of the–presumably at least somewhat misunderstood–Bad Guy. In some ways I am reminded of the role-playing game setting Midnight, in which the designers set out to create a world based upon the premise of “What if Sauron had won?”

I tend to find it annoying when authors are so obviously aping Tolkien, even when they are doing so consciously and deliberately, and not just as an “homage” like the infamous mockery Iron Tower books by Dennis McKiernan, but, ahem, subversively, as is (seemingly) the case of Carey’s The Sundering duology.

Don’t get me wrong, the book is good–or at least what I read of it was (the prologue and first chapter). The writing is good, the atmosphere is dense, the characters are intriguing enough. I just had the sense that Carey was writing for the disenfranchised and the marginalized; namely, the Vampire the Masquerade-playing angsty goth geeks that might have picked up Kushiel’s Dart in the first place, and identify more with the Dark-and-Gloomy Sauron Satoris than the seemingly-good-but-really-dictatorial Manwe Haomane.

Anyways, the prologue was very Tolkien-esque, but with its own unique twists; sort of a White Wolf Publishing version of the opening chapter or two of The Silmarillion. The first chapter, in which the story really begins, was better. We are introduced to the misunderstood Bad Guy, Satoris, in the flesh, and more importantly the more interesting protagonist, Tanaros Blacksword, one of Satoris’s Big Three.

Was I sufficiently titillated to read on? Probably. Again, like Helix, I will give it at least another chapter.

IAN IRVINE – A SHADOW ON THE GLASS (1998 )

I really wanted to like this one. I appreciate the rarity of creating a secondary world that is relatively unique with no obvious fantasy tropes (elves, dwarves, dragons, etc) and no clear analogues to either our own world or previous fantasy worlds. The backstory is interesting, if not spectacular. But the writing is sub-par, and then some. The characters lack tone and texture. I gave it fifty or sixty pages and couldn’t go on. Maybe I’ll try again? I would like to but this is my third try and, being a husband, father, starting a new career, and working on my own novel, it is highly unlikely at this point. Ian Irvine, in baseball the third miss is a big out.

MICHAEL A. STACKPOLE – A SECRET ATLAS (2005)

I was intrigued by some of the elements that are relatively rare in fantasy: cartographers as protagonists, a kind of magic that is so integrated into the world that it emerges through the perfection of a craft or skill, a post-apocalyptic world that…OK, that isn’t all that rare in fantasy, but I still like it.

So far I’ve read the first three chapters and while there is nothing really that stands out, except for a few ideas, I’m going to continue for awhile and see where it goes. The characters are fair, although the mysterious swordsman Moraven Tolo is the type of character that 11-year old boys, and 34-year old boys alike, just love. The world has textures of feudal Japan, with wandering samurai-like xidantzu, but with more of Renaissance Europe overall feeling (thus the title of the series, Age of Discovery).

Craft or character-wise, A Secret Atlas isn’t a better book than Banewreaker or Helix, but it fulfills more of what I’m looking for in a book now. Given my recent track record, we’ll see how long it lasts.