It's... readable.



The melodramatic emotional fireworks are very annoying, but fortunately the author partitioned most of them off into small one- to two-page segments. Hammen somehow manages to be both out-of-character and cliched at the same time (what was with him unconsciously transferring to calling Garth "Master"?), the background characters (and women, too) are cardboard, Garth (hero/main character) is hypocritical but mercifully bland in this respect, the villains are annoying stereotypes

It's... readable.



The melodramatic emotional fireworks are very annoying, but fortunately the author partitioned most of them off into small one- to two-page segments. Hammen somehow manages to be both out-of-character and cliched at the same time (what was with him unconsciously transferring to calling Garth "Master"?), the background characters (and women, too) are cardboard, Garth (hero/main character) is hypocritical but mercifully bland in this respect, the villains are annoying stereotypes ("Varnel" has a weakness for women and carnal pursuits; "Ravelth" is unrealistically obsessed with wealth; Kirlen fears death more than anything; Tulan apparently has compulsive overeating disorder and is very rotund). Don't worry about Kirlen so much; women are pretty much nonexistent in this novel in any meaningful way.



It's traditional high fantasy; Fortschen usually chooses to remain outside of the realm of flashbacks or the showing of inner emotional development, which is probably a blessing, since the few times he slips with this are quite jarring. The way he avoids backstory or emotional reactions is similarly relieving, because he can't manage to be consistent with it, and it's annoying to have to think of the author as The Emotionally Retarded Man. This was apparently one of the first Magic: the Gathering series books, though, so it's not as bad as it seems. Again, it is readable.



The major point that I kept getting perturbed about was Fortschen's lack of understanding, or talent, for logistics. Within the city this novel is set, there are no cars, and carriages are used rarely, with the first mention placed firmly in the middle of the book. Presumably, they have old-style (small) streets and walkways. And yet, at some point during a battle scene, there is a mention of (paraphrased) "thousands tried to flee while thousands tried to push forward to watch the fun" and I don't think he actually understands that this would be literally impossible in the physical specifications he implies and puts forth.



Another point that irritated me to the point of tics was his description of Benalian society. Although I understand that Hammen is supposed to be a socially-inept, chauvinistic failure of a man (and Turquoise member, the reveal of which was neither revealing nor surprising, but rather insulting), I wanted to leap into the pages and start beating the shit out of him for how he spoke to Norreen. Aside from that, however, the Benalian societal dynamics were a farce described by an unimaginative capitalist man who doesn't know the definition of "privilege". The reasons are thus: 1) cyclical power castes generally prevent power-madness, rather than encouraging them as Fortschen suggests; 2) cultures that allow/encourage women to become warriors are not rape-happy, ever; 3) cultures that allow/encourage both sexes to become warriors don't have the kind of sexual inequality that Fortschen asserts with the line, "Women of the lowest caste cannot refuse the demands to mate with one of the highest caste." This would only make sense if a) the power system were not cyclical (faced with the possibility/certainty of being on the receiving end, people are far more liberal and sympathetic than they would otherwise be) and/or b) it were not limited to sex or sexual orientation. That is to say, if women could do the same to men, women to women, men to men, etc.



However, the most subtle annoyance was also the only one that could be considered in any way constant: Fortschen's use of "the mob". This "the mob" is everyone in the city that is not one of the named characters or fighters, and it serves as a thinly-veiled excuse for never - ever - characterizing or individuating a single blessed one of them. "The mob" is a forest of cardboard, with a laugh-track attached to supply danger, moral disgust (from the reader), plot diversions or whatever else is needed to board up the holes.



Also, as the bit with Garth dogged by "the mob" when trying to get away from the Grand Master's army so he doesn't get fucking killed shows, "the mob" is merely a group of 500,000 hyperactive Downies with no care aids - or shotguns, because I sincerely wanted to jump in and force Garth to start frying the assholes - in sight.



So, in other words, William Fortschen doesn't know as much as he thinks he does.



But... it's readable.