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The Smorgasbord of Fantasy
21 Oct 2004
The Weavers of Saramyr - Chris Wooding - Gollancz 2004
* * *
This is book one of "the Braided Path", another big commercial fantasy series, and to be honest there is nothing startlingly original here. That said, Wooding has chosen some interesting dishes from the smorgasbord of fantasy (even if he hasn't added any new ones), and the meal he makes with them is actually not half bad.
For starters, Saramyr is not your usual run of the mill mock mediaeval kingdom (blessed relief! Am I the only one tired of reading fantasies where authors with no proper historical understanding of the words "king" or "prince" misappropriate the concepts for their own pale reconstructions of the far more interesting historical realities?). Instead Wooding has used an oriental setting with a Blood Empress, an Emperor and competing families (or Bloods). The politicking between the groups is pretty much what you get in more standard fantasy fare, with plenty of backstabbing and betrayals as the ruling family weakens. But at least the feel is a little different.
The oriental setting allows for some other pleasing variations on the standard fantasy world. The society is matriarchal and this is reflected in the four protagonists, three of whom are strong-minded women (the fourth is a wimpy nature priest). The tech level is higher than usual - gunpowder and primitive muskets exist, though oddly the towns, or at least the capital city, still have protective walls (presumably they haven't mastered the art of mining yet).
The magical setup is a cross between Robin Hobb's Farseer books and Clive Barker's Weaveworld, but is interesting. People called Weavers can don True Masks which allow them to see the weave of which world is made. They can manipulate it to pass messages from one family to another regardless of the physical distance between them. This, of course, has made them indispensible to the ruling families, which is unfortunate because the weavers are thoroughly evil. You can tell this because the senior weaver (or Weave Lord) is called Vyrrch and is a paranoid paedophile with noisome personal habits. Sigh. Lay it on with a trowel, why don't you? The magic, by the way, does not seem internally consistent, at least from what we learn about it in this book. Maybe future volumes will clarify it.
The plot revolves around the Blood Empress' daughter, who has been brought up in secret because she is an Aberrant (someone with magical abilities that are not related to True Masks). Despite Aberrants being condemned by the Weavers, the Blood Empress is determined that her daughter will ascend the throne. When this fact becomes known, the power plays start.
The chief weakness of the book is the four protagonists, who somehow don't linger in the mind, possibly because there are so many of them. The main viewpoint character is called Kaiku, whose entire family is murdered by demons in chapter 1 (tum ti tum...). She also has nascent magical powers (tum ti tum again). She soon encounters Tane, the wimpy nature priest and sort-of love interest, and her friend Mishani, a noble's daughter who is caught up in the machinations at court (I shan't reveal the fourth protagonist as it would be a spoiler). They go on various quests - difficult journeys to far off lands, daring rescue missions - and are ultimately all led into the satisying climax as civil order in Saramyr breaks down. The stage is set for the next volume.
For such a young writer (Wooding is 28), this is an accomplished and well-written novel, but it suffers from the tendency of the young sometimes to make do with off-the-shelf ideas rather than taking the time and effort to invent something genuinely new. That said, he has come up with some new combinations of tired old cliches and spruced them up in the process. I'm not going to rush out and buy the next installment as soon as it comes out, but I'll probably read it if it comes my way.
The Weavers of Saramyr - Chris Wooding - Gollancz 2004
* * *
This is book one of "the Braided Path", another big commercial fantasy series, and to be honest there is nothing startlingly original here. That said, Wooding has chosen some interesting dishes from the smorgasbord of fantasy (even if he hasn't added any new ones), and the meal he makes with them is actually not half bad.
For starters, Saramyr is not your usual run of the mill mock mediaeval kingdom (blessed relief! Am I the only one tired of reading fantasies where authors with no proper historical understanding of the words "king" or "prince" misappropriate the concepts for their own pale reconstructions of the far more interesting historical realities?). Instead Wooding has used an oriental setting with a Blood Empress, an Emperor and competing families (or Bloods). The politicking between the groups is pretty much what you get in more standard fantasy fare, with plenty of backstabbing and betrayals as the ruling family weakens. But at least the feel is a little different.
The oriental setting allows for some other pleasing variations on the standard fantasy world. The society is matriarchal and this is reflected in the four protagonists, three of whom are strong-minded women (the fourth is a wimpy nature priest). The tech level is higher than usual - gunpowder and primitive muskets exist, though oddly the towns, or at least the capital city, still have protective walls (presumably they haven't mastered the art of mining yet).
The magical setup is a cross between Robin Hobb's Farseer books and Clive Barker's Weaveworld, but is interesting. People called Weavers can don True Masks which allow them to see the weave of which world is made. They can manipulate it to pass messages from one family to another regardless of the physical distance between them. This, of course, has made them indispensible to the ruling families, which is unfortunate because the weavers are thoroughly evil. You can tell this because the senior weaver (or Weave Lord) is called Vyrrch and is a paranoid paedophile with noisome personal habits. Sigh. Lay it on with a trowel, why don't you? The magic, by the way, does not seem internally consistent, at least from what we learn about it in this book. Maybe future volumes will clarify it.
The plot revolves around the Blood Empress' daughter, who has been brought up in secret because she is an Aberrant (someone with magical abilities that are not related to True Masks). Despite Aberrants being condemned by the Weavers, the Blood Empress is determined that her daughter will ascend the throne. When this fact becomes known, the power plays start.
The chief weakness of the book is the four protagonists, who somehow don't linger in the mind, possibly because there are so many of them. The main viewpoint character is called Kaiku, whose entire family is murdered by demons in chapter 1 (tum ti tum...). She also has nascent magical powers (tum ti tum again). She soon encounters Tane, the wimpy nature priest and sort-of love interest, and her friend Mishani, a noble's daughter who is caught up in the machinations at court (I shan't reveal the fourth protagonist as it would be a spoiler). They go on various quests - difficult journeys to far off lands, daring rescue missions - and are ultimately all led into the satisying climax as civil order in Saramyr breaks down. The stage is set for the next volume.
For such a young writer (Wooding is 28), this is an accomplished and well-written novel, but it suffers from the tendency of the young sometimes to make do with off-the-shelf ideas rather than taking the time and effort to invent something genuinely new. That said, he has come up with some new combinations of tired old cliches and spruced them up in the process. I'm not going to rush out and buy the next installment as soon as it comes out, but I'll probably read it if it comes my way.