 |
Lord of Snow and Shadows: Book One of The Tears
of Artamon
by Sarah Ash
(Bantam Press, £10.99, 484 pages, trade paperback, May 2003.
Bantam Books, £6.99, 704 pages, paperback, January 2004.)
Sarah Ash's new trilogy opens with the artist Gavril Andar falling
hopelessly in love with Astasia, the daughter of the Duke of Muscobar.
Fortuitously he discovers that he is the son and heir of the recently
 assassinated
ruler of Azhkendir, a buffer state between Muscobar and Tielen. Naturally
he hopes that this might be the answer to his romantic problems. However,
the Duke of Muscobar hopes to marry Astasia off to Prince Eugene of
Tielen in a bid to avoid a ruinous war. To further complicate matters,
Gavril soon discovers that he has inherited more than a bleak, poverty-stricken
northern state. The dynasty to which he is heir is founded upon possession
of (or, rather, by) a demonic force that will gradually devour his humanity
but which he must use if he is to avenge his father's murder and defend
his people against Tielen aggression.
The place names locate this novel rather too obviously in a mythical
analogue of Russia. That quibble aside, Ash develops her world with
loving attention to detail, building up a vivid picture of a late eighteenth
century or early nineteenth century Russia without the external threat
of Napoleon (we are told that Prince Eugene's father decisively defeated
Francia in a sea battle a generation earlier) but also without the internal
unifying force of a czar. The result is a collection of squabbling duchies
at various stages of modernization. In some senses Muscobar is the most
modern with the common people beginning to resent the aristocrats who
exploit them. At the other extreme, Azhkendir remains thoroughly feudal
much to the discomfort of Gavril who has been brought up in decadent
Smarna.
One of the strengths of Ash's writing is her characterization. Even
her minor characters feel like real people rather than stock figures.
You feel that their words and actions are driven by their various personalities
and situations rather than the demands of the story. As for the major
characters, they are in most cases complex figures with complex personalities
and motivations. Take, for example, Prince Eugene of Tielen. He could
so easily have been presented as the stock villain of the novel and
Ash makes no secret of his obsessive vision of a Rossiyan Empire reunited
under his leadership. However, she forces us to sympathize with him
by making him the viewpoint character at various points. Thus, in addition
to Eugene the ruthless expansionist we get to see him as Eugene the
loving father of sickly, crippled Karila. He is torn between the memory
of his dead wife and the political expediency of marriage to Astasia
Orlov. Perhaps most surprising is the barely suppressed homoeroticism
in his feelings for his young protégé Jaromir Arkhel,
the last survivor of a dynasty that once challenged Gavril's father
for the throne of Azhkendir.
Given the demonic aspect of Gavril's inheritance, it is no surprise
that the supernatural plays an important part in this novel. Ironically
Gavril initially denies the existence of magic and the supernatural
and only reluctantly comes to acknowledge the true nature of his inheritance.
Prince Eugene has no such doubts and makes full use of the skills of
his court alchemist to bolster his military advantage (for example,
turning condemned criminals into werewolves to be used as a kind of
commando force).
Magic of a different kind plays a crucial role in Gavril's struggle
with the demon he has inherited. As he settles into his new role as
ruler of Azhkendir, he befriends the serving girl Kiukiu. Like him,
she is an outsider. Although a faithful servant of the Nagarian line,
she is despised because her mother had been seduced by a follower of
the hated Arkhel clan. However, and again like Gavril, she has inherited
something more from her father. She discovers that she is a guslyar,
a 'ghost singer' with shamanistic powers -- powers that she uses to
aid Gavril.
The book is very well written and Ash brings it to as satisfying a
conclusion as is possible in the first volume of a trilogy. Naturally,
since it is a first volume, she has salted it with unanswered
questions to pique the reader's curiosity about what happens next. I
am certainly looking forward to the next stage in the larger story.
Review by Lawrence Osborn.
Elsewhere in infinity plus:
|
|
