Monday, November 11, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham




A Shadow in Summer is the first in Daniel Abraham's fantasy series, The Long Price Quartet.  I've never actually read anything by Abraham - nor have I read anything previously by Abraham and his various co-authors (for those unaware, Abraham is one half of James S.A. Corey, the pseudonym author of The Expanse books).  This is actually the first published book I see of Abraham's (it's possible wikipedia is incomplete) but it very much doesn't read like a debut work, setting up a complex world clearly based on a mixture of real life cultures, and following a number of characters with intersecting plot arcs.

The result is....pretty good, although very hard to describe.  Essentially the book combines the style of a Fantasy of Manners with the typical styles of Epic Fantasy - the book contains magic and a setting befitting that of epic fantasy, but takes place for the most part within a single city, with a plot based upon the characters maneuvering via diplomacy, political and personal gambits, and growing and breaking relationships.  As with much of the "Fantasy of Manners" genre (think Swordspoint), it's very much a slow burn of a book, but it pays off with excellent characters and a plot that had me on my seat waiting to see how things would play out.

Trigger Warning:  Forced Abortion (Magical).  A major part of the story involves a plot to trick a mage into using his power to abort a baby that is actually wanted by the mother.  The actual event happens off-page, but it does happen, and some readers may be turned off by the use of this plot mechanic in this way.

Note: I read this as an audiobook, and the reader is very good, even managing to hide a twist with creative use of voices, so I'd definitely recommend it in this format.  
------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------------------------
The Khaiate. a series of self-governed cities that are the remains of a once great Empire, remains in prominence due to the use of Andat - captive spirits based upon concepts given form by "Poets' - whose great powers can give the cities both protection and power.  Unwanted sons of the rulers of these cities, the Khais, are exiled to the Poets' school to be tested and to possibly learn how to become poets themselves who can continue this generational control of the Andat.  Otah Machi was one such unwanted son, who found himself passing the tests of the school....only to choose to follow another path..........

Years later, a young new poet, Maati Vaupathi, comes to the city of Saraykeht to learn how to control the Andat "Seedless" from the city's poet, Heshai.  But what Maati finds isn't anything like he expected: with Seedless and Heshai being at each other's throats and neither of them any sort of reliable teacher for the task Maati has been set to learn.  And even worse - the overseas Empire of Galt, which has conquered the other lands without an Andat to protect them, is conspiring on a plot to destroy the Poet and eliminate the Andat.  Soon Saraykeht will be on a knife's edge, and Maati, along with a few others - the overseer of the Galtic merchant house, her apprentice overseer, and a laborer with a hidden past - will soon find themselves playing a role in deciding the city's destiny...............
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The plot summary above is very different from the one on websites and the like - that plot summary is partially accurate yes, but also includes a big spoiler and I'd rather try to avoid that spoiler if I could since I don't think it's necessary to do so.  Which is not to say my above plot summary isn't also only "Partially Accurate" - it's totally incomplete, because there's no way to really establish this book's plot without using up way more space than a summary should, and because there's so much going on in this book that it'll wind up confusing more than enticing any potential readers.  It's not an uncommon situation with reviewing books in the "Fantasy of Manners" genre, in that the books, such as this one, often follow a number of characters whose stories run in parallel and sometimes intersect in ways to progress the overall plot forward - which essentially means there are multiple plots going on at once, in addition to the main one.  A Shadow in Summer, which isn't quite a perfect fit with this subgenre mind you, is no different.

In essence this is a character-focused fantasy in which a number of characters are each trying to figure out what they should do and what they can do in this troubled time.  For Maati, that is first trying to get his poet master Heshai to teach him, and then trying to deal with the after-effects of the tragedy that shakes the city and the resulting relationships he forms - which come with their own potential dangers.  For Amat Kyaan, an overseen with the Galtic house, it first is trying to survive the conspiracy her friend and boss has gotten involved with and then morphs into trying to determine what is the right thing to do with her knowledge of the truth behind what comes of the conspiracy.  For laborer Itani Noygu it first is supporting his lover Liat - Amat's apprentice - as she is given her first real responsibilities and then supporting both her and Maati as they stumble after the conspiracy unravels.  And for Otah Machi, it's a story about searching for a path in life in which inflicting pain is not necessary to draw out kindness.  And so on.

The result is a character focused story, in which the relationships between characters - between Otah and Maati, between Liat and the three others, between Amat and her boss and others she meets - are what forms the heart of the story.  That's why I lump this story in with the "Fantasy of Manners' genre - while the prospect of an invading army and genocidal magic are always on the horizon, it's really a story about these characters struggling with the duties their roles and relationships give them and how to try and act in ways to fulfill those roles as things get far out of hands, and those relationships begin to fray.  It's a story about politics and negotiating more than any sort of fighting, and most scheming is done via elaborate conspiracies and tricks rather than through knives in the dark.

Making this work is the really strong setting set up by Abraham.  The Khaiate uses a bimodal form of communication: people not only speak via verbal language, but also by using their bodies - in particular their hands - to communicate feelings through different forms.  These forms of communication are used simultaneously by everyone and add a ton of nuance, with characters sometimes only being aware of the nuances and hidden messages others are conveying, and it's a fascinating way to add depth to the relationships and actions I mention above.  This is to say nothing of the honorifics used in both verbal and form speech, which will remind readers of those used in some Asian languages.  And then there's a country which has prospered not through technological development - hinted at being real in the Empire of Galt - but through the use of an all powerful magic spirit, one which might not be happy with how it's used.  It's a really great setting for the action and characters to play out.

Which is not to say it all works.  If I have a major complaint, it's that the book seems at times like it can't decide how effective brute force is as a method for action in this world - for example, in a significant portion of the book a character is on the run from hunters trying to kill her, and after that sequence, she's still just as annoying to her enemies but they act like they can't possibly use any sort of lethal force against her.  It's just weird therefore how sometimes the threat is elaborate conspiracies, as if simple means to an end like assassination are out of the picture impossible, and other time those things are very real - and that becomes very noticeable by the end.

Still, the characters and their relationships are fantastic, and it really makes the whole story truly tremendous by its own end, which certainly lands with a - well, not a bang per se, but something pretty close.  By the ending I truly cared about each of the main characters and wanted the best for all of them, and that's perhaps one of the greatest complements I could give a book.
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