Monday, March 23, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Ranger of Marzanna by Jon Skovron



Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on April 21, 2020 in exchange for a potential review.  I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

 The Ranger of Marzanna is the first in a new epic fantasy series from author Jon Skovron.  Skovron previously wrote the Empire of Storms trilogy, an incredibly fun series of pirates, biological magicians, and more, that was filled with fantastic characters and tremendous wit, even as the story sometimes moved into some incredibly dark areas.  I loved that series so much and would recommend it to almost anyone, so when I saw Skovron had a new book listed on Netgalley, I requested it immediately and hoped I'd get chosen for a review.

And well, The Ranger of Marzanna is a very different kind of book, significantly less into fun adventure and more into classical epic fantasy, with a powerful goddess, mages, empires, rangers, etc.  The book still features some strong characters, and more than a little element of wit, but whereas the Empire of Storms leaned towards comedy even in its darkness, this book definitely leans towards tragedy as events move on.  And while I can't put my finger on anything in particular I disliked, the book never quite grabbed me as much as I would have hoped.  So I may not be continuing with this series, even with all I did like.


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It has been years since the country of Izmoroz was conquered by the Aureumian Empire, and the Empire resorted to crushing Izmoroz's culture.  Sonya and Sebastian's parents come from a mixed marriage: their mother, an Izmoroz noble, their father an Aureumian soldier, who now wanted nothing to do with the military he once served.  But the two siblings couldn't be any less alike in other ways: Sonya, the elder, is well aware of what Izmoroz has lost under the Empire, while her brother Sebastian remains unconcerned and naive to it all, wishing only that his parents would let him more openly practice his strong powers of elemental magic.

But when Imperial soldiers come and kill their father while Sonya was away, they take Sebastian and his mother away to become drafted into Imperial service.  Guided by an ambitious Imperial officer, Sebastian finds himself using his power more and more for the sake of the Empire's agenda, using its destructive power more and more even as he wonders if what he's doing is right - with all the dead he leaves in his path.

Meanwhile, with her family gone, Sonya embarks on a different path entirely - for Sonya is the newest, and maybe the last, of the Rangers of Marzanna, the warriors devoted to the Izmoroz goddess of death, who provides those Rangers with power in exchange for sacrifices.  Using her power, and the help of a young foreign alchemist she journeys to find allies in a foreign enemy of the Empire, and will begin the course of events that will change not only the Empire, but the entire world....forever.  And at the heart of this conflict the siblings will reunite on opposite sides, as war returns to possibly take everything they each care about.
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The Ranger of Marzanna is the first in an epic fantasy series, and as such, the plot summary above, and nearly any plot summary that isn't pages long, omits a lot of significant parts of this book.  The story is told in third person, with each segment of the story told from the perspective of one of many different characters - not just Sebastian and Sonya, but we get parts from their mother Irina's perspective, parts from Sebastian's betrothed Galina (a major standout, see below), parts from young alchemist Jorge, and more.  This method of storytelling isn't just for show, as many of the less major characters have their own agendas going on behind the scenes, and the glimpses we get into their heads really makes it clear how much more is going on than just the coming conflict between Sonya and Sebastian.

And that's important because it really kept me from being too depressed to keep reading in this book (mainly) because the conflict between Sonya and Sebastian is seemingly inevitable from an early stage, and it's painful because both are strong characters that are easy to empathize with to some extent.  Sebastian is an incredibly sheltered boy who is utterly naive to the truth of the world and the conflict between the Empire and Izmoroz, who really just wants to get to use his magic, which makes him all the more easily manipulable by military minds who see his power as a devastating weapon to be used.  Skovron does a strong job of showing Sebastian change as a result from a boy burdened by his conscience to one more willing to rationalize things away, especially as those around him who should be teaching him otherwise are afraid to break him with the truth.  It's sometimes painful to read, as the reader wants him to shift his course in ways that he just can't picture.

Meanwhile Sonya isn't naive about the state of the world and the oppression that goes on, even if she's never truly been one of the common people who experience the brunt of it all.  Sonya is adventurous and risk taking, a wild spirit who may be a little jealous of the attention her parents showed her brother, but is devoted to her cause and her goddess, even as the goddess' service teaks away more and more of her humanity.  Yet while she's more aware of the world than her brother, she's arguably just as naive - to the dangers of forces outside the Empire and to her Goddess itself, as she takes more and more actions in the name of achieving freedom.  She's a fun character to read, and yet like her brother a little tragic as the reader can see disasters coming from her actions that she's blind to.

Still the highlight of this story is neither of its two most significant characters, but one of the side characters, the young noble Izmoroz woman Galina, who Sebastian falls in love with.  The book presents at first as a bookish shy girl who Sebastian's (another lover of books) and her mother see as kindred spirits, and you think she might be a simple love interest.  But she's so much more - a young woman raised by her father to know the atrocities committed by the Empire and is trying to work through her contacts to undermine the Empire subtly so that Izmoroz can regain its independence.  And she marries Sebastian not just because she has feelings for him, but because she can see him being manipulated by his commanders and believes she can guide him herself to a more righteous path of rebellion.  Like some of the above characters, she's definitely naive to class issues and to what it may take to achieve or goals, and how it might be necessary to hurt Sebastian to do it, making her storyline both riveting and tragic, and easily the character I wanted to see the most of by the middle of the book.  The rest of the side characters - particularly Jorge - are also good, but Galina is just brilliant.

All of these characters, and the setting, work as part of an epic fantasy world with some serious themes - Empire/Imperialism/Colonization and the eradication of culture as a means of oppression, class struggles of the poor vs the nobility, and more.  But the plot is a bit more interested in its fantasy elements and major conflicts than in exploring these themes for the most part.  It works mind you, and the plot's swerves are done in a way sometimes surprised me and sometimes didn't, but always felt set-up well and not out of thin air.  If I have a major complaint, it's that the narrative very much feels like bad things are going to happen to one or all of the characters as they begin to collide, making it so that I had to push myself to keep going at times as it felt like the tragic moments were closing in.  The plot contains moments of fun dialogue reminiscent of the Empire of Storms trilogy and is never boring but for whatever reason - its tragic nature or something else - it just didn't draw me in as much as I'd hoped.

So I'm not sure I'll be continuing with the second book when it comes out, we'll see - if I do, I may give it a short leash, because while there's a lot of great characters with great potential here, I'd like to see some more hopefulness in it all.....or something to make me more drawn in. 
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