I read a lot, and I noticed that I used to post quite a bit here about stuff I’d been reading, but hadn’t done too much of that lately. In an effort to get back to doing that, I’m going to try to post at least monthly a bit about what I’ve been reading lately.
Drakas! edited by S.M. Stirling
So a thought came to me; suppose everything had turned out as badly as possible, these last few centuries. Great changes make possible great good and great evil. The outpouring of the Europeans produced plenty of both.
That’s a synopsis, in the author’s own words, of the broad concept behind the Draka alternate-history novels of S.M. Stirling. The result is a grim world indeed; one where the South Atlantic slave and plantation system takes firm root rather than eventually being eradicated. The world of the Domination of the Draka is one that would make South African apartheid seem gentle, and the horror that emerges when this culture of dominance meets up with modern technologies like genetic engineering frankly has given me nightmares. I’ve always been a sucker for alternate-history novels, but Stirling concocts a timeline so loathsome it nearly made me swear off the genre.
Stirling’s original Draka novels (Marching Through Georgia, Under the Yoke, and Stone Dogs, now only available as an omnibus volume titled The Domination) are not for the easily offended or the squeamish, and Drakas! isn’t either. What is different, however, is that this volume is an anthology of short stories written by other people, but set in Stirling’s universe. We get to see how others interpret Stirling’s vision of a world gone horribly wrong, and in some unusual ways, times, and places. Stirling’s original alternate history spans about three centuries, and these contributing authors make use of that entire sweep of time. As a result, we encounter familiar historical figures like George Armstrong Custer, Charles George Gordon, and even a young Yamamoto in scenarios that never happened (Custer being killed on an expedition against the Kalahari Bushmen, for example), but are a fascinating read if you’re a history buff.
For the most part, these authors that Stirling has let play in his universe, ranging from well-known alternate-historian Harry Turtledove to virtually unknown first-time authors, do a good job of filling out and furthering the story Stirling has told. A couple of the stories drag a bit, or seem a bit too self-obsessed to fit the mood of the series, but others, like The Last Word by Turtledove effectively convey the bitter hopelessness of life in a world run by the Draka as well as the heights people can rise to in the face of despair and evil.
All-in-all, if you’re a fan of the Draka novels, Drakas! is a nice read, particularly as some of the last stories fill in some missing details and hold out a ray of hope for the future of humanity in Stirling’s universe. If you haven’t read any of the previous works, however, I wouldn’t recommend you start here; a lot of it won’t make sense, and you’ll probably miss the entire point of what Stirling is saying and just end up offended. These novels are not “politically correct” in any way, shape, or form, and Stirling is intentionally trying to make the reader uncomfortable. I know reading them makes me uncomfortable, but it’s a discomfort of the same variety found in Orwell’s 1984 or Huxley’s Brave New World. The truth is that for most of history, large parts of the world were as bad as the Domination, and many still are. The extrapolation of just how far the memes of dominance and subjugation that are part of many cultures could have gone should make us uncomfortable, but it should also serve as a reminder to us to be ever vigilant against these attitudes.
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
From the time that I first read Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia in 6th grade up until a few years ago, I used to read a lot of fantasy in addition to a steady diet of SF. Unfortunately, a few years ago I began to feel that most modern fantasy had become formulaic, derivative, and uninspired, and with the exception of occasional work by C.J. Cherryh and Glen Cook, I gave up on it. After all, “brave band of hopelessly outmached heroes, complete with requisite elf, dwarf, and halfling characters defeats aptly named Evil Tyrant” just gets old after a bit. Tolkien did it well, now it’s time to move on, alright? I was also disturbed that I could never really figure out what was supposed to be so evil about the evil tyrants, either, very seldom were particularly evil things described in any specifics. Mostly, they seemed to be determined to establish some sort of strong central government; something most fantasy worlds appear to need given the frequency of unattended monsters and roving bandit gangs encountered throughout the landscape.
So, when I saw SFBC introducing A Game of Thrones, the first volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, I turned my nose up at it and ignored it for over a year. I figured that George R.R. Martin, an author I’d always enjoyed, was just trying to cash in on the literary trend engendered by Robert Jordan’s hideous Wheel of Time saga.
While I’m certain Mr. Martin has no objections to the money being brought in by this trio of now best-selling novels, I was completely wrong about their quality. A few weeks ago I ran across A Storm of Swords, the latest installment in the local Borders, and after reading the dust jacket, was intrigued enough to pick up the first two volumes in paperback. I’m incredibly glad I did.
A Song of Ice and Fire is, at the simplest level, a story of a dynastic war in a late-Middle Ages kingdom. Properly told, that could be an interesting story, but Martin goes way beyond this simple level, and avoids most of the standard fantasy cliches along the way. Non-human races do appear, but they do so rarely and not in any of the “standard ways.” Magic is rare, and generally not believed in by the aristocracy and educated classes at all, at least not until it begins to intrude on their affairs. Martin even manages to include that old fantasy staple, dragons, in a refreshingly new manner. Moreover, as is so often the case in the “real world,” it isn’t always possible to easily label one side good or evil; it generally depends on your point of view.
All of that though, doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of what makes these books so good. The real key is Martin’s excellent characterization and plotting, both of which are far beyond that of the typical fantasy novel. Each chapter in the novels is told from the point of view of one of the main characters, and there are a lot of main characters. We’re talking Russian novel cast of characters here, and nearly all of them are well-developed, well-rounded characterizations that succeed at seeming like “real” people. This makes for a compelling, non-linear storyline that allows the reader to see the central conflict from multiple angles. Other authors, like Glen Cook, have taken a stab at this approach, but none carry it off nearly as well as Martin does, who avoids the trap of endlessly rehashing the same events just to show them from different perspectives. Martin also manages to fill the reader with the impressions of the current character so well that I’ve been repeatedly surprised as I found I had developed one impression of an off-stage character based on the current point of view, only to have that impression dramatically change as I read a chapter from a different character’s point of view. In short, Martin has captured the depth and complexity of the impressions and relationships between people who share a common experience but are in conflict, and as a result, his characters and his world seem very, very real.
On top of this rich characterization is a plotline of sweeping depth and complexity. There is a huge story here. Unlike a lot of fantasy, where the essential plot points are revealed within the first few pages and the remainder of the story concerns the efforts of the characters to resolve them, after over 2000 pages of A Song of Ice and Fire Martin is still spinning out the plot! I’ve read all three of the existing volumes, and so far, I honestly am not all that certain of what the resolution will be. Martin certainly can’t be accused of being formulaic and predictable!
If Martin can resist the temptation to spin this out for nine or ten volumes, A Song of Ice and Fire will become a true classic of the genre, something for other authors to measure their work against, and fans will continue to discuss for years. This is a grand story and a fascinating read; it’s clear that Martin has managed to synthesize his novel writing talents with what he learned as a television writer and serve the whole thing up as an incredibly compelling tale. I’m enjoying this story so much that I became very frustrated after I’d finished the last page of the third volume, and nothing else in my library appealed to me as fodder for my reading habit. I want to read more, now, and that’s rare for me, particularly after a couple of thousand pages. I need to know how this ends, and I think nearly anyone who enjoys a really compelling story, whether they’re normally a fantasy fan or not, will feel the same way. A Song of Ice and Fire is just that good.
