Lynn Abbey

This is a re-read of a book read a long time ago, which I couldn't remember. It is the kind of thing I liked at the time - kick-ass woman warrior who also has healing and other powers and has an empathic bond with a horse - which has twin horns, just for variety. I wonder if the writer was influenced by Joy Chant's Grey Mane of Morning which also has horned horses and women warriors? Anyway, the character Rifkind is an anomaly in her desert home because she spurns the domestic way of life show more where the women are practically chattels, and fights to become a warrior and also to win her own war horse. This is all backstory that eventually emerges as the story starts quite grimly where Rifkind returns to her tribe's camp to find the whole tribe wiped out by the other tribes because their leader has broken the warrior code. She has been estranged from her father, the tribe's ruler, and her brother, because of her brother's hatred of her and his basic failure to match up to the warrior ideals - she is much better than him and he always bullied her and used treachery to get the better of her but she has fought through to become a warrior. Her father has become crippled in an accident but has not taken the honourable way out expected, leading to a power vacuum and the fortunes of tribe going severely downhill.

Due to the odds being stacked against her when her sword teacher is apparently murdered with impunity by her brother and his cronies, she was persuaded to leave by a woman healer who has spent four years training her before the story starts, and Rifkind is now sworn to the Bright Moon, one of the goddesses of her desert homeland. Due to the massacre of her people, Rifkind wanders into the Wet Lands where settled people live and worship different gods and soon comes into conflict with them, being viewed with suspicion as a desert tribeswoman (whom the Wet Landers view as enemies) and as a witch. The story tells of how she finds some limited acceptance in Glascardy, a mountainous country, and is used by the ruler, Lord Humphry, to go up against a sorceror who is working for the king. Rifkind goes along with it as the sorceror is an age-old enemy of her goddess who wants her to punish him although she realises that Humphry has his own agenda.

Rifkind is a prickly character, not always likeable, but the main issue with the book is that the prose is written in a very convoluted, 'kludgy' style. I wondered if this was deliberate, to create the effect of a viewpoint character who is from a very different culture, but from what is written elsewhere on the internet, it seems this was Abbey's first novel and she wouldn't have written it that way now. The style does get between the reader and the action, as it slows down what would otherwise be fast paced and exciting encounters between Rifkind and her horse Turin, and their various enemies.

I was also not convinced by the way that a couple of characters appeared to have a personality transformation, starting off as her loyal supporters and for no very good reason turning against her. The book ends as a civil war is erupting, with Lord Humphry trying to become king, and Rifkind going back to Glascardy with one of his sons, Ejord, who appears to be a romantic interest potentially, as she respects his courage, martial skill and ability to plan and strategise, which is an ability she doesn't have. However, this setup is not fulfilled in the second book, which does not deal with the war that was built up to by the first, rather oddly. show less

This short story collection has the following stories:
"Sentences of Death" by John Brunner;
"The Face of Chaos" by Lynn Abbey;
"The Gate of the Flying Knives" by Poul Anderson;
"Shadowspawn" by Andrew Offutt;
"The Price of Doing Business" by Robert Lynn Asprin;
"Blood Brothers" by Joe Haldeman;
"Myrtis" by Christine DeWees; and
"The Secret of the Blue Star" by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

There's also an essay about the creation of the book.

This collection is one that I had fond memories of. It was really show more the pioneering work for shared world building and eventually spawned a published RPG setting which I cheerfully used. Even my players loved playing in that world. Would the book hold up to my memories?

It did! Some stories I loved more than others. Poul Anderson, Andrew Offutt, Christine DeWees, and Marion Zimmer Bradley wrote my favorites. The setting was just as rich as I remembered with plenty of unsavory characters running around, along with some that have a touch of inner nobility.

The only downside is the scanning was less than perfect. Sometimes I struggled to decide what word they were aiming for. But this is a case where I am so glad to have the book again that I will overlook the ebook's flaws.

If you are a fan of fantasy short stories, this book should be on your "read now" list. If you are into RPGs, this book can fan the creative ideas you have. I highly recommend it. show less

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of historical accuracy that went into this book: everything from the embroidery on the garments to the bathing to the construction of a Saxon castle. The characters are flawed in ways that only someone who has written fearlessly for a while can describe them, and the insight into the many conflicts of this time is also good.

The action takes place in the winter of 1065, months before the Norman invasion of England. The rightful King lies dying without show more an heir, and his sons and daughters have made outlaws of one another. In Wessex, a landholder, his sister-in-law, his daughter, and his foster daughter live in relative safe comfort until the arrival of a wounded stranger makes real to them the outlaws living in the forest on the ridge. These same outlaws are the followers of one of the sons of King Edwards who are in exile from their Northumbrian lands, and they pillage and rape both homesteads and monasteries. The household and manor are saved, perhaps, by the Norman liege lord who brings both more swords but also a new way of life.

The conflicts are numerous during this time period, and perhaps that is why she chose a time just before 1066: the conflicts between the sisters fit in well with a household conflicted in its loyalties and the reality of inheritance, and the conflict between the old ways of the Goddess and the Christianity of the priests are also in good balance.

My one drawback to totally loving this book is the editorial one: sometimes the she" or the action is unclear in a paragraph, and I found myself more than once returning to re-read a page just to be clear on the actions or motivations it described." show less

My rating is so high because of how much this book scratched me in all the right places.

I do not recommend this book who is not deep into magic lore or who haven't read Brother's War first. You will likely find this book inferior compared to it, but as to me I could re-read it 1000 times.

Simply put if you want more insight on Urza, the Phyrexians and how they work, and more details about the Multiverse before The Mending, you must give this a shot. I couldn't put it down. I was with Xantcha, show more feeling every moment of panic, fear, curiosity, frustration, and awe.

Xantcha will forever be one of my favorite characters in magic who gets so little attention. Yes she is not everyone's cup of tea, but she was certainly mine. I forever wait the day she finally gets an official card (not just one with art of her) in a supplementary format. show less