John Brown (3) (1966–)

I really enjoyed Servant of a Dark God, by John Brown, more and more the further I got into the tale. At first, it was somewhat confusing trying to distinguish the different Mokadian Clans and where the Koramites fit into all this, since it was obvious they were second class citizens. And the fact that some people were allowed to use weaves while others weren't took a little while to get completely straight. But then again, who wants a simple story when Brown gave us something different and show more more complex? Being a fan of the Dune, Hyperion, and Song of Ice and Fire universes, I like complex, complicated storylines. It just took me a little while to get things figured out. For example, The Briar King, a thick book with three sequels, was something I was able to follow from the get-go; the same with The Dragonbone Chair. But aside from that, I really liked where this book went, and see great potential for this universe. show less

A historical fiction story with a dash of fantasy; a Dutch trapper gets a Native American tattoo designed to make him more attractive to women, but will it work on the one woman he really wants? I liked this story quite a bit; the historical setting was nicely done, although I wish the fantasy element had been a little stronger.

Servant of a Dark God
By John Brown
(Publisher TOR, Tom Doherty Associates, New York)
Advance Uncorrected Proof

Review by Debra Louise Scott

I began reading the first few pages with a sigh. Great. Another pseudo-medieval-fantasy-society with a cutesy sibling rivalry opening. I’m a big sci-fi/fantasy buff, but I get frustrated with repetitive scenarios. By the second chapter the characters had caught my interest. The third chapter compelled me to keep reading as it became clear this dealt with show more issues that are near and dear to my own heart.

Once it gets going, the story weaves an intriguing and multi-faceted parable. Prejudices, suspicions, stereotypes, mythologies, and secret societies weave in and out of each other. The ruling class infers upon itself deity status and tyranny with the acquiescence of the country. Unusual disappearances incite a resurgence of suspicion on the existence of a secret society credited with all manner of inhumane, depraved and supernatural practices. An inquisition begins as suspects are rounded up with little to convict them but rumor. No one thinks of the possibility that something else, even darker, may be at large.

I found the developments chilling, as I realized how closely they resembled periods of our own history, when neighbor turned against neighbor because a cow stopped giving milk, or because on old woman developed a wart on her nose. A time when town politicians could implicate their opponents and detractors and send them to the burning stake. A time when someone you grew up with would no longer talk to you, because it might put their own family in danger. A time when it wasn’t safe to disagree and very dangerous to be different.

Interwoven with the hysteria that ensues is a mythological tale that unfolds in diabolically small pieces, unseen by a village too wrapped up in blaming each other to recognize the larger picture. What if the myths were true?

Somewhere towards the end of the book, I could no longer put it down, and found it haunting my dreams. I encourage you to wade through the opening and enjoy discovering, then rediscovering the characters as little by little they reveal and redefine themselves.

(By the way, I’m glad my advance proof didn’t have any cover art. Had I received it with the current artwork I would rejected it. ) show less

Disclaimer: I received this book via the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.

John Brown's Servant of a Dark God is a debut fantasy novel that spoils some of its very good elements with some frankly clumsy mistakes and misccues.

The fantasy world Brown posits a hierarchy of magical beings of which mankind sits at the bottom (although there are Gnostic hints this was once not the case) Magical power and talent is tightly and strictly controlled, and those who dare to use such magic are show more accused of "Slethery", that is to say, witchcraft. And yet there are those who practice and cultivate such arts in secret, both human and inhuman.

Servant of a Dark God focuses on a family in a land recently conquered by overseas invaders, and the dynamics of the rights of the overlord conquerors versus the native population adds to the complexity and depth of the world Brown has created. Characters have confused, divided and conflicting loyalties that shows a depth that many writers with far more experience than Brown never learn or bother to give to their characters and worlds. The magic and arcane aspects of the universe are a bit of a "jump in the deep end", but Brown's ideas are fresh and relatively unique and I liked learning more and more about how it actually worked.

Also, unlike the usual epic fantasy, this novel stays within and provides detail for a relatively narrow geographic area. There was no 1000 mile walks across the countryside. This is a local story, which is a nice change of pace from the usual novels of this type.

I would have highly enjoyed this novel, with all of these interesting elements, except for two major missteps.

First of all, the main character, Talen, was not one drawn well enough to be engaging and interesting enough for my taste. Brown manages to characterize and develop the secondary characters in a much better fashion than Talen, but since this is Talen's story, he gets the lion's share of the action and story. Worse, his story takes far too long to develop. It was a rough slog in the first third of the book, when one of the major mysteries of the novel was who stole Talen's work pants. I stuck it out, and matters improved, but my taste for Talen as a character was permanently ruined by a very weak opening.

Second, Brown is a little too complex and clever for his own good. The obfuscation in the novel can be thick and heavy, and while any writer must balance infodump with telling the reader nothing, I think Brown withheld too much information at certain points, to the determent of the narrative. While puzzling out some of this was a positive to reading the novel, in some cases, it only served as a millstone to the reader.

This book very nearly failed the "100 page test." By contrast, the last 100 pages of the novel were very good.

Overall, though, like some of the best from Sanderson, or Drake, the fantasy here is not of the cookie-cutter epic fantasy type that is eptiomized in the Tough Guide to Fantasyland. I am unsure if I want to continue with subsequent novels in the series, due to not warming up to Talen as a character, but I think I would be inclined to read other novels by this author otherwise in the future. show less