Maia

Marred by disturbing and unnecessarily pervy sex scenes featuring a 15 year old girl, who is abused by her step-father and then sold into slavery to become firstly a 'bed slave' who is raped over and over again and then a courtesan. (Reminder: enslaved people cannot give consent due to the very nature of slavery). The 80s were clearly a different time; this would not have been published mainstream today.

Adams is, without doubt, a superb writer. Maia is engrossing, its characters are fleshy, real--easy to lose yourself in. When I first read this book, in my youth, I would have given it 5 stars.

But in looking back, I realize that Maia (at 15) loved jumping in and out of bed with middle aged men. In fact, all of the women in this book are stereotypes of one sort or another. The only strong woman who isn't a psychopath is Black and bisexual! In addition, women who seek to control their own sexuality are demonized and, ultimately, destroyed.

Actually, if the female characters had been portrayed more realistically, Maia would be a masterpiece, for Adams is a masterful storyteller.

I have just finished a re-read thirty years after my initial reading. The story is just as good as it was then.

The fantasy element in this book is quite low: the Beklan Empire is a creation of Richard Adams and there are place names to learn as well as words that are specifically Beklan but nothing too challenging. The element of magic is kept to a minimum and mostly related to the gods and goddesses in the storyline. Many of the cultural customs, the economy and warfare are all similar to those seen in medieval societies.

As a main character, Maia is likable, good-natured, adaptable, honest, brave and good-hearted. . She overcomes adversity and remains true to herself. The supporting characters are just as strong. Occula is the best show more friend any girl could ever have! Her mental strength and incredible fortitude are absolutely inspiring. There are other great characters in the book including: an elderly healer full of good advice, a sweet courtesan, a canny peddler, a rebel nobleman full of witty words and pithy insight, an endearing bodyguard and a charismatic aged virtuoso musician. The villains are all quite villainous; but none rival Queen Fornis.

This book is huge but the story flows beautifully; Adam's prose and story telling ability are impressive and a treat to read. The storyline is complex and many events have far reaching affects; everything in this book happens for a reason, as the reader discovers during this epic journey with Maia: there are no coincidences.

Highly recommended. Plenty of triggers for sensitive types who should probably avoid books like this......

Also, there are some themes in this book that seem........familiar to me now.........an aging, vicious, evil queen who will stop at nothing to attain power........the daughter of a murdered man seeking revenge on those who betrayed and killed him.........a big, ferocious nobleman with half his face covered in scars......... the daughter of a dead and disgraced lord held captive in the capital and used as a political pawn.......seven gods.......slave wars.......

After reading this I think about how different the Beklan Empire would have been with the introduction of one common mammal........the horse. For me, that was the single most unwelcome aspect; a world without horses is a bleak world and not the sort of place I would want to live. I digress; don't let horselessness prevent you from reading this wonderful book show less

Occasionally tedious but still a fantastic adventure with some memorable characters.

When I was in high school, I went to school in the U.S., but my family lived in Africa. On school breaks I would fly home to see them, a trip that usually comprised of 20+ hours in the air, plus a layover in at least one (usually European) airport. One time, rather than take several books with me, I walked into a bookstore and found the first really thick book in the fantasy section. This was the result.

Maia is at its core a relatively standard fantasy story about a fictional kingdom surrounded by enemies and the political intrigue that results. However, it is told from the perspective of a naive, beautiful young girl sold into slavery by her mother and turned into a high-class prostitute, which makes it somewhat unique. I'm not sure if show more the uniqueness is worth it though - Maia seems to enjoy her sexual slavery a little too much, too many men seem to simply lose their brains when staring at her assets (of course some would, but everyone seems to fall in love with her almost immediately), and the love story that results in her happy ending seems almost tacked on at best. The alleged plot, which takes hundreds of pages to get to, seems almost like an afterthought added in between depictions of Maia's wide-eyed wonderment at the glories of how good slave-hooker sex is.

With a much better editor, this book could have been cut down by several hundred pages and might have been considered a top quality piece of fantasy. As it is, however, it never rises above the merely average. show less

This is a prequel to Shardik, a good book about God. More conventionally focussed, this is a story about a courtesan who saves the Belkan Empire. I enjoyed the style and many of the POV characters would have a very hard time fitting into a role-playing game. On the whole reread material.

This book has been one of my favorites since I was a teenager. I feel that Richard Adams does a wonderful job of describing Maia's world with such detail that you are truly there. Maia is a true heroine who saved the realm even though she really was just a very young and naive peasant girl. Yes it seems that she takes pleasure during her slavery (as I read in another review) but what's wrong with that? The broader picture is that this girl was thrown into a world of politics and intrigue that she couldn't even begin to understand and in the end she found love and saved the realm. Doesn't get much better than that! ;)