Southern Fire

http://nhw.livejournal.com/703766.html

The first of the second series of fantasy novels by McKenna, set in the same world as the first series but in a different part of it, among the lascivious island race visited briefly in a previous book. I said in a previous review that I would have liked to have heard more about these people; well, you should be careful what you wish for, because you may get it - I found the first third of the book awfully slow going as we learnt loads and loads about the Aldabreshin culture, a worthy attempt to create a fictional society which practices polygamy but where women are nonetheless pretty emancipated. Fortunately it really picks up after a bit and I found it impossible to put down once I had reached show more roughly page 200, when our lead character puts his heritage aside and sets off on a quest for knowledge which may save the archipelago at the cost of his life (or his lands and family at the least). Also McKenna pulls off the impressive feat of describing the climactic showdown between good wizard and evil wizard twice - once in anticipation and the second time for real - and making it work both times. show less

New to McKenna's work I was pleasantly surprised to discover a tight fantasy read, with great fleshed out characters, including a heroic leader and a likeable anti-hero. In epic style, there is a kingdom faced with unknown peril from foreign lands, and McKenna balances character development, action and mystery in excellent style. The setting of warlords ruling archipelagos is fresh and although the central plot is self-contained within this book, there are clearly strands which will propel readers in to future episodes. Impressive and original, Southern Fire is the start of a series in which any fantasy fan can easily become involved in.

McKenna continues to amaze with her worldbuilding. In Book One of the Aldabreshin Compass she posits a society that rejects magic as an unacceptable interference with the natural order, unlike the mainlanders just to the north, who embrace magic and use it as a natural resource. The contrast is instructive to the hero, a local warlord. When faced with an incursion by apparently insane strangers who associate with dragons, he must find a way to save his realm, balance his disgust of magic, overcome a whole variety of obstacles, and, of course, get the woman. McKenna is an author with legs.

Although this is the first book in a series, it's apparently set in the same world (just a different part of it) as her previous series. Not sure how much background I lost for not having read any of the previous books - this is the first book by McKenna I've read.

It introduces a tribal, island-based culture where life is lived by portents and omens, but magic is despised and feared. When a neighboring tribe is decimated by mysterious, magic-wielding invaders from the south, the warlord Kheda fakes his own death and goes on a quest to the north, because it is rumored that the peoples to the north know how to fight magic. But if word gets out that Kheda has even investigated magic, he could be considered 'tainted' by it...

I like how show more McKenna sets up a convincingly foreign culture, with its own sets of rules and taboos, and portrays people from that culture on their own terms. However, especially at the beginning, it felt like there was a bit too much 'setting the scene' and not enough story. Kheda, who's the main character, never really intrigued me. When Dev (a self-centered, amoral, renegade(?) wizard from the north) suddenly appeared, his chapters were instantly more compelling. I wanted to know more about his background! Kheda just seemed kind of boring in comparison.

The writing here was pretty good; I'd read more from this author, but I'm not feeling compelled to go order more books in the series right now... show less

I really did want to really love this rather than just like it because Juliet E McKenna is a great speaker and an interesting person. It took me quite a while to get into this and found the story interesting.
In a country where magic is punished and magic users killed they suddenly find that they need magic to defeat a powerful other culture that is using magic. The leader of the country has to explore magic to see about defeating the enemies of his countries. Among the problems he has is that he feels that he's putting his soul and his connection with his gods in danger.
Interesting but just not me.

Please read my review here: http://realbooks4ever.tumblr.com/post/64001976001

Please read my review here: http://realbooks4ever.tumblr.com/post/64001976001