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Loading... Wisdom of the Foxby Harry Turtledove
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Belongs to SeriesElabon (Omnibus 1-2) Contains
THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T BE KING All Gerin the Fox ever wanted to do was go down to the City of Elabon and study. Life made other plans. When the barbarous Trokmoi killed his father and older brother, he became Baron of Fox Keep, warring against not only the Trokmoi and their fearsome evil wizard but also against the Empire of Elabon, which was happier collecting tribute than giving anything back for it -- such as soldiers or chariots. Then all four moons went full at once, and Gerin's life got really complicated. And after that, there were such small details as his son getting kidnapped, earthquakes, bad omens, a threatened war with his neighbors, and an even more threatening eruption of monsters from deep underground. Gerin kept trying to hang on to such civilization as was left in his own little corner of the world. Everything would have been a lot simpler if most of his neighbors -- and an irate god or two -- hadn't wanted to do him in. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.46)
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Wikipedia in English
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I think this is one of Turtledove's better works, consisting of two stories, published together, each one describing a more threatening danger. At least this fantasy of medieval human life on an Earth with several moons and magic and annoying minor gods is internally consistent. Additionally it's filled with delightful details that fill in the cracks in the lives that are battling powers that might otherwise dominate our attention and leave us with vague caricatures of humans. Without dwelling on these tidbits HT gives us glimpses of the small interactions between nobles and serfs and other characters that flow through the story--tidbits that have nothing to do with the main plot line but serve to flesh out the humanity of protagonist and potential antagonists alike. The story is not a MUST read; it does not grab your attention from first to last. But it does paint a convincing picture of a particular human world, and how it functions on a humane level, under different rules than our own.
The basic concept is standard: the protagonist that doesn't want to rule--but has no choice--has to navigate the politics of a "might makes right" world while dealing with challenges that have the potential to destroy...at least HIS little section of the world. And of course he succeeds. The entertainment lies in the exposition of the rules of this world in the solving of the many problems. I give it a solid 4 stars for being a well-written solid story.
As an aside I want to note that Baen made a mistake: the cover illustration by Bob Eggleton has nothing to do with the story in any manner at all. It's a nice picture, but is a sure source of confusion. (