Through a Compound Eye, Darkly

[bibliogramma]

Karin Lowachee:
Warchild
Burndive
Cagebird

Let me say this right now and get it out of my system: Karin Lowachee is an innovative, powerful and sometimes brilliant writer. With these three books, she has achieved something that goes well beyond being entertaining and thought-provoking. She has pushed the structure of the “novel series” in a fashion reminiscent of Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet, and in the process given her readers a multifaceted view of the alienating, dislocating, damaging effects of war, political and media corruption, profiteering and privateering on society in general, with specific and profound focus on what happens to children trying to survive in the middle of all of this, at the mercy of adults who see them, in various ways, as commodities and means to an end that may serve the adults interest, but rarely those of the child.

Each book is complete in itself, although all three books are strongly paralleled in terms of their overall story arcs and the paths of their characters. Each novel deals with the personal journey of a child or adolescent, deeply injured by the impact on their lives of war between two space-faring cultures. The three protagonists - Jos Musey (Warchild), Ryan Azarcon (Burndive) and Yuri Kirov (Cagebird) – must find their paths through loss, terror, violence, and exploitation toward a place of relative security where they may have a chance to restore their damaged sense of self. Each book stands alone as a solid character-driven coming-of-age action adventure with a strong undercurrent of social and political analysis – never didactic, never polemic, but always connecting the self-interested actions and delusions of those in power to their ultimate impacts on the lives of “ordinary” people.

At the same time, each novel covers essentially the same time period and brings its lead character to the same point in time and space, providing different perspectives on the events that lead to one critical point where the possibilities of war and peace are in the balance, and multiple insights into the characters involved in this decision-point. Lowachee uses her parallel lenses to present, through the stories of her protagonists, a perspective on the persistence of violence, exploitation and salvation across successive generations. There is nothing new in the horrors of war and child exploitation; violence begets and breeds violence, a point driven home by the complex variations on the relationships of father/son, master/slave, teacher/initiate, captain/crew, sponsor/protégé which bind so many of the pivotal characters together.

While each book is a fully satisfying experience in terms of the growth of its main character, the gestalt formed by the three books remains incomplete, and, to this reader’s eyes, lacking in a certain balance of perspectives. Although Lowachee’s next novel is reportedly not connected to these three, it is my belief – and fervent hope - that the author intends further volumes in this “series,” both to complete the set of perspectives leading to the crisis point and, to follow the key characters – which include but are not limited to the protagonists of the first three books – through the critical events that have drawn them all together, to a conclusion of the arc that lies beneath each protagonist’s story, the direction of the long war and the evolving relationship of the two peoples, human and striviirc-na, who have fought it.

And while I wait, I’ll be reading anything else Lowachee writes, because she’s a damned good storyteller.

Comments

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

From what I understand, I think she has eight books (total or more, I can't remember) in mind for the Warchild Universe, but that she's needed a break.

She does very, very, VERY good work. I'm thrilled to have found it, and glad to see other people reading it too. :)

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

I just knew there had to be more - her overall structure demands it. I can certainly understand why she would need a break - these books are intense - but I am so eager to see the whole tapestry.

If I remember correctly, it was one of your reviews that sparked my curiosity about these books, so I owe you. Thanks.

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

No kidding about the intensity. But I love how absorbed I get into these books. I'm with you: I'll read anything she writes! :)

And you're welcome! Yes, I've bragged about these books shamelessly in my LJ. :)

[battle-of-one.livejournal.com]

When I read things like this, it restores my faith in myself that PEOPLE GET IT. What I was trying to do. It's hard to tell sometimes. :)

And basically? I would write the books if more people would buy them. That's what it comes down to.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

I sincerely hope that a lot more people get it, because it's an important message and you communicate it extremely well. But you knew I thought that already, didn't you? ;-)

I'm very glad you wrote these, and I hope that you'll have the opportunity to finish your plans for this universe. And I'm eager to see what other universes you create and what happens there, too. The storyteller's blessing and curse - an expectant fan.