The Dragons of Vensunor

Earlier this year I read a rather interesting fantasy trilogy by Carol Heller; collectively known as the Shunlar Chronicles, the three volumes in the series are:

The Gates of Vensunor (1997)
The Sands of Kalaven (1998)
The Stones of Stiga (1999)

While it's true that this trilogy has all of the elements of the standard sword-and-sorcery fantasy, starting with the unparalleled warrior with an unknown past, a heroic quest, a star-crossed love story, a curious connection to dragons, and a great destiny, and going on from there, it's still a good read, rather better than most. What makes it interesting is that the author has put those standard elements together in some unusual ways, and has put her very own twist on others. Her dragons, in particular (and I have a fetish for dragons) are definiely not run-of-the-mill dragons.

The trilogy follows the paths of several people - not all of them human, but all of them ultimately connected to each other, often in unexpected ways - with the main hero being Shunlar, a skilled warrior who speaks with the dragons that everyone else around her believe to be long-vanished, and seems to share in some of their magic. Shunlar's quest involves more transformations than she - or the reader - can at first imagine, and there are secrets - some ancient, some more recent - that Shunlar must uncover, and the that reader will find satisfyingly answered. As well, Heller displays a certain gift for creating well-realised characters and cultures.

All in all, a satisfying read. I'm sorry that Heller appears not to have written anything else since the completion of the Shunlar Chronicles, becasue I'd like to read more of her work.

The decline and fall of Honor Harrington

Sometimes a series gets better as it goes along; something it stays at the same level, be that good, middling or bad. And sometimes a series just seems to go into a slow freefall, dragging out its characters and ideas - originally fresh and interesting - into interminable and inevitably repetitious sequences of poorly written dreck.

And so I come to talk - at least tangentially - about the 11th Honor Harrington novel by David Weber - At All Costs.

Just so you understand, I loved On Basilisk Station, the novel that introduced Honor Harrington. I deeply enjoyed the next few books in the series. But then I started getting blurry-eyed over the technobabble and innumerable weapons upgrades and the endlessly repetitive battle sequences:

Havenite with name ripped off from the French Revolution: Release the ::weapons technobabble::

Aspiring young Manticorean officer on deck: Look, the Havenites have released their new ::weapons technobabble:: There must be thousands of ::weapons technobabble::

Manticorean Military Leader: Right, we must release our clever new ::weapons technobabble::

Another aspiring young Manticorean officer: Oh dear, we've taken a lot of ::damage technobabble::, what can we do?

Honor Harrington: Let's ::tactical technobabble::, ::weapons technobabble::, ::shipboard technobabble::, rinse and repeat.

Another aspiring young Manticorean officer: Thank heavens, Honor Harrington saved us by ::tactical technobabble::, ::weapons technobabble::, ::shipboard technobabble::, rinse and repeat.

The greatful people of (insert your planet name here): Honor Harrington is so wonderful, let's change all of our laws and customs so we can give her still more honour! (The pun works better in American English).

Honor Harrington: Oh, Admiral, let's go home and fuck, now that you and your other wife have married me.

It's not just that by this time Honor Harrington is so clearly Weber's Mary Sue that it's laughable. It's not just that half of the book is unreadable because it's nothing but pages and pages of the driest exposition, telling the reader about the military, political, tactical and scientific situations, circumstances and backstories, rather than showing us all of this through what the characters are doing (and no, having them all sit around in a conference room mouthing the exposition is not "showing rather than telling). It's not just that the politics of Weber's Honorverse have become more and more labyrinthine and the cast list and backstory so complex that - frankly - it would be easier to keep the people and events of the real French Revolution in order, and if you've ever done that, you'll know it's not that easy.

And it's not just that Weber really, really, really needs an editor who's not afraid to throw out half the book and make him re-write the other half. (More worth reading on this from guyindkny.)

It's that a story with some really interesting female characters has been buried so deep under all of this crap that you can't find the exciting military officer of On Basilisk Station anywhere in this mess anymore.

The saddest thing is that I was so taken by the original Honor Harrington, I continue to buy the novels, skimming through at least half of the verbiage just to see what the Honor I remember is going these days.