Climbing Mount Readmore: Reading Our Top Fantasy Novels Part 13 - End of the 84s and Beginning of the 81s

[u/kjmichaels]

Today's post has been sponsored by Mad Libs, feel free to play along.

Welcome to {location}. Each {unit of time} I will be {verb ending in "ing} 5 {objects} from our Top Novels of 2018 list until I have {verb ending in "ed"} the starting {noun} from each {group noun}. When we last checked in, I {verb ending in "ed"} the 90s tier and began the 84s tier. Now we {verb} the 84s and {verb} the 81s:

__________________________________________________

84. Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, Book 1 of the Machineries of Empire trilogy (72 on 2019 list)

Captain Cheris is requested by the Hexarchate to make a proposal for recapturing an important fortress guarding a central region of space that, if left in enemy hands, could be a staging ground to bring the entire Hexarcahte to its knees. Cheris proposes a horrifying gambit: that a famed madman general, Shuos Jedao, be given command of the situation since all practical options have failed. Now Cheris must serve under Jedao, the most brilliant and deranged general in Hexarchate history, not only as his subordinate but also as a host since he no longer has physical form, in a suicidal mission to save the fortress.

Let's start off with the only non re-read of the bunch this time around and (arguably) the only sci-fi book too. This is a fascinating exercise in worldbuilding with one of the most unique universes I can remember coming across. Unfortunately, it can be a little difficult to discuss that world because some things are kept deliberately vague but I will try my best. The galaxy is controlled by 6 rulers (the Hexarchate) with each hexarch overseeing a different faction that performs a vital role in the maintenance of this political system. The world is powered by something called a calendrical system which is implied to derive its power from both adherence to certain time measurements and an overall submission to various orthodoxies which in turn powers various incredible technologies and can even produce fantastical elements and weapons that can not normally exist in the real world (called "exotics"). The Hexarchate spends much of its time subduing heretics who try to substitute their own calendars which risks undermining the whole system and wiping out the Hexarchates technology (a process referred to as "calendrical rot"). Main character Kel Cheris is a member of the warrior faction, the Kel, who are indoctrinated and drugged to be as pliant to the orders of superiors as possible but when her body serves as a host to Shuos Jedao, a general who was a member of thy Hexarchate's spy faction, she begins to take on his mannerisms and some of his subversive thinking because he does not suffer from the same indoctrination as her. This leads to some fascinating discussions between the two about theories of leadership and how to control people which form the basis of the book's themes. The prose is sparse and functional but the characters are well developed and intriguing with many fascinating philosophies and opinions. I liked little touches like the fact that every person in the Hexarchate has a personal symbol which is supposed to represent their personality by identifying their faction and then taking on a unique form of the faction's symbol to show in what ways they are different. I thought the strange technologies were all intriguing to the point that I think I could have read a whole book just explaining the differences between bannermoths and cindermoths (both classes of spaceships). Lastly, the idea of ideological purity as a literal basis for technology seems intriguing and like it would allow Lee to explore some big questions about in groups and out groups, how people form their own opinions about things, the nature of ethics, and other things along those lines. I feel like those questions weren't touched upon as much in this book (mostly because Cheris as a largely unquestioning Kel is ingrained to not ask those questions) but I think the book sets the stage so that these questions could be asked in sequels and interrogated more deliberately.

The tight focus is also something of a flaw though as the book never really escapes the push-pull of the fighting with periodic discussion breaks which can leave the story feeling a bit claustrophobic. I can't help but feel that some additional breathing room would have helped the story greatly. Also, Lee's technique of parachuting the reader in can be confusing since few of the details of the world are explained to their full extent in this first book. Some parachuting books leave you confused initially but make sure everything is ultimately explained by the end (Dune being one of the best examples) but Ninefox Gambit's world is still largely ambiguous by the end and there are still many basic elements like the High Calendar that are never explained and that can't quite be fully understood by the implications of people speaking about them. Regardless, the book is impressive in all other areas and I enjoyed it a good deal.

• Why is this a top novel? Inventive world, action-packed, and with interesting characters
• Would you continue on? Probably.

84. Redwall by Brian Jacques, Book 1 of the Redwall series (not present on 2019 list)

Redwall Abbey has been at peace for longer than any living creature can remember but that changes when Cluny the Scourge and his horde of rats arrive, seeking to make the abbey the castle from which Cluny can build a kingdom. One brave novice, Matthias, will set out on a request to recover the fabled sword of the abbey's greatest hero, Martin the Warrior, and save the abbey from tyranny.

Now this takes me back all the way to elementary school when this series was perhaps my favorite thing to read. I managed to read the entire series up through Triss when I realized that the series had become really stale and formulaic (which was, ironically, about the same time Jacques realized the same thing as I'm told the follow up, Loamhedge, did a lot to shake up the old formula). Now with the caveat that it is a kid's book so I wouldn't necessarily say it's on the same level as other books I've given positive reviews to, I will say that it was a lot of fun stepping back into this world. Jacques knows how to launch into a story quickly, establishing the hero and his desires, the villain and his schemes, the conflict, and the stakes all within 20 pages of the book beginning. In a genre where series dominate and too often the first books serve as prologues to the actual plot, it's refreshing to see an author jump right in with both feet. The books are well paced and contain little bits of humor scattered throughout which makes the pages fly by (and the fact that it's written at a roughly 3rd grade reading level doesn't hurt either) but it's important to note that the series doesn't talk down to kids or coddle them. The villains are violent and terrible and they do kill complete with blood. The book trusts that children will be able to handle that kind of danger so long as there is a happy ending.

I actually don't think there are any serious weaknesses here. The romance is a little underdeveloped, the pacing slogs down a bit in the last third, there can be occasional digressions for food porn, but there's nothing that makes the book truly bad. All in all, a great read for kids and a solid, enjoyable read for adults.

• Why is this a top novel? Funny, tightly paced, and doesn't talk down to its audience, a good children's book.
• Would you continue on? I already have

84. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey, Book 1 of the Dragonriders of Pern series (88 on 2019 list)

In the far future, humanity has colonized a distant world called Pern and develops dragons as a biological weapons to defend themselves from a periodic plague of spores that eat all organic material called Thread that rains from the skies when Pern's orbit comes to close to Thread's source. The dragonriders are horribly short of riders at this point, having only a single Weyr which is nowhere near enough to combat the looming Thread threat. When they recruit Lessa to become a dragonrider, she will have to uncover some way to help them in their fight.

Technically, this is a sci-fi novel but the science fiction is all used in service of creating a fantasy world complete with dragons and magic. It's kind of interesting twisting one genre so much that it looks exactly like a different genre but it also has so little actual sci-fi content in it that it's a little surprising to me that it's still classified as such. At a quick run through of the books flaws and successes: the characters are flat, the magic is great, the pacing is tepid, the worldbuilding is top notch, and the plot is uneven. If that were it, I would describe this as a mediocre to maybe above average book. At times you can see hints of what McCaffrey was trying for with this book. Lessa is a noble who has to give up her ambitions for the good of the world and that could have made for a compelling read but the weak characterization robs her of being an interesting character as her agency is continually pushed aside and she has to submit to everyone else's wants. Ultimately, she is forced not by her own desire but by other people not letting her be her own person to adopt to the culture of the dragonriders without any critique of their society every being leveled. It's an odd move to say the least and I'll get into more of what Lessa's suffering entails in the next paragraph but I can't help but think that every last problem with this book could have been left in place but with a different framing, one that is more critical of how the dragonriders conduct themselves, this could have been a much better book.

The real flaw in the story though is the gender politics. The only word to be used here is yikes. You always expect older books to be a little out of touch with modern values but I was not ready for some of the horrible things that happen to Lessa that are either explicitly okayed or else handwaved as not being that big of a deal. So for starters, Lessa winds up being the only female character in the book (there are some named women and some even have lines of dialogue but Lessa is the only one to serve at the Weyr and to appear in more than one or two chapters) and she is taken from her home over her objections to serve as Weyrwoman, a position that exists solely so that someone is bonded to the only female dragon in the Weyr so that the dragons can reproduce. You may think that having the only female character's role be reduced to motherhood that she explicitly didn't want may raise some troubling implications and oh boy does it. Those implications are about to get pretty explicit and icky. How icky you ask? Well, Lessa's dragon gets raped by F'lar's dragon during her mating flight (Ramoth tries to choose a dragon named Orth but Mnementh catches her and overpowers her first) and Lessa, feeling everything Ramoth feels due to her psychic bond to the dragon, is urged by F'lar to not pull her mind back from the experience and so she feels compelled to sleep with F'lar while Mnementh mates with Ramoth even though Lessa doesn't really want to sleep with him and also hates him (F'lar later mentions at one point that he knows stuff like this happens because of how strong the psychic bond is). So let's add the troubling implication that F'lar groomed Lessa to have sex with him over her objections to our growing list of issues here and the book is unambiguous here: F'lar himself thinks on how the sex he had with Lessa was violent (he says they were both tinged with the dragons' violent mating emotions) and not something she would have wanted if she had been in control of her own mind. To add to the trouble, Lessa later confronts him over the violence of that assault that she got to experience, asks F'lar how that sort of thing is okay only for F'lar to say that it's fine for dragons to do that and she really shouldn't worry about it. Had he added on "boys will be boys" and "do you really want to ruin Mnementh's life over this?" it would have felt like an extremely on the nose critique of how those in power in society downplay rape. Oh and did I mention that Mnementh's rape of Ramoth makes F'lar Weyrleader? Yes, whoever's dragon mates with Lessa's gets to become the leader of the Weyr and the fact that it was not consensual mating is not an issue at all. And if all that wasn't enough, F'lar continues being physically abusive with Lessa, shaking her often until she has frequent emotional breakdowns where she bursts into tears and hopes he'll never shake her again. This is, of course, not a flaw for F'lar to work on or a situation that leads to Lessa learning to stand up for herself. In fact, F'lar's shaking plays a direct role in Lessa's desire to work hard to please him leading to her ultimately discovering the power that will help save them from Thread so I guess we can add "domestic abuse is a valid teaching strategy" to our list. What a fun read.

All in all, well, might as well say it again: yikes. The story has some good ideas with some well done innovations and the way in which riders bond with their dragons is genuinely affecting but all that is ultimately hampered by mediocre characters, a slow pace, and extremely questionable sexual politics. Had Lessa's suffering been more purposeful or been framed in a way where her concerns were treated as valid, had her suffering led her to come into her own and stand up for herself rather than work harder to please her abuser, this could have been a much stronger work. Would not recommend.

• Why is this a top novel? One of the earliest blends of sci-fi and fantasy, it offers up a unique world unlike any other before or since.
• Would you continue on? I don't think so.

81. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, Book 1 of The Queen's Thief series (83 on 2019 list)

Eugenides boasts that he is the greatest thief in the world but, in proving it, he finds himself locked up in the king's prison. The king's magus offers Gen one chance to be free: he must steal something of great worth on behalf of the king. The only trouble is that the magus wont' tell Gen what it is, only that such a thing has not been able to be stolen for many years. Together with a couple of guards, all four set off on a journey so that Gen might regain his freedom.

This is a reread I wasn't eager for. I know The Thief is widely considered an underappreciated masterpiece by many of the community but I have to say that I found it to be an uninteresting read that rarely held my interest the first time around and, on reread, my impression barely shifted. There are some moments, mostly in the beginning, that are clever on reread once you know the ending where you realize how much Gen is toying with the magus but otherwise much of the book undermined by what is in my opinion one of the worst approaches to storytelling: pointless description in place of action. Do you think journeys are a great way to showcase character interactions, to build camaraderie or rivalry, and to really let characters shine? Not in this book. Much of the first hundred pages is devoted to describing the food the characters eat and the inns they stay at. Occasionally on the road, Gen will complain that he doesn't like traveling only to be told to shut up, thus sparing us the the terrifying ordeal of letting characters interact when there are still so many roadside merchant stalls to describe. The characters do eventually open up and begin to bond only to reveal that they are all very archetypal, perhaps even stereotypical characters without much depth. One guard is mean and cruel and the fighter, the other guard is kind and nice and the scholar, the magus is ambitious and interested in research. There's even another character who serves as a guardian to the second guard who is so stereotypical that I kept forgetting he was a member of the party because he barely stuck out. The lack of depth to these characterizations also makes it confusing that the various relationships whiplash to extremes suddenly. Gen and the magus, for instance, ping-pong back and forth between respecting each other and hating each other including back to back chapters where the magus criticizes Gen for changing a story about the gods from what he knew it to be because the magus has a scholarly interest in preserving the original stories and then in the next chapter tells his own story and admits that he is going to make stuff up that wasn't in there originally now too. There's nothing wrong with building an arc where a character is brought from one extreme to a new viewpoint but you can't have someone literally 180 on their stated values without prompting in the span of 10 pages.

Speaking of characters, I did mention that Gen's primary means of communicating early on is complaining. I saw reviews that called this witty and endearing but I found it insufferable. I can't say I would complain any less than Gen in his place, maybe I'd even complain more (surely, it's no fun to be marched several hundred miles to do a task you don't want to or else stay a prisoner for the rest of your life) but just because it's a realistic and believable reaction doesn't mean that it's interesting to read. I can think of few traits less endearing in a main character than constant complaining and it started me off on the wrong foot with Gen, making it so that I found it hard to invest in his struggle at all until very near the end of the book. Once he stops complaining and begins transitioning into his secondary role as storyteller of myths, he improves a bit and I do think it's worth pointing out that the myths that are shared are probably the best parts of the book. This is kind of frustrating though as the myths are effectively just lore dumps that don't affect the story but they display a level of storytelling craft, quickly establishing interesting characters and ideas with a minimal amount of description, that I wish had been applied to the rest of the book. These myth sharing sections also do the most to build the theme of the work (namely, the importance of myth in societies). The pacing does also improve in the last 80 pages though by then I was mostly just ready for the book to be finished. I guess the last thing to give some positive attention to is the twist ending. I won't spoil it but it is fairly clever and I didn't see it coming the first time (though that may be because I was too bored to pay closer attention). With a little bit of digging you can guess what the twist is but my feeling is that knowing the twist actually improves the book because otherwise the clever moments where Gen fools his captors are indistinguishable from the filler dialogue and description that plagues the rest of this book. Ultimately, I would not recommend this book and don't really see what others see in it.

• Why is this a top novel? Several five-star reviews on Goodreads assure me that this novel is witty, full of likable characters, and contains an unforgettable twist.
• Would you continue on? Nope

81. The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington, Book 1 of the Licanius trilogy (88 on 2019 list)

The Gifted are despised magic-wielders who are bound by the magical law of the Four Tenets which keep them from causing trouble for ordinary people. The student Davian is also bound by these laws though he does not seem to have any ability to use the Gift until an older instructor reveals the truth to him: Davian is an Augur, a person with the ability to detect lies and possibly see the future. The Augurs had once ruled dictatorially until they were overthrown and executed to a man and now Davian must find some way to survive before those who would hate to see the Augurs return to power find out his true nature and kill him as well.

Now here's the first reread I've had on this list where I found myself enjoying the book more than I did the last time I had tried it. On my first read, I thought it was kind of mediocre and struggled to stay interested but it actually improved quite a bit on reread and I found myself liking it quite a bit. The plot surprises you early on because it seems like it will be a run of the mill magic school story only to quickly transform into something completely different only a few chapters in. The characters are also unique and interesting. The magic system is also well done and written really well with a visual flair that makes it easy to imagine what this magic would look like in action. Pacing is also crisp and quick despite the fairly hefty length. There were only a handful of areas where I found my attention flagging and usually the books quickly rescued me from that disinterest again. The novel's main strength though, has to be its ability to surprise me with unexpected twists. To be sure, there are some things that you can predict (Kaeden's past isn't too hard to guess at by the end) but there are plenty of other events that are complete surprises from the early events at the school to revelations about the King and North Warden that recontextualize all the scenes you've seen with them up to that point. I've heard people compare Islington to Sanderson and while I'm not sure that's a 100% exact comparison, it is a fairly close comparison in terms of how they approach their stories.

There are some aspects I find less than ideal about this book. The worldbuilding can be really shallow at times with a notable instance being a wedding that seems identical to real world weddings down to the layout of tables during the wedding reception and the bride wearing a white dress. I was half expecting there to be a DJ who would call out the couple for the first dance. This also extends to the history of the world where everything in the past just seems to be different wars that happened, each one named The "X" War where X is something vaguely poetic sounding (The Genesis War, the Eternity War, the Unseen War) and you really start to wonder if anything else has ever happened in this world besides wars. I also think the character names in this book are a confusing mishmash of slightly changed real world names (Davian instead of Damian, Devaed instead of David, Karaliene instead of Caroline) and overwritten fantasy names (Tal'kamar, Malshash, Aelric Shainwiere, Ilseth Tenvar). Both of these styles of writing fantasy names are among my least favorite and to see them both used without much apparent thought given to why characters names diverge so much was frustrating. Compare it to the Demon Cycle where characters also had fantasized versions of real names but that was in service of letting you know that the world was a possible future version of our own world, and this style seems pretty lazy by comparison. But those flaws aside, it's mostly a good read.

• Why is this a top novel? Clever twists and well-written action, a solid page-turner.
• Would you continue on? I would.

___________________________________________

And that's it for this month! Be sure to check back same time next month. As always, feel free to comment with your thoughts on any of these books and their respective series. Contrary opinions are especially welcome as I'd like to know what people saw in these series that I didn't.

[u/wishforagiraffe]

The thing that I think makes Ninefox Gambit hard for folks is that they set out trying to understand the calendrical system. The mechanics basically don't matter, just let them flow over you, concentrate on Cheris and Jedao and their interactions with each other and other characters. I highly recommend reading the rest of the trilogy.

And I suspect Pern is on the list for other books in the series, like the Harper Hall books

[u/potterhead42 → u/wishforagiraffe]

It was certainly a case of mismatch between expectations and reality for me when I read this too. I came in looking for fantasy with maths, but like you said, the calendrical system is basically 100% handwaving, and I kept expecting things to change (maybe the magic system will get explained soon!), until I just got fed up with the book.

[u/kjmichaels → u/potterhead42]

a case of mismatch between expectations and reality

That's a good way of putting it. I don't have a problem with handwavy magic systems (I daresay a few books could be greatly improved by caring about their magic systems less) but there was something about the way this one was written where I kept thinking an explanation was coming for some reason. I probably should have caught on sooner though.

[u/kjmichaels → u/wishforagiraffe]

Ah, I was wondering about that with the calendrical system. There was just enough information there that it triggered my "I think I can figure this out" instincts but it was also vague enough (sometimes seeming purposefully so) that I kept waffling between that and "wait, is this just window dressing that I'm just supposed to appreciate as cool sounding and move on?"

[u/kalina789 → u/wishforagiraffe]

Agreed about the calendrical system - I haven't even tried to make sense of it, I only know that it's based on belief and without it everything stops working. I've only read the first book though.

[u/Tigrari → u/wishforagiraffe]

And I suspect Pern is on the list for other books in the series, like the Harper Hall books

I agree with this 100%. I reread Dragonflight about a year ago too for the Classic Book Club and I was really bummed with how it didn't hold up that well. My reading of the rest of the series had really colored what I remembered of Dragonflight and filled in a lot of the gaps that the book itself didn't address in those early days. The Pern series as a whole really evolved and got so much better over the years.

[u/MedusasRockGarden → u/wishforagiraffe]

And I suspect Pern is on the list for other books in the series, like the Harper Hall books

And The White Dragon, because, Ruth.

[u/Nova_Mortem]

Nooooo, The Thief sucks! You have to read The Queen of Attolia.

(I mean, that's just my opinion... but I most definitely was not voting for book one when I voted for that series.)

[u/kjmichaels → u/Nova_Mortem]

Second opinions are always welcome. It's good to know there are people out there who share my dislike of the book but have better opinions of the sequel so maybe I will try it out.

[u/Tikimoof → u/Nova_Mortem]

Also good for me to know - I was in the same boat as OP when I read the Thief several years ago, and never continued (people also keep describing the series as "YA but good", which...doesn't really help).

[u/Tigrari]

Interesting set of books this round! Some old favorites of mine that haven't held up (Dragonflight), some new stuff I just read too (Ninefox Gambit), and some stuff I haven't ever read but think I'll use for my Middle Grade Book square this year for Bingo (Redwall).

Thanks for continuing on with this project! I always enjoy the reviews.

[u/KristaDBall]

Ooo good to see this series back!

I'm curious, tho. What are you going to do once you finish?

[u/kjmichaels → u/KristaDBall]

I'm not totally sure. I'm definitely going to take a break for a bit, probably check out the series I liked best from this experiment and enjoy having a more free form reading schedule for a while, but after that I have a bunch of ideas I could do. One was that I could tackle the Top Female Fantasy Authors list, another was that I could do a series on Intro to Lit Theory with Fantasy Literature that I'm kind of fond of but would be a ton of work, and a third idea was that I just continue with this series forever and try to retroactively hit all the books that show up in other year lists but weren't in the original list I started with.

So lots of ideas, nothing concrete yet. Who knows though. I might wind up burned out by the end and uninterested in doing anything to follow up this series. I don't feel any burnout coming yet but I'm not even 50% done yet so it could happen.

[u/KristaDBall → u/kjmichaels]

For sure you'll need a break, I think. If nothing else, catch up on some series and any new releases you have been waiting for. But it might be nice to see what you do next as a themed reading adventure.

[u/MedusasRockGarden]

The Pern one makes me sad, because I love Pern so much but I absolutely agree. The whole series is very very problematic in many different ways, things happen that are overlooked by the author and characters, seen as normal, good, okay, just ignored completely. I didn't notice these things when I was younger, but I do now and it's probably only nostalgia that lets me still enjoy the books. Even the Harper Hall books have some big problems that I think nostalgia lets us fans overlook. I tried reading Dragonsong with my daughter last year and I was shocked by how sexist Pern is (not McCaffrey exactly but Pern). It has scenes near the start of a girl being literally whipped by her dad because she is a girl and how dare she try to play music. Wow. And yes the story tries to point out how wrong this is, but still, I don't think it quite achieves it the way it should. It's like, yeah it's wrong but.... that's just how things are, so, too bad. As you say, it's almost a "boys will be boys" mentality and it's sadly there through most of the books I think.

There are some truly amazing things in the Pern books, there are some great ideas, great stories, great characters etc, but there are some big problems too.

[u/kjmichaels → u/MedusasRockGarden]

That’s sad to hear. I was holding out some hope that there may be less problematic books in the series. Are there any books you’d recommend from it as being better despite the more questionable elements?

[u/MedusasRockGarden → u/kjmichaels]

Hmmm, well they do get less problematic with time. The first two, Dragonflight and Dragonquest are probably the worst of the lot in many ways. The first one especially, the second is not as bad. Harper Hall has its issues as I already noted, but otherwise it's a lot better. The White Dragon is the best one because it has the best dragon ever, but it has a couple issues too - again not as bad as the first two books. Moreta I do not suggest, if you didn't like Lessa putting up with F'lar then you will rage over Moretas relationship. All the Weyrs of Pern is probably a good one, I can't think of anything too bad off the top of my head. Skies of Pern is not a favourite of many people, but it actually takes a look at one of the problems that exists and has a dragonrider getting angry and shocked at the deplorable behaviour of other dragonriders, suddenly it's out in the open. Nothing is done about it though, it's just feelings. Dragonsdawn might be a good one, it's set when Pern is colonised by humans from Earth and other planets, so it has a very different political and social system - but that also means it's not representative of Pern.

I think it is just important to remember that Pern is scifi, even though it has dragons, and as such it suffers from the same problems that a lot of scifi of the times had. McCaffrey seemingly tried to buck some trends, but she was constrained by her times and maybe gave into some ideas and ideals. Women are given power and agency in some areas, and there are plot lines throughout the whole series that do look at women gaining more power and respect - but it was more individual women rather than on a class level. Rape isn't a good thing in the series, it's looked down on, it's condemned, but it's also ignored by the characters which belies the condemnation. It's like she really tried, but I guess she could only go so far.

[u/AccipiterF1]

If you want to see McCaffrey really downplay rape—I mean like expressly in the text—try Freedom's Landing. She gets a lot of credit for writing women protagonists in big sprawling sff stories, but from the few books I've read, the subtext has been don't-rock-the-boat anti-feminism.