KWBC: A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham

[I'm Murrin]

Following feedback, I'm opening this discussion thread a little earlier than usual.

This month we've been reading A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham, first book of the Long Price quartet. What did you think?

[aliantha]

This completely blew past me this month. I suck.

[I'm Murrin]

Still two weeks in the month, ali.

[ussusimiel]

As the promoter of these books, I feel that it is only right that I start

I first read A Shadow in Summer with the sequel A Betrayal in Winter a few years ago (they came together in an omnibus). I have subsequently reread them a number of times. The thing that brought me back to them is the central idea of the andats and the powerful tension between the discipline and quality of character necessary to be a poet and the contradiction of using those 'good' things to essentially imprison another 'being'.

The essential compromise at the heart of binding an andat is also reflected in the more prosaic motivations (power and money) that enable and maintain the practice. In the end, the poets are as bound as the the andats. The effect that this has on the people involved is fascinating and it speaks of Otah's character that he sees through it early on.

I found the characters involved engaging and rounded and, of course, the andats themselves are fascinating creatures.

No doubt, I'll have more to say later.

u.

[I'm Murrin]

I'm about halfway through the book right now, but I thought I'd mention that I'm finding the characters very well rounded and believable. In particular Heshai, and Liat and Itani's relationship.

I also have the "Shadow & Betrayal" edition, so I'll be continuing on past A Shadow in Summer.

[I'm Murrin]

I can tell you this: Some readers are going to have a hell of a time getting past what is done to Maj. I can see it as a very triggering issue for some women.

I'm having trouble thinking of anything quite so egregious in books I've read recently.

Anyone here tried to read the book and found that bit too much? (Anyone here tried to read the book?)

[Linna Heartbooger]

I can tell you this: Some readers are going to have a hell of a time getting past what is done to Maj. I can see it as a very triggering issue for some women.

I'm having trouble thinking of anything quite so egregious in books I've read recently.

Definitely one of the most horrible things I can imagine happening in my life... even if naturally.

On the other hand, the way that the author set it up... he gave the reader so, so much warning.

I think, too, he supplied enough hints of his own outrage... perhaps?
This moral drama was not just sketched with sharp, crisp outlines, but shaded and colored in richly (remember, it had its own palette - white, shot with blue) with the emotion of deep heartaches.
How could I be mad at the author for 'letting it happen'?
But Liat... oh, Liat.

Anyone here tried to read the book and found that bit too much? (Anyone here tried to read the book?)

So, in answer, no, I didn't find that bit too much...
On the other hand... I actually did put it on hold at the part where Amat Kyaan makes a decision to shift something major around.
Mostly because of how she's stated she's going to bankroll it.

Otoh, though not an extraordinarily fast reader, I read the first third of the book in one night.
It is reallllly engaging and enter-able.

[I'm Murrin]

I quite liked the idea of the andat, the idea of "poets" turning ideas into flesh. Then also, the idea that these ideas become harder to control over time and hard to recapture once lost, that they are running out of them because they're running out of original ideas (or original ways to express those ideas)...

And leading from all that, the sense that this is not going to be a story of some magical hero finding a new way to bring back the andat, but of them passing out of the world and the people needing to find a way to live without their magic.

[ussusimiel]

And leading from all that, the sense that this is not going to be a story of some magical hero finding a new way to bring back the andat, but of them passing out of the world and the people needing to find a way to live without their magic.

I also like this aspect of the story. I have expressed (many times ) before that I dislike fantasy series that are totally dependent on magic or become more and more dependent on it. I really like this one because it's about magic that is disappearing (is there another type, on the islands?). This forces the story to focus on the characters and the effect that magic (and its incipient loss) has on them. It also means that political and economic forces play a larger part, making it more interesting (for me), and leaving room for extra dimensions and characters to play important roles in the story. In stories where magic is central, eventually, only those with the 'power' are important.

The loss of the magic also means that the society that depended on it must reassess itself and its identity. What was the magic expressing about the society or civilisation that produced it? What were the consequences of the dependence of the society on it? Did it weaken or strengthen the civilisation? I saw one review of the novel that compared the loss of the andats to the loss of oil to the West, in our world. I don't think that the analogy holds up, but it is interesting to think of it in terms of dwindling resources.

I quite liked the idea of the andat, the idea of "poets" turning ideas into flesh. Then also, the idea that these ideas become harder to control over time and hard to recapture once lost, that they are running out of them because they're running out of original ideas (or original ways to express those ideas)...

I've never really thought about this that much, I always just accepted it as it was. However, now that you've put it this way, Murrin, it does seem quite pointed as an indicator of a problem at the centre of the society that produced the magic. The society in the book does remind me a bit of Ancient China, which had a highly developed civilisation for a long time, but which turned to a constant refinement of certain ideas rather than a more expansive search for new ideas. (There could also be a hint of the whole postmodern phenomenon: exhaustion of ideas, simulacra, retro etc., but that seems a bit of a heavy load to be putting on a fantasy novel (says he in an SRD forum ).)

u.

[I'm Murrin]

The culture does appear to be based on China; the ethnicity is more of a puzzle to me. I've been getting impressions that lead me to think the people in the cities of the Khaiem are something like Indian, but there was at least one mention of blonde hair.

I've only really been thinking about this because I was concerned at first this was white people placed in an asian culture, but I don't think that's the case.

[Linna Heartbooger]

The society in the book does remind me a bit of Ancient China, which had a highly developed civilisation for a long time, but which turned to a constant refinement of certain ideas rather than a more expansive search for new ideas.

Ahhh.. I was thinking Japanese because of the appearance of the etiquette. (and from vague impressions of historical Japanese society)
The connection to what you're saying was the M.O. of those who were driving Ancient Chinese society... interesting.

"...a constant refinement of certain ideas rather than a more expansive search for new ideas," you say... and so we find the andat.

I quite liked the idea of the andat, the idea of "poets" turning ideas into flesh. Then also, the idea that these ideas become harder to control over time and hard to recapture once lost

...the contradiction of using those 'good' things to essentially imprison another 'being'.

Ah - I will be bringing this stuff up later... I feel like andats are something I'm quite "at sea" about.
But I still have a bit more than 1/4 of a book to go... maybe there will be more clarity or information provided!

And in that spirit, I have a different question for y'all.
I've been slowly picking up on some patterns in the author's choices of phrasing and constructions:

• * "he told himself / she told herself"
  * coloring emotion with real-world sensory data
  (Otah, in speaking with the courier after they reach land, opens up about questions on his heart. Orai answers. Otah finds his tea tepid, and the cold draft from the door makes him shiver.)
  * people thinking about what someone was like as a child

But I bet there's way more where that came from!
So, as I read these last 90 pages.. anything else you guys have noticed that I can be looking out for?

[I'm Murrin]

I've just finished An Autumn War, the third book in this series. It is really brilliant, particularly how Abraham brings the cahracters around from working against the use of Seedless to destroy the Galts in book one, to trying to accomplish the same in book 3. And the way it ends is just brutal.

Also pretty notable about this series is the way it jumps ahead by more than a decade with each book, following these characters as they age, and change.

This is very good work.

[ussusimiel]

I started the 3rd book but I didn't finish it. I think I found it a bit of a rethread and didn't like the idea that nothing had been learned from the first go round. I really like Abraham as a writer so, no doubt I'll go back to it at some stage since I reread the first two books almost every year.

u.

[I'm Murrin]

It's worth another try.

Another part I like is that Balasar Gice is not a bad guy. He's genuinely trying to save the world.