The Left Hand of God

[peter]

Just finishing this first book in a trilogy by Paul Hoffman surrounding the activities of Thomas Cale, an enigmatic antihero who will 'save or damn' his world by his actions. Not well received by the critical press, I have however thouroghly enjoyed the book (there is where, incidentally, the similarity ends - that sentence above) and have ordered the next two books on the strength of it. Cale is a merciless figure who we meet as a boy acolyte to a ruthless order of warrior monks and subject over years to a regime of such brutality and arbitrary cruelty that he has turned out hard as a marlin spike with a character to match. Throughout the story we meet such memorable characters as Kitty the Hare (neither a woman nor a hare) who Fu Manchu like, runs the seedy area of KittyTown (use your imagination), and Arbell Swan-Neck, the beautiful if spoiled daughter of a regional ruler, who begins Cale's transformation (if somewhat superficially) into what might pass for a normal human being. By the end of book 1 the tale is gathering pace and I'm hopeful that it will continue in the same vein in the successive books. One criticism has been that the series mixes too many genres, but I am somewhat bemused by this; it certainly has not been the case in book 1, a sort of dystopian parody of our own world in a medieval setting (and even featuring some thinly veiled pastiches of real historical characters, be it in different roles). The book I've read is not long (probably half the size of a Donaldson book) so it isn't much of a time investment and it got my interest piqued very quickly - always a good sign for me, I haven't much patience with slow-burn beginnings. I'll keep you posted on how the next books shape up, but on the strength of the first I'd say they are worth searching out.

[Avatar]

Sounds promising, let us know how they go.

--A

[Skyweir]

Sounds interesting Pete Ill be interested in your thoughts on the entire series when youre done.

My next read is going to be .. I think its a series called Nightfall. I heard really good things about it .. but need to check the name.

Like you I havent patience for slow beginnings .. if it doesnt grab me .. in the first 3 .. 4 chapters .. Im done.

[wayfriend]

I thought this thread was about the Ursula K. Le Guin book.

Now what do I do?

[Skyweir]

Think again WF

But it is interesting isnt .. how there is so very little that is truly new or entirely original any more

And this Cale fella sounds like a real dick yet a redeemable dick

Ahhhh fantasy .. dont ya just love it

[peter]

It's odd - for all the book has the feel of a fantasy novel, now you come to mention it there has been no use of magic [or even mention of it] from start to [nearly] finish of book 1. It's in the SciFi/Fantasy section of my local bookstore - but just as I guess in the same way that say 1984 might have been.

[Avatar]

I thought this thread was about the Ursula K. Le Guin book.

Now what do I do?

Me too, but that was The Left Hand of Darkness, wasn't it?

--A

[peter]

I think I should re-read some LeGuin books; I read the Earthsea novels years ago and iirc they were pretty good. I wonder if I might not appreciate them more now - they have such a reputation that I'm wondering if I might not have been a bit wet behind the ears to get the full quality of them. I seem to remember that Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone books were pretty good also, not that I can remember a damn thing about them except perhaps that they were classic sword and sorcery fare.

[Avatar]

Earthsea books were good, but the first one is a bit...juvenile maybe. They get progressively darker and stronger as the series progresses I found.

--A

[peter]

Now on the third book in the series. Book 2 was somewhat different from the the first in that it the main protagonist was involved in a number of battles in which as a major strategist his interest was heavily vested. Consequently the book was very concerned in these, and a fair amount of space was given over to description of these, dialogue being spare and limited. Still very good but slightly less arresting than the very personal journey of Cale in the first book. Book 3 seems to have gone back to more the style of book 1 and the more personal stories of the central characters are back in the fore.
There are some highly odd quirks in the books, and a sort of twisted take on our world that I like, being a sucker for deep referencing that is designed to test the depth of your reading over the years or indeed your knowledge of history/politics in general. All in all they've been a good read, worth the effort and different enough to set them aside from the crowd. Still have a way to go and will sum up again on finishing.

[peter]

Ok. The series was definitely worth reading, but I can't say that I feel it ever really regained in the second two books what I felt was the momentum of the first. The divisive character of Cale remains the central plank upon which the series rests - but this is somewhat lost amongst the battles and goings on of the later story. The ending would not please many readers, but I felt it was a good denouement - and sufficiently unexpected - to satisfy the demands of both the story arc and maintenance of reader interest. The problem with this series is that it began too well to ever really going to stand a chance of building to a better end, but that being said, it always kept you involved in it's story and the use of real world history and people, sometimes slightly altered, sometimes not, was fun.