K.J. Parker, Devices and Desires (Orbit, 2006)
I'll be the first to admit it: over the years, I've become a bit callused toward new fantasy. Oh, don't get me wrong: I still love the genre immensely, but it takes a lot more nowadays to get me excited over a new author (or one I haven't read before), and with all that's being published out there, there's just not enough time to wade through a doorstop book to find out that the book never does get any better than the dismal start. So it's exciting to pick up a book and find myself riveted from the very first page, as I was with Devices and Desires by K.J. Parker.
The book opens with "'The quickest way to a man's heart,' said the instructor, 'is proverbially through his stomach. But if you want to get into his brain, I recommend the eye socket.'" Wry, witty, and captivating, all in the first line. And the author is able to maintain it throughout the entire 700-plus pages of the first volume of this trilogy.
The instructor is inconsequential, but his student is one Valens Valentinianus, heir to the duchy of Eremea. As the story opens, Valens is in his teens and is being trained for his eventual assumption of the dukedom. At this time, Eremea has an unsteady peace with its longtime enemy, the bordering duchy of Eremia Montis. To maintain this peace, young Veatriz Sirupati is a hostage to the Eremean court, where Valens falls smitten with her.
Fast forward some years: Veatriz is married to Duke Orsea of Eremia Montis and Valens has ascended to the dukedom of Eremea. The two duchies are still at peace, but only barely. Orsea, under bad counsel, attacks the neighboring Perpetual Republic of Mezentia. Mezentia, however, has progressed technologically far beyond the medieval-era technology of the duchies. Using their advanced weaponry, they decimate Orsea's army without even having to engage them. Orsea and his army limp back home. On the way, they come across Ziani Vaatzes, who has escaped from the Perpetual Republic and is fleeing for his life.
Vaatzes made the mistake in Mezentia of improving on the design of an instrument outside of the specifications of guild law. The consequence of such a deviation is death. If he had only gone through the appropriate steps of having the modification approved by the guild, he might have not been consigned to death, but instead he made the modification and hid it in his house, never to see the light of day. When what he has done is discovered, he's sentenced to death. While awaiting his execution, Vaatzes manages to escape. In his flight, he is found by Orsea's army who take him back to Eremia Montis.
In Montis, Vaatzes begins an elaborate plan to bring down Mezentia, and he doesn't care who he has to destroy or how many die in order for his plans to succeed. Vaatzes uses his deeply cunning and calculating mind to manipulate people into doing what he needs done in order to destroy the republic that destroyed (or tried to destroy) him.
As mentioned above, the book starts out with a bang and doesn't let up. Parker's writing style is engaging and captivating. First, she draws out the political boundaries that play a vital role in the story gradually and with finesse during conversations rather than long and boring info dumps. While the reader isn't given a full picture up front and has to grope occasionally to figure out what's going on, the end result is much more satisfying and keeps one's attention much better.
Parker also creates fully fleshed and realized countries. Even the citizens of the Gormenghast-like Mezentia are given believable motivations within their twisted republic that values conformity more than anything else. In the countries of Eremea and Eremia Montis, Parker paints with a much lighter brush, since much of their culture is like Western Europe's during the Middle Ages, but even so, she creates sympathy for all her characters. One of the recurring themes is the loss of what makes a people unique: Montis is faced with the possibility of becoming like Mezentia (thanks to Vaatzes' knowledge) and the nobles of Montis have to make a decision which direction to head. Will they give up their way of life to destroy their enemies, or will they instead decide to face extinction rather than sacrifice what they hold dear?
When I got to the end of Devices and Desires I was incredibly disappointed, since by the ending, this is obviously the first in a trilogy. The next book in the series, Evil for Evil has just been released in the UK, so I'm going to have to see about tracking down a copy here on the other side of the pond.
