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J D Dunsany
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
180 Posts |
 Posted - 16 Sep 2008 : 23:35:43
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We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place
Or: How I Gave Up Fanciful Notions of Morality And Learned To Love The Drow
Hold onto your hats! (Or, piwafwi, I suppose.) The War of the Spider Queen gathers apace with Thomas M Reid’s novel Insurrection, which follows more or less directly on from the rather splendid opener for the series from Richard Lee Byers. Comparisons between the two novels are fairly inevitable, but it’s actually a credit to both the writers and the editor(s) that the transition from one writing style to another is handled relatively painlessly and that the characters RLB took such painstaking care with in Dissolution are largely intact here in Insurrection.
Insurrection, then, details the excursion of Quenthel, Pharaun, Ryld and other drow to the satellite city of Ched Nasad in an attempt to ascertain just why trade with that city has ground to a halt and whether Lolth’s silence is widespread or limited to the city of Menzoberranzan. We begin, though, with a meeting between some of the Houses of Ched Nasad and, although the meeting is very well described and portrays the sheer bitchiness of drow politics very memorably, it felt like a very odd somewhat dislocated way of starting the novel, particularly as it takes some time for the party from Menzoberranzan to reach Ched Nasad.
That said, it doesn’t take them that long. There are some interesting ideas here, though. The vast, enigmatic fungus (the Araumycos) that the drow party encounters reminds us of how strange and other the Underdark is and Reid does a good job of communicating not only the sheer scale of the thing but also, by implication, the vastness of the alien world it inhabits. It’s the introduction of half-succubus Aliisza, though, that makes these early chapters particularly intriguing. Reid emphasises her sensual playfulness and her re-introduction later on in the novel is particularly welcome. Here she makes a useful foil for Pharaun, who is much more ready to partake of the pleasures of the fairer sex in this novel than the previous one.
And this raises an important point. The characters here are recognisably the same as the ones in Dissolution, but there are subtle changes of emphasis. Partly this can be explained as the characters’ responses to being thrust together in an unsafe environment, but there are, nevertheless, times when the characterisation jars a little. It’s perhaps Quenthel who comes off worst. The ruthlessness and fierce intelligence she displays in Dissolution here have been transmuted into a distinctly unlikeable petulance and cruelty. As the novel is mainly told from Pharaun’s perspective anyway, that isn’t as big a problem as it might be, but, on those very rare occasions when Quenthel takes centre stage, it seems that Reid simply doesn’t get the character as well as Byers.
As to Pharaun himself, yes, he’s more lusty, but he’s also bolder in his dealings with Quenthel and comes across as ingenious and able to think on his feet, although the gamer in me does wonder what level he’s supposed to be. (Even with supposedly only half his spell slots filled three-quarters of the way through the novel, he has a surprising amount available to him to carry him through to the end of the story.) Perhaps the most surprising change in his character, though, is his willingness to place himself in harm’s way, apparently for less than selfish motives. This is all the more jarring given his quite shocking abandonment of Ryld in Dissolution. Here, he is prepared to fling himself into a burning (and toppling) building to rescue a drow whose value to the group as a whole is markedly limited. That it is indicated that Pharaun performs this act because he’s taken with the aforementioned drow’s curvy charms serves, on the one hand, to make him more likeable/understandable but, on the other hand, simultaneously diminishes the sense of his formidable instinct for self-preservation already established in the previous novel.
Similarly, Ryld is curiously subdued in this novel. One of the most important events of the previous tale is barely mentioned in this one and its implications are felt mainly in a distance between the two characters that only serves to render the likeably pragmatic Ryld flatter and less distinct for the reader.
But then, perhaps a little inattention as regards characterisation is only to be expected when the plot is so fast-moving. Quenthel and crew arrive in Ched Nasad intent on not only conducting their investigations into Lolth’s disappearance, but also ‘liberating’ supplies from the Black Claw storehouses, in which House Baenre has a joint interest. This seemed to me a patently suicidal thing to do, to be honest. Unfortunately, Quenthel’s insistence on this course of action makes her seem stupid and, consequently, less dangerous. All her pouting, posturing and malevolence later on in the novel don’t quite manage to repair that damage to her character.
Perhaps wisely, Reid doesn’t give us much time to dwell on this. Quenthel and Jeggred’s imprisonment; Faeryl’s brief moments of revenge; the politicking of the drow Houses, including the ambitions of House Zauviir: all these elements serve to generate intrigue and excitement in the middle third of the novel, but Reid is saving the best till last. Once Pharaun, Ryld and Valas enter House Melarn and confront the assembled might of Ched Nasad’s matron mothers, the narrative seems to move up a gear, as the slowly building conspiracy introduced waaaay back in the first chapter finally takes centre stage. And it’s here where the novel becomes something quite different from what it has been up to now.
During the course of the first half of the novel, Reid takes advantage of the male drow’s excursions in Ched Nasad to paint a picture of a city perched precariously on a powder keg. In the final third of the novel, he sets it off quite spectacularly. Having described with commendable attention to detail the calcified giant webways that comprise the streets of the City of Shimmering Webs, Reid gleefully destroys them, crafting an Underdark cross between Towering Inferno and Godzilla complete with crumbling buildings, giant insects and lots of raging flame. Chunks of building fall into one another; streets are destroyed; huge chasms open up and characters almost fall to their death…
And that is where we hit a very noticeable, albeit fairly minor, problem. While Reid does a fantastic job of turning Ched Nasad into a twisted disaster movie set, he seems to have forgotten one of the central tenets of that particular genre: don’t be afraid to kill off at least some of your main characters. The problem Reid has is that, with the exception of Faeryl (who was always going to meet a sticky end once she betrayed Quenthel), he (or perhaps more accurately, the next author in the series) needs them. There are no spares.
Let’s take inventory, shall we? Quenthel and Pharaun are untouchable for fairly obvious reasons. To kill off Ryld would deprive the reader of a resolution to that moment in Dissolution. Jeggred could go at a pinch, but he’s so obviously both the muscle for the group and the uncomfortable embodiment of the drow’s darker nature. (Yeah, like they have a nice, fluffy, flower-picking, campsong-singing side, but you know what I mean.) Valas would be a safer bet, but he’s evidently needed for at least the next novel to further the plot and consequently seems to enjoy the kind of immunity from harm usually enjoyed by foreign diplomats in the UK. (Speaking of Valas, of all the main characters in the novel, he’s easily the weakest. His uncanny ability to turn up when he’s most needed and stab someone in the back is cool to begin with, but, in the general absence of anything remotely resembling a personality, quickly wears thin. He is almost the dictionary definition of a one-trick pony. Sorry, chaps, but the ability to hamstring opponents seemingly at will does not, on its own, an interesting character make.)
This leaves us with the new girls. Surely one of them could bite the dust in dramatic, heart-rending fashion, consequently providing this otherwise terribly impressive disaster novel the emotional ‘oomph’ it deserves? Erm, no. Halisstra is too useful and Ryld seems to have taken a shine to her. And Danifae, who is easily the most expendable member of the group, is apparently simply too sexy to pop her clogs, shuffle off this mortal coil and go and meet the big spider in the sky. Or under the earth, probably. Reid introduces us to Halisstra’s brother, but we don’t have enough time to get to know him before he dies and even Halisstra’s reaction to his death seems oddly muted. In this sense, for all the novel’s big sfx ending, (and let’s be clear here - a lot of it is truly impressive, some of it jaw-droppingly so) the big emotional hit just isn’t there.
That’s not to say that the novel as a whole is unsuccessful. Far from it. It’s exciting, well-written and, above all, fun. I’ve got to confess. I approached this series with a certain amount of trepidation. Six novels of drow? I mean, six?!?! I know some people are really into them, but I’ve never counted myself among that august number. Until now. Reading Insurrection was a very pleasurable experience, partly because Reid is such an accomplished descriptive writer, and partly because Pharaun is such a great character. He’s witty and powerful and, in his own way, possessed of a certain bravery. He’s also, in the female-dominated society of the drow, the underdog and that’s a potent, seductive combination. And, ladies and gentlemen, I’m rather afraid I’ve succumbed. 
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"How content that young woman looks, don't you think? How content, and yet how flammable." - Lemony Snicket, The Unauthorized Autobiography |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 17 Sep 2008 : 14:37:13
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quote:
Originally posted by J D Dunsany
(Speaking of Valas, of all the main characters in the novel, he’s easily the weakest. His uncanny ability to turn up when he’s most needed and stab someone in the back is cool to begin with, but, in the general absence of anything remotely resembling a personality, quickly wears thin. He is almost the dictionary definition of a one-trick pony. Sorry, chaps, but the ability to hamstring opponents seemingly at will does not, on its own, an interesting character make.)
Heh, true--that bit made me chuckle. Thanks for the review, I enjoyed reading it. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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J D Dunsany
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
180 Posts |
Posted - 17 Sep 2008 : 15:29:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
quote:
Originally posted by J D Dunsany
(Speaking of Valas, of all the main characters in the novel, he’s easily the weakest. His uncanny ability to turn up when he’s most needed and stab someone in the back is cool to begin with, but, in the general absence of anything remotely resembling a personality, quickly wears thin. He is almost the dictionary definition of a one-trick pony. Sorry, chaps, but the ability to hamstring opponents seemingly at will does not, on its own, an interesting character make.)
Heh, true--that bit made me chuckle. Thanks for the review, I enjoyed reading it.
Hi, Rinonalyrna!
I think I remember reading somewhere that the WoTSQ novels were not really your cup of tea, so I'm particularly grateful that you took the time to read the review and pass comment.
All the best!
JDD |
"How content that young woman looks, don't you think? How content, and yet how flammable." - Lemony Snicket, The Unauthorized Autobiography |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 15:07:12
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quote:
Originally posted by J D Dunsany
Hi, Rinonalyrna!
I think I remember reading somewhere that the WoTSQ novels were not really your cup of tea, so I'm particularly grateful that you took the time to read the review and pass comment.
All the best!
JDD
My pleasure, your reviews tend to be good reads. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Fillow
Master of Realmslore
France
1608 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 19:33:31
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I sought in other Insurrection threads but found no allusion to something I found strange in the French version of this novel.
So, I'm wondering if our French translators did not misunderstand or forget something in the original text :
At the end of the chapter 4, when the team is about to enter Ched Nasad, Pharaun uses a spell in order to disguise Jeggred into a tired and sick merchant.
Then the team enters the city and the chapter ends.
The chapter 5 begins with Drisinil and Ssipriina. As soon as we come back to the team, they meet people in the streets of the bottom of the city. As soon as they encounter concerns with people, Jeggred intervene with his real appearance ! And the whole team seems to look like they truly are.
Is it the same in the original one ?
When did they take their identity back ?
Thanks for reading.
I hope I'm understandable... |
"Today is a good day to smile",
Fillow Big'n'Book Mahlemiut 'Lead-dog', Son of Garl, Wanderer of the Masked Leaf and Namer of Oghma.
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I am a French FR fan, so please forgive my lapses in English language and do not hesitate to correct me. Thanks a lot. |
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'Insurrection' review - SPOILERS!!!!!
