08 Aug 2009 4 Comments
Hooray for Inda!
Sherwood Smith’s Inda, that is, the hero of a meaty four part series whose concluding book, TREASON’S SHORE, just appeared. I picked up the first volume, INDA, at a MythCon a couple of years ago, but didn’t get around to reading it until last year. I was immediately hooked, and rushed out to find the second book, THE FOX, and then had to wait for the third book, KING’S SHIELD. When I finished rereading them all earlier this summer I had a feeling it might be time for the fourth, and was delighted to find it available for pre-order on Amazon.
So why all the enthusiasm? Sherwood has been writing for a number of years, and she’s not nearly as well known as she ought to be. The Inda books are everything you want from a fantasy series—an interesting, fully-developed world with several languages, environments, and cultures that are evocatively described, a complex but not confusing plotline with a number of unexpected twists, really well-written action scenes, and above all characters whose lives you follow and whose fates you care about. She includes all the elements needed for a good solid fantasy, and deals with all of them in original ways.
In TREASON’S SHORE, all the favorite elements from the earlier books come into play. There are scenes at the training academy and a long sequence with the (ex)-pirates. Sherwood does great sea-battles, something you don’t often see in contemporary fantasy. There are no cop outs and no easy answers, but the ending satisfies. What makes this book a worthy conclusion to the series is its focus on character. “Character-driven” too often means a preoccupation with the internal drama of people who weren’t that interesting in the first place. In TREASON’S SHORE, the developing conflict between Inda and Evred, two characters whom we have come to love, transcends the physical conflict with the enemy, and we realize that even more important than winning the war is winning the peace. In the end, the real victories come not through physical strength but through communication and love.
Aug 10, 2009 @ 00:22:13
Random question- do you know Harry Harrison? And is he still alive? Been rereading his Stainless Steel Rat books- good stuff. Not to mention the Hammer and the Cross, and the Deathworld Trilogy.
Aug 10, 2009 @ 18:26:44
Harry Harrison
I’ve met him, but I don’t know if he’d remember me. He is still alive, and still, I believe, living in Ireland, which is why we don’t see him at many US conventions.
My favorite of his is the HAMMER AND THE CROSS trilogy.
Aug 10, 2009 @ 18:27:30
Re: Harry Harrison
Actually, that was from me, Diana L. Paxson. Forgot to sign in.
Aug 10, 2009 @ 00:42:46
always happy to have you turn me on to some good new scifi! thanks – Hilary