“The Sacred Band” is a classic work
of heroic fantasy. This novel takes place deep within the
established rules of Janet Morris's Thieves World, and I like that it
doesn't waste any time on throwaway passages designed to “catch up”
those readers who are new to the realm. This is a sink or swim type
novel, and the reader as well as the characters involved are not the
least bit coddled. The result is that you start to acquire a sense
of achievement as you piece together all the clues, as if you have
earned the right to enjoy this world and become a member of its
legions of fans.
The first Thieves World novel is
“Beyond Sanctuary,” and I believe I might tackle that one now
that I've had a taste of Tempus and the Sacred Band of Stepsons.
Janet and Chris Morris create a great classic ambiance in “The
Sacred Band.” I found myself imagining a setting that looked much
like Dante's version of Hell decorated and populated with people and
artifacts out of Greek Mythology.
The action is instant and non-stop, and
the characters are not “squeaky clean” by any stretch of the
imagination. For example, early on in the book Tempus takes a troop
of new recruits into a brothel and decides to just wait and see “how
things play out” when he begins hearing terrifying screams from the
room of one of his charges. When the prostitute in question turns up
dead a few days later, Tempus embarks on an investigation that is
more about maintaining his own autonomy over his group than
correcting any wrong. I like the fact that Janet and Chris Morris
have the courage to make strong statements on wartime morality,
rather than try to push modern society's sometimes hypocritical views
of right and wrong into a setting that simply cannot support it
(Thieves World deals with individuals who have bigger issues than
whether or not the phone store has run out of the 4G portable you've
been dreaming about for six months—yes, there was a time when
people had REAL issues to deal with people).
The Morris's make some interesting
stylistic choices in their writing. Quite a bit of the novel is
written in the present tense. At first I found the switches from
past to present tense a bit jarring, but after a while I began to
enjoy the emphasis on immediacy that the present tense passages
provided. The tense shifts help put you in the proper frame of mind
to correctly comprehend the more traditionally written text. This is
a novel that's happening here and now, and there is a certain sensory
overload that the writing creates when you allow yourself to fall
into step with it.
Overall, “The Sacred Band” evokes
the brutality and lyricism of Robert E. Howard combined with the old
school “sword and sandal” movies we all grew up watching. For
those of you who aren't quite up for the challenge of swimming in the
deep end, you might want to check out “Beyond Sanctuary.” For
the rest of you, buckle up and prepare to enjoy the ride!
Pick up "The Sacred Band" here at Amazon.
Pick up "The Sacred Band" here at Amazon.
A really great review of a truly wonderful mythic fantasy novel. It is one of my all-time favorite books. Life to you, and everlasting glory, as the Sacred Banders say.
ReplyDeleteThanks Larry. We think so too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Larry. We think so too.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete