Cherryh, C.J. - The Paladin

[oyceter]

The first Cherryh book I've read since reading The Fortress in the Eye of Time back in eighth grade or something! Luckily, I liked this one much better than Fortress, which I found singularly boring back then. Maybe a reread will change that, who knows?

Anyhow, I picked this one up because riemannia had mentioned how Kinsale's The Prince of Midnight reminded her of it. Bonus points of non-European setting! The weird thing is that I can't quite specifically pinpoint why the setting feels Asian because Cherryh thankfully doesn't do that whole subservient Asian thing. The place names and people names are a mix of Chinese and Japanese, but the book feels distinctly Chinese to me. This may just be me projecting; someone more familiar with Japanese history may find it Japanese. I think it was something about the emphasis on government and regents, on the importance of a good emperor and on the havoc a bad one can do, that felt Chinese to me. This is quite likely because of how so many heroes in Chinese culture seem to be poet-philosophers who are the lone voice of reason against a bad emperor and end up being exiled because of it, although I'm not sure if that is actually true or if that is just a cultural preoccupation that influences the interpretation of the literature.

Taizu is a peasant girl whose family has been killed by the bad official Ghitu, and she decides to seek revenge be convincing the legendary warrior Saukendar to train her. Unfortunately for her, Saukendar is a little lame and not at all inclined to train her or abandon his nice hermit existence of her revenge.

I particularly enjoyed the parts of the story that dealt with how Saukendar trains Taizu because of the detail, though I found myself consistently annoyed at Saukendar for his constant belief that a girl couldn't possibly fight that well, despite Taizu's obvious skill, and for his constant desire to sleep with Taizu against her will. Ok, I get he's in lust and hasn't slept with someone for nine years or so, but good lord. Props to Cherryh for not doing the obvious romance novel thing, even though they do eventually fall in love. I hope I'm not spoiling anything here, as it seemed pretty obvious from the start.

I didn't like Saukendar that much because of the reasons above, but I really adored Taizu and her quiet strength and her iron will. She decides on what she wants and never lets go, and I wish that I had gotten to see some scenes from her POV instead of Saukendar's. Oh well.

I'm not quite sure if I liked the part of the book that concerns itself with the revenge, and I'm not sure if I completely believe the ending, but hey, I found a non-sporky Asian-tinged fantasy!

Comments

Cherryh recommendations II

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Rider at the Gate and its sequel, Cloud's Rider. Totally unsentimental novels about humans bonded with animals. On a creepy planet where the fauna is all telepathic and drives unprotected humans insane, people cope with the protection of humans bonded to a carnivorous horse-like native animal. Vivid, intense, and very very weird. The emotional/telepathic imagescape of the horses and riders is really well done.

I also like Rimrunner, Merchant's Luck, the Kif books, and more that I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Re: Cherryh recommendations II

[riemannia.livejournal.com]

Read and liked Cuckoo's Egg, Cyteen, and Rimrunner. In fact, Rimrunner might be my favorite Cherryh, maybe because it was my first. I haven't had much luck with her since but can't remember which ones I tried. Will try Foreigner or Rider at the Gate.

Re: Cherryh recommendations II

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

Oh! Yes! What I love most about the Rider books is the way they savagely and quietly deconstruct the whole Mercedes Lackey/Companion type setup.