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

[riemannia.livejournal.com]

It was fun reading your review.

And, yeah, the ending was not the book's strongest part.

I liked Saukendar better than you did. I thought his thoughts about Taizu were appropriate to the setting, though Cherryh could have cut back a little on the lusting. I actually found the love story very moving, too, but I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.

Taizu was great.

Cherryh recommendations: I

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I liked the training bits better than the revenge bits too, but I though Saukendar was a good example of a believable man in a sexist time who does eventually get over it. Anyway, I like the book a lot. And I couldn't get through the first 30 pages of Fortress in the Eye of Time.

Because you liked The Paladin, I think you would also enjoy...

Cuckoo's Egg, which is its mirror image in some ways. It's about a boy raised by aliens for a mysterious (and, as it turns out, quite unexpected) purpose. The aliens follow a bushido-like code and much of the book is about the boy's training, only it's from his perspective, and it's about a master-disciple relationship, only between a boy and an alien rather than a man and a woman, and it's father-son rather than romantic. Tightly written, intense, and with a very satisfying ending.

Because you like Dorothy Dunnett, I think you would also enjoy...

Cyteen. Probably Cherryh's best novel, if you can plow your way through the confusing first 50-some pages. (Sound familiar?) When a scientist dies with her work incomplete, an old plan of hers is set into action: she's cloned and her clone is given the same upbringing she had, complete with the same traumas. Sort of. This is full of intrigue, paranoia, and some fascinating reflections on identity and how we become who we are. The supporting characters are terrific too.

Foreigner. Even more intense, intrigue-full, claustrophobic, and paranoiac than Cyteen, but in a good way. The human translator for some believably alien aliens gets caught up in... yes... intrigue. There's a great old lady-- well, old female alien-- character who I think you'd really like. This has sequels which I haven't read yet.

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.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

I second all those Cherryh recs up there...I like her stuff a lot, though her style can be a bit claustrophobic if you read too much at once.