Short Fiction Month: Old Paint - Megan Lindholm

These days, pretty much everything that is being published by this author, appears under the pseudonym Robin Hobb. Once in a while a story under the name Megan Lindholm appears. It doesn't seem likely that we'll ever see another Lindholm novel again, but some of the short fiction she writes just doesn't fit the epic fantasy Hobb is associated with. Old Paint appeared in Asimov's in July 2012. It has recently been reprinted in Clarkesworld. If you want to explore Hobb's work published under the Lindholm name, this story is not a bad place to start. It is probably closer to Hobb in style than many of her earlier Lindholm works are.

Sadie is a young girl growing up in a poor distract of Tacoma, Washington. She lives with her mother and older brother on a small income. None of the niceties of 2030s living are for them. One day, Sadie's grandfather, who she doesn't know at all, passes away. Her mother had a complicated relationship with him but he has left her in his will. Besides some run down furniture, they inherit a car. It is old and hopelessly outdated but well maintained. Her mother decides to hang on to it.

I suppose the reason this story reminds me of Hobb is the technique she uses to tell it. A first person narrative, witnessed by a young girl with a limited understanding of the situation, related long after the events have taken place. It is basically the way she started Assassin's Apprentice (1995), the first book in her Farseer trilogy. What is distinctly different is that she doesn't heap nearly as much misery on her characters as what Fitz has to endure.

In the story self driving cars are an accepted part of life. The car Sadie's mother inherits is one of the early models. It can drive itself just fine and possesses (by our standards) sophisticated AI. Society wasn't ready for it though, and all sorts of restrictions were put in place to make sure a person with a license would have to do the driving. In hindsight, such restrictions seem ludicrous to the characters. A nice bit of social commentary given the developments in this field in recent years. Lindholm isn't blind to the risks though, and uses one particular risk to shape her plot.

In the end, Old Paint is not really about technology. The relationship between the mother and her father is the core of the story. By using a young character to relay the story, our understanding of that relationship deepens gradually. The car is just a piece of machinery, but one that comes with a strong emotional attachment. It is a story that ends with both an understanding of how an object can evoke such strong emotions and a feeling that things turned out for the best. It's a very satisfying read.

Story Details
Title: Old Paint
Author: Megan Lindholm
Language: English
Originally published: Asimov's Science Fiction, July 2012
Read in: Clarkesworld, Issue 112, January 2016
Story length: Novelette, approximately 10,000 words
Awards: None
Available online: Clarkesword

Wolf's Brother - Meghan Lindholm

Wolf's Brother is the second half of Lindholm's prehistoric story about the Reindeer people. Lindholm had originally envisioned it as one book but because of its length the publisher decided to split the book. I reread the first half, The Reindeer People, in March and decided not to wait too long to complete this reread. This novel is the last of Lindholm's (under this pen name) I can review. I'm missing the long out of print Cloven Hooves but don't hold your breath for that one. I refuse to pay an arm and a leg for a battered paperback so it might be a while before I can get my hands on it.

As is to be expected with a duology that is really one book, the story picks up right after events in the first novel. Tillu has been offered to join the Reindeer people as their healer,  and with spring approaching, she has to decide quickly. Soon the herds will be moving north across the tundra to avoid the insects that can cause disease among the reindeer. With Carp's arrival and Kerlew's ever growing powers, it is not an easy decision. Then again, life on her own is not without its dangers either. Tillu moves with the Reindeer people and tries to find her place in their society. This proves to be far from easy.

In this novel Tillu really moves among the Reindeer people, giving the reader a greater insight into their everyday life. Summer is a season of intense activity for them. The herd needs to be moved, a gathering with other groups is planned, food has to be gathered, all while the short summer lasts. The feeling that the Reindeer people are in serious trouble permeates the entire novel. Murders unsolved, tensions between members of the group and a mysterious disease breaking out set the people on edge. Their leader is not up to the task of guiding them through these troubles and those who feel they can do a better job are not content to wait until he screws up by himself. The tensions within the group of people rise until a confrontation is inevitable.

I'm still quite impressed with the way Lindholm describes this lifestyle. The descriptions of the landscape, food, culture and everyday activities is very well done. It is always present, the reader gets enough detail to build a mental picture of what this lifestyle would look like. On the other hand it doesn't get in the way of the story. Where the novels she wrote as Robin Hobb tend to be fairly slow paced, her Lindholm works are usually much faster. This book is no exception. In fact, it is so briskly paced that I wondered at the decision to split it in the first place. The combined page count of my two paperbacks is about six hundred. It almost makes the last volume seem rushed.

Where Lindholm handles the setting very well, I was less impressed with the way the plot unfolds. There was tension among the Reindeer People already. Lacking a spiritual leader and suffering from poor worldly leadership, the tribe is adrift. Carp steps in to fill the gap. He does it in such a way that you'd have to be exceptionally stupid or superstitious to not want to kill the bastard within fifteen minutes after meeting him. Part of his tactic is a confidence game but he manages to make so many enemies along the way that it is a miracle the man has lived as long as he has.

He also has a tight grip on Tillu's son Kerlew throughout most of the novel. We get to see the story almost entirely though the eyes of Tillu however, so the depth of their relationship is never fully explored. We get a couple of brief snatches of his activities in this novel. Not really enough to make him into a well rounded character in my opinion. We never get to fully understand how he feels about his master for instance. His quest for a vision does give this book a bit more of a fantasy feel I suppose, but this is mostly used to solve a number of riddles the plot poses the reader that would be very hard to explain otherwise. Not the most elegant use of magic (if you want to call it that) in Lindholm's writing career.

Lindholm interweaves the trouble of the Reindeer People with another problem for Tillu. She is attracted to Heckram, one of the few men who will treat her son as a human being and agonizes over whether or not to give into desire, always afraid of having to move on again to protect Kerlew. This dilemma came up in the first book already but now Tillu has to face it. I thought it wasn't handled very well. Heckram, who in the first novel was stubborn and moody as well as considerate and competent, turns into an ideal husband in the later stages of the novel. He's not quite as bad as Jean M. Auel's Jondalar but it's close.

This reread was an interesting experience for me. I can't really remember disliking so many things about this novel. Wolf's Brother is still a decent read but the climax of the novel is so full of melodrama that it's hard to take it serious. Although endings do not appear to be Lindholm's, and most certainly not Hobb's, forte, I felt this one was probably the weakest she has delivered. My reaction to this novel caught me by surprise. The first book in this duology was more or less what I remembered it to be. This one isn't. I guess my taste has developed a bit in the past twelve or so years (or maybe a bit longer, the Dutch edition I read back then was published in 2000) since I last read them. It makes me wonder how some of the other stuff I read back then holds up. Still, if you like prehistoric fiction, you could do a lot worse than these two books. I enjoyed them in a way, just not as much as I did the first time around.

Book Details
Title: Wolf's Brother
Author: Megan Lindholm
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 268
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-00-742543-3
First published: 1988

The Reindeer People - Megan Lindholm

The Reindeer People by Megan Lindholm is the first novel in her duology about Tillu and Kerlew. I read these books years ago in Dutch translation but I've since decided to get rid of the translations and get them in English instead. I'm considering doing this for the Robin Hobb novels I own in Dutch as well. Lindholm has been fortunate with her translators, but good as they may be, I prefer to read the original English versions. There are the last two of Lindholm's I've been able to get my hands on. I would very much like to read the one remaining novel, Cloven Hooves (1991) I haven't review yet, but unfortunately it appears to be long out of print (except of course, in Dutch translation.) If anybody happens to know where I can find a copy that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg for please let me know. But let's get back to the issue at hand.

Tillu is struggling to bring up her socially awkward son Kerlew among a people strange to her. While most people she encounters see Kerlew as an odd boy, one better avoided, the shaman of the people she is staying with, a man named Carp, thinks he might make a good apprentice. He also thinks Tillu would make a good wife. She feels he is too creepy and arrogant to be allowed to teach the boy, let alone touch her. Her position is weak however. Among this tribe, women do as they are told. There is only one option open for Tillu: move on. It is the start of a trek though a subarctic winter. Their environment poses a formidable challenge and worst of all, Carp is not about to let them escape.

The Reindeer People and its sequel Wolf's Brother were written before Lindholm switched to the pen name of Robin Hobb. One of the things I like about her Megan Linholm books is that under that name, she was a lot less constrained, resulting in novels that include epic fantasy, urban fantasy, science fiction, and in this case, prehistoric fiction. While I enjoy the Robin Hobb novels immensely, I do get the feeling that as a writer she is more bound to the Realm of the Elderlings than she would like. The many negative reaction to her Soldier Son trilogy, her only departure from the Realm of the Elderings as Robin Hobb, do not, I feel, do justice to the thematic leap she tried to make there. Maybe I should reread those books some time soon as well.

Some people classify The Reindeer People as fantasy although, apart from some shamanic rituals, there is very little in the way of fantasy elements in the novel. Lindholm doesn't specify where or when the story is set but it is strongly reminiscent of Sami reindeer herding culture. Some of the vocabulary she uses seems to point in that direction too, although she slips once and refers to reindeer as caribou.  The level of technology is bronze age, although bronze implements are scarce so far up north. I guess it could have been set further east, or a completely imaginary world but my money is on Scandinavia. It has the feel of a very well researched book but Lindholm was probably wise to not name the place and period to specifically.

I've been thinking about Kerlew a lot after finishing this book. He is a very difficult child. Anti-social, very self absorbed in a way. He often comes across as downright rude and doesn't seem to be interested in helping provide for their basic needs. Carp's influence over him only worsen this attitude as he feels a lot of chores are beneath his dignity as a shaman. Without his mother, he wouldn't survive a week in this unforgiving environment. He reminds me a bit of Gotheris, one of the characters in her Ki and Vandien novel Luck of the Wheels. Kerlew's attitude points more towards a disorder in the autistic spectrum though. It made me wonder if Lindholm had and specific disorder in mind what she created this character.

The people who Tillu encounters after fleeing Carp's tribe are semi-nomadic reindeer herders. Their way of life is being described in detail in this novel. Form the food and the preparation of it, to the trade with more southern people and the implements they use in everyday life. The Reindeer People and Wolf's Brother were originally intended to be one volume. The book was eventually split in two (not the last time in her career that would happen) but nowhere in the novel did I get the feeling she gets bogged down in unnecessary detail. I did feel that, while Lindholm found a natural point in the story to split the book, the end of this first novel is rather abrupt. It's one of those books where you absolutely have to have the sequel on hand, otherwise it might prove an unsatisfying read.

Although the story is centers around Tillu, one of the major characters, a man names Heckram, is of the reindeer people. Through his eyes we get to see a people with a rich culture, where status is an important aspect of one's position in society. Lindholm draws a sharp contrast between the people Tillu is coming from and the one she encounters on her fight. The position of women in particular is completely different. His people have strongly ingrained traditions but recently they have been suffering from misfortune and indecisive leadership. It leaves them wide open to those who don't mind putting their own interests or ego's over the common good. As strangers, Kerlew, Tillu and eventually Carp put additional stress on the situation. Something Lindholm means to build on in the next novel.

I remember liking these books a lot when I first read them in Dutch and reading the English original hasn't changed my opinion that much. What I don't remember noticing is the abrupt ending of this novel. I might very well have read them back to back the first time around. When Lindholm wrote these books she already had a few books under her belt and they are much more confident than the first Ki and Vandien stories. Apart from the slightly awkward split, these two novels are among the better ones she wrote as Megan Lindholm. It is of course not the Robin Hobb style, epic fantasy many readers are used to but if you care to step outside that genre, Lindholm has a few very interesting titles to offer. My personal favourite remains Wizard of the Pigeons but these two are not that far behind.

Book Details
Title: The Reindeer People
Author: Megan Lindholm
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 348
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-00-742544-0
First published: 1988

Luck of the Wheels - Megan Lindholm

Luck of the Wheels (1989) is the final part in Robin Hobb’s Ki and Vandien quartet. I’ve reread the previous three volumes last year and had hoped to read and review the fourth book too. As usual that turned out to be too optimistic. A week’s holiday in Norway offered the opportunity to catch up with some loose ends on the blog though. It’s been a while since I wrote three reviews in a week. I guess you could say this book is the odd one out in the series, having been published several years after the first three, which appeared in quick succession in 1983 and 1984. Lindholm had written a number of other books in the mean time, the incomparably Wizard of the Pigeons among them. These additional years of experience show in the novel. It is the best paced book in the series.

After Ki and Vandien’s adventures in with the Limbreth Gate they feel forced to move south, beyond the roads either of them are familiar with. Ki and replaced her lost wagon with a new one, but this one is not suitable for hauling cargo as she was used to. Without any contacts, unfamiliar with the terrain and a wagon that doesn’t suit her needs, work is hard to come by. Ki finally decides to break one of her principles and accept a passenger. The fourteen-year-old boy Gotheris is to be apprenticed to his uncle in a town some two weeks travel away. The boy is decidedly odd but against het better judgment, Ki accepts the generous payment for this job. Something she will live to regret.

Once again Ki manages to saddle herself with a thoroughly unpleasant traveling companion. Unlike Dresh in The Windsingers, Gotheris, or Goat as he prefers to be called, is not stuck in a box. His actions display such a horrible lack of social grace and understanding the consequences of his actions that it is a miracle he has survived this long. Although he constantly claims to have Ki and Vandien’s best interest in mind, he gets them in trouble more than once, doing a number of inexcusable things. For most of the novel, Goat is very unlikable. The reasons for this, and the ending of the novel, are meant to redeem him somewhat but I very much doubt Lindholm succeeded there.

What Lindholm does better in my opinion is work out the political situation in the land Ki and Vandien travel though. The many annoying officials demanding they buy permits for just about every step they take are the first sign not all is well. The local Duke has also hired large numbers of brutal Brujans to patrol the roads and harass, rob or simply kill everybody who in their opinion is not supposed to be there. His tactics to hold on to power are clearly not appreciated by the locals and rumors of a rebellion soon reach Ki and Vandien. The way we see these events unfold through the eyes of Ki and Vandien is very well worked out. Their ignorance of local politics and the way it influences their decisions drive the story more than Goat’s interference in the end.

Ki and Vandien’s relationship is once again put under serious stress in Luck of the Wheels. Ever since meeting him in Harpy’s Flight Ki has had trouble fully committing to the relationship with Vandien. He doesn’t push but throughout the series the feeling that it is incomplete prevails. In this novel they seem secure in the way their relationship works but it doesn’t turn out to be quite the truth. Old scars are ruthlessly reopened and both main characters have to find a new equilibrium. Again something in them has changed fundamentally. In this part of the story I get the feeling Lindholm at one point considered expanding the series further. Ki has never dared to fully depend on Vandien. It would have been interesting to see what would happen to her when she does.

While Ki has to come to terms with her fear of commitment, Vandien battles his own demons. We find out a bit more about his past in this novel; a part that involves his talent in fencing. The last part of the novel includes detailed descriptions of a number of contests. Not all readers will appreciate that much swordplay in their fantasy but it seemed particularly well researched to me. Lindholm has written a page long dedication to the man who helped her with that aspect of the novel among other things. Personally I think it turned out very well. During the tournament Vandien is in a particularly unstable state of mind giving the whole sequence a very dark and threatening atmosphere. His inner turmoil is reflected in the bloody trail he leaves. I think it is not something a new reader could see Vandien doing based on what we’ve seen before. Maybe Vandien’s development in this novel is even more profound than Ki’s.

I would like to say that Luck of the Wheels is a fitting conclusion for the series but that would probably not be correct. In some ways it still feels like an incomplete series. Lindholm wrote as self contained stories however. The ending of this novel is satisfying enough but I can’t help but wonder what else Lindholm had in mind for the two companions. This novel is probably the most well-written of the quartet. The pacing in particular has much improved since the first novel in the series.  Overseeing the whole series I think The Limbreth Gate remains my favorite though. That being said, Luck of the Wheel, just like the previous novels in the series, is well worth reading. They may not be the epic, sprawling fantasy novels Lindholm has produced under her other pen name Robin Hobb but these leaner novels should still appeal to the fantasy fans. This reread has reinforced my opinion work published under the Lindholm pseudonym is a bit under appreciated.

Book Details
Title: Luck of the Wheels
Author: Megan Lindholm
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 408
Year: 2002
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-00-711255-6
First published: 1989

The Limbreth Gate - Megan Lindholm

I've reached the third volume in my rereads of Megan Lindholm's Ki and Vandien Quartet. Lindholm's work under this pseudonym is very diverse but the Ki and Vandien novels are more or less straightforward fantasy. A secondary world with a long, largely unknown history, lots of different sentient races, magic and divine creatures. All the ingredients are present. They are pretty focussed on the characters that give the series its name however. No huge cast of secondary characters and countless side plots. They are very efficiently written in a way. Each book is a complete story, there are no major cliffhangers or unresolved questions; it is the relationship between Ki and Vandien is what ties these books together. In short, a very different style of fantasy than the books written under the Robin Hobb pseudonym. One of the great mysteries for the reader is how a person can adopt two completely different styles and stay sane I suppose. It is something that has always intrigued me about Lindholm/Hobb.

In her pursuit of cargo to haul, Ki has left the areas she is familiar with and ended up in the town of Jojorum. Vandien is with her on this occasion and after their business is conducted they enjoy the markets of the town. They split up do each do some shopping of their own and agree to meet in a tavern in town. It becomes clear that the place is not very welcoming to Romni teamsters however and Ki feels forced to leave before nightfall. What Ki doesn't know is that Vandien is being deliberately delayed by a group of Windsingers, a weather controling magical order they have clashed with in the previous book. Ki is forced to leave without him and by the time Vandien realizes she is gone, Ki has been tricked into leaving the city thought the Limbreth Gate. A gate that not only leads out of town, but into another realm. Ki is in mortal danger. It is up to Vandien to find a way to reach her and draw her back to her own world.

This novel sheds a bit of light on Ki's own past. In Harpy's Flight (1983) she is depicted as being accepted in the Romni community but not quite a part of it. A number reasons are given in the first book. She married an outsider for instance and her refusal to give herself over to the mourning rituals of her people are another. Those are clearly not story and  in The Limbreth Gate more reasons are revealed. It also explains the interest of the Windsingers and the wizard Dresh in Ki, both of whom play a part in the story. The political intrigue inside the Windsingers' council is another element central to the plot. Ki's actions in The Windsingers (1984) has put her on the bad side of a faction within the council. For a group with considerable power they can be extremely petty (as well as arrogant) but it must be said that some them are not entirely without mercy.

What this novel does more than the previous two volumes, is expose feelings and doubts in the main character. The creature that uses the Limbreth Gate to create a connection between the two worlds is starving for new experiences, having long since tired of being god in a realm that contains only its own presence. In the process it consumes the unfortunate person being drawn through the gate. It is an idea that Robin Hob would later use in the Farseer trilogy, where Veritas' dragon empties him of all experiences and emotions. The Limbreth is a hungry creature, deceptively reasonable and tempting as a Siren. Ki cannot help open up to it and it exposes things about her relationship with Vandien that until now remained unspoken.

The way the relationship between Ki and Vandien develops is one of the things I like most about these novels. They hurt each other badly sometimes, in this case they can't help but doing so, but they always manage to turn it into a step forward.

        He could not smile at her. The relationship so carefully built seemed crumbled; he dared no longer trust the weight of his heart to it. "it is more than that," he said heavily. "It is not going to be the same between us."
     Ki looked deep into his eyes, troubled by what she saw there. "The same as what? When was it ever the same between us, from day to day? When did we ever want it to be?"

Ki and Vandien discussing how to move on - Chapter Twenty-One.

Lindholm has never been easy on her characters and Ki and Vandien certainly get their share of misfortune and heartbreak. Their experiences in the Limbreth realm are traumatic but not enough to shake them loose from each other. I've read a lot of comments by people who don't like this book as much as the others because Ki is not herself for most of the story. Personally, I think she shows herself even stronger than we could have suspected from the previous two volumes.

Vandien's struggles are depicted in a very different way. He has been trying not to ask more of Ki than she is willing to give and in this novel, he runs up against the limitations of that approach. Under the influence of the Limbreth's visions she wants to put their relationship behind her and Vandien has to overcome his impulse to leave her be. Lindholm uses a hird character to embody Vandien's more ruthless thoughts. The half Brujan Hollyika is a woman of action. Blunt, forceful and living for the moment, she seizes what she desires without debating feelings or morality. Hollyika does what Vandien can't make himself do, exposing some severe doubts about his relationship with Ki. I've been thinking about whether or not this makes Ki the stronger of the two but when you get right down to it, they both need someone to pull out of the mess they find themselves in. Vandien might consider that the next time he feels inadequate. I guess it just makes them human.

Maybe this third book in the quartet is the most difficult to appreciate. In terms of structure and emotional charge it is the best of the quartet so far I think but definitely a more challenging read than the previous two. Lindholm is clearly progressing as a writer over the course of this series. Something that can be seen in the final volume, Luck of the Wheels (1989), as well. Ki and Vandien remain two of Lindhom's most intriguing creations and I am very much enjoying to way in which she develops these characters. The Limbreth Gate made me want to reach for the next one immediately after finishing it. Unfortunately there is a to read stack to consider though, it will have to wait its turn. I will try to read and review that book before the year is out and wrap up this series.

Book Details
Title: The Limbreth Gate
Author: Megan Lindholm
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 360
Year: 2002
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-00-711254-8
First published: 1984

The Windsingers - Megan Lindholm

The Windisngers is the second book in a series of four featuring Ki and Vandien. It was first published in 1984 but is still available. A Dutch translation appeared a while ago too, lifting on the success of Lindholm's book under the Robin Hobb pseudonym. I got an English language reprint years ten ago and am now in the process of reading them. The first novel, which was also Lindholm's debut, showed some serious flaws in pacing and structure but I still thought it was an interesting book. In this novel, Lindholm clearly improves in those areas but she looses some of the dynamic between Ki and Vandien in large parts of the novel. In the end I did think the first novel, Harpy's Flight, was a more entertaining read, even if the second was better written.

Ki and Vandien are meeting up in the town of Dyal where Ki hopes to find a new cargo to haul. Vandien has been in town for a while and thinks he has come upon a bargain too good to refuse. Salvaging a chest from a drowned temple in a fishing village a few days away from Dyal. Ki knows about this bargain, it is a mission impossible offered to an unsuspecting teamster each year. The villagers have created a festival a out it. Ki refuses to commit her team to this fool's errand and is quite annoyed that Vandien as already accepted. She leaves Vandien to sort out his own mess as she pursues a more lucrative deal. Transporting some household items to a manor in the same direction as the fishing village. She promises to meet up with Vandien to see if she can help him after she is done with her own job. Ki soon finds out that her job is the more dangerous of the two as it earns her the enmity of the powerful, weather controlling Windsingers.

Where Ki and Vandien spend most of the story together, in this novel they spit up early on. Ki spends most of the novel in the company if Dresh, a wizard engaged in a long running conflict with the Windsingers, the true depths of which are not explored in the story. Dresh is a nasty piece of work. He constantly uses his power to control Ki and enjoys showing her just how powerful he is. Fortunately of Ki, he also needs her. His body is split up in several parts, which makes him extremely vulnerable to the Windsingers. Personally I thought the background of this conflict is very sketchy. The world Lindholm created is full of sentient species, many of which are never really developed. The Windsingers and Dresh get more attention than most but it still leaves me with the feeling that even after four books, Lindholm wasn't really done with this series. It makes me wonder why she stopped writing in this world.

The interactions between Ki and Dresh themselves are fascinating though. Dresh may be very aware of his power, he also desperately needs Ki's aid. Ki is more or less forced to cooperate but every time Dresh crosses a line, Ki isn't afraid to slap his wrist. Still, their relationship is forced upon Ki and Dresh remains a thoroughly unpleasant character, always looking to exploit some weakness and push people into doing his bidding. The interaction with Ki is well done, but when you get right down to it, Dresh is little more than the evil mastermind in this story. I think it could have done with a bit more ambiguity.

Vandien faces a more worldly challenge. After arranging to hire a team to meet his obligation to the village, he soon finds out he set himself an impossible task. The Windsingers, whose ancient temple he will be searching, are set to oppose him and nobody in the village actually expects him to succeed. The history of this festival goes back beyond living memory and most of the villagers consider the chest more of a legend than truth. Not everybody agrees with that assessment however, and it causes tension in the village. He has to carefully navigate this minefield not to upset his hosts.

I thought Lindholm captured the village mentality and the tensions running though the community better than the magic of Dresh. She didn't really spend more words on it than on Ki's side of the story but somehow the conflict Vandien faces is more sharply drawn. I suppose there is a bit of magic in this side of the tale as well, but mostly it is about human emotions. Vandien's reasons for accepting the job, the villagers' attitude towards their past, the reasons why a few villagers believe in the legend and want the chest to be found, and the reasons for the Windsingers' involvement. There are a lot of people who have a stake in this and that makes it a very interesting conflict.

The finale of the novel is also a very well written section. On top of the knot of conflicting interests Vandien is faced with, Ki introduces her own complications. Their separate experiences change the relationship between Ki and Vandien. It isn't spelled out in the novel, there are quite a few subtle hints and unspoken thoughts. The relationship between Ki and Vandien adds another layer in this novel and Lindholm will continue to build on that in the next two books. The author brings together the strands of the story skilfully, without forcing a too neat resolution. Ki and Vandien are adults, life is messy and they know it.

I'm not entirely sure which novel I would rate higher. Harpy's Flight is more frantic, I liked the tension in that novel and the plot better. The Windsingers is definitely better structured though. I felt some of the tension in the sections with Ki and Dresh was lacking a bit although some readers might appreciate the surreal surrounding Ki finds herself in. I guess it is a matter of taste, there is something to be said for each novel. Whichever you prefer, The Windsingers is a solid entry into this series. Ki and Vandien are a more mature set of heroes than you normally find in fantasy and that is refreshing, even thirty years after they were written. I can't think of many fantasy series that have achieved that.

Book Details
Title: The Windsingers
Author: Megan Lindholm
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 392
Year: 2002
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-00-711253-X
First published: 1984

Harpy's Flight - Megan Lindholm

Harpy's Flight (1983) is Megan Lindholm's first novel and the first of a series of four starring the characters Ki and Vandien. I understand that at one time, Lindholm had plans to write more but that never happened. Given the success of Lindholm's other pen name Robin Hobb, I very much doubt it ever will. Although not quite as popular as the Hobb novels, most of the Lindholm books are still available. The only one I haven't been able to get my hands on yet is Cloven Hooves (1991). The Ki and Vandien books have recently been translated into Dutch. Not entirely sure how well they did but I thought it was interesting to see the publisher gamble like that. Lindholm novels are very different in style and tone from Hobb novels. I love both the epic fantasy of Hobb and the more diverse output of Lindholm but that is certainly not true for all readers.

Ki is out for revenge. A pair of Harpies have taken her husband and two young children and despite the fact that they can easily take her as well, she is determined to make them feel her loss. Against all odds, Ki survives the climb to the Hapries' lair and the ensuing fight. She is left to pick up the pieces of her life but with one Harpy dead, three eggs ruined and a second Harpy mutilated, her actions are bound to come back to her. Ki has made enemies. Just how far reaching the consequences are, becomes clear when she visits the family of her late husband Sven to share the horrific news with them.

The opening scene of this novel is an extremely powerful one. Lindholm tosses the reader right into the mids of the whirlwind of emotions that is Ki. Grief, pain and vengefulness just leap off the pages and setting the tone for the rest of the novel. Lindholm's writing my be different from Hobb's but there is one thing they share. They make their characters suffer. This is a reread for me, I read this novel for the first time in 2002, and ten years on, it surprised me how tragic the story really is. Ki is battered and bruised, tired and above all empty. Revenge, after all, will not bring back the ones she loved.

Lindholm tells her story out of chronological order. She opens with the earliest part of the story but after that, it mostly Ki thinking back on events after her encounter with the Harpies while struggling to put her life back together. In these flashbacks, a story that started out as revenge and a hunt, becomes one of a major clash of cultural differences. Ki's origins remain partly unexplored in this novel, but she grew up among the Romni, a Gipsy-like people. Her husband stems from a farming community with much closer ties to the land they work and very different rituals regarding death and the loss of loved ones.

In this first novel the world Ki lives in is not fleshed out yet. Lindholm hints at the many sentient races that inhabit the world but only Humans and Harpies are important to this story. Two other races make a brief appearance. The interactions between all these races is important to the series though. In this first volume the dubious relationship between the predatory Harpies and the Human farmers that worship them takes center stage and adds another dark tone to what is already a quite depressing story. The tensions created by Ki's arrival in the farming community are what really drew me in though. Revenge alone, would not have been enough to carry the story.

I haven't mentioned Vandien thus far and although the series is named after him, Ki is the main character in this story. Vandien has a history of his own, some of which is revealed in this novel, but mostly he is there to make Ki think about things she would rather avoid. More than once he goads her into revealing things about herself she would rather not discuss. He makes her reconsider the course of her life and as far as Ki is concerned, this is a mixed blessing. It is the beginning of a complicated relationship between them. I guess that is another thing that Hobb and Lindholm have in common. The characterization is always impressive.

In some ways you can tell this novel is an early work. Lindholm switched quite abruptly between the present of the story and a flashback or dream (or both). The novel clearly lacks a bit of refinement there. I also thought the way Lindholm presents the individual members of Sven's family is a bit confusing at times. Most of these people have some part to play in the tragedy that unfolds there but some appear pretty much without introduction or just the barest hint of one. It is not bad enough to really distract from the story but there is certainly a bit of room for improvement there. If I remember correctly, Lindholm does just that in the later parts of this series.

Harpy's Flight is not Lindholm's best novel but it is still an impressive read. The emptiness Ki experiences after the loss of her family and the violence she unleashes on their killers is heartbreaking. Whatever the technical flaws of this novel, on an emotional level is works very well. It is very clear that there is a lot more to discover about this world in the later three volumes. I think I saw a few more imperfections in the novel the second time around but I am still glad to have my copy of the second volume, The Windsingers, on hand.

Book Details
Title: Harpy's Flight
Author: Megan Lindholm
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 312
Year: 2002
Language: English
Format: Mass Market paperback
ISBN: 0-00-711252-1
First published: 1983

Wizard of the Pigeons - Megan Lindholm

This is the ninth out of ten books Lindhom wrote under this pen name, before moving on to her Robin Hobb alter ego. The tenth, Cloven Hooves (1991) is unfortunately out of print so I have no idea when, or if, I can get my hands on that. There is a fairly recent Dutch translation but I would rather read the original. Wizard of the Pigeons (1986) is still available as mass market paperback. I got a copy last year and as usual is spent too much time on the to read stack. Once again I am impressed with the diversity of Lindholm's writing. This book is again unlike any of the others I've read. I guess you could call it an Urban Fantasy before the werewolf boyfriends took over, or maybe magical realism would fit better. It is a very good book whichever genre label you prefer.

For those who can see it, Seattle, the Emerald City, is a place of magic. Living by his own rules, Wizard makes a living on what opportunities the city offers. He has elevated scavenging to an art and appears comfortable in his life as Wizard. Soon it becomes clear that all is not well in Seattle however. A ghost form Wizard's past is threatening the city and he is the only one who can stop it. His past is pulling at him to leave the magical existence he's built for himself and reintegrate in the mundane world, but doing so while this threat remains unchallenged would threaten more than just Wizard's life. He will have to confront and defeat this creature to save the city. He knows he has a chance of doing so, if only he could stick to the rules of his magic.

When we meet Wizard, he is a man without a past. Even his name is gone and he tries very hard to keep his own past at bay. Even claiming that he cannot remember what he was before he became Wizard. He's a perfect example of the unreliable narrator and one of the strong points of this novel is how Lindholm uses this to build her story. It is clear early on that Wizard is a homeless man and that much of what he perceives as magic are tricks that help him survive on a day to day basis. He invents routines that keep himself safe and relatively comfortable. They are ways to allow himself to ignore the abject poverty in which he lives and hopelessness of his situation. There are a few things that cannot be explained by denial or self preservation however.

His magical talent is called Knowing. When people talk to him, once in a while Knows things about them and is compelled to answer their question or provide a solution to their problem. This magic is not free, in order to use it, Wizard must abide by a lot rules; a celibate life, never to carry more than a dollar in small change on him and feed an protect his pigeons to name a few. This is another area where Lindholm mixes reality and imagination. Part of Wizard's rules are designed to keep people away from him. He never lets anyone near and is very careful not to have his hide-out discovered. When someone does manage to get close, his past inevitably comes calling. The story develops a second layer once details of his past as a Vietnam veteran emerge, one that is even more heartbreaking than the magical side of the tale.

Wizard is not the only one able to see and use the magic of the city. We meet three more people with magical abilities in the city of which Cassie is closest to Wizard. She introduced him to Seattle's magical side and has her own taboos associated with using her magic. Cassie is an intriguing character, often confusing Wizard (and the reader) with the roundabout way in which she tries to explain things to him. The way Cassie's behaviour and the resolution of the novel both come back to their respective taboos, real and imagined, is some of the best Lindholm has written. As usual, she uses her characters hard, Lindholm is not a writer who likes straightforward happy endings.

The city of Seattle is described in colourful detail in this novel. Wizard has an eye for its beauty and the the history that shaped the city's appearance. I think people who are familiar with the city will get a lot more out of this aspect of the novel. Wizard's perceptions allow him to spot opportunities easily but also serve to give the reader a glimpse of what the magical Seattle would look like. While the novel shows the Emerald City at its best, Lindholm is equally capable of turning Seattle into a grey, rainy and depressing place or a hostile and threatening one, suiting Wizard's mood in such scenes. The Wizard is sensitive to the mood of the city and Lindholm's descriptions reflect these moods very well.

Wizard of the Pigeons is a novel with many layers. Do you choose to see Wizard as a Vietnam veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome or a figure not unlike Merlin? It is a story of unrequited love, a magical quest or facing a dark past? Is Seattle magical or mundane? Is the city sheltering him or is he protecting the city? Lindholm leaves the reader a lot of room to interpret the story but nonetheless manages to write a conclusion to the story that makes all the elements fall into place. The author packs a lot into this slim volume, most of it just under the surface of the main narrative. The author does not provide all the answers, you must go digging for your own. Every novel I read by Lindholm strengthens my opinion that these books are seriously under appreciated and this one was no exception. A definite candidate for this year's best of list.

Book Details
Title: Wizard of the Pigeons
Author: Megan Lindholm
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 298
Year: 2002
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-00-711256-2
First published: 1986

The Inheritance - Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm

One of my earlier endeavours in Fantasy was reading Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy back when they were first translated into Dutch in the late 1990s. My feeling on some of the authors I read back then, Raymond E. Feist, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, have changed considerably but Robin Hobb has remained one of my all time favourites. So much so that I am contemplating replacing some my Dutch language copies with English ones in the not too distant future. I now own six Hobb books in Dutch translation only. The rest is in English. Before starting her writings in the Realms of the Elderings, Hobb published 10 novels under the name Megan Lindholm. Currently, I have read eight of them. The tend to be more varied in choice of setting and themes, resulting in some very interesting novels, but not the popularity of her other pseudonym. The Inheritance is a collection of shorter pieces that combines the authors two voices. It contains seven pieces published under Megan Lindholm and three as Robing Hobb.

To highlight the difference between these two pseudonyms Voyager has made an edition with two covers, more of less in the style of the old Ace Doubles. The back cover is printed upside down but you can start reading at the back, the text assumes the Robin Hobb side of the book is the front. I've seen a lot of criticism directed at the Voyager covers for the Robin Hobb books. Personally I kinda like this one. Maybe because I am a cat person. The author provides brief introductions to each of the stories, usually with a bit of information about how the story came to be. I very much enjoyed reading those. One thing I think is missing from this edition is a publishing history of the stories it contains. I am pretty sure there is at least one, possibly two original stories in the collection but I have no idea when some of the others were first published. Bit of an oversight if you ask me.

While the front of the book features the name of Robin Hobb, the collection starts with the Megan Lindholm pieces. It opens with A Touch of Lavender, the longest Lindholm piece in the collection and one most clearly recognizable as science fiction. It is set in a world were an alien race referred to as Skoags have landed on Earth. In a effort to pry their secrets of interstellar space travel from them, the US government is taking care of them best they can. Much to disgust of some of the people living on welfare. The aliens are paid from their budget. We see the story through the eyes of a young boy from a broken family. He lives with his mother in a crappy apartment in poverty and soon ends up in a circle of hope, disappointment, neglect and substance abuse. If there is one thing that Hobb and Lindholm share it is their tendency to make their characters suffer. This story works very well for me on two levels. There is of course the question what these aliens are doing on Earth, something that will intrigue the science fiction reader. On the other hand there is also the drama of a dysfunctional family, something Lindholm highlights when one of the aliens steps into the role of father figure. It's an interesting mix and a strong opening of the collection.

Silver Lady and the Fortyish Man is the second story in the collection. It is written from the point of view of a 35 year old woman. She's an aspiring author and works not quite enough hours at Sears to make ends meet. She's also lonely, unhappy with her job and stuck in her writing career. Then she meets the Fortyish Man, who, with a dash of the supernatural, brings back joy in her life. Hobb has put events from her own life in pretty much all her fiction but this one is probably closest to autobiographical we get in this collection. She wrote it for her husband on the occasion of his fortieth birthday. It's very personal. I strongly suspect those two are the only two people on the planet who can really really see it for what it is.

There are a couple of Lindholm stories in this collection that are written to make the reader very uncomfortable. Cut is one of them. It deals with the question of how far someone can go, or should be allowed to go, in changing their bodies. Should a person be allowed full control over such matters are tattoos, piercings, burns or cosmetic surgery? Where do you draw the line between necessary and cosmetic? What if someone wants to voluntarily undergo a (female) circumcision? And how far would you go to stop someone from making the mistake of a lifetime? It's unsettling, though-provoking and brilliant. If you only ever read one story by Lindholm, make it this one.

Cats are quite common in both the Lindholm and Hobb stories. The Fifth Squashed Cat is one of three with a reference to the creatures in the title. It's a rather unusual Fantasy. We get to see the story through the eyes of the person who does not believe in magic. How many stories have you read where the protagonist is forced to admit there is magic in the world and continues to develop their talents in that area? What if you make another choice? This story features both the sensible choice and a taste of missed opportunity. And for a change it is the cats that get abused.

In Strays we get to see cats in quite a different form. Like the opening story of this collection it features a child growing up in an environment of abuse, neglect and drug use. This time we see the story through the eyes of someone from a more privileged, but still single parent, family. It's a nice Urban Fantasy but not my favourite of the collection. It's pretty clear in which the direction of the story is heading early on. I must admit Lindholm managed to write an interesting and incredibly strong character in the neglected girl Lonnie though.

Finis is the only story in the collection I didn't like. It's a vampire tale with a twist I suppose. The fact that a story has a vampire in it was never a recommendation in my mind, even before the onslaught of sparkly vampires I didn't really like these kind of stories. To make matters worse I saw the shape of the story on the third of twelve pages, after which it failed to hold my attention. It may work better for other readers though.

The final Lindholm story in the collection is The Drum Machine. It's one of the stories that is written to make the reader uncomfortable again. I guess you could call it a dystopia. It is set in a future where having children as perfect as possible is the norm. Random combinations of genes and the risk of hereditary disease is seen as an unwanted burden on the tax payers who eventually have to cover the cost of these less productive members of society. Lindholm draws a parallel between music and making babies that is quite interesting. Allowing randomness and experimentation is a risk. One that might make the composition, or the baby, better. Or worse. The society Lindholm describes doesn't take risks, something the main character approves of, both in music and procreation. The result is disturbingly mediocre. Great story, I think it his one of the originals, might make a good one for awards season next year.

The last three stories were written under the Robin Hobb pseudonym and all three are set in the Realm of the Elderlings. They take up slightly more than half the pages in this collection and this is one of the main differences between Hobb and Lindholm. Hobb writes epic fantasy, Lindholm writes more to the point. The first Hobb piece in the collection is the only one I have read before. Homecoming was published in Dutch as a novella in 2005. I enjoyed reading it back then and my opinion of it hasn't changed.

Homecoming is written as a diary and set well before any of the novels in this setting. It set well before any of the novels and deals with an exiled Jamalian noble couple, who's only chance to regain their rulers favour is in a successful colonization of the aptly named Cursed Shore. Her husband, who is of the opinion that women should be occupied with the arts and other less worldly pursuits and leave politics and economy to the men, hasn't seen it fit to tell her of their desperate situation. As the voyage progresses, the reality of it sinks in.

There's a great rift in this story between people who keep themselves going by fooling themselves into thinking they will one day return to Jamalia rich, and those who see that survival should be their first priority and that the chances of ever returning are minimal. Hobb shows the breakdown of old social structures very well. The author of diary is convinced of her status in the first stage of their journey but forced to let go later on. Something other members of the party have more trouble with. The lack of planning ahead, fulfilling immediate desires and chasing impossible dreams take disturbing proportions in the tale. It's a very nice look at the origins of the Rain Wilds settlements. Also note the subtle shift in language. The first entries are written by a well educated lady, a bit verbose, quite formal. In later entries the language becomes more direct.

The second Hobb story is the one that gives the collection it's title. The Inheritance is set in Bingtown for the most part. It deals with Cerise, a young woman who is turned out of her house after her grandmother, whom she's been taking care of, dies. Her inheritance consists of a few pieces of jewellery, among than an pendant made of Wizard Wood. It tells her the life story of her grandmother and how she lost her fortune. The pendant can help her get her inheritance back or so it tells her. Like other art made from Wizard Wood the pendant struck me a quite manipulative. On the one hand you feel sorry for Cerise, on the other hand, it smells of ordinary revenge.

Cat's Meat is the final story in the collection and I think this may be another original. It takes us to the Six Duchies where Rosemary is trying to make ends meet after her dashing lover left her for an other woman, leaving her to take care of their young son. After several years of absence, he returns, telling her he has come home. Rosemary can't just turn him out, the cottage she lives in is the legal property of their son, not hers. She is not happy to see him again though, with good reason as it turns out.

As with the previous two Hobb stories, it features a strong female character and an irresponsible, selfish male. The story also shows us a bit of the Wit, one of the two forms of magic found in the Six Duchies. All cats have it, something most cat owners would agree with. Rosemary's tomcat is quite surprised that she allows this rival into their house. The cat's point of view in this story is quite interesting. Again, the story leaves the reader with a sense that justice has not quite been served here. Cat's Meat is a thrilling tale, I read it in one go and I think most readers would have trouble putting it down. I think I like Homecoming better but there is not much between these very different novellas.

This collection is not a complete overview of the short fiction Lindholm and Hobb have produced but it clearly showcases that variety of works the author is capable of. Overall I thought The Inheritance is a strong collection. There's only one piece I consider weak, which is about as good as most collections get. It's also a good introduction to the Megan Lindholm side of the author's writing. Although I love the Hobb stories, I think this pseudonym does limit her to the more traditional epic fantasy. Lindholm's work shows she is capable of much more. Sometimes it is a gamble, not all of it is great, but some of her best work has been released under the Lindholm pseudonym. Which makes me wonder if The Drum Machine is not trying to tell us something about writing as well.

Book Details
Title: The Inheritance
Author: Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 400
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-00-727377-5
First published: 2011

The Gypsy - Steven Brust and Megan Lindholm

I've been trying to round up the books by Megan Lindholm (perhaps better known under her pseudonym Robin Hobb) still missing in my library. Of the ten novels that appeared under the name Megan Lindholm owned six at the beginning of the year, the four Ki and Vandien books and the duology about Tillu and Kerlew. I found a copy of her excellent science fiction novel Alien Earth earlier this year and I expect to receive a copy of Wizard of the Pigeons later this week. The Gypsy was also still available which means the only one I am still missing is Cloven Hooves. Looks like that one is out of print but I haven't given up hope on finding a copy yet. The Gypsy is, as far as I know, the only collaboration Lindholm has been involved in. She wrote it with Steven Brust, best known for his Vlad Taltos novels. I haven't read anything by him but judging from the other Lindholm books I've read, his influence on this story is very noticeable.

Experienced police man Mike Stepovich ans his green partner Durand apprehend a gypsy suspected of murdering a shopkeeper. Stepovich immediately notices something strange about the gypsy and does something he's never done in his long career. He fails to turn in the knife the gypsy is carrying. Somehow he knows the gypsy is not the murderer and the knife is special. Later that night, the gypsy disappears without a trace from the police cell they are holding him in. Murder investigations are not the territory of an ordinary patrol cop but this case does not let him go, especially when the body of an old gypsy woman turns up. Again, the suspect Stepovich and his partner arrested, seems to be involved and Stepovich is determined to find him. His search will lead him into a supernatural power struggle the existence of which he never suspected.

The Gypsy (1992) is an Urban Fantasy novel from before the hijacking of the sub genre by perky, vampire-slaying, werewolf-dating, power-girls. It is set in the late 1980s and it mixes Hungarian folklore (which I assume to be part of Brust's input) with a small town US setting. From what I can tell, it received some very mixed reviews over the years. I guess it is not an easy book to like. I'm not sure about Brust but it is very different from the other novels that Megan Lindholm wrote for one thing. It is also a multi-layered novel, demanding that the reader pay close attention to what is going on. Both for the police procedural and the fantasy part of the book. Personally I think it is a very interesting piece of writing but al lot of people will probably decide it is not their cup of tea.

The multi-layered aspects of the novel is something I very much liked about The Gypsy. The whole novel is structured to let the reader move between the real world and a fantasy realm, with the emphasis of the story slowly moving from the first to the latter. The characters have different names for both settings (Stepovich is referred to as the Wolf for instance) and the time indications that head the different sections of a chapter are adapted accordingly, from very precise (05 Nov 17:30) to suitably mysterious (Late Autumn, Half Moon, Waxing). Only the chapters names themselves are firmly in the fantasy realm, referring to the fantasy names of the characters. The different names of the characters can be a bit confusion early on in the novel, but the novel contains enough hints to figure out who is who early on.

Apart from an indication of the time, each of the sections is also preceded by a few lines of song lyrics. They form another interesting part of the novel. These lyrics were written by Brust and Adam Temple and later put to music and recorded by a band named Boiled in Lead. The album appeared in 1995 under the title Songs from the Gypsy, I understand it's a mix of rock and folk with Celtic influences. I haven't had a chance to dig for this music yet, but the lyrics make me suspect it could be a very nice album.

The number of characters Brust and Lindholm need to tell this story is probably a bit much for a relatively short novel. The reader barely gets time to get acquainted with them all, let alone be swept away by the romance between Laurie and the Raven, to really dive into the complex relationship between Stepovich, his former partner Ed and his current partner Durand or the history of the Gypsy and the Fair Lady. It's not the characters that reach out the reader in the book but more the elements of the story, the form the authors choose and the fluidity with which reality changes for the characters. If you are a very character oriented reader, then this book is probably not going to work for you. I still think it is a very fine piece of writing.

I have no idea how someone who is familiar with Brust's other novels would experience this but like with the previous Megan Lindholm novel I read, I feel the author has taken a direction she hasn't taken before. The variety in style, voice and theme of the Megan Lindholm novels is a lot greater than her work as Robin Hobb. Some people interpret this as the author looking for her voice, personally I think Lindholm's talent runs a lot deeper than the Hobb books show (and I enjoyed those an awful lot). I'm looking forward to seeing what an Urban Fantasy novel by Lindholm looks like without the input of another author.

Book Details
Title: The Gypsy
Author: Steven Brust and Megan Lindholm
Publisher: Orb Books
Pages: 272
Year: 2005
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-765-31192-4
First published: 1992

Alien Earth - Megan Lindholm

Megan Lindholm is perhaps better known under her pseudonym Robin Hobb. Since the appearance of Assassin's Apprentice in 1995, her work set in the Realm of the Elderlings has gained her a wide popularity among fans of epic fantasy. Before the emergence of Hobb, Lindhold had already published ten other novels. A lot of these are out of print these days and that is a shame, the seven I read so far are more than worth reading. It should be noted that Lindholm had a good reason to adopt another pen name. While the Robin Hobb books tend to be more traditional epic fantasy, Lindholm's works also includes urban fantasy to books that border historical fiction and, in the case of Alien Earth, even science fiction. It's hard to pin down the difference in style but Lindholm's writing has often been described as grittier. Liking Hobb is no guarantee you will like Lindholm.

Beware, I loved this book and I am going to tell you why in quite a bit of detail. The text below is spoilerish.

Alien Earth is set in a far future. Humanity has managed to poison Earth to such an extend that the alien Arthroplana step in and offer, what is in their view, the only possible solution to the catastrophe unfolding our home planet. Complete evacuation. This evacuation is made possible by the unique relationship of the Arthroplana with a species of space dwelling Beasts. Converted to spaceships, these huge creatures manage to save some humans and the most important of their cultural inheritance. Keping humanity firmly in control the Arthroplana set out to show the evacuees the error of their ways as well as how to create an ecologically balanced society.

Centuries after the evacuation Captain John Gen-93-Beta of the Beastship Evangeline is approached with an unthinkable mission. A faction dissatisfied with Arthroplana rule asks him to return to the dead planet Earth to find out if the Arthroplana are right in saying the planet is beyond recovery. The Arthroplana will not approve of what John's employers are trying to achieve so the whole mission is complicated by blackmail, manipulation and the need for secrecy. Nevertheless, John sees no other option than to accept. Setting out with a small crew John heads for Earth, without any of them knowing the details of John's assignment. Each of the five travellers, the Beast Evangeline, her Arthroplana keeper Tug, Captain John, his crew mate Connie and stowaway Raef have their own ideas agenda. The journey slowly turns into a much more than a trip to survey the Earth, it becomes an exploration of what it is to be human somewhere along the way.

There are several aspects of this novel I very much liked. The relationship between the Arthroplana and humanity being one of them. Tug and his race may seem like benevolent saviours and rulers of mankind. They are anything but, as one of the five main characters of the book, the Arthroplana Tug, clearly shows us. He manipulates, deceives and speaks half truths to keep perfect control of the situation. His long lifespan, compared to humans, and his seemingly complete control of the Beast Evangeline appears to put him in firmly charge. It does not take long for the first cracks in Tug's story to appear however. The unravelling of Tug's control and of the flaws in his story is one of the main story lines in this novel. This process is quite subtle and very complex but I guess you could say a major clue can be found in the treatment of ecology in this book.

The Arthroplana are a species that strive to create a cooperative ecology wherever they go in the universe. By this they mean an ecology made up of species that don't compete but only take and give in return to the system what they need to survive. There is no predation, no wasteful breeding strategies, not even competition within a species. Plants only produce enough seeds to replace an ageing specimen, not to colonize new terrain. A place for everything and everything, in its place as one of Connie's teachers put it. Ecology as a perfect symbiosis of species.

That is of course not how earth's ecology works. In what the Arthroplana call a competitive ecology their is a relentless competition between species for an ecological niche as well as a pressure from within a species that promotes that those best adapted to their environment are mist likely to procreate. Earth's ecology is not a balance. It is more like a series of interacting species, each constantly oscillating around their own personal optimum. An optimum that is not stable either. Ecology is constantly moving, driving evolution and in turn being driven by it. A system promoted by the Arthroplana would be stagnant with most of the driving forces of evolution negated. And yet, this is what the Arthroplana are trying to make the human race fit into.

To achieve this guided evolution has been forced on the human species. Their lifespans has been radically increased, partially by suppressing growth and delaying puberty, and size has been decreased significantly to lessen the drain humans pose on the ecosystem. So much interference does not come without a price. Human procreation is becoming increasingly problematic and to keep the human race convinced of the necessity of such tampering a treatment known as Adjustment is often required. You can feel the strain on the way the Arthroplana deal with the universe in every part of the story. The more these alternative views on ecology are unfolded to the reader the more it becomes clear something's got to give. I think it is a great concept for a science fiction novel.

It is also a quite complicated concept and takes a while to fall into place for the reader. As a result many people will think the book is rather slow to start. I must admit I didn't really get going myself until close to the halfway point. With five characters that don't fully trust each other, several of which not particularly sociable, a lot of time is the book is devoted to introspection. Early on in the novel dialogue is not that important. Mistrust and downright anger is making the characters move carefully. Once Earth is reached and the inevitable crisis begins to take shape and the characters are forced to open up or seek the confrontation this changes quite dramatically. For the most part this is quite gradual except for Evangeline. This is probably the only bit of criticism I have on this novel. The change from the dumb beast Tug seems to think she is to the vast intellect Raef discovers felt a bit abrupt to me.

Another aspect of this novel I thought very well done was the way John and Connie view Earth. Having been away from it for generations and knowing the planet only from books and other kinds of documentation, they have no idea what to expect. Earth is truly alien to them. Connie's incredibly naive exploration of their surroundings and her thoughts on seeing one of the despised competitive ecologies really drive home what has happened to humanity since leaving the planet. It's monstrous to consider really. Even Connie, who is by no means a model citizen as far as the Arthroplana are concerned, has been indoctrinated to an extend where her very survival on the planet where her species evolved is doubtful.

I found Alien Earth to be a very good read. Lindholm expertly weaves the stories of these five very different characters into a magnificent science fiction tale. Although Alien Earth is quite different from other novels I have read in terms of setting and concepts, I guess the in depth characterization is unifies Lindholm's entire oeuvre. Unfortunately you'll be hard pressed to find a copy of this novel, and many of Lindholm's other titles but if you do happen to come across a copy I highly recommend you seize the opportunity. Given the result of this first foray into science fiction (unless there is short fiction in that genre I am not aware of) it is a shame Lindholm didn't write any others. Which leads me to wonder, what would a Robin Hobb science fiction novel look like?

Book Details
Title: Alien Earth
Author: Megan Lindholm
Publisher: Grafton
Pages: 385
Year: 1993
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-00-733357-8
First published: 1992