The House of Binding Thorns - Aliette de Bodard

The House of Binding Thorns is the second novel in Aliette de Bodard's Dominion of the Fallen setting. It is not a sequel exactly. Both books can be read independently from each other. Madeleine and Philippe, two major characters from the previous novel The House of Shattered Wings, play an important role in this novel though. You will definitely get more out of the book if you have read them both. Readers who liked The House of Shattered Wings will want to read this one. It has all the elements that made the previous book a great read. Structurally it might even be a shade better.

House Hawthorn is led by the devious Fallen Asmodeus. He seems to be firmly in control, but the power of a House needs constant attention. By reaching out to the Vietnamese Dragon Kingdom, located under the surface of the murky river Seine, he hopes to gain even more power. The magic of the Dragon Kingdom is completely different from that of the Fallen. It offers opportunities, but there is danger in magic you don't fully understand too. Things get even more complicated when it becomes apparent that both House Hawthorn and the Dragon Kingdom are not as unified as they appear to be.

The setting is of course still the ruined Paris introduced in the first book. A city frozen in the remains of the Belle Epoque after a magical war destroyed it. Perhaps it was the absence of the dramatic ruins of the Notre Dame in this book but, I felt the author went a little easier on the worldbuilding. The setting is still instrumental in creating an atmosphere of desperation though. Paris is a dreadful and dangerous mess where people are trying to make life continue as best as they can. Including politics and petty struggles for power. People do not stop being people because of a magical Armageddon.

The story is one of two local powers in conflict. We get to see it from three sides though. Madeleine is dragged back into House Hawthorn after an absence of twenty years. She is forced to do Asmodeus' bidding but he clearly doesn't trust her. Her sense of decency and lack of subtlety get her in trouble quickly. Philippe, the other character introduced in the previous book is now houseless and seeks refuge in Goutte d'Or, the Vietnamese quarter of this alternate Paris. There, he meets the pregnant Françoise and her Fallen lover Berith. They soon find themselves caught in the power struggle initiated by Asmodeus' bold move. The Dragon Kingdom's position is mostly shown through the point of view of Thuan, a dragon prince sent to House Hawthorn to spy. His position will drastically change over the course of the novel.

House Silverspires, the focal point of the previous novel, was not always a pleasant place. It was a house that, even when desperate, showed the tiniest bit of humanity even when making ruthless decisions. That cannot be said of Hawthorn. Asmodeus rules by putting fear into his subjects. Every time he had a scene I could almost hear Mick Jagger sing "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste.." The way De Bodard lets control slip away from him in the novel is very well done and, at some level, very satisfying. He is as good as creepy characters get. There is quite a bit of biblical symbolism in his acts and dialogue too.

In a way, this novel is not just a clash between two houses, but also a clash between two world views. Françoise and Philippe show us what the bitter legacy of colonialism is. While life in a House is not easy, the predominantly Vietnamese Houseless gathered in Goutte d'Or live in destitute poverty. Here and there, De Bodard also mentions people from other parts of the French colonial empire. We're not meant to forget the multi ethnic composition of the city. Something the climax of the novel will emphasize once again.

The clash between the Judeo-Christian mythology the Fallen derive their power from, and the Khi derived from Vietnamese mythology, is something of a metaphor for many conflicts going on in the world right now. The text poses the question how we want to handle conflicts between various world views. Domination, cultural imperialism, peaceful coexistence, cold war, alliances and synergy all come up in this novel. De Bodard explores how these world views affect each other, how they chafe, how one could destroy the other in a conflagration or through a gradual breaking down of cultural values. In the end, the surviving characters realize they will have to make it work somehow. Let's just hope the world will not have to pay the price this realisation has extracted from De Bodard's ruined Paris.

I generally enjoy De Bodard's work, both stylistically and because of the themes she uses, and this novel is no exception. I thought the plot of this novel flowed a bit more smoothly than that of the House of Shattered Wings. It is dark and desperate, full of characters overreaching in an effort to prevent what little they have managed to salvage from destruction slipping from their grasp. It tackles some of the problems of today's society with a touch of Victor Hugo and a bit of magic. It blends the Christian power of sacrifice and redemption with the eastern flow of life force and sense of duty. It is a novel that has a lot to offer. One of those books that will yield more on a reread. The House of Binding Thorns was high on the to read list for this year and fully lived up to my expectations. Not many books manage to do that.

Book Details
Title: The House of Binding Thorns
Author: Aliette de Bodard
Publisher: Ace
Pages: 356
Year: 2017
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-451-47739-2
First published: 2017

Short Fiction Month: A Salvaging of Ghosts - Aliette de Bodard

A Salvaging of Ghosts is a story in Aliette de Bodard's Xuya alternative history. I've been reading bits and pieces over this series of the past few years. So far none of the published stories exceeds novella length and they have not been collected thus far. It would take a bit of doing to round them all up. On the bright side, quite a lot of them are available to read online in various places. A Salvaging of Ghosts is one of the more recent ones. It appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies #195, March 2016 and can still be read on their site.

Thuy is a woman working as a salvager on the Mindship The Azure Serpent. Her job is to salvage valuable bits of spaceships lost in deep space. It is a dangerous job. All the salvagers, or divers as they think of it, expect to one day not return from a trip into space. Which is exactly what happened to Thuy's daughter. Now, Thuy's ship is in the area again where she was lost. It is most likely the only chance Thuy will ever get to salvage her daughter's remains.

Xuya stories come in roughly three different settings. There are the ones set in the Aztec Empire, which has survived until present day. De Bodard seems to have stopped writing those after 2010. A shame, the stories hint at a lot of interesting politics that never really get explored. The second group is set in the space age and deals with Mindships. Most of these stories have Chinese and Vietnamese characters. A third group is also set in the future and deals with sentient space stations, usually occupied by a future Dai Viet empire. This story falls in the second group.

It is essentially a story about loss and grief, and that makes it a very sad, melancholic read. There is a quiet desperation about Thuy. It feels like she is carrying out of a sense of duty rather than a will to live. Someone asked me this morning what my favourite line was in the work I was reading at the moment, I came up with this one:

Thuy would pray to her ancestors—to her mothers the Long Breathers—if only she knew what to ask for.

It captures Thuy's mood very well.

The quote also highlights another feature of this story and many others in the Xuya setting. Family is important for Thuy, both her living relatives and the deceased ones. In the end it is what motivates her to go out again and put the ghost of her daughter to rest. In the process, we learn something new about the Minds as well. A Salvaging of Ghosts is a beautifully sad bit of Xuya future history. I really wish some publisher would take the plunge and collect these stories.

Story Details
Title: A Salvaging of Ghosts
Author: Aliette de Bodard
Language: English
Originally published: Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Read in: Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Story length: Short Story, approximately 4,300 words
Awards: None yet, eligible in 2017 for most awards
Available online: Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Xuya Universe Short Fiction by Aliette de Bodard (Part 3)

Aliette de Bodard's Xuya alternative history is a fascinating project. One that I have returned to regularly on the blog. It's been three and a half years since I did one of these posts however, and since I did mention I might do a third, I guess it is past time. Especially since I got hold of a few of the harder to find pieces recently. I once again picked a pair of contrasting stories. Should there be a part four (you never know) this is going to be a bit harder to keep up. I have exhausted the stories set in the recent past in the Mexica Empire.

Fleeing Tezcatlipoca

This story originally appeared in Space and Time Magazine #111, the Summer 2010 issue. Until De Bodard made it available in Ships in Exile, a collection put together as a reward for a fund-raiser, it hadn't been published anywhere else. The story may be hard to track down. It is a novelette, with a word count of approximately 10,000. As the title suggests, this story is set in the Mexica Empire. According to De Bodard's timeline the events take place in 1990.

The Mexica Empire is in turmoil as the weak Revered Speaker tries to consolidate power by crushing any opposition. In a Tenochtitlan with checkpoints and barricades at every turn and priests and Jaguar Knights enforcing loyalty to the regime, life is slowly becoming unbearable for the main character Necahal. When Palli,  a member of her extended family, asks for her help to cross the border into Xuya, she agrees to come with him. It will be a dangerous journey but before she can ask herself how well she actually knows this man, she is in way over her head.

The story is set some years after The Jaguar House, in Shadow, and shows us a glimpse of how the conflict has developed in the mean time. Stylistically The Jaguar House, in Shadow is a bit more refined. Fleeing Tezcatlipoca, is told in a more straightforward fashion. If not for the alternative timeline you could almost see it as a thriller. There are certainly possibilities for one in this setting. I don't feel this story is the best De Bodard has produced. It lacks something of the grace of her other stories. I do like Necahal though. She does something drastic and clearly hasn't thought it through properly, but she does face the consequences of her actions. I don't doubt she landed on her feet.

Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight

De Bodard recently won the BSFA award for this story. It was published in Clarkesworld 100, January 2015 and can still be read for free on their site. This story takes us into the future a century or two. The story is set on a different planet in a corner of the universe where a space faring Chinese/Vietnamese culture has established itself. It touches upon the concept of Minds, AIs with a biological core brain capable of piloting spacecraft, found in several other Xuya stories as well.  That sounds like space opera but the story is actually very intimate. Grief is a clear theme but in a way, so is identity. And tea, there is lots of tea.

A son, a daughter/Mind and a colleague are faced with the loss of eminent scientist Professor Duy Uyen. Because of the value of her work, the Empress goes against tradition and decides to give her memory implant to the colleague instead of her son, to make sure her unique knowledge won't be lost. Each of the three will now have to deal with their loss in a way none of them expected.

Three characters. One wants the implants but doesn't get them, one gets them but doesn't want them and the third comes to realize she doesn't need them. Family and honouring your ancestors is important in the culture De Bodard portrays, which makes the decision of the Empress controversial. One of the characters explores what it is to lose a mother and have what he thought was left of her taken away as well. Another deals with having a supervisor look over her shoulder from the grave. The third has to face up to the fact that she will never experience loss the way her family does.

The role of technology in the story is also very well done. The implants have been completely incorporated in the culture of the main characters. It offers possibilities they wouldn't have had otherwise but also raises new dilemmas. Readers agreeing with Theodore Sturgeon's definition of science fiction will approve of this story.

Two very different stories. I think they are about as far apart as you can find them in the Xuya universe. I still haven't read them all though. I guess I should get on with that. The more of these stories I read, the more this alternative history fascinates me.

The House of Shattered Wings - Aliette de Bodard

For some reason all publishers decided to release works I absolutely want to read in a matter of two months this year. This summer so many books I'm interested in are appearing that I can't keep up with them. For me,  The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard is one of the most anticipated titles of 2015. This book has been on my to read list since I first learnt she was working on a new novel and when it came in last week I almost put Nnedi Okorafor's The Book of Phoenix away to dive into it. That would have totally messed up my review schedule of course, so I regretfully put it away for a bit. The two review copies that are also on the to read stack had to wait though. Reviewing is all well and good but sometimes you have to treat yourself to the book you want to read most at that particular moment. And a treat is exactly what The House of Shattered Wings is.

In the late 20th century the ruins of the city of Paris are populated by a mix of humans and fallen angels. The angels may have lost God's grace but they still have power. Their bodies contain magic that can be used by humans and angels alike. A central government, if ever there was one, has disappeared and the upper layers of society is organized into houses. These houses continually vie for influence in a Machiavellian political game. Silverspire, the oldest of these houses, founded ages ago by the very first fallen angel, is now in trouble. Since the disappearances of its founder, its influence has decreased to the point where its enemies feel they have a chance of taking them down a notch. Distracted by house politics, the real nature of the threat eludes Selene, the head of the House of Silverspire. Three people connect to the house, an addicted human alchemist, a newly fallen angel and a mysterious young man hold the key to saving it or taking it down for good.

The House of Shattered Wings has so much worldbuilding in it that is almost wasted even on a novel length work. Fortunately there is going to be a second book in this setting. The book tells us the basics of what happens from the end of France's Belle Époque to sometime in the late 20th century. De Bodard doesn't mention a specific year but at least sixty years have passed since the end of the Great War and Paris is still struggling to recover. The Belle Époque, a part of French history usually thought of as the years between the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and the start of the First World War in the summer of 1914, was a period in which rapid technological progress and economic growth fuelled by France's growing colonial empire seemed to make anything possible. There are hint throughout the novel that fallen angels have been present in the world for a very long time, and that they are not the only mythological creatures appear to mere mortals. Their presence doesn't seem to have radically altered the course of history up to 1914 however.

The focus of the novel is on House Silverspire. It was founded by the very first of the Fallen. He is referred to as Morningstar in this novel, which, as most of you will have already guessed, one of the names of Lucifer. The main antagonist is another figure from Judeo-Christian mythology. Asmodeus is sometimes thought of as one of the seven princes of hell but in the novel he leads a rivalling house. Fittingly, house Silverspire occupies the Île de la Cité in the very heart of Paris. It is the location of one of France's most famous cathedrals, the Notre Dame, which - like much of the rest of the city-  lies in ruins. There is in other words no lack of religious symbolism in the novel.

The author doesn't limit herself to Judeo-Christian mythology. There are references to Greek and, briefly, Persian mythology as well and, through one of the main characters, Chinese/Vietnamese myths. De Bodard uses the word Annam to refer to Vietnam. It is an old name that was used for Vietnam or parts of it before decolonization. What happened to Frances colonial empire after the Great War is a bit unclear in the novel. Travel and communication have been severely limited and the characters do not seem to know much of what goes on outside of Paris.

De Bodard shifts effortlessly between Christian images of heaven and hell and the Chinese influenced court of the Jade Emperor, includes wide ranging concepts as the grace of God to Buddhist views on reincarnation, and views energy not only in the western sense but also as the flow of Khi (or Ch'i, or Qi).  Where many writers would be tempted to simplify matters and pick one religious view as the highest truth, or at best two opposing views, De Bodard's creation has room for many of them. The co-exist in a way that is as complicated and messy as the real word. Behind each character and each significant event in the book lie layers of history and mythology for the reader to unravel. The temptation to infodump every other page must have been overwhelming at times but the author manages to keep that to a minimum. These shifts in worldview and thematic background keeps the reader on their toes.

The Fallen themselves are just as complex as the worldbuilding. They are born into the word with powerful magic but little in the way of memories. They are extremely long lived and, particularly in their youth, radiate magic. Their breath holds power, their nail clippings, their blood all can be made into magical objects. Even their bones can be ground up to make a particularly potent and terrifyingly addictive magical aid. It puts them in a very difficult position. They are born with power but without the experience to handle it - youth is most definitely wasted on the young in this case - into a world that has as much use for them dead as alive. Although their magic dims as they age, many rise to positions of power. A process that tends to turn them from angelic and naive to cynical and cold creatures. Their very nature makes them lager than life, their flaws and mistakes likely to have severe consequences for the people depending on them. The head of Silverspire in particular is in a position of power but lacks the strength to improve the situation of the house. The best she can hope for is maintain the status quo. Seeing that precarious balance between the houses break down might be an interesting topic for another novel.

The main characters are all people who are not in a position of power but possess the potential to wield it in significant quantities. On the surface they appear to be quite different people but they share the fact that they've been torn away from their homes and have to make a new place for themselves in this shattered world. Like the city longs to recapture the optimism of the Belle Époque, the characters long to return to the home that is irretrievably lost to them. The novel is a tragedy on many levels.

With so many influences The House of Shattered Wings is not a novel that is easy to categorize. It has a distinct post-apocalyptic atmosphere with Paris in ruins and largely depopulated. I've also seen it described as a Gothic novel, which given the ruins of the Notre Dame, the sense that the past glory cannot be recaptured,  and the way  some of the characters fit into Gothic archetypes makes sense. You could call it an urban fantasy or an alternative history as well in a way but none of these fit entirely. It's a fusion novel that, in the way it blends and twists familiar genre tropes, remind me a bit of Elizabeth Bear's Edda of Burdens or Ian Tregillis' Milkweed Triptych.

My expectations of this novel were probably unfairly high but De Bodard manages to surpass them anyway. As should be evident from the somewhat rambling review there is so much in this novel worth discussing that I scarcely know where to begin. It is a novel filled to overflowing with fascinating world building, complex characters and elegant writing. It is a demonstration of what is possible within speculative fiction if one is willing to look beyond established formulas and classifications. Once De Bodard has dragged you into this world there is no alternative. You will be back for more. I am not sure that I will be able to resist another of Nnedi Okorafor's books away when the second, as of yet untitled, volume set in this magnificent world is published.

Book Details
Title: The House of Shattered Wings
Author: Aliette de Bodard
Publisher: Roc
Pages: 402
Year: 2015
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-451-47738-5
First published: 2015

The Breath of War - Aliette de Bodard

Aliette de Bodard has been producing a steady stream of outstanding short fiction in recent years. Her stories have won her several awards and have been nominated for for a whole bunch more. It should be no surprise that as the nominations for the upcoming awards season are trickling in, her name appears on the ballots again. This year, her story The Breath of War is on the shortlist for the Nebula Award in the short story category. The story first appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies #142 in March 2014, in a special Science-Fantasy edition. It can be read on their website for free. The author mentions it is 'sortof' set in her Xuya alternate history but it works as a standalone. In fact, it stands out a bit in the company of other Xuya stories.

In the aftermath of a war, a woman is making a difficult journey into the mountains. Her baby could be born any day now and before that happens, she needs to reach her destination. The journey is not going well though. Well short of reaching their goal, their aircar breaks down. What follows is a dangerous race against the clock. Along the way, the reason for the hazardous journey becomes clear.

I can see why De Bodard set is was 'sortof' part of the Xuya setting. It's the only story in the series where a supernatural element is included in the the plot. On the other hand it does include the Rong space faring civilization and references to the war I suspect we've seen form other corners of the universe in various stories as well. I guess The Breath of War is the odd one out but in a way it does fit in.

As far as I know it is the first time De Bodard mixes fantasy elements into what could be considered a science fiction story. It works very well on an emotional level but I do think that it leaves so much of the worldbuilding vague and uncertain that for the fantasy reader it can be a bit unsatisfying. The vague background of the is a problem I have with a lot of fantastical short fiction though. The reader is often asked to accept a lot of things as a given because the story simply isn't long enough to waste words on details. Sometimes it suffers because of it.  The Breath of War mostly escape this problem. It allows the reader to ignore that background of the planet's culture and the cause of the war by focusing on the character.

The main character Rechan is a woman who is facing the consequence of a choice she made during the planet's unique rite of passage. Rechan is something of a puzzle for the reader. There is a constant tension between choice and conviction and fate and inevitability. The choice she made more than a decade ago was influenced by the war taking away opportunities she feels she should have had. On the surface she is a rebellious teenager finding out the world is not always fair, doing something rash without thinking it through.

That being said, there is also the sense that her choice is not completely her own. The supernatural aspect of her rite of passage leaves the reader with the feeling that what happens is not entirely a conscious decision. Later on in her life, Rechan develops into a woman willing to go against tradition and social conventions and choose her own path, despite (or maybe because of?) longing for some parts of a traditional family life. Her unorthodox ways might have surfaced under other circumstances but you could also see this as inevitable given her past. The choice she makes as a teenager sets her apart, maybe even forces her to consider alternatives she might otherwise not have needed. The reader gets to make up their own mind about how to view Rechan.

De Bodard packs quite a lot of characterization into a 7000 word story. There is regret and loneliness in Rechan, but also resignation and hope. There is the feeling of a permanent goodbye and the start of something new. The Breath of War is an emotionally powerful story and an example that you don't need a novel to create a memorable character. Rechan is one of those characters that will stay with you for quire a while after finishing the story. It is another example of the excellent short fiction De Bodard is capable of creating. I've said it before and I will say it again, it is past time someone put a bunch of them together in a collection.

Book Details
Title: The Breath of War
Author: Aliette de Bodard
Pages: 13, approximately 7000 words
Year: 2012
Language: English
Format: E-book
First published: 2014

The Waiting Stars - Aliette de Bodard

The Waiting Stars is another short story in Aliette de Bodard's Xuya universe that she has made available online for free. It can be read and downloaded in several e-book formats on the author's website, which also include a number of other free short stories in the same time line. A general description of Xuya history can also be found on the website. Understanding the time line is not necessary to enjoy the story though. The Waiting Stars was first published as part of the anthology The Other Half of the Sky (2013), edited by Athena Adreadis and Kay T. Holt, a collection of science fiction stories with female protagonists. It has also been included in Gardner Dozois' 31st The Year's Best Science Fiction.

Dreadfully spoilerish, I recommend you read the story first.

On a Red Station, Drifting - Aliette de Bodard

On a Red Station, Drifting is a novella and the longest piece de Bodard has published in her Xuya alternative history (or future history, not quite sure what to call it). It has been published in a nice hardcover edition by Immersion Press, which may be a little hard to get at the moment since the story has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula BSFA and Locus awards. The author tells me a digital edition is in the works though. Like some of the other pieces I've read, most notably Immersion and Scattered Along the River of Heaven it is set in the 22nd century on a space station. Although the stories are set in the same universe they can all be read independently but I do like the whole idea behind the Xuya time line. Personally I think it is past time the stories in this universe got collected.

War has come upon the Dai Viet empire. From its fringes rebels continue to take planets while at the center of the empire, a young emperor is sitting tight, refusing to commit his forces to open warfare. In the midst of this upheaval magistrate Lê Thi Linh arrives at Prosper station, after having fled the planet she was serving the empire on. Linh has family on Prosper Station and she has come to ask for their hospitality. Family ties are strong but Linh carries a secret that might endanger the family. Her cousin Quyen, in the absence of her husband head of Prosper station, doesn't like or trust her. A battle of wills ensues.

Vietnamese culture is woven all though the story. Much of the governmental and family structures described in the story are adapted form ancient Vietnamese culture. Like the Mexica empire setting in other Xuya stories it is essentially a future civilization not as badly influenced by western colonization as in our own world. De Bodard mixes ancient customs with futuristic technology in a way that feels natural. I don't really know enough of Vietnamese culture to be able to judge how realistic someone from Vietnam might think it is but the alternate history does give her some space if play with. I think she uses that very well. Take special note of the food porn which creeps up in the Vietnamese Xuya stories. If the author keeps this up I think there is a cookbook in there somewhere.

Don't expect space battles or military scenes form this novella. The rebellion is a backdrop against which the story is set. It profoundly impacts the life of the main characters but the actual fighting stays at a distance. One of the things I liked a lot about this story is how the war is felt on Prosper station. A lot of family members are away on military duties, trade is not quite as brisk as it used to be and Quyen has serious problems keeping things together as head of the station. It is a task for which she feels unsuited, a task for which her education and life haven't prepared her. Linh on the other hand, has risen high in the service of the empire and this causes a lot of friction between the two.

I've been thinking about whether I like the two main characters of this novella at all and I think the conclusion must be that they are both rather unlikeable. There is something to the accusation that Quyen flings at Linh about feeling superior. Her having to beg her family for aid rankles and Linh can't hide that completely. On the other hand Quyen is a stubborn character, insisting on her position as head of the station and trying to make all the decisions on her own when she could, and should, pull on what resources remain to the family. Authority is important to the characters and respect for authority even more so. They use it is hurt each other quite badly.

The way authority is handled in this novel is one of the things that set Dai Viet culture apart from what the reader normally encounters in far future science fiction. De Bodard draws from Vietnamese history, which itself is heavily influenced by its big neighbor China. In her future rising service to the empire is can only be achieved though a process rigorous education and exams. Literature and poetry are very important in this education, the characters are constantly aware of others quoting from or alluding to classic works of poetry or literature. The way one prepares for a career in civil service and difference in status between such a career in this book and what one is used to in western society is striking. It reminded me a bit of Guy Gavriel Kay's novel Under Heaven.

One of the elements that returns in other stories is the presence of a Mind that monitors the station. In the story The Shipmaker for instance, we see how one of those minds is integrated into the systems of a new spaceship. They are of organic origin but practically immortal. At the same time they are fragile and delicate creatures, requiring things to be in balance to operate optimally. In The Shipmaker the principles of Feng Shui are used to achieve this balance, it is a discipline that is also known in places like Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam under different names. Prosper's Mind of course, is failing at the worst possible moment, adding even more stress to the already strained situation on the station. The story mostly focuses on the consequences of this deterioration of the Mind rather than it's causes though. I thought this aspect of the story was perhaps a bit underdeveloped.

On a Red Station, Drifting is an interesting piece of writing. It is a novella full of tension between the characters. An environment under so much pressure that traditionally expected politeness and family bonds are forgotten and outright hostility emerges. The novella shows us a side of interstellar war and puts the women who keep things running in the spotlight. It is perhaps not the most sympathetic portrayal but definitely a rewarding read. De Bodard once again manages to put together a complex tale, with a good mix of tradition and future technology and a couple of well developed characters. I wouldn't be surprised if it carries of one of the awards it's been nominated for. In fact, I'd think it's past time de Bodard won a Hugo or Nebula. In short, this one is well worth reading.

Book Details
Title: On a Red Station, Drifting
Author: Aliette de Bodard
Publisher: Immersion Press
Pages: 106
Year: 2012
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-9563924-5-9
First published: 2012

Immersion - Aliette de Bodard

Anticipating the 2013 awards season Aliette de Bodard has made the short story Immersion available in a number of e-book formats at her website. It was originally published in de June 2012 edition of Clarke's world, where it can still be read or listened to. I've been a fan of de Bodard's writing ever since I read The Lost Xuyan Bride a few years back so obviously I picked it up. It turns out the story is linked to Scattered Along the Rivers of Heaven but set on another space station. I think it is also related to the recently published novella On a Red Station, Drifting, which I hope to read soon. You don't need to have read that story to enjoy Immersion however. I think this one of those stories I read as just the right time in my life. Of course that poses a problem for this review. One might argue that all reviews are more about the reviewer than the work discussed but for this one it is going to be a bit more true than usual. Not the first time this has happened when reading one of de Bodard's stories.

Dreadfully spoilerish, I recommend you read the story first.

Scattered Among Strange Worlds - Aliette de Bodard

There is plenty of Alliette de Bodard's short fiction scattered about on the web I've paid attention to a couple of those stories in the past, all  linked to the Xuya alternative history. Earlier this month, a short fiction sampler became available on Amazon. It is something of a first for me. The first Kindle file for which I actually paid. Not that I have anything against buying e-books but I don't own a Kindle (my e-reader prefers epub) so I can only read them on the laptop. I spend an awful lot of time looking at this screen, but for reading purposes it is not ideal. Still, 58 pages is manageable and the quality of these stories more than made up for any discomfort. In fact, I was so curious about this work that I didn't bother to look around to see if it was available in other formats too.

Scattered Among Strange Worlds contains two short stories and a sample chapter of de Bodard's debut novel Servant of the Underworld. The fist one is Scattered Along the Rivers of Heaven, first published in the January 2012 issue of Clarkesworld, where it can still be read and listened to for free. It is a far future science fiction story that incorporates a lines of Chinese poetry. I must admit the names de Bodard mentions at the end of the story are completely unfamiliar to me. The future she describes is clearly Asian influenced and the story deals with the fall out of a revolution that alienates a mother and daughter. Many years later, the granddaughter returns to the scene of the revolution to visit the funeral of her grandmother. A funeral her mother won't attend.

I think de Bodard is almost being too ambitious in this story. There is so much packed into it that I scarcely know where to begin. Structurally it is an interesting piece. There are two strands in the narrative. One is set in the past; the time of the revolution and its aftermath. Note that the narrator of that section considers itself to be plural. The second strand, set in the present and told in the present tense, is seen from the point of view of the grand daughter Xu Wen. The two are hardly aware of each other but the contrast wonderfully. Especially once the reader realizes the nature of the plural narrator and Xu Wen's opinion of them.

As I said there is a lot packed into this story but I will limit myself to two elements. One of the things that is very relevant to me personally at the moment is the way language is being discussed. It is language that sets groups apart, language that is used to fuel the revolution and eventually to mark the victors. De Bodard looks at these with a sense of loss, which, given the history of the French language and the aggressive movement to force out regional language in the 19th and early 20th century in France, isn't surprising. Language is an important part of a culture and forcing one to disappear a favourite tactic of oppressors. As some of you may know I have recently started trying to learn some Norwegian.* In this country the struggle between local dialects and a standardized language has taken quite a different path. In the story, language is very politically charged. It isn't the mail focus of the story but it contributes to the mood of the piece.

The second element that hit me pretty hard personally is the climatic scene at the funeral. Xu Wen has made a difficult choice in showing up for the funeral. My father is currently very clearly in the last phase of his life and so his last wishes came up recently. We've had people over coming to say goodbye this week. My family is not one to show a lot of emotion so it is not the dramatic scene you may imagine. He does have very particular ideas on his own funeral though. He has always been very socially active and if he wanted to, the funeral would have attracted hundreds of people. A lot of them, people he hasn't seen in years. He has made it very clear that he wants to keep it more intimate though. His reasoning is that you can't be bothered to show up now that he is obviously going through a very tough time in his life, you have no business at the funeral. I can't say I blame him.

In the story, Xu Wen has some of her choices made for her of course, but the fact remains that she really is too late. My response to this element in the story is much more influenced by things going on in my life than anything de Bodard has written. It is clearly an unintended reaction but it does show what kind of a story this is. I have lifted two elements from it I responded most strongly to but there is plenty more in this story. It is a piece that will draw as many unique reactions as it has readers. I think it is a brilliant story and I fully expect it to show up in awards nominations next year.

The second story is not quite as easily characterized as science fiction. It has a bit of a fantasy atmosphere about it. Exodus Tides. It was first published in Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show April 2011 and can only be read online there if you have a subscription. Even if you don't, you should go check it out anyway, if only to have a look at the wonderful artwork by Anna Repp that accompanies the story. Exodus Tides tells the story of Emilie, a young girl of mixed mermen/human origin, who is trying to come to terms with the half of her heritage her parents won't tell her about. It is told from a first person perspective, making it very intimate but in some respects also limited.

De Bodard doesn't give too many details about what droves the mermaids from the sea but it is depicted as a deadly place. However much her parents want her to be human, her heritage sets her apart at school. There is a clear connection the the situation immigrants find themselves in and that of second generation in particular. Emilie has no connection to her mother's life at sea apart from the few stories she has heard and on top of that, her world is not just distant, it has been destroyed. This search for cultural identity shows up in De Bodard's work more often. It strikes me as a very difficult balancing act, living among the stories of a country that has moved on by the time you hear them and the reality of a country that doesn't always appreciate its new citizens (an increasingly frequent problem in the Netherlands unfortunately). Emilie is looking for her own answers, despite her mother's wishes. It is a painful process in a way. De Bodard leaves the ending unclear. I guess readers gets to decide what her ultimate decision is. I have given it some thought yesterday but I'm not sure I have an answer.

Scattered Among Strange Worlds is a great introduction to de Bodard's writing. These are multi layered stories with a lot of attention paid to which viewpoint the story should be told from and what tense to use. There is also a lot of cultural nuances in these works, exposing the readers to Chinese and Vietnamese culture in a way I haven't come across anywhere else in the genre. I have long since come to the conclusion that I will read anything by de Bodard  I can get hands on and I very much entourage you to seek out her work. Whether it be her short fiction or one of her novels, it will be worth your time.

* I have written a long ramble about my first encounter with Norwegian on my Livejournal. Since I feel the piece very much shows my ignorance of languages and all things Norwegian I have made it a friends only entry.

Book Details
Title: Scattered Among Strange Worlds
Author: Aliette de Bodard
Publisher: Nine Dragons River
Pages: 58
Year: 2012
Language: English
Format: E-book
First published: 2012

Xuya Universe Short Fiction by Aliette de Bodard (Part 2)

Last year I wrote a bit about two short stories by Aliette de Bodard set in her fascinating Xuya universe. In this time line the Chinese discovered the Americas before the Europeans did, which lead to a dramatically different history from the one we know. De Bodard offers the beginnings of a chronology on her website. I recently stumbled across another two stories that are available for free online. The Jaguar House, In Shadow and Shipmaker were both nominated for prestigious awards. These two stories weren't, but in terms of quality I'd say there is very little between them.

Butterfly, Falling at Dawn

The word count for this story is about 9,000 and it was first published in November 2008 in Interzone 219. Recently, it has been reissued by International Speculative Fiction, a site that has started publishing short science fiction from outside the English language world. I definitely need to have a closer look at their other stories some time. A PDF of Butterfly, Falling at Dawn can be found here.

In the time line it is set 2006, about 20 years after The Jaguar House, In Shadow and has some clear references to the conflict described in that story. With a crime at the heart of it, superficially the story has more in common with The Lost Xuyan Bride though. The story about Magistrate Hua Ma, a woman of Mexica descent, working for Xuya (Chinese) law enforcement. She is sent to investigate an apparent murder of a Mexica hologram designer. The lives of the investigator and the victim turn out to have certain similarities. It is a case that brings up all sorts of uncomfortably memories about her own youth in the Mexica empire and the events of the civil war that made her turn away from her nation.

There are two distinct layers to this story. One is of course the finding the murderer, which turns out to be reasonably straightforward. The real attraction of this story is in the more personal side to the case. It is written in the first person and with each discovery about the life of the victim, Hua Ma is reminded of what happened to her family after she moved into Xuya territory. She has buried herself in her new life but finds out it is not so easy to leave a past one behind. Or even wise. I guess some people do learn from other people's mistakes.

I have read several stories by de Bodard where characters struggle with cultural differences or find themselves in a culture that is not they one the grew up in. Perhaps this choice of theme not entirely surprising given her own background. These stories always contain a lot of details about where these cultures differ, clash or overlap. Given that de Bodard has had to extrapolate from limited historical material what a modern Mexica culture would look like, it is quite a feat of both imagination and research. Her attention to detail regarding these different cultures and the way the are seamlessly woven into the story is something that set her stories apart.

Shipbirth

The second story is set in the future. De Bodard doesn't mention a year but sometime in the next century seems reasonable. It was first published in Asimov's in February 2011 and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2012 which has recently been awarded to Ken Liu's The Paper Menagerie. The word count is about 6,400 and it can be downloaded as epub or mobi, or read online at the author's website .

Shipbirth takes into space, aboard a Mexica spaceship that is about to be completed by the birth of a mind. This crucial part of the ship allows it to travel through space. The minds are carried by volunteers and giving birth to one is a risky and very dangerous to both the mind and the woman carrying it. Aicoimi is a physician overseeing one of these births. Minds always make him uneasy and this particular quickening, as the birth of a mind and its joining with the ship is referred to, turns out to be particularly haunting.

This story is quite a different creature than Butterfly, Falling at Dawn. Much more ambiguous. Where the previous story leads you to the answer, this story raises questions. One of the things that struck me about the story is how the atmosphere is both similar and very different from Shipmaker, which is set on board a similar spaceship, only built for the Chinese fleet. De Bodard somehow manages to give these ships a very different feel. The loneliness of space is present in both but the Mexica ship feels much more like a living (somewhat scary) creature, where the Chinese feels more harmoniously designed.

Aicoimi is a complex character. When we meet him he is male but that was not always the case and throughout the story he moves up and down the spectrum of masculine and feminine thoughts and behaviours, constantly aware of society's conventions and stereotypes and constantly linking it to choices and actions. De Bodard stuffs a lot of his past in this story. Memories of his youth, as a young girl witnessing death, his military career for which he changed his gender and the revulsion that makes him turn to his current profession. The author works in a these aspects (birth and war) in the Aztec deities mentioned in the story as well. It is a detail but it pays to read up on the deities she mentions. It is one of the details that shows how much care and skill went into this story. It's a story that keeps the reader on their toes. Not as straightforward as the first story but certainly the one that stayed with me longer. I wonder if de Bodard is going to do more stories in the space age Xuya setting.

The Xuya universe is still largely unexplored and offers all kinds of interesting possibilities. I have immensely enjoyed the five stories I've read so far and I am looking forward to more. There is at least one story that I am aware of that I haven't read yet. I'll also keep an eye out for that one so perhaps there will be a part 3.

Master of the House of Darts - Aliette de Bodard

Master of the House of Darts is the third novel in Aliette de Bodard's Obsidian and Blood series. The first novel, Servant of the Underword, was one of my favourite reads of 2010 and it's sequel Harbinger of the Storm, was, if possible, even better.  In between writing these novels, de Bodard has also made an impression with her short fiction. Her novelette The Jaguar House, In Shadow, set in her Xuya alternative history, was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula award last year, while The Shipmaker, set later in the same time line, won BSFA award. Neither the Hugo nor the Nebula went her way last year, but I would be very surprised if she didn't win one of those in the future. In other words, I was looking forward to reading this novel a lot.

Acatl, High Priest of the Dead, has been deeply involved in the recent struggle for succession. With more than just the position of Revered Speaker at stake, not interfering would have meant the end of the fifth world and so Acatl and a number of other priest performed a feat of magic that helped Tizoc to power. His hold on power is far from solid though, especially since the coronation war is less than a success. Various parties doubt the ability of the new Revered Speaker to protect the empire and bring them glory. When a mysterious disease breaks out in the palace as well, Acatl has a new mystery on his hands. Gradually it becomes clear that the way Tizoc came to power, offers enemies of the real the opportunity to destabilize the empire. Acatl will have to deal with the unintended consequences of his actions if he is to save the empire again.

The Obsidian and Blood novels are often characterized as Aztec murder mysteries but like the previous book, this one leans a lot more to political intrigue. We do start with a corpse of course, and a murder that needs to be solved, but it is the first clue in a conspiracy that runs much deeper than the fate of one (rather unpleasant) man. The novel presents a complete story and can be read separately. It would be a challenging read as the power structure and pantheon of the Aztec Empire are very important to the story and will most likely be unfamiliar to the reader. It helps to have that background from previous books. They also provide insight in Acatl's motivation.

Like the other two books, Master of the House of Darts is entirely written in the first person. We see the story though Acatl's eyes and experience his thorough disgust of power politics, selfishness and injustice. He has lost some of his impatience with it though. I wouldn't say he's become a diplomat but he has developed more of a feeling for when pushing will get him the desired result and when letting go is the least frustrating course of action. He's also a bit more self assured when acting as high priest for the dead. Where in previous novels the disapproval of his parents weighed on him significantly, it has faded into the background a bit in Master of the House of Darts, although it does come up in the conversations with his disgraced brother Neutemoc.

One area where Acatl certainly does not lack confidence is his duties as High Priest of the Dead. One of the more interesting scenes in this novel is the conversation in which he berates his priests for sacrificing the life of a slave to save a high official. Acatl feels lives cannot be ranked like that and one life is not more valuable than another. It is an interesting example of his sense of justice, but also stresses that a culture that practices, in our eyes, barbaric human sacrifice, does have a clear moral code. One that can be very unforgiving on people who don't live up to the status and privileges society accords them in fact. It is hard to warp you mind around some of the practices Acatl accepts as a matter of course but in this novel at least, they do fit the larger framework.

Unlike the previous two volumes, this novel relies a bit less on action and leans heavier on unravelling the mystery, figuring out who had a motive and how certain crimes were perpetrated. The real action in the novel is saved for the explosive finale. Acatl needs a little more time to sort through the tangle of hatred, greed and lust for power that surrounds the Revered Speaker, it is most certainly is most challenging and complex investigation yet. As with the previous novel I felt that the first person point of view limited de Bodard a bit in exploring the intricacies of the intrigue Acatl is unravelling. Events follow each other quickly and some do not make sense to the reader until Acatl figures them out, or thinks he does. Some of it relies pretty heavily on the properties of various deities in the Aztec pantheon, which makes his trains of thought challenging to follow sometimes.

I enjoyed reading Master of the House of Darts as much as the previous two novels. We see a bit more confident Acatl in this novel, despite the fact that he is dealing with unintended consequences of his own actions. He is not a particularly optimistic character but his dark moods fits the dire situation the Mexica Empire is in. It was a nice touch to see that even the gods fear what might happen if the fifth world (the current one according to Aztec mythology) were to come to an end. Readers of de Bodard's other works will appreciate the intrigue and vividly realized Mesoamerican setting. As usual, the author leaves me hungry for more. I understand her next project will be the first full lenght novel in the Xuya alternative history. If possible, I look forward to that novel even more than I did to Master of the House of Darts.

Book Details
Title: Master of the House of Darts
Author: Aliette de Bodard
Publisher: Angry Robot
Pages: 416
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-85766-159-3
First published: 2011

Xuya Universe Short Fiction by Aliette de Bodard (Part 1)

Aliette de Bodard's work frequently features non-western cultures. The two novels she published so far, Servant of the Underworld and Harbinger of the Storm are set in a pre-Columbian Aztec Empire and many of her short stories also include Aztec, Vietnamese and Chinese cultures. De Bodard has written a handful of stories set in what she calls the Xuya universe. In this alternative time line China discovered the Americas before the Europeans. The Chinese expeditions to the Mexica empire helped reduce the shock effect of the eventual arrival of the Europeans and prevented it's fall. In modern times Mexico and the United States are divided in three power blocks. A strong Mexica Empire in the south, a west coast settled by the Chinese and the eastern United States more or less as we know it, a former British colony mostly settled by Europeans. The first story in this universe I read was The Lost Xuyan Bride, which is included in The Apex Book of World SF and can be read on the author's website. I very much liked that story for the interesting alternate history it is set in (among other things).

Recently, two other stories in the Xuya universe were made available online so I took the opportunity to read them. Although the stories are set in the same universe that are separated by several centuries. They are two very different pieces of writing and hint at a much greater story. De Bodard offers the beginnings of a chronology on her website. For those who like alternative history it is very interesting reading.

The Jaguar House, In Shadow
This story was first published in Asimov's (July 2010) and is nominated for a Nebula award this year. It can be downloaded as pdf here, or can be read on the author's website. Word count is about 7,900.

This story is set in a period of civil war in Mexica. During the rule of the current Revered Speaker all Houses but one, have been destroyed for opposing him. Only the Jaguar House is left, surviving by completely submitting to the will of the current leader. Not everybody in the Jaguar House agrees with this policy. Onalli and Xochitl directly oppose it. Onalli manages to stay out of reach of the head of the House, her former friend Tecipiani. Xochitl is not so lucky and Onalli intends to get her out of the House before Tecipiani can do damage beyond repair.

The Jaguar House, In Shadow is a very good example of why I love to read short fiction. De Bodard does something with this story that would probably not work very well in a novel. The events described in the present are balanced by an undercurrent where time flow in the opposite direction. By taking us further in the past of the characters and showing us a few key moments in the relationship between them, the story it gains an emotional depth the story would not have acquired otherwise. The author effectively shows us the divisions that appeared between a group of friends, a military order and ultimately the whole Mexica empire. Unfortunately, it is a bit hard to really see the historical context of the story without looking at De Bodard’s chronology. I love the way she tells this story but some of it is quite cryptic.

The Shipmaker
The Second story was published in Interzone #231 (November/December 2010). It's on the 2010 BSFA short list and has been made available as a pdf by Interzone. Wordcount is about 5,500.

The Shipmaker is set centuries after The Jaguar House, In Shadow, in a far future where each of the great powers has a presence in space. This story is seen form the Chinese point of view. Dac Kien is a Vietnamese woman who designs spacecraft for the Chinese, that are part machine and part biological. The organic parts are added in the last part of the Construction. The whole procedure is a delicate operation. One that is thoroughly upset when the surrogate mother of the organic element that will be come the ship arrives early. It appears the birth will be much sooner than anticipated. Dac Kien will have to quickly revise her carefully created design.

I guess this story shows the large cultural difference between west and east. The Chinese shipbuilders include principles of the ancient Feng Shui aesthetics into their design. It is not a matter of changing a few sections and cutting out a few others, the harmony of the design will be utterly ruined by such an approach. Qi must flow harmoniously though the ship for it to operate well. On top of that the author weaves in some of Dac's personal life. The problems she faces with her partner (another woman) and the negative response of her family. They would rather see her married. Although the reader will sympathize with Dac's choice to set her own course in life, De Bodard introduces an element of doubt in her main character. The meeting with the surrogate mother of the ship's organic component makes her see matters of family and children in a different light. No easy answers in this story.

The chronology of the Xuya universe also mentions the existence of an unpublished novel titled Foreign Ghosts in this setting. After reading three very good Xuya stories I am certainly curious what a full novel would look like.

Harbinger of the Storm - Aliette de Bodard

I read Servant of the Underworld, Aliette de Bodard's début novel and the first book in the Obsidian and Blood series, in January and it was one of the most interesting books I'd read in a while. Not that many people write a novel in a second language and manage to get it published. I'm always mildly envious of people with that kind of language skills. De Bodard's work (this is her second novel but there is lots of short fiction) usually features non-western cultures, something not that many writers take on, making Servant of the Underworld an unusual novel. I enjoyed her depiction of the pre-Columbian Mexica (Aztec) empire a lot. Harbinger of the Storm is the second book in the trilogy and thankfully publisher Angry Robot was kind enough to send me an advance copy. This book was high on the to read list for 2011.

Harbinger of the Storm is set about a year and a half after events in Servant of the Underworld. Worrisome events have taken place in the Mexica empire. The Revered Speaker, the link between the world of the living and the god Huitzilpochtli, their shield against the deities who are aiming to end the fifth world and make it anew, has passed away and left the people unprotected. Selecting a successor is no easy matter. The council from which a new Revered Speaker is to be elected is hopelessly divided. Time is pressing though, with each day that passes the pressure on the spiritual defences of the empire grows. The terrible star-demons are waiting for their chance to rip the empire apart.

Acatl, High-Priest for the Dead, once again finds himself caught up in the court intrigues he so much despises. Although most of the council members are aware of the treat to the empire and the need to restore their link with Huitzilpochtli, all of them are too busy expanding their personal influence to really care. To make the situation even more volatile a council member is murdered shortly after the Revered Speaker's death. Acatl is called in to investigate the death and finds out that someone is not ready to wait for the star demons to arrive. They summoned one to do their dirty work for them. The empire is in even more danger than Acatl assumed.

In the previous volume Acatl tries to stay clear of politics, something he does not entirely succeeds at. This time there is no escaping it. Serving Mictlantecuhtli, the Lord of Death, he has a part in the funeral ceremonies for the departed Revered Speaker. This makes Harbinger of the Storm a lot more political than Servant of the Underworld. De Bodard goes into quite a lot of detail on the downright Machiavellian politics some of the priests and military leaders of the empire practice. Some of the shameless manoeuvring by the priests who ought to be busy preventing a very real supernatural disaster is worthy of the Borgias. It thoroughly disgusts Acatl, who is... perhaps not entirely naive but a bit too unwilling to accept that not everybody will put the common good before their own interests.

The succession de Bodard describes is a very curious one. It often wasn't a father-to-son affair like one would expect. Often brothers and even cousins had a good shot at the position as well, making the succession uncertain. The author uses this to great effect in the novel, creating a struggle for the throne put under an immense pressure by the need to provide the empire with a link to their patron god. The peril the empire is in, is made very clear by the appearance of a number of supernatural beings, Aztec mythology does not seem to have a shortage of scary figures. Not everybody may like their historical fiction (or is it historical fantasy?) with this much supernatural influence but I think the author does use it cleverly to build the tension.

Servant of the Underworld was a bit more contained to the city of Tenochtitlan, with the city itself as historical background, not so much the characters and events. In this volume we get to see a bit more of the way what we think of as the Aztec Empire was organized. It mentions the alliance with the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan and a lot more of the lay out of the city than the previous book. The departed Revered Speaker Axayacatl is a historical figure, as are a number of other characters in the novel. From what I can tell the historical details on the succession, or even the events in that particular year are not that well documented, giving de Bodard some leeway to tell her story. The book does not pretend to be fully historically accurate but it thought it was nice to see a bit more of the historical context.

The book is written from the first person and I think it restricted de Bodard a bit. The novel involves a lot of political intrigue, all of which we get to see from the point of view of a character neither particularly skilled nor very interested in the process. Acatl's pretty good at telling when he's being lied to but motivations often elude him. Some of the finer point of what is going on in Tenochtitlan's ruling council might have benefited from another point of view. That's a personal preference though, one could just as easily argue that since de Bodard started the story in the first person, she should stick with it.

I found Harbinger of the Storm to be a worthy successor to what I consider to be a very successful début. The emphasis in this book has shifted a bit from a murder mystery to political intrigue but the setting hasn't lost any of its appeal in the process. The novel zooms out a bit to allow room for more religious and political aspects of Aztec society to slip into the story. Despite my preoccupation with the historical aspects of the novel, Harbinger of the Storm is mostly a race against the clock to deflect a supernatural attempt to end the empire and the world. De Bodard manages to work a great sense of urgency into the story, making it a very fast read. She has once again managed to deliver a very interesting book. I'm looking forward to reading the third, as of yet unnamed, book in this series.

Book Details
Title: Harbinger of the Storm
Author: Aliette de Bodard
Publisher: Angry Robot
Pages: 384
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-85766-075-6
First published: 2011

Servant of the Underworld - Aliette de Bodard

I recently read de Bodard's story The Lost Xuyan Bride in The Apex Book of World SF and found it one of the highlights of the collection (if you are interested, it can be read on the author's website). One of the things I liked about it was the use of two non-Western cultures in this alternative history/detective story. Normally I am a bit more cautious but based on that story I decided to give her début novel Servant of the Underworld, the first novel in the Obsidian and Blood series a go. I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. It turned out to be a fast-paced and exciting, historical fantasy/mystery.

Servant of the Underworld is set in Tenochtitlan in 1480. At that time the centre of the Aztec empire and close to reaching it's largest territorial expansion. In the vibrant capital politicians, priests and warriors vie for influence at the court of the Revered Speaker and sacrifices in blood are part of everyday life to appease the gods. Even human sacrifices are deemed necessary at times to make sure the fifth world does not end. Our main character Acatl is a small player in the political minefield of Tenochtitlan. As high-priest of the dead, he worships Mictlantecuhtli, a relatively unimportant deity.

Acatl prefers to stay out of politics, immersing himself in guiding the recently deceased to his god's domain with the proper rituals and sacrifices as well as comforting those left behind. His appointment as high-priest could not have come to a person who wanted it less. When he is called away from his temple to investigate what appears to be a murder he soon finds out that there is no escaping politics. Arriving at the scene of the crime the case looks straightforward. His brother Neutemoc is found covered in blood. Enough blood that the victim cannot have survived even though no body is present. Acatl is forced to undertake the investigation and come to his brother's defence. What appears to be straightforward soon leads him to the highest circles of Aztec society and beyond.

De Bodard sets her story in a culture that has, shall we say, a reputation for being bloodthirsty. It would have been pretty easy for the author to exploit that for shock value. Something that whoever wrote the cover text was quite aware of. The author does not need to emphasize that element of the story to make it a good book. She does not spare us the Aztec's rather frightening pantheon, nor a ritually sacrificed animal or two but all as everyday part of life. The main character and narrator (the book is written in the first person) is so used to these practices that he doesn't seem to deem them worthy of elaborate description and that, I think, makes the character of Acatl a whole lot more convincing that he would otherwise have been.

To further flesh out this character the author adds a quite complicated relationship with his brother. The man who fulfilled his parents' wishes for their children and gained honour on the field of battle. His parents' rejection of his modest ambitions of being a priest still stings. Perfect he may seem, Neutemoc is human enough. Accused of murder, a pawn in the power struggles his warrior society is involved in, a marriage that is about to collapse, his parents should have seen him now. As one of the gods Acatl encounters puts is, he is full of regrets and bitterness. He's also a well rounded character.

Although de Bodard admits to taking a few liberties with history in the author's note, she certainly could have fooled me. It is not a period I am very well acquainted with but I thought the historical setting was well realized. If this book is ever made into an audio book I do pity the person doing the reading. Aztec names are often long and seemingly impossible to pronounce. To prevent them from blurring into random syllables instead of characters I did have to check to character list thoughtfully provided by the author early on in the tale. She also added a list of the most important Aztec terms and concepts to help us along. I would not mind seeing that expanded a bit in book two. It makes for interesting reading.

An interesting and unusual setting, a well rounded main character (did you ever meet a priest of the dead being the good guy in a fantasy novel?) and a brisk pace. This novel has a lot going for it. What makes this début even more impressive is the fact that the author has written it in her second language. Since it is my second language as well I am probably not the one to tell you if this in noticeable in the novel. De Bodard doesn't go for elaborate sentences or complicated vocabulary (save the Aztec terms) but then, you don't have to be a second language speaker to avoid that. She certainly manages a whole lot better than I do in this review. I'd say Servants of the Underworld is one of the better débuts I have read recently. Definitely worth checking out. I am certainly going to keep an eye out for the second book.

If you want to make Acatl's acquaintance without committing to a novel you can try this story on the author's website. It clearly served as a starting point for the novel.

Book Details
Title: Servant of the Underworld
Author: Aliette de Bodard
Publisher: Angry Robot
Pages: 431
Year: 2010
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-00-734654-7
First published: 2010