Book review: The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham

[Werthead]

My review of Daniel Abraham's LONG PRICE QUARTET, starting with the first book, A SHADOW IN SUMMER:

 

Centuries ago the Old Empire fell to an internecine civil war, destroyed by the sorcerers known as poets, wielding the powers of ideas given human form and volition, the andat. Whilst the empire was destroyed, the colony-states across the ocean survived and became the cities of the Khaiem, where the power of the andat continues to hold sway and hold rival nations, such as expansionist Galt, in check. The Khaiem are subtle (relying on a complex courtly language of poses) but also ruthless in trade and in the defence of their riches.

 

Otah Machi was once a student of the poets, but when given the choice to study for entrance to the order he refused and went on the run, refusing to return to his noble home for fear of what chaos it would wreck in the order of succession. Instead, his path takes him south to the city of Saraykeht, a city whose riches are based on the cotton trade, strengthened as it is by the activities of the poet Heshai and his andat, Seedless. Meanwhile, another student of the poets also arrives in Saraykeht on an important mission. Both men become embroiled in a chilling conspiracy designed to destroy the power of the andat once and for all.

 

A Shadow in Summer is the first novel in The Long Price Quartet, Daniel Abraham's epic fantasy in which war, love, treachery, intrigue and hubris is studied and examined in-depth. Abraham's series is a noted departure in the subgenre in that his focus is more on the motivations of his protagonists rather that the trappings of the setting. The 'magic system', if the relationship between the poets and the andat can be described as such, is vivid and interestingly depicted, but it's more of a means to an end than an end in itself. In this, Abraham is reminiscent of Guy Gavriel Kay, whilst he also shows the influence of his one-time teacher George R.R. Martin in his multi-faceted characters. But the melancholic and slightly defeated tone of the many of the characters is something more unique to Abraham's writing, in particular his humane treatment of his villains, who are shown to have their reasons (feeble or otherwise) for what they are trying to do.

 

It's something of a quiet book, particularly for the opening volume of a four-volume epic fantasy series, focusing on emotions and motivations, and some may find it too slow-moving (despite its relatively concise 300-page length). But this is more the opening movement of a grand opera, hinting at and laying the groundwork for the greater and grander themes to come.

 

A Shadow in Summer (****) is a rich and convincing work of fantasy that strikes a different pose (pun intended) to many of its contemporaries, and is all the better for it. It is available now in the USA and, as part of the Shadow and Betrayal omnibus edition, in the UK.

[Mr Ares]

I read the free e-book version of this that was part of Tor's Watch the Skies promotion, and found it an interesting read, rather atypical of most epic fantasy. Currently re-reading, as part of the Shadow and Betrayal omnibus. Heard many good things about this series, hope it doesn't disappoint.

[Werthead]

A Betrayal in Winter

 

Thirteen years after the dramatic events in Saraykeht, both Otah and Maati are keeping their heads down. Unfortunately, events are conspiring to bring them both to Otah's childhood home of Machi, a far northern city of huge towers and intrigue where the Khai's grasp on power is slipping and hungry factions jockey for position.

 

The second volume in Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet sees the story becoming darker and more personal, as Otah is forced to confront the choices he has made in his past and challenge the traditions of the Khaiem. Again, Abraham does not send the story down a traditional or cliched route here, giving his 'villain' a conscience which is increasingly stricken by the dark and murderous things she must do to gain power, but perversely this only seems to increase her determination to win through.

 

The characters of Otah and Maati are developed nicely, along with new characters like Cehmai, and the story unfolds nicely, building to a tremendously intense and emotional convergence. The ending may be somewhat predictable, but the route to get there is thankfully not. Again, this is a somewhat slow-paced novel, but one that is needed to set up the fireworks of the next book in the series.

 

A Betrayal in Winter (****) is an effective and enjoyable second volume in this sequence. It is available now in the USA and as part of the Shadow and Betrayal omnibus in the UK.

[Werthead]

An Autumn War

 

Several times the rulers of Galt have attempted to destroy the poets, the sorcerer-mathematicians who defend the Cities of the Khaiem through the power of the spirits known as andat. Each time they have risked discovery and exposure and the destruction of their homelands in retribution. Now the Galtic general Balasar Gice has returned from a dangerous quest into the heart of the ruined Old Empire and brought back textbooks that may hold the key to destroying the andat once and for all, and enable the armies of Galt to purge the Khaiem before they can bind new spirits.

 

As the Autumn War begins, Otah and Maati discover that only they have the skills and abilities that can stop the invasion, but only if they have enough time, and only if they can fully control the powers they seek to summon...

 

An Autumn War is the third and penultimate volume of The Long Price Quartet, and also the fastest-paced and strongest book in the series. The first two books were slow-building tragedies revolving around intrigue, ambition and betrayal. The third book is about war, the reasons for it and its devastating consequences. Balasar believes that the world is threatened with annihilation at any time if the andat remain alive, whilst Maati is convinced that their powers can be harnessed for the good of mankind. Otah stands between them, having himself seen the evil and destruction that the andat can unleash and the imperfections in the poets' training, but at the same time rejecting the Galts' murderous answer to the quandary.

 

It's an interesting book, with the military action being interspersed with thoughts on the morality of holding weapons of mass destruction (although the multiple interpretations of this leads me to believe that Abraham wasn't making a one-on-one correlation to nuclear weapons) and the characters' different approaches to dealing with the crisis. Abraham isn't the best author in the world at describing battles and military action, preferring to hold it back in favour of emphasising the impact of the war on the characters and their relationships. This he handles with aplomb, building up to a conclusion horrifying and unexpected in its tragic ramifications.

 

An Autumn War (****½) is an excellent fantasy novel, the highlight of this four-book series, and is well-recommended. The book is available now in the USA and in the UK as part of the Seasons of War omnibus.

[Werthead]

The Price of Spring

 

A decade and more after the conclusion of the Autumn War, the lands of the Khaiem and Galt are still reeling from the aftermath of their devastating conflict. Otah Machi works to bind the two nations together in a new alliance, whilst the disgraced Maati attempts his own restitution by training a new breed of poets. However, the new Khaiem poets are haunted and traumatised by what happened to them and their families during the war, and placing the power of the andat in the hands of those burning for vengeance proves to be a decision with far-reaching consequences...

 

The Price of Spring is the fourth and final book in the Long Price Quartet, and brings the story of Otah and Maati to a conclusion. The four books span decades, almost the full lifespans of both characters, and in this final volume we see them reach an accommodation with themselves and their lives and the decisions they have made. The result is a somewhat melancholy book focused on repairing the damage from decisions made in earlier books in the series and reflecting on the paths that have brought them and their people to where they are now.

 

'Aftermath' books tend to be mixed affairs, and are not always the most popular works in a series. Martin's A Feast for Crows - an aftermath volume to the first three books in the series - has had a mixed reception, whilst Feist's Shards of a Broken Crown - the final volume in his Serpentwar Saga - is widely considered to mark the start of a terminal decline in his writing quality. Abraham sidesteps this problem by including a dramatic new storyline (springing out of story seeds planted in earlier books) about a rogue poet which works quite well and gives this final volume a central spine to hang on its themes of reconciliation, redemption and restitution, which are all well-explored.

 

There are some weak moments. Events in Galt are frequently referenced but not expanded on as much as might be desired, whilst the introduction of Galtic steam technology to the Khaiem cities is touched on but left under-developed. Whilst not a major story point, it would nevertheless been interesting to have followed these elements a little more closely. In addition the ending, whilst still bittersweet, does have a sense of being slightly too neat. I would also have expected far more anger and rage against the Galts for their role in events in An Autumn War. In particular, it is a massive stretch of believability that Balasar Gice, the individual responsible for basically laying waste to both Galt and the Khaiem in the previous novel, is still in a position of power in The Price of Spring and not either forcibly retired or even imprisoned or killed.

 

These problems are mostly minor and can be ignored in favour of the book being an elegant and reserved conclusion to one of the more accomplished fantasy series of recent years. The Price of Spring (****) is available now in the USA and as part of the Seasons of War omnibus in the UK.