A Sorcerer's Treason / Sarah Zettel

A Sorcerer's Treason

category: fantasy, author:

Sarah Zettel

book 1 of Isavalta
original copyright 2002,
read in April 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

This book is a lot of fun. Imaginative world, engaging characters, straightforward plot. It does seem that Zettel has been paid by the word... but at least she does know when to stop.

A young woman leaves her safe but uncomfortable everyday life, to discover that she is a super-powerful magician in another world. Nothing new so far! Yet the fantasy world has a range of interesting characters -- both human and non-human.

I recognise Baba Yaga, the name, at least. And her cottage on chicken legs, an old familiar idea. Are the foxes and crows similarly derivative? Who cares! They fit well in the story! And it's a relief to have the heroes' efforts tangled up by semi-human spirits -- rather than driven by anthropomorphic yet inhuman gods.

The book leaps straight into the main plot -- although it then takes a long while to get out of the mundane world. For a while, I thought that all of the action would take place on one small and mundane island... Character development, I finally decided.

On the other hand... Zettel is really, really wordy. In the first few chapters this is a fault. After that, the wordiness is simply a part of the story. Once you know -- roughly -- what's going on, you are caught up in the story and the wordiness is simply a part of the storyteller's style.

Then you reach the climax and think, what more can happen now? And realise... there is a lot, still to happen!

As I was reading and enjoying A Sorcerer's Treason I saw a relatively straightforward plot in a complex fantasy world. As the plot was wrapped up, with satisfactory endings all round, I realised that there was a lot more happening than I had realised... The simple, well-written story provided a complexity which was hidden by good writing.

For the reader there is a strong narrative thread which is easy to follow. Yet this one thread is woven in with a range of closely related ... other stories. That's not quite right. But these are not "sub plots", they are all a closely linked part of the one plot. A series of stories which are each essential to the central issue to be resolved.

The clear (though wordy!) writing makes this book easy to read. The clarity of style allowed me to understand what was happening and to think that this was a simple story. Until all the parts fell neatly into place. And I was able to realise how well Zettel had led me through a quite complex maze of situations, characters and problems.

Finally, all problems are resolved.

A very satisfactory ending to the book. And it's still very clear that there are more problems for books two and three.

I look forward to reading the next two books of the Isavalta trilogy. Which is a lot more than I can say for the next book that I will review...

..o0o..

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