The Black Guard
(The Long War #1)
AJ Smith
fantasy
copyright 2013
read in January 2015
rated 7/10: well worth reading
There are good people. There are bad people. And there are several people on the bad side who appear to be good. Who can see that not all is well on their own team. But who support their own team because that's the honorable thing to do.
Not that good and bad are all that clear !
The key drivers of the bad team have -- in my opinion -- half of a good idea. Get rid of the gods who are using humans as pawns in the gods' own battle. (The Long War.) Get rid of the gods is a good idea. Replacing them with another god is a stupid idea. I'm not really in favour of humans as pawns in someone else's war.
The goodness of the good team is also a matter of opinion. They fight for honour, they are generally nice people, they kill for freedom -- and for politics. Vicious Vikings, complete with berserker rages. Still... A very likeable lot.
The story itself, is very complex. The Long War world is very complex. Luckily enough, the key characters -- and there are lots of them -- are well defined. And the three or so main plot threads are also well defined. I had very little trouble remembering who was who. And no trouble at all following the various plots.
It's a complex world. It's a complex story. Plenty of action, plenty of scheming. There are many, many characters. Yet it is all well written and easy to read...
And on the down side: the writing style is not the best.
In some parts -- more noticeably in the first half of the book -- there is a tendency to write as a series of actions to be listed. It needs a bit more feeling. A bit more atmosphere. To bring the reader closer to the forces which are driving the characters.
So there's a lack of emotional involvement in the first half of the book. Perhaps, due in part to my unfamiliarity with the characters. This is balanced by the excellent detail of the action, of the world and of the characters.
There is also a lot of death and violence. Mostly in battles, some in the day to day dealings of violent people. The violence is there -- but it is not a central feature of the book.
Yes, people are killed. No, the deaths are not detailed in gratuitous glee. It's nasty but it's not sickening.
Then, the end...
The book is clearly first of a series. It ends with battle lines clearly drawn: we know what they're fighting for, we know who is on which side. (Mostly.) It is also a satisfying conclusion.
The book ends with several clear conclusions. No-one is left hanging by a thread off a cliff. The war -- rather, this small part of the Long War -- has only just begun. Yet this book provides a clear ending -- a point of safety for the main characters.
The Black Guard can be read and enjoyed as a standalone book. It also leaves me wanting to read more. An excellent balance, with a satisfying ending -- and plenty of clear hooks into more books in the series.
"He who hesitate, meditates in the horizontal position" ... Monk Han Wukong, per Charlie Human
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