Review: The Sharing Knife: Legacy
Jul. 3rd, 2007 05:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalI finished reading it yesterday finally. And for the first time in a long while, my reaction was "Meh." It wasn't structurally flawed like Diplomatic Immunity or The Hallowed Hunt, but it's probably the blandest bit of fantasy LMB has done since The Spirit Ring.
I think part of the problem was, of course, that despite being the second half of a supposed duology, it's plain that we're going to have to read through the next two books in the Wide Green World before there's going to be a resolution to Dag and Fawn's story. At best, by the end of the book they're engaged in a dignified retreat. Dag is estranged from his brother and mother, Fawn has not been accepted by the Lakewalkers, Dag's wealth is tied up in a blatant political maneuver, and the younger of the Lakewalker's are plainly outraged at the treatment of the heroes of the last malice fight.
Which isn't to say that LMB doesn't strut her stuff during the most important dramatic moments. However brief that actual battle with the latest malice is, it's plain why they terrify Lakewalkers. Most effectively when we see Dag and Mari's outright fear when the observe that this malice is building a crude tower. When in a classic fantasy epic the opponent would have them going up a nigh impenetrable fortress, the idea that a bunch of logs piled together would be thought of as a sign of an enormous threat enhances, rather than detracts from the menace of the creatures.
And as always with LMB, it isn't the battle that's at the emotional center of the conflict, it's the mess afterward, with both the Lakewalker makers trapped by the malice and the horrible toll it took on the villagers it consumed and enslaved during its molt.
But...
Here's the big flaw in the plot. The whole setup with the Lakewalkers and Farmers is the classic "Five minute talk" problem. If Lakewalkers and Farrmers could just get past each other's inherent assumptions then the problem with the malices would be infinitely eased. Which would consist of the Lakewalkers (ie: Dag and Fawn) chatting up every village they come to and telling them "You want to stop malices? Here are the signs you look for. First time you see one, come running to us." It's unlikely that there will be more to this, because what the Lakewalkers really need to do is tell every village exactly how sharing knives are, as Dar told Fawn, and then give them one to stick in the next malice that starts to appear in their neighborhood.
But that won't happen, because the Lakewalkers Are Special. They're Heralds, they're Dragon Riders, they're Jedi. And to take away their primary job is to take away what makes them unique to the landscape LMB has created. When faced with a rapidly growing malice threat, and all hands are needed, the biggest group that Fairbolt was able to muster was some seventy Patrollers. Seventy, when they needed an army of hundreds, perhaps thousands.
But that's not going to happen in the Lakewalker's universe. Farmers are not warriors. There's no mention of nations in the Wide Green World, just individual towns and regions. Between each village is a no man's land under the Lakewalker's protection. Because, notable, farmers are unarmed. The only non-lakewalker human we ever see armed in the two books is a scruffy bandit. The Lakewalkers are stretched too thin, that point is made clear. But they're never going to let the Farmers build an army or real militia, because they'd lose control over the people they're supposedly protecting. For all the talk of "Will we be Lords again?", the fact is they're lords now, as poor and deliberately backwards as they are, because they hoard their knowledge of how to fight the malices when they need to be spreading it far and wide.
In other words, they're flaming hypocrites.
Though the fact that I saw this, probably means that LMB is aware of it too. And she's too knowledgeable about the tropes of fantasy to let the Lakewalker's way of life stay as it is.
I suspect the next couple of books are going to be... very interesting.
I think part of the problem was, of course, that despite being the second half of a supposed duology, it's plain that we're going to have to read through the next two books in the Wide Green World before there's going to be a resolution to Dag and Fawn's story. At best, by the end of the book they're engaged in a dignified retreat. Dag is estranged from his brother and mother, Fawn has not been accepted by the Lakewalkers, Dag's wealth is tied up in a blatant political maneuver, and the younger of the Lakewalker's are plainly outraged at the treatment of the heroes of the last malice fight.
Which isn't to say that LMB doesn't strut her stuff during the most important dramatic moments. However brief that actual battle with the latest malice is, it's plain why they terrify Lakewalkers. Most effectively when we see Dag and Mari's outright fear when the observe that this malice is building a crude tower. When in a classic fantasy epic the opponent would have them going up a nigh impenetrable fortress, the idea that a bunch of logs piled together would be thought of as a sign of an enormous threat enhances, rather than detracts from the menace of the creatures.
And as always with LMB, it isn't the battle that's at the emotional center of the conflict, it's the mess afterward, with both the Lakewalker makers trapped by the malice and the horrible toll it took on the villagers it consumed and enslaved during its molt.
But...
Here's the big flaw in the plot. The whole setup with the Lakewalkers and Farmers is the classic "Five minute talk" problem. If Lakewalkers and Farrmers could just get past each other's inherent assumptions then the problem with the malices would be infinitely eased. Which would consist of the Lakewalkers (ie: Dag and Fawn) chatting up every village they come to and telling them "You want to stop malices? Here are the signs you look for. First time you see one, come running to us." It's unlikely that there will be more to this, because what the Lakewalkers really need to do is tell every village exactly how sharing knives are, as Dar told Fawn, and then give them one to stick in the next malice that starts to appear in their neighborhood.
But that won't happen, because the Lakewalkers Are Special. They're Heralds, they're Dragon Riders, they're Jedi. And to take away their primary job is to take away what makes them unique to the landscape LMB has created. When faced with a rapidly growing malice threat, and all hands are needed, the biggest group that Fairbolt was able to muster was some seventy Patrollers. Seventy, when they needed an army of hundreds, perhaps thousands.
But that's not going to happen in the Lakewalker's universe. Farmers are not warriors. There's no mention of nations in the Wide Green World, just individual towns and regions. Between each village is a no man's land under the Lakewalker's protection. Because, notable, farmers are unarmed. The only non-lakewalker human we ever see armed in the two books is a scruffy bandit. The Lakewalkers are stretched too thin, that point is made clear. But they're never going to let the Farmers build an army or real militia, because they'd lose control over the people they're supposedly protecting. For all the talk of "Will we be Lords again?", the fact is they're lords now, as poor and deliberately backwards as they are, because they hoard their knowledge of how to fight the malices when they need to be spreading it far and wide.
In other words, they're flaming hypocrites.
Though the fact that I saw this, probably means that LMB is aware of it too. And she's too knowledgeable about the tropes of fantasy to let the Lakewalker's way of life stay as it is.
I suspect the next couple of books are going to be... very interesting.
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no subject
Date: 2007-07-03 10:22 am (UTC)On the other hand, judging by the village that was used by that malice as a cradle, the Farmers aren't exactly very willing to listen. That bunch were the most 'I won't believe even when faced by the bloody facts' bunch that I've recently read about. They won't listen to persuasion, they won't stay away when they're removed. They won't even hear the explanation given to them in as human and normal a way as I could imagine - maybe seeing through Fawns' eyes affects me too much, but I could see Dag being broken down, from seeing what was in the village, and they would not listen to him, let alone anyone who's being calm and reasonable.
I think I've recently grown an astoundingly short temper at people who will be told truth and would discard it without consideration, and the Farmers in that village did just that.
Other than that - bland though it may be, it kept me up till 7 a.m., to finish it. And the fact that Dag packed off trying to look for more answers did work for me, at a very resounding level.
I am indeed looking forward to the next two books too. Very much so. Much as I find the idea of LMB writing the books... in a way that cannot be processed as stand-alones (*pouts*), they are still interesting, and I feel like I could touch, push, talk to, shout at, any of the people inside. Which means a lot, to me :)
no subject
Date: 2007-07-03 02:31 pm (UTC)It is a classic conflict - the better the lakewalkers do their job, the fewer farmers get to experience why it is that they should pay attention to the lakewalkers. Clearly we need better communication. We're told it's been tried before, to no good result. I guess we're going to see another try. But, presumably, done a bit differently . . .
So, how would book 2 have progressed if they hadn't been string bound in book 1? It wasn't something Dag was going to try for - he didn't think it could be done. What would have been his strategy then? He still had to take Fawn to camp - he had to take the knife to Fairbolt and Dar.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-03 10:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-04 12:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-12 04:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-12 10:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-04 02:28 am (UTC)A lot of mysteries to be solved yet! One of the things I liked about the second book is that it delved more into how ground works.
p.s.
Date: 2007-07-03 03:12 pm (UTC)Re: p.s.
Date: 2007-07-03 10:09 pm (UTC)Re: p.s.
Date: 2007-07-04 12:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-03 08:45 pm (UTC)Yet we have a few Farmers who may have more ground than anyone lets on. E.g. Aunt Nattie. There is something almost Lakewalker-ish about her. And maybe even Fawn herself has more going on in that regard than she knows. (Fairbolt Crow nearly acknowledges Fawn's abilities in his farewell to them.) Dag seems to be somewhat aware of this, and I think that is part of why he is willing to be the one to Walk Around The World. Maybe Farmers just lack the skills to channel their grounds, whether by lack of genetic ability or lack of training.
The other big thing I am hoping to see addressed is that there is some special relationship -- possibly genetic -- between malices and Lakewalkers. It seems like they may well have been one and the same, before the world was destroyed. Dag's magic is considered suspicious because it's "malice magic".
Dag is enough of an outsider that he may well be more aware of these issues than any of his kith and kin. And Fawn, through her endless curiosity and questioning, may push him to understand even more.