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UK Authors - Sci-fi & fantasy |
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Surrender None |
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S urrender None byElizabeth Moon Little, Brown (Orbit) 505 pages, 2000 ISBN 1841490156 Reviewed by our UK Editor Rachel A. Hyde Every now and then, a writer comes along who creates a fantasy world that readers just want to go back to. Elizabeth Moon managed this in her wonderful Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy. Now she returns to that magical land of small villages and dense forests to tell the story of Paks’ precursor, Gird. The pleasant rural community Paks inhabited was once an oppressed, feudal society ruled over by the whims of cruel foreign rulers. It is into this world that Gird is born as a lowly serf. At first, he escapes that life by being a soldier. But as he realises what the side he is fighting for is like, he becomes an outlaw, making it his life’s work to educate the other men (then the women) in his band in the ways of soldiering, then the downtrodden peasants themselves. Gird wants to break the chain of oppression and create fair laws for his people; this is the tale – first in a pair of novels – of how he does it. Anyone who has read the Paksenarrion books will know how well realised Moon’s fantasy world is. She populates her story with believable folk and can create characters that are well rounded. There isn’t non-stop action in this story, yet there is always something going on of interest. Surrender None is one of those all-too-rare fantasy novels that don’t sag in the middle. Instead, the reader is constantly introduced to new characters, new conflicts and situations. I for one can’t wait to read Liar’s Oath, the second part of this prequel. |
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