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The Chernagor Pirates | Rating | |
| C | |||
| Dan Chernenko | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| The Scepter of Mercy | The Bastard King, The Chernagor Pirates, The Scepter's Return | ||
When a Chernagor prince asks them for help shoring up his rule against his son, King Grus must take an army north. He has no choice, for the son has turned to the Banished One, the cruel god tossed out of Heaven, for help, and letting him settle in the north would put Avornis in a vice between two enemies. But with Grus away, co-king Lanius gets the chance to rule. Will he enjoy it too much to give it up? And what about the Menteshe to the south? It's probably too much to expect them to remain silent through all this...
The story here moves very quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly. Page one hundred sees King Grus embarking on his second attempt to wrest Nishovatz from Prince Vasilko, a year after the first. I quite understand Chernenko's intent, here, to move things forward and skip over the boring parts in between when nothing much happens. For that matter, I understand why he skimmed over the battles, as well - if he's not confident he can describe the tactics very well (or if rough drafts proved he couldn't) then it was really rather wise not to include details. But if the battles are skimmed and the slower parts skipped entirely, what is left? It doesn't leave much meat on these bones, giving us just the barest skeleton of a story.
This trait was present in The Bastard King as well, so it may just be Chernenko's style. But there it sort of worked, since so much of the book was concerned with Grus' and Lanius' lives before they came to power. Then it helped move things along, and by the time they were raised to co-rule Avornis I had gotten used to the pace and style. Here, though, it doesn't work nearly so well. Here it makes the book read... well, better than an outline or summary, true. But not much more.
Chernenko also can't resist imposing modern Christian attitudes on a midieval panthiestic culture, and it doesn't fit. In a land where it is supposedly perfectly acceptable for a man to take up to six wives, so long as he is king, why do the queens insist on being the only wife? They grewup under this rule; it would seem as natural to them as the notion that kings got to live in a palace, eat fine food, and wear fine clothes. It's a perk of being a king! It is perhaps - perhaps! - understandable that Grus' wife, who had been married to him for some years before he became a king, could be upset at suddenly having to worry about contenders for her husband's affection, but Sosia married Lanius after he was crowned. (And even if she'd married him earlier, he was always in line for the throne; his kingship was hardly the surprise Grus' was.) It just makes no sense to me, the way she reacts when Lanius starts looking at other women.
For that matter, people in a mideival culture would be far more understanding of the idea of taking mistresses. Especially if you're a king or even just a general and you're away on campaign. They might not like it, but I find it hard to believe they'd make hubby's life hell. A king can take servant girls and barmaids and the like nearly with impunity. I'm not saying this is a good thing, but it is how it was, and how it logically would be here. Except it isn't.
I also had a severe issue with Lanius and Grus, and sometimes other characters, as they tried to deal with the people around them. There is a time to be a nice guy, and there is a time to be firm. And there is a time to land on people like a ton of bricks. But Chernenko makes sure his characters bend over backwards to be nice, sensible people. They rarely take a firm stand, and never do they do anything nasty, even if it needs doing. The closest anyone ever comes is when Grus finally disciplines his son, and it is portrayed as excessive. For that matter, any punishment, or contemplation of punishment, is seen as excessive.
Lastly, the characters in the book don't grow. Considering how many years pass in these books, it's astonishing. Characters learn, but none of them ever really change.
It's not a bad book. I never once considered stopping, because even though it's a little sketchier than I'm used to in some ways it is still telling a good story. It's also interesting to watch the two kings struggle with their feelings towards one another. Should Lanius toss out the upstart Grus, securing the sole kingship he should have had? Should Grus get rid of Lanius, in order to keep his own position secure? Or are they just too useful to each other to be rid of?
This is a decent book, and is a fine sequel. It is not, however, anything to write home about. This is largely due to the writing style, but other factors add to the problems. In the end, I have to say I still plan to buy the next book in the series, because I really do want to see what happens next.
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