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Path of the Fury | Rating | |
| A | |||
| David Weber | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| N/A | Path of the Fury, In Fury Born | ||
Alicia DeVries was a drop commando, the best of the best of the Empire's soldiers. But she gave that up and became a simple colonist on the frontier. But a pirate raid has killed her family, along with most of the rest of the planet, and she wants revenge. Helping her out will be a spirit out of Greek myth and a stolen AI housed in a warship second to none in space. Two powerful allies, indeed. But Alicia is still going to have to find the bad guys before she can do anything about them, and the pirates' resources are far more than anyone expects.
Weber is well known to his critics for two flaws common to many of his books: overpowered characters and lengthy tangents. This is especially true for his early novels, which is exactly what this is. The first is, in most respects, the greater problem. Alicia has some flaws, but they are mostly things that happened in her past, or are presented as problems only in that she must avoid running into them. To compensate, she is an excellent fighter, armed or unarmed. She knows her weapons well and has a set of body armor that is top of the line. The Fury that possesses her, Tisiphone, allows her to read the minds of those she touches and cloud those of anyone nearby a la The Shadow, among other talents. And the starship she steals is among the fastest in space, and the AI aboard makes it the next best thing to unbeatable in battle. Even with a few personality flaws, it still turns Alicia into a Mary Sue.
The other problem, that of the excessive tangents, is by comparison a minor thing. Weber sometimes goes on for pages at a time detailing the history of the Empire, or how star travel works, or listing off massess and ranges and accellerations. Sometimes I like these things, and sometimes he takes it a little too far. It's nice to see someone put so much thought into the background of a story, but ultimately that's all it is: background. It rarely helps the plot, and a few times I did find myself wishing he'd just get on with it.
Yet just as Alicia's few negative traits were overshadowed easily by all the power she was given, so too is it with the book as a whole. The story is simply wonderful, and it's told from three main directions. Alicia's story, of course, as she tries to find and destroy the pirates while avoiding Imperial ships out to shoot her on sight for the theft of the AI, but we also see an Imperial agent as he tries to get a grip on what is going on. The third is about the pirates themselves, who are out for more than loot. Wever spends copious pages to show readers what they are doing while still hiding what they are up to until the proper moment. If the action doesn't grip readers, perhaps the mystery will.
Alicia's story, though, is the heart of the book. And although the other aspects receive more time than I'd have expected, that hardly means her side is skimpy. And it truly is a thrill to watch her as she tracks her quarry, by hook and by crook. Heck, it's interesting watching her learn to utilize the capabilities her noncorporeal companions offer, and their chats can be downright amusing.
Naturally, this being a book by David Weber, there is combat involved in the story. And he writes it with his usual flair and style, be it hand-to-hand, a rifle duel, or a sharship engagement. I suppose if you've read some of his other books and don't like his style, then you won't like it here, either, but for me it was a great way to show the danger of combat while still keeping it entertaining for readers. I always felt either tense at what might happen, or glee as she battled her way through, and as far as I'm concerned that's just fine.
Yes, Alicia is overpowered. I still think this is a good book, a fun read. The mixing of what is essentially one magical element into an otherwise entirely scientific setting is a bit unbalanced, and doesn't entirely work, I think. But it works well enough to let me have a good time. I might wish that Tisiphone wasn't the only spirit or bit of magic or that Alicia was toned down just a little, but to be honest I quite happy with what is there.
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