Title: WINTERBIRTH |  |
In the First Age, the Gods created a single race, but realising their failure they destroyed it and so began the Second Age with five races. Prosperity and peace reigned until the Huanin and Kyrinin waged war against the Whreinin, destroying them, and earning themselves the name “The Tainted”. The Gods, displeased with their wayward children, abandoned them to the Third Age where struggle against elements and each other is the order of the day.
The True Bloods of the Huanin are in an uneasy alliance, strained by having to bring one of their own to heel, and in doing so decimating the armies of the Kilkry and Lannis Bloods. The Thane of Thanes, Gryvan oc Haig, has decided to destroy the Dargannan Blood for their insubordination and use the unruly Kilkry and Lannis Bloods at the front of the fight to weaken them in the process. Gryvan's use of power has strained relations between the True Bloods and he doesn't want any pretenders capable of open rebellion.
Taking the opportunity of weakened Lannis defenses, the dispossessed Horin of the Gyre Bloods ally themselves with the White Owl clan of the Kyrinin to attack Lannis-Haig and kill the entire Lannis line for their part in the death of brother of the Horin-Gyre thane. The plan is bold but the followers of The Black Road, as the Gyre Bloods are, know that fate is written at their birth so if it is to be, success will be theirs despite the odds. And so, upon the night of Winterbirth, the first strike in the heart of the Lannis Blood takes place.
Winterbirth explores a number of themes that have currency, with hegemony and its perils, fundamentalism, expansionist dreams, race relations and the bitter realities of war. The world described by Brian Ruckley is controlled by its elements as well as its religions, as even though the Gods have departed, their children have sought their own replacements. For the followers of The Black Road, a fatalistic religion gives their warriors a psychological advantage, and the priests and priest warriors, the Inkallim, are feared by all, including their countrymen. For the Kyrinin, a kinship with the natural world shapes their lives while the Haigs are the arch capitalists.
This is obviously a first novel, and suffers from over description and heavy handed hinting that detract from the narrative, while never really being able to bring the action fully to life. The ending seemed rushed and the almost cliché cliff-hanger was disappointing.
There are a lot of threads that have been started in this book and I look forward to seeing if the promise can be realised in subsequent volumes.