Acacia: The War with the Mein (Acacia, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

by David Anthony Durham (Author)
Key Phrases: eel pendant, Sire Dagon, Hanish Mein, Known World (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In this sprawling and vividly imagined fantasy, historical novelist Durham (Pride of Carthage) chronicles the downfall and reinvention of the Akaran Dynasty, whose empire, called Acacia, was built on conquest, slaving and drug trade. The Acacian empire, encompassing "The Known World," is hated by its subjugated peoples, especially the Mein, who 22 generations earlier were exiled to the icy northland. Having sent an assassin to kill the Acacian king, Leodan, the rebel chieftain, Hanish Mein, declares war on the empire. As Acacia falls, Leodan's treasonous but conflicted chancellor, Thaddeus Clegg, spirits the king's four children to safety. When the Mein's rule proves even more tyrannical than the old, the former chancellor seeks to reunite the now adult Akaran heirs—the oldest son Aliver (once heir to the throne), the beautiful elder daughter Corinn, their younger sister, Mena, and youngest brother, Dariel—to lead a war to regain the empire. Durham has created a richly detailed alternate reality leavened with a dollop of magic and populated by complicated personalities grappling with issues of freedom and oppression. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From The Washington Post

The Akaran royal children in David Anthony Durham's thrilling Acacia bear a passing resemblance to the scrappy siblings from C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Aliver, heir to the throne of the Known World, worries that he doesn't have the stuff to be king; Corinn, his sister, is beautiful, deceptively shallow and adept with a bow and arrow; Mena, the younger sister, is courageous and astute; and Dariel, the youngest, tends to wander off where he shouldn't. But the world that Durham has created for them is far grimmer, and far more sophisticated, than Lewis's charming Narnia.

From the first pages of Acacia, Durham, a respected historical novelist, demonstrates that he is a master of the fantasy epic. He quickly sets out in broad strokes the corrupt world that these unwitting children have been raised to rule. For 22 generations, the Akarans have presided over the empire of Acacia. And for 22 generations, they've sent a yearly shipment of child slaves to mysterious traders beyond their borders, "with no questions asked, no conditions imposed on what they did with them, and no possibility that the children would ever see Acacia again." In exchange, the Akarans get "mist," a drug that guarantees their subjects' "labor and submission." I give nothing away when I say that this empire is doomed. In the opening pages, an assassin from the Meins -- a "bickering people" from the frozen North, "as harsh and prone to callousness as the landscape they inhabited"

-- is on his way to the capital city with his sights set on King Leodan, the children's kind and hapless father. The Akaran children must flee their sumptuous palace for hostile country, with no god-like lion poised to give his life for theirs. The Acacian god, the Giver, has forsaken them. Durham sacrifices nothing -- not psychological acuity, not political

complexity, not lyrical phrases -- as he drives the plot of this gripping book forward. The names of people and places sound as if they've been recalled from a dusty past, not cobbled from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, a far too common practice among fantasy writers. Tropes that sound outlandish -- "dream-travel," for one -- are credible in Durham's telling. And the story always surprises. Characters that seem poised to take center stage are killed abruptly. Evil often triumphs.

The rickety supports that grand empires rest on clearly fascinate Durham -- the long-time advisers who have grown resentful, the client states that fake their willing submission, the trading monopoly that sees profit in regime change. And the Akaran aristocracy is deaf to the rumblings beneath them. Hanish, the clear-eyed leader of the Meins and architect of the coming disaster, relishes their complacency: "Better that his coming shock them to the core and leave them reeling and grasping for meaning, too late to recognize the true shape and substance of the world they lorded over."

When the empire falls, it does so quickly and horrifically. Palace guards and household servants slaughter their masters. The Meinish have allied with the Numrek, "screaming, stomping, mirthful agents of carnage," who cut a gruesome swath through the land. Plague strikes the Acacian army, and its soldiers sweat blood and "lay prostrate in writhing intimacy with the earth." The dead are past counting.

But as exciting as all this is, the collapse of the Akaran empire is only the beginning of this grand tale. Aliver, Mena and Dariel, raised anonymously and separately in quiet corners of the fallen empire, become warriors eager to redeem "the rotten heart of Acacia," while Corinn, a captive in the palace where she grew up, plots bloody revenge from within. How will it all end? If the first volume of this projected series is any indication, in brilliant -- and brutal -- defiance of fantasy conventions.

Copyright 2007, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 768 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; Reprint edition (August 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385722524
• ISBN-13: 978-0385722520
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #101,887 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Departure!, July 2, 2007

By	Phyllis Rhodes (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Acacia: The War with the Mein (Acacia, Book 1) (Hardcover)

Acacia: Book One: The War With the Mein is David Anthony Durham's "debut" of sorts into the fantasy genre. He creates a world rich with myths, legends, history, culture, and differing races striving to co-exist in Acacia, the designated center of the The Known World. This first book, The War With The Mein, opens with a Mein assassin journeying from the arctic ice lands of the North on a mission to avenge his people who felt they were denied their place as rulers of the The Known World and banished to the ice lands centuries before. Upon the successful assassination of the King of Acacia; three of the four sheltered, pampered child heirs escape capture, scattered to differing parts of the kingdom under assumed identities. The Mein easily topple the sleeping Acacian capital and control the kingdom. Hanish Mein, handsome brother of the self-sacrificing assassin, occupies the palace and vows to capture the remaining Acacian heirs (preferably alive) to complete a blood oath to release the Mein's spiritual ancestors.

In the meantime, the heirs, separated during their flight from capture, mature in differing ways in disparate cultures over the next decade. The oldest son, Aliver, trains with the Talayans on the desert plains and enlists the aid of the mystical Santooth to avenge his father. The beautiful elder sister, Corinn, a prisoner in her own palace, becomes the concubine/lover of Hanish Mein. Third to the throne, Mena, is raised as a virginal priestess in a land that worships a sea Eagle and practices child sacrifice, and the youngest son, Dariel, is raised a swashbuckling pirate buccaneer.

Durham leans on his historical fiction background and blends a numerous, yet full bodied, cast filled with resonating histories, each contributing purposefully to the multi-layered plot and sub-plots. Much of the book establishes the complex histories, secrets, interrelationships of the Acacian people, their allies, enemies, and subjects. It also provides a detailed backdrop on the alliances, motives, and betrayals of court members and key figures with such deep conviction that initially, it is very difficult to sort the `good' from the `bad' guys.

I enjoyed the book and enjoyed how The Known World parallels reality in that there are multiple races that mimic reality. The reader will recognize a touch of ancient Nordic, African, and Arabian traditions and cultures that borrow from the Celtics and Aztecs. His creativity sparked in the creation of a feared group, The Leaguemen, a sea-faring group who specialize in the production and distribution of "the mist" and opiate-like drug that has stupefied most of Acacia into submission. The nations of Acacia struggle with slavery, war, greed, jealousy, drug addiction, and other social ills that have plagued mankind from creation. I am not sure if all of his "old" fans will embrace this novel; but there is no doubt that he will pick up new fans with this release. I'm looking forward to Book Two!

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
Nubian Circle Book Club

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid debut, but room for improvement, June 12, 2007

By	Andrew Gray "Beezer Review" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Acacia: The War with the Mein (Acacia, Book 1) (Hardcover)

ACACIA by David Anthony Durham is the first book in a new series called; The War with the Mein. Mr. Durham is most noted for his historical fiction books. However, Acacia represents a step from the norm for Mr. Durham and steps into the realm of fantasy. I was pleasantly surprised by this novel, not only in the story but also the characters. With this being Mr. Durham's first fantasy novel the long-term outlook for his novels is certainly bright. However, this is not your typical sword and sorcery fantasy novel. I would liken this more to G.R.R. Martin, Steven Erikson, and Scott Lynch. It's a more gritty look at fantasy, where people die and the `good guys' don't always come out on top. I would say it has a more adult feel then the majority of fantasy novels out today.

The plot of this book is a very large, sweeping type of plot that not only covers a lot of ground, but a large timeline as well. The basic premise of the plot is the race called the Mein are tired of being exiled from a land they believe is theirs. They put into play a series of events to wrest control away from the ruling Arkans. Then the plot shifts to the plight of the four Arkan children as they seek to avenge the assassination of their father. The plot follows each of the four children as they make their own path in the world after being exiled themselves and each facing a different set of circumstances. During the course of the novel there are large scale battles, political intrigue, treachery, double speak, and numerous other things. There are also several sub-plots tied in very nicely to the overall scope of the novel. Not only do we get to read about each of the four children, we also get to read about the leader of the Mein, Hanish Mein, as he seeks to establish his people in what he believes is rightly theirs.

The characters in this novel are very good. Every character from Leodan Arkan to Hanish Mein has a purpose and a `voice' in which they speak. Each has their own motives and reasons for acting in the manner they do. This individualism leads to a much more believable story. Each and every character also have their own faults and often times do not act in a way that you would expect. There is also a great deal of character development within the pages of Acacia. For instance the four Arkan children start off as kids in the beginning of the novel, but by novels end they are not only older, but wiser in the workings of the world. Another thing I appreciated about this novel was the character dialog. Never does the dialog seemed forced or unnecessary. In fact, it all seemed to me to serve a purpose. I had the feeling if a character was speaking there was a reason behind it and they were all saying something important. Based on my experience, that is something rare in the fantasy genre right now. Truly solid characters all the way around.

Some overall comments on the novel as a whole:

The world is richly detailed. I appreciated Mr. Durham's way of intertwining pieces of the world's history into the conversation and prose. It made the world feel that much more alive and lead to believability of the characters actions. The `feel' of the novel is not the typical fantasy fare that is out there right now. It's dark, gritty, and feels much more real.

Some things I would have liked to have seen differently. I would have liked to seen the chapters labeled with the character featured in the chapter, much like G.R.R. Martin's chapters. It would have provided a better understanding and a reference point for me to grasp what I was looking at. I would have also liked to see a year/calendar type heading under the chapter number. There were a few times where things seemed to jump ahead timeline wise and I was lost for a time as to what just happened and how much time passed. While there are some bits of history interspersed in the novel, I would have liked to see a little more - maybe this one will happen in future novels. Lastly, there is one character in this book who's behavior change at the end of the book seems vastly different from what that character acted like during the majority of the book. This dramatic change seems to come out of thin air and seemed `wrong' to me.

Overall, this is a solid debut into the fantasy genre. There are some things that I would have done differently, yet the base of this novel is well done and should provide a solid starting point to what should be a fantastic series. I think most adult fantasy fans will find something to enjoy. This is certainly a book I can see myself recommending to the serious fantasy fan.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richly Imagined Characters and World, July 10, 2007

By	Scott Masterton (Blaine, MN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Acacia: The War with the Mein (Acacia, Book 1) (Hardcover)

Will Durant said: "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within". It was true of Rome and is equally true of David Anthony Durham's mythical land of Accia.

'Acacia' is Durham's first professional trip into the world of fantasy...and what a trip it is. The story follows the lives of four royal children raised by a father that has insulated them from all the darkness in the world. The Empire is built upon slavery and trade in a highly addictive opiate called Mist. The children see none of this and are spoonfed idealistic stories about the nobility of their family line and the Divine right by which their family rules. Their idealistic, loving but deeply flawed father is eventually assassinated in a successful attempt at overthrowing the dynasty that has been in place for generations.

Each of the Akaron Children is secreted to different corners of the Empire where they develop new skills and more importantly, new perceptions of the world that once had been theirs to rule. The lessons here are numerous. Good and evil are a shell game; concepts that become more and more "muddy" as each of the children sees the beauty as well as the darkness in cultures not their own. These newly developed abilities, perceptions and allies may collectively return them to power, but more importantly, balance a world filled with inequaties (much like our own). Moral pitfalls fill this novel and it becomes clear how difficult it is to juggle idealism and the power to transform those ideals into reality.

This is the 'Heroes Journey' in true Joseph Campbell fashion. Filled with political meanings and starkly human motivations, 'Acacia' could very well join Frank Herbert's 'Dune' as one of the most influential novels in Fantasy/Science Fiction. The book is fleshed out by Durham's mastery of the language and one cannot help but compare this book favorably to George R.R. Martin's Fire and Ice series. Like Martin, Durham is not afraid to create a fantasy world with real grit and meaning. There are many lessons for our time in this book and it's easy to tell that Durham's previous novels were historical in nature and it's difficult not to draw parallels between the current state of affairs in the world and this story.

This is a dynamite novel (in any genre) and if Durham is able to hold true to his vision in the future 'Acacia' books this is well on it's way to becoming classic literature. I can hardly wait for book two!