Customer Reviews

Colours in Steel - The Fencer Trilogy Volume One

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...This series provides plenty of incentive. I feel compelled to warn potential readers of this before recommending it, because despite its fine qualities, I'm not sure I want to have read this.

The Fencer trilogy is by all accounts a very well-executed and unusual fantasy. Its technical emphasis on weaponry and warfare is more likely to appeal to people with a technical frame of mind, but at the same time, these technical details tie brilliantly with the various themes running throughout the series. The first book focuses on the forging of swords, the second on the fashioning of bows, and the third on the making of armor: and it becomes clear that these intricate processes are meant to illustrate the growth process of the main character, Bardas Loredan.

Middle-aged, cynical and unemotional, Bardas is by no means the typical hero of fantasy. In fact, it is impossible to call him a hero at all; the books are too original for so conventional an approach to fantasy. Bardas has no grand destiny, and his role in large events is without his choice and without benefit to those around him. The whole cast of characters is beautifully drawn: Bardas's clerk Athli, his brother Gorgas, and others are all vividly human and complex in a way that is refreshing in an increasingly generic genre.

Parker's writing style is utterly his own: dry, clinical, yet with a satirical wit similar to that of Douglas Adams, but far more subtle. His incisive parodies range from the conventions of fantasy to conventions in the real world, and one almost has the impression that barring a few incredibly horrific and emotional moments, Parker has written this series completely with his tongue firmly in cheek. He has not even attempted to give his work magical overtones through language: the writing is completely modern, and colloquial Britishisms abound.

This is not to say that there is no magic in the Fencer trilogy--there is, and its nature and manner of manifesting itself are conveyed with broad and powerful strokes.

Overall, the trilogy has two drawbacks: the pace tends to be relatively slow--though not, I might add, slower than that of the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, and the brisk prose runs faster than that of Donaldson. The other drawback, to me, was more serious: that in the end I felt almost as if I had been lured into a trap, through reading these books, to be extremely miserable. If such was the author's intention, I have only to say that it worked. But not wishing such misery on others, I would warn more emotional readers, particularly those who develop a fondness for characters, to exercise due caution.

I read this first book of the Fencer Trilogy, and literally found it difficult to put down once I got started! I'll start with the drawbacks, since there are few. The main drawback is the use of rather foul language; while it wasn't oppressively bad, there is enough in there to make it hard to read if you are offended at that kind of language. Second, though some Generals of the Medieval Period were frightening and ferocious (Byzantine General Belesarius being one), I found it a bit incredible that one General with merely 1,000 horsemen could hold vast hordes of tribal clans in check (the Romans alone couldn't do such a feat in Scotland, Rome taking several decades to conquor the region, and then not entirely or permanently. Even William the Conqueror had 5,000 men when he attacked England). Thirdly, the Clan Chieftain (Temrai, I think is his name) seemed a bit young to be this brilliant leader of his people (he becomes chief at 17), and again, though there have been some brilliant young leaders in history, it seems a bit of a stretch ot make a teen-ager who would barely be old enough to have children be this great leader of a vast tribe. Also, in the case of the tribes, many leaders - even as far as the great Genghis Khan - had to literally fight to become the great leaders they were, having to consolidate their power against powerful rivals. The fact that in his tribe, Temrai smoothly becomes the leader is a bit un-dramatic in the very least. Finally, there is some rather modern-sounding terminology used a few times in the story, just enough to make one wonder in what period this story is actually placed. It seemed that it was set somewhere between the 12th and 14th centuries, but at times seemed to be set during the Renaissance. This proived a bit confusing.

Those being said, the book "Colours in the Steel" was a magnificent book in it's strengths. I found the Character of Bardas Loredan to be brilliantly created, as a man trying to live out his life in a city that it would have been easy to be obscure in. He certainly isn't the type to inspire heroism, but when he is thrust into a position of authority (against his own will and judgement), he rises to the occasion. Some of the quotes in the book - especially one in which Loredan tells the Patriarch of Perimaedia that anyone who wants to be a leader and a General shouldn't be chosen as such. It was especially refreshing to see how Loredan uses plain old common sense to prepare the city for the coming war and siege, so far as not even knowing what to say, but having the right words and questions for the city council members when asked to prepare a defense. It makes me wonder if the other great leaders of our history and times were not so different in their lives. The other characters as well, such as the Patriarch Alexius, Athli the clerk, Gannadius,a nd Temtai the Clan Chief were all deep, feeling people who were also brilliantly created. Even the superstitious mind-set that permeated the Middle Ages is brought out with good writing as well, in the incident where Loredan as commander of the city's lower wall defenses used "Greek Fire" against the besiegers, only to be condemned as using witchcraft by the city council. Another good strength was the use of technical language, especially for the different weapons and siege engines. This made it easy to see the different things and objects used in the battle for the city.

All in all, even with the drawbacks, which were basically minor and structural, this book is worth 5 stars, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wishes to read a good book that is set somewhere in the Middle Ages. I hesitate to call it fantasy, as it seemed to me to be much like what happened to the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire with regards to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, and not really so fantastic. For centuries, Constantinople was considered impregnable, and unconquorable. What finally brought about it's downfall was the unification of the Muslims under the Ottoman Turks (not so unlike Temrai's tribe), and their eventual use of gunpowder, siege weapons, and ships, not to mention turning the Greek Fire weapon - so famed and deadly in Byzantine hands - against the Byzantine defenders of Constantinople (and Constaintinople itself had at least two walls, if not three). "Colours of the Steel" certainly takes a strong parallel to the Byzantine Empire, right donw to the conquest of Perimaedia. Even the use of the Principle and curses seemed much like what the Roman Catholics at least practised if not believed during the time of the Middle Ages. The first book was extremely good, well written, with believable characters and happenings. More of a historical parallel than a fantasy book, I recommend this book to anyone.

This book started off great - basically its about "lawyers" who use swords to decide who wins the case. True, its not the most original idea in the world, but the execution was very good. Our hero Loredan opens up a little shop to train young fencers-at-law, after narrowly avoiding his own death in a case he was lucky to win. Here is where the book loses its path for me. The pace slows right down and the book tries to turn itself into a political espionage type novel. I read and read waiting for something to happen but not much ever did. The characters were enjoyable, but the action wasn't. I'm sure this first book in a series of three is a good set up for a political espionage novel,[except for A game of Thrones of course] but that's not really my cup of tea and should not be listed in the fantasy section. So I cant really make a fair review as I became jaded by the deception as to the type of book I was reading - however, I think that it was well written and anyone who can read fantasy without the need for dragons, magic, princesses, and monsters might like this series.

*Colours in the Steel* is the story of an impregnable, highly sophisticated city that falls to barbarian plains men by stabbing itself in the foot. The city is the center of commerce and trade, open to all. It is a young clans man, Temrai, who comes up with the clever idea of entering the city as a sword-maker. He spends several months there, working his trade, while at the same time gathering information of every aspect of the city's defense system - he is even invited to read about ancient techniques on how the city might be defeated, forgotten by most, in the city library. When his father dies, Temrai becomes the new clan chief. He leads his clan in a crazy attack on the city in the name of a personal vendetta. His target is one Bardas Loredan.

Loredan, a fencer, a defender of the law, with a military past, is beginning to realize he might be getting too old for the dangerous profession. Without much enthusiasm he begins a fencing school but before his first students can graduate, he is commanded by the city council to take command of what passes for an army, and check out what is going on in the plains - reports have been coming in that the clans are starting to build heavy artillery, an unexpected turn for a group of people who have never cared for engineering. Loredan is caught between defending the city and the politics of the place, one day a hero, the next a villain. In a bizarre turn of events he finds himself alternately running the place or being in jail.

At the same time, the Patriarch who claims that magic does not exist begins to have bad headaches and ill health after implementing a curse against Loredan without really knowing what he is doing. And he keeps bumping into other people that seem to be naturals in the ways of the Principle (but not magical) forces without knowing what they're doing.

The story of the fall of Permadeia is a strange one, with many tendrils sticking out here and there. Much of the plot is unfinished, except for a simple though bizarre story of revenge. At the end of the book, we are left with too many loose ends, and an out-of-the way ending.

It is clear that Parker indeed practices what he preaches when he says that character is more important than story, for the characters are thoroughly developed while the story leaves something to be desired. The result is that believable characters move through the story with unbelievable motives. All in all, the book could do with some plot development. Further, much of the boring details on how trebuchets are constructed and how swords are made could be edited out. Perhaps Parker has missed his calling - he might very ably complete a PhD specialising in medieval weaponry and artillery.

Certain not the "action-packed adventure" promised by the Starburst review on the back. Nevertheless, *Colours in the Steel* is overall enjoyable, with some funny passages and realistic dialogue.

K. J. Parker's talent is evident here though as an earlier work it is not quite as amazing as the Engineer Trilogy. It is a fascinating story in which mysticism of a sort plays a part. I recommend this series.

Some people have speculated that Tolkien wrote Lord of the Rings in order to give himself a vehicle to explore linguistics. K.J. Parker uses Colours in the Steel as a vehicle to explore the detailed construction of seige weapons. This is not unusual for Parker - Parker's other books explore bow making, armor making, and the Japanese are of drawing the sword. All seem to be personal hobbies of the author, and his personal exploration of the subjects is quite evident in the text. If you have any interest in the mechanics of seige engines and the construction of swords, you'll really enjoy this book. If you aren't particularly interested in seige warfare, Parker's original story line more than makes up for wading through descriptions of the tempering process for steel.

I found that this book is not the kind of book that I normally read it does provide a very interesting read. It provides some unique elements that I have read no where else. It is not among the best that I have read but it is very different.