12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deliberate pace, detail improve on "Eye of Time", June 28, 2000
This book follows the action of "Fortress in the Eye of Time" and marches forward into a new series of unknown length: "Fortress of Owls" and "Fortress of Dragons" follow, and it doesn't end there, so we may have to wait a year or two to get the ending! Fortunately Cherryh writes fast, and we probably will not have to wait as long as we will for the conclusion of Jordan's "Wheel of Time".
Without going into all the Cherryhshly complex history of the world, the situation at the end of "Eye" was pretty much like this. One of the chief protagonists is Cefwyn, newly the king of Ylesuin, his father having died in the course of "Eye". The political situation in his realm is something like 14th-century Britain or France: that is to say that he is not one of those absolute rulers of later centuries, but is trying to reign over a large number of largely autonomous lords who are continually plotting with and against each other and with whom he has to practically renegotiate his sovereignty every time he turns around. Across the river from Ylesuin is Elwynor, to whose young queen, Ninevrise, Cefwyn is betrothed. Most of her realm is in the hands of rebels hostile to Ylesuin, however, as a result of the sorcerous conflict recounted in "Eye". Cefwyn must unify his realm, wage war on the Elwynoran rebels, and restore Ninevrise to her throne. This task will take at least four volumes (depending on how many volumes will follow "Dragons").
Cefwyn's most loyal and problematic ally is Tristen, who is not "of woman born," but a "Shaping" created by Mauryl the wizard (now deceased), raised to adulthood in a few months' time, and still largely naive about the stuff of human life. Tristen is thoroughly good and innocent, but is likely to be the reincarnation of a dangerous wizard-lord of the past. Of course he has magic running out of his ears, and in "Eye" was mainly on hand to blast the evil sorcerous revenant Hasufin by indescribable means.
I read "Fortress in the Eye of Time" a few years ago, and am only now catching up with the sequels. I'll be very honest here: I didn't like "Eye of Time" all that much. The hero who is weak, the flawed, innocent, crippled hero, the hero who is not quite what we think of as human, the fool-as-hero: this is a common theme in Cherryh's work, but I found Tristen a bit overdrawn for my taste in "Eye". And then there is the whole theme of the newbie wizard who discovers how to defeat the powers of Evil just by Discovering Who He Is, without having to do any work hardly - a theme which is a cliche' in the Fantasy genre, and a cliche' which is just not to my taste.
In my view, however, the pace and tone of "Eagles" and the succeeding volumes (well, "Owls" anyway, which I've read) are much different from "Eye of Time", AND are an improvement on it. Gone is the breathless urgency of "Eye", punctuated by battles and megamagic attacks and wizards' duels. The pace has become MUCH slower, much more deliberate. Now we have embarked on a political and military campaign which will take months and months to complete in the world of Ylesuin, and several volumes (years) to describe in our own world.
And Cherryh is going to describe it all to us very painstakingly, making very clear to us all the considerations that King Cefwyn and Lord Tristen and their servants and vassals both loyal and treacherous are going to have to deal with. The complex loyalties of blood, state, feudal allegiance, and sect are going to be explained to us in detail. Of course anyone familiar with Cherryh knows that NOBODY does as well creating a complex world as she. We will also hear about their horses, their letters, their accounts, their grain, their boats, their weather. We are boating down a long, meandering river through a majestic landscape, as it were, and Cherryh is NOT going to spoil it by moving too fast.
Furthermore, the direct clash of wizardries has been pulled considerably back from center stage. Tristen's actions are now much more those of the Lord of Ynefel and Althalen than those of an incomprehensible sorcerous wild card, as compared with "Eye". He is more mature and more aware: still morally innocent, but much less alien to us. I find this an improvement. Cherryh's only flaw is a slight tendency to make her protagonists so convincingly alien that we can't identify with them or even understand what the hell they are up to. She avoids this in the Chanur/Merchanter volumes, but you see it in the "Faded Sun" volumes and "Serpent's Reach" for example. And there is a little of this in the Tristen of "Eye", but with "Eagles" we get a much more "reader-friendly" Tristen.
It comes down to a matter of taste. If you really really liked "Fortress in the Eye of Time", then you may not like "Eagles" and its successor volumes of unknown number nearly as much. They ARE different: much slower, less wizardry, less general weirdness, more political intrigue, more detail, and there's no telling how long the river is going to be. But these are exactly the reasons I like the successor "Fortress" volumes better. I appreciate the scope and precision of the work Cherryh is now undertaking. Its only drawback, I'm afraid, is that it's not done yet.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Spectacular!, June 24, 1999
By A Customer
C.J. Cherryh has done it again. I was mesmorized by Fortress in the Eye of Time, and this book has lived up to its predecessor. It is a little slower, but it must be remembered that it covers a very brief expanse of time.
Cherryh's inclusion of the political and religious rivalries of the north, while annoying, are a necessary evil. Our own world is wrought with politics and politicians. Why would another world of Man be any different? Politics are a fact of life, and they do get in the way of doing what is right very often.
This book focuses on the development of Tristen as a Man, yet he continues to be more than a man, a Shaping. It amazes me how Cherryh can convince me of Tristen's continued innocence even while finally beginning to come to his own. Tristen is forced to make some difficult decisions, but it becomes clearer and clearer (to me, if not to him) that he was meant to rule as he becomes more and more comfortable with the use of his extraordinary magical abilities.
I highly recommend this book and this series to anyone that has the patience to watch the transformation of this poweful character. He has much to teach Ylesuin and more to teach us as readers.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A sequel and a bridge., August 15, 2000
With the battle won in the previous book, and Cefwyn seated upon the throne of Ylesuin, Cefwyn undertakes to rule his new kingdom. However, many things are not what they seem. Cefwyn's barons scheme against him, the Quinatine church stands against his friends, and strange things are happening. So, the king sends his friends off to safety, and begins scheming his own way through the morass. Situations turn, and new enemies and crises are encountered at every turn.
I liked the story in this book. Within, you can see that Tristen is in many ways a child learning about the world around him, and how it really works. At times the author brings you to the edge of your seat, and makes you care for the characters. Unfortunately, this book has the feel of a bridge, one connecting the previous book to the next. That is, however, my only complaint. This is a very good book indeed.
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