Customer Reviews

Inda

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I waited for this book a long time - had it pre-ordered when it was first scheduled for release, and then the release was delayed for additinal revisions. I have much enjoyed Sherwood Smith's books and short stories set in this world. And I enjoyed Inda, a lot. The world she built is complex and sophisticated (although strangely lacking even mention of religious structure - no matter your personal beliefs, all cultures tend to have a faith system to explain and express spirituality...and it usually becomes entwined in some fashion with governing bodies, for good or evil.) Her chararcters have depth, and are interesting to follow. Inda, the main character, is a joy, and I like Smith's trick of showing how Inda is seen through the eyes of other characters - different perspectives add richness to the reader's understanding of Inda.

The book is basically divided into two periods - Inda at school and Inda banished to the sea. Throughout the book, I found myself continually surprised to be reminded how young Inda is. The book reads like an adult book, but the plot in many ways echoes the common theme of a young adolescent away at school learning to deal with others of his age, or older, without the protection or structure of family. Learning skills, winning allies, making friends and enemies. Smith moves the story to a more adult level by reflecting the perspectives of both adults and other adolescents throughout the kingdom she has created, and allowing this to be the story of more than Inda. The political maneuvering and agendas reminded me more of George Martin. Personally, I find multiple points of view can be distracting and irritating, especially when told from the view of "the bad guy", or unsympathetic characters. But Smith's writing usually compensates, and she uses the multiple viewpoints to general good effect. Inda at sea is gripping and fun, but here is where I especially had a hard time remembering that he was only supposed to be 12, or 14 (or whatever his age was at the particualr spot I was reading.) He comes across as much older, and the other characters respond to him as an older person.

Overall, an excellent read. The only other issue I had was the names - very hard to remember the various proper names, nicknames, surnames, titles, who was who by which name or title and how they all related. Kind of felt like reading one of the old Russian classics. Needed an index in the front or back, so you could cross reference.

Inda is quite a bit different from what I expected--it is not the "comfort reading" that Crown Duel is for me. This is a much more complicated (and more adult) story, told in omniscient POV and spanning many years, and set in a harsh society where physical abuse of younger brothers by elder brothers is a thoroughly accepted component of education and training for adult responsibilities. Smith's worldbuilding, however, is so complete that although my sheltered sensibilities would normally recoil from this kind of endemic violence, it is understandable within the context of the story, and we readers are able to empathize with the characters' attitudes toward this and other aspects of their world. And the characters are wonderful: Inda, with his kindheartedness and inborn genius for military strategy; Sponge, the scholarly young prince of whom no one expects much; Hadand, the future wife of the crown prince, pursuing secret studies in magic; Tau, the beautiful pleasure-house boy who becomes a mercenary sailor; Tanrid, Inda's honorable, conscientious, tough-minded brother.... There are villains here, too, driven by lust or greed or jealousy, or simply by their own ideas of what is good for the kingdom; there are no hard and fast moral lines, and sympathetic characters are sometimes misguided, sometimes make tragic mistakes.

There are many intriguing aspects to Inda's militaristic society; I am particularly fascinated by the gender roles. Noble boys and girls both receive military training, but the girls' is focused on castle defense, while the boys' emphasizes offensive tactics, equestrian skills, and the like, for they will be the ones to ride out to war. Boys and girls, men and women mix very freely in this society (ships are crewed by both genders, for example), but there is still an invisible wall separating them and, at least among the nobles, there seems to be a perception that women and men inhabit rather different worlds. And as some of the men are beginning to realize, the women have many secrets.

Readers who have difficulty with a lot of made-up words and names are likely to find Inda slow going at first (there is a glossary at the back of the book, though), and the complexities of the plot require some attentive reading, but the effort is well worth it. This world is fascinating, and the characters so thoroughly engaging that I find myself wondering about them throughout the day. I've stayed up way too late a few nights because I couldn't bear not to find out what happened next to Inda and the rest! Even so, I'm a slow reader, so I haven't quite finished Inda yet, but I expect to tonight. I know I'm going to be left with that peculiar feeling of loss one gets after finishing a book that has completely involved one in its imaginative world.

leaving the rest of us to play catch-up at times, but in a world imagined this intensely, there's always going to be more detail than can ever be brought into any one storyline.

That's the case here--the reader is left entirely convinced that, around any corner, in any cupboard, whether we find ourselves in a hovel, castle, mansion, or country, aboard a ship or aboard a stallion, still more consistent but surprising detail lurks, waiting to be found.

While I understand the annoyance of the reviewer below--a stutterer herself, who finds the character of the "evil," stuttering heir-to-the-throne too one-dimensional--the stuttering is NOT actually portrayed as the root of the prince's evil. In fact, this prince is presented sympathetically in several respects: at several different points, he attempts to resist his "weaknesses," the less-than-noble character traits we all have. But his "evil" uncle consistently undercuts the prince's efforts. And even the uncle is not presented as inherently evil, but as rather-complexly conflicted--so driven by his own need to demonstrate his loyalty that he's ultimately led into disloyally. The uncle's motivating passions and jealousies are themselves traced back to an earlier generation's envies and enmities.

Ultimately, the elite, governing strata of Inda's society is shown to contain its own vein of weakness: an "Achilles' heel" of abusive behavior, in which brothers are pitted against one another, supposedly to develop their strength. As with the British "public" school system, sometimes strength and bonding emerge from this corrupt cauldron; sometimes cruelty and competitiveness are fostered instead.

And this unhealthy system itself is shown to have understandable antecedents in the history of the culture--horse-borne conquerors trying to adapt to the settled ways of the more-sophisticated and civilized agrarian culture is has managed to overcome militarily.

The "conquered" culture itself is fighting back in various covert ways to absorb the conquerors and make them over, even as--within the culture of the overlords--the genders find themselves covertly working at cross purposes, even developing contrasting systems of personal combat.

Which leads us to the issue of Inda's "heroic" perfection: superb strategist, fighter, leader... Again, however, we are shown--to a certain extent, since Inda does seem to have an inborn talent for integrating data under pressure--how Inda comes by the skills he has. as much through loss and misery as through glory and gain. For he too is shown both as the intended highest product of a "war-gaming" culture and as that culture's victim (and, perhaps, its ultimate nemesis): Inda-the-child is shown receiving the benefit of the "female" as well as the male sides of the culture (via his mother, his sister, and his bride-to-be). Somebody in a given culture is bound to embody--or surpass--the traits the culture deems most desirable. Interestingly, of course, when those in power begin to perceive the heroic coming-together of too many "desirable" traits in a single individual, efforts are made to suppress and sideline the hero before he can fully emerge from his chrysalis.

Sherwood deftly rings changes on the boot-camp, ranger-training, elite boy's-school theme--so familiar from hundreds of fictional outings, from nearly any recent "military" sci-fi novel, going back through Honor Harrington and "Ender" to prototypes in the British fiction of the 18th and 19th Centuries--and then has her chosen hero EJECTED from the midst of the "band of brothers" he has forged into yet another familiar variant of the matured-in-hardship genre, the shipboard coming-of-age story--which we can again trace back through Harrington and her proteges through the Aubrey-Maturin novels of Patrick O'Brian to the Horatio Hornblower tales to Kipling's "Captains Courageous" and on...

There aren't any new plot devices, folks, just interesting new ways to combine all the good old archetypes with fresh, fully-realized settings and scads of engrossing characters! Heck, we've even got a version of David and Bathsheba here (which makes perfect sense in this "band of brothers" culture). Oh, and did I mention THE PIRATES!

Despite the seeming familiarity of some of these tropes, Sherwood does interesting new things with all her material. In large part, this is because Sherwood doesn't just receive and regurgitate all that's tried and true in tales of this kind, she subjects the underlying premises to intense scrutiny and devises diabolical ways to subject those underlying premises to strain--thus revealing their inevitable faults, joints, and failure points.

For those of you who mourn favorite fallen characters--don't be too sure they are all gone for good! While gritty fictional realism requires some of the characters with whom we identify to fail or fall, suffer and be betrayed, some of those we thought dead and gone from earlier pages reappear in the last few. Others we now think lost may yet return--or not!

Yet despite all the political chicanery and the welter of shifting alliances and betrayals, Sherwood never slips into the grim mood that infects some of our best-written recent fantasy fiction--of utter nihilism, senseless sadism, and ultimate futility. There are still characters aplenty here who transcend their limits, live and die for admirable principles--heroes for whom to cheer, even as dynasties rise and fall around them.

I, for one, was thrilled to read that "Inda II" is off to the publisher! Now please excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard...

The following is more of a commentary than a review. Probably lots of spoilers down there.

This book is for lovers of history, psychology, sociology and government -- not just fantasy. Often, fantasy writers have borrowed plot devices, character prototypes, name derivations and relationship-formulae of long and established fantasy works. Superficially, Inda is quite straightforward: Indevan-Dal Algara-Vayir goes to the royal academy for military training, etc. and subsequent adventures with pirates. If you're put off by long, laborious reading, it's probably not for you. And yes, it's part one of a trilogy, so I'm itching just as much for the next two as everyone else here.

Any revulsions this book might cause merely display lack of understanding. Put off by Tanrid's thrashing of Inda before he's even 10? Maybe you didn't fully comprehend Marloven war culture and the pirate attack on Choraed Elgaer 25 years ago that violently killed the Prince's first family, and the Prince's warning to his eldest son that it was because he wasn't hard enough on his own younger brother (called a Randael, a Shield Arm). Head swimming from all the titles, endings, or distinction between languages? Hey, me too, but in a world so richly developed as Sartorias-deles, they had their own language, too -- Tolkien did just that, and Sherwood's terms follow a logical linguistic pattern. Disgusted at the idea of people so young having sexual relations? There is no virtue in chastity in this world, which has its own beginning and its own influences. Truly appreciating Inda means educating yourself in Sherwood's world, Marloven history and culture. It's a pretty big feat, but most of the information is on her website. Read the general concept, read the glossary, get informed on all the names of the Marlovan families and the characters relations to one another, and scrutinize the maps (!). It's worth it.

I read some of the naysayers on Amazon before reading the book, and when I found the offending passages, I just snorted. Because once you immerse yourself in that world, all those crazy barbarian Marloven acts are reasonable. Sure, if something like this happened in real life, you would be on your toes and phoning social workers in a heartbeat. But here, they make sense, and as cruel or repulsive as they are, there is always a "why" following it, so that nothing is black and white, purely good or entirely evil.

Another concern of the book I'd like to address is Inda's age. While the argument can definitely be made that he comes off as much older than he really is, or that his natural grasp of commanding others is uncanny. True and true. First, I think "ten" means something different in Sartorias-deles, where a year is 441 days, and given the circumstances and the fact that they must always be on high alert of spies and such, noble children behave more like adults. They practice wargames after all, and the girls, especially Hadand and Tdor, are very much familiar of the subtleties of high politics. Sherwood hasn't tried to hide the fact that Inda is special. We know he is, which is why his name is the title of the book.

What I liked the most about this book was the absence of prototyping. Any knowledge or guidance Inda had was learned or earned -- there was no Gandalf, so to speak. The reason why he was so prepared for the academy was because of Tanrid's abuse. He was educated by his mother, he worked the hardest out of all the rats on the ship, the Pim Ryala, and it was his attitude and work ethic that kept him alive (ironically, it was his talent and skill that got him thrown out). Second, while there is the threat of the Venn Empire and Norsunder, there is no Sauron or Voldemort. The immediate "bad guys" - the Sierandael (royal shield arm) and the Sierlaef (king's heir) - are not completely evil, at least not inherently. You will learn how and why they got that way, and what drove them to perform the actions that they did. The omniscient point-of-view is sometimes confusing, but it is the clearest way to explain everything, and you'll be glad you know. And while I'm the last person in the world to humanize someone who beats his little brother into submission, Tanrid is a fascinating character worthy of analysis. In fact, all the characters are wonderfully developed and complex - not just Inda himself, but Sponge, the king's younger son, Hadand, Tdor, Captain Sindan, Tau, Jeje, beautiful Joret, the prince and princess, and MOST of all the Sierandael and the Sierlaef.

Yes, this book has no real resolution. How did the Prince's first wife, Joret die, and what's going on with the whisperings of "treachery"? How does Savarend survive? What else do we know about the mysterious Dei family? Or find out more about the Montredavan-Ans? When will Inda return home? And most importantly, what happens next?

As a reviewer below noted, there is nothing revolutionary about Inda, only new, refreshing ways of storytelling, everything fleshed out and real. Sherwood definitely doesn't wimp out with the traditionally established "hero" formula.

Thus begins my agonizing wait for The Fox.

I just finished this book and have mixed emotions about it.

Pros:

1. Well-written.
2. Interesting characters. I always like "bad" characters who have real motivations and personalities. I found myself quite caught up in these characters.
3. Complex world and plot.
4. Realistic violence. I liked the realistic portrayal of this war-like society.

Cons:
1. For me, the number one gripe was the sex. Not that it's graphic or described in any objectional way. However, I didn't like the philosophy that gender doesn't matter, monogamy doesn't matter, marriage doesn't matter, etc. Instead of any romantic relationships (maybe they're coming in a later book), people solved everything with a trip to the brothel. Unappealing to me.
2. The names and titles ARE hard to remember, definitely. It probably took me 50-100 pages to really get into this book and make sense of the politics.
3. I didn't like some of the "political correctness" of the book -- that women are just as tough as men, that all sexual aggression has been wiped out, etc. It doesn't strike me as realistic (and yes, I'm a woman).
4. I found the ending a bit bleak. Hopefully, things cheer up a bit in future volumes...?

I have the feeling that I will buy and read the sequel. Perhaps not a favorite book but definitely an interesting one.

Indevan-Dal Algara-Vayir is the second son of the Prince and Princess of Choraed Elgaer, destined to become Shield Arm (military leader) for his older brother Tanric. His future seems all laid out for him, down to the girl he'll marry -- until one day when a messenger arrives from the King, summoning Inda to the King's Military Academy. Inda thinks he's prepared for the harsh life at the Academy, as Tanric has always followed the tradition of thrashing his younger brother into obedience, but when he gets there, he finds himself caught up in a confusing tangle of loyalty and treachery.

What I was most impressed with in _Inda_ is the worldbuilding. According to the jacket copy, Smith has been writing stories in this world since she was eight, and consequently, it's fantastically deep and rich. Particularly interesting to me was the relationship between men and women. Inda's society is war-oriented, constantly on guard, skirmishing, and occasionally conquering. Though the men are in charge of war and offense, that does not exclude the women, who receive their own kind of training, oriented toward defense rather than offense.

Along with the worldbuilding, the characterization is also excellent. Inda himself is the character we spend the most time with and get to know the best, but there are a variety of other viewpoints which enrich our understanding of him and of his friends, family, and enemies. Sometimes I find multiple viewpoints offputting, but here I felt that they really contributed to the depth of the characters.

_Inda_ is the first in a trilogy, and I'm already eager for the next books.

In short, the Inda series is the story of a boy who is exiled from the prestigious Marolven military academy. He is sent to sea. Captured by pirates, he leads a mutiny at the age of 16 and goes on to build his own fleet and then goes on to battle the Brotherhood of Blood that threaten his home, Iasca Leror. After 9 years, he returns home, this time to defend his land from and old enemy, the Venn.
The characters the surround Inda are unforgettable, especially Savarend "Fox" Montredavan-An, whose descendents we will see later on in Smith's other books concerning Marlovens.
I have never been captivated by any story like this before and I have come to adore Inda as much Smith obviously does when she wrote the book. It's hard to write a review after finishing all four books of this epic series, but Inda is definitely a book/series worth reading, if anyone cares for a good story at all. The depth of Inda's world is intense, enchanting, and addicting. Sherwood's craft of world-building is at its best in Inda.

I'm a bit sad I couldn't give Inda a better rating. First, it took me forever to read. That is not normal for me and indicates that something is wrong. It is a characteristic of the main problem of the book. I simply don't care about whats going on. I think this stems for the book being written more like a history or a biography relating specific events to the reader rather than a cohesive story. I don't feel like I was going along on a journey with the character rather I was just kind of told some stuff that happened to them. Inda is a good character, which is why this is particularly disappointing. The book really seemed like it just needed a good edit and a focus. What story is it trying to tell? That being said I enjoyed many of the small section in the book. It was almost like reading a short story collection where there are some sections I love and some I could live without and really don't seem relevant.

I must be getting soft in my old age. Or else the offer in epic fantasy has really improved in the last few years. In 2003, I was pretty much bored and annoyed by everything that I read in the area of epic fantasy-- to the point where I almost completely stopped reading it. This year there have actually been three books in the genre that I have actually enjoyed.

To my mind Inda is the best of the three. I like it enough that I am quite pleased with myself for buying The Fox at the same time that I picked up Inda. I'm planning to get started on that book during my trip to Sweden next week.

I won't recount the plot, because I generally do not recount the plot unless the book is so obscure that it seems of value to do so. But I will say a few words about what I really liked about the book:

First, one of my biggest gripes about High Fantasy is the way that extremely brutal and/or violent events seem to leave characters essentially untouched. I mean, they generally mourn or tear at their hair for a few pages-- but these tragedies seem to leave very little trace on the ultimate development of the character. In Inda I often had the sense of a very violent world, and one that was clearly leaving its tracks on both the young and old. The characters were complex and capable of acting past the reader's first impression. At the same time Smith is respectful of the privacy of her characters-- I never had the sense that she told too much, or bent them in directions that felt too forced. The plot interacts with the characters, but it doesn't drive all the character change. That's an accomplishment in this kind of work, I think.

Second, the world-building is extremely rich. (At the beginning it was almost too rich and I did some frantic backing and forthing to figure out the naming conventions. But once I figured it out, it was fine.) There's real texture to the world. The military elements are detailed, but not tiresome. I actually used the maps that were provided with the book, and I next to never do that. Generally speaking, I'm not nearly as interested in the geography of the book's world as a map might imply I would be.

So those are the good things. There are no real bad things-- one or two things where I'm going to reserve judgment until I see where things develop in the next book. Most of my uncertainty is around the area of magic and magic users. The wise woman who evaluates community fitness for magic use sent my eyebrows towards my hairline, but I'll give it a pass until the next book. (Shades of Sheri S. Tepper.)

I was greatly amused to see reviews on Amazon and elsewhere complaining about the Secks! in the book. There is nothing graphic, really. As far as I can tell, the general objection seems to be that the world that Smith creates doesn't adhere to a heterosexual/monogamous ideal as fiercely as our real world's narrative fiction seems to do. But frankly it is so understated that I find it difficult to see it as a point of objection. But-- fair's fair and buyer beware. The book's world does not condemn gay people or safe consensual sex between nice young people who are *not* soulmates. So if this bothers you, probably you should pick up something else.

Good. That's a lot of words already for a review. I highly recommend it. If you like your other worlds densely crafted, then I doubly recommend it.

Looking forward to The Fox.

I read Crown Duel / Court Duel a few years ago and absolutely loved it. I immediately picked up a few others by Sherwood Smith. It wasn't until recently, however, that I actually began to read "Inda." Once I did, I couldn't put it down. The beginning is a little tough to get into. There is a lot of detail, whether it is names, places, or strange vocabulary, packed into the first few chapters.

I absolutely recommend reading "Crown Duel/Court Duel" first because it is an easier read which puts you into the universe all of Smith's stories take place in... but it isn't absolutely necessary because it isn't part of this series (like I said, just in the same universe). But honestly almost gave up on this one with all the names. I blundered through and eventually I began to get into it.

Overall I really liked it, and as soon as I put it down I ordered the next three. I'm hoping now that I know who everybody is that it won't be so difficult to get into the next one!

1 Inda
2 The Fox
3 The King's Shield
4 Treason's Shore