With each new installment, McKenna's reason for subtitling her series as "tales of Einarinn" becomes increasingly evident: the world itself shares center stage with events and characters. There's ample action in The Gambler's Fortune, but like its predecessors it's best...
See more
With each new installment, McKenna's reason for subtitling her series as "tales of Einarinn" becomes increasingly evident: the world itself shares center stage with events and characters. There's ample action in The Gambler's Fortune, but like its predecessors it's best appreciated by readers whose taste for adventure includes a hunger to explore new places and cultures in addition to a thirst for intrepid exploits.
Livak has returned as first-person narrator, like a welcome breath of fresh air. She seems much more natural than currently-absent associate and lover Ryshad. Maybe that's the nature of her personality, or maybe a female point of view just comes more naturally to McKenna. Livak's storyline is intercut with three others told in third-person: an in-depth view of life among the Mountain Men, or Anyatimm, as they call themselves; the most revealing look to-date at the elusive Elietimm; and glimpses of Archmage Planir's ongoing machinations back in Hadrumal.
Livak has entered the pay of Messire D'Olbriot, Ryshad's patron prince, who continues to pool resources with Planir against the Elietimm. One thing they've learned is that the ancient magic now being called "Artifice" is deeply rooted in the oldest races still living on Einarinn. Livak has convinced D'Olbriot to send her on a fact-finding mission among two of those reclusive groups, with wizard Usara along to represent Planir. Figuring her mixed blood will gain entrée among the Forest Folk, she recruits a pair of old friends, brothers Sorgrad and Sorgren, to help with the Mountain Men. She's angling for a discovery big enough to net a fortune in bonus money from D'Olbriot and Planir. Incidentally, she expects her quest to take her well away from further confrontation with the Elietimm, but there she's proven abysmally wrong. In fact, while the most obvious "gambler's fortune" here is Livak's hoped-for bonus, the book's title applies equally well to her changing fortunes on the road.
The time among the Forest Folk is interesting, productive, and not without its tense moments, but the Mountain Men really drive The Gambler's Fortune. Livak has remarked in previous books on the strong resemblance between the Elietimm and her friends Sorgrad and Sorgren. The storylines here tie both peoples firmly together. Through the Anyatimm, McKenna also tells a tale with echoes common to aboriginal peoples of any time or place: heedlessly overrun and gradually supplanted by empire-building outsiders. She declines to let the blame be entirely one-sided, however; if the Anyatimm are indeed doomed, it's due as much to their own tradition-bound inflexibility as to outside influences.
As always, McKenna's writing is rich and colorful. Her characters continue to evolve. She's settled into a measured pace rather slower than some readers might prefer, but there's plenty to see along the way between crises. The incidence of minor basic writing glitches has increased slightly since McKenna's first book, but that's fairly common and not particularly noticeable here. The Gambler's Fortune leaves readers with much to think about and even more to look forward to.
