Empyrion: The Search for Fierra, by Stephen Lawhead

Sometimes I wonder why I enjoy reading fantasy/science fiction so much. Most of it is terribly predictable: the same plots are rehashed again and again using even more unpronounceable names and varied strange cultures. Most of us will recognize such stereotypical plots such as: young farmboy discovers he has to save the world, picks up a sage wizard, a man with bulging muscles, and a hot chick. And then saves the world. Or another: a varied cast is in a city with evil baddies ruling over some good people. They escape to a faraway settlement of good people, where they discover they have to return to said bad place and save the world. We all recognize these ideas: we’ve read them before. But what is it that makes us keep coming back? Or at least myself—I can’t speak for all of you. I really don’t know for the most part—but those unpronounceable names are kind of funny after a while.

I have officially decided (there is a need for me to be official with just myself) that I keep coming back for the way in which the old plot is reused. What variations on it is the author going to use this time? What kind of unpronounceable names are they going to come up with? What clever repartee is the main character going to spout when he’s in a tough spot? Mostly for these reasons I keep coming back to fantasy/science fiction. It is certainly very exciting when an author comes up with a new version of the old plot, a new twist in the innumerable twists.

A rough sketch of The Search for Fierra's plot would be thus: A colony is started on the world of Empyrion, but contact is soon lost. Orion Treet is sent with a few others to discover what has happened to the colony, and record its history. When they arrive via wormhole, they discover a situation entirely different than the one they were prepared for. Nearly 3000 years has passed for the colony, when only 5-10 should have. Treet and his fellows are caught in a deadly political struggle as they seek to discover what has happened to them, and to the colony.

All in all this is not a stellar book. The action is a bit choppy, the characters not really fleshed out enough, and the ever-present stereotypical plot is there to lead the way. But. Lawhead creates a convincingly complex society that could have evolved over 3000 years, and keeps the plot interesting in small ways throughout the book. There is an absolutely hilarious reference to Frank Herbert’s Dune that had me rolling on the floor for a good minute or two, and Lawhead has a writing style that delights in being cleverly odd.

This book is not as well written as some of his later works, namely his Albion trilogy, and his Arthurian saga. The characters don’t act consistently the way they should, which always throws a book a bit out of whack for me. The flow of the book is a bit choppy, but Lawhead keeps it interesting and worthwhile to keep reading. Definitely a good book to read, but not one to expect too much from.