Villains by Necessity, By Eve Forward

I usually don’t like to review books out of order, or to stick in a random book when I’m already reviewing a series, but this was too good to pass up. I randomly picked it up at a library in hopes that it would prove moderately interesting, and I was not disappointed. This book seems to be made for this day and age, when the most interesting characters are those that are not black and white, but dwell in shades of grey. We love the anti-hero, the person who might be termed evil or bad but who has a surprising conscience or instinct to do good once in a while. I admit that I feel the lure of these characters, even though I still love those unconquerable heroes of good who are what they are even in the face of death. But I’m getting farther and farther from my point. And that point is, what happens to your book when all your heroes are villains?

Villains by Necessity takes place in a world where good has already triumphed over evil, triumphed so well that it has banished evil forever. So the world prospers, with peace and harmony and happiness positively brimming everywhere you look. Even the thieves and assassins have all retired to take up the good occupations of farming and shopkeeping. All except for Sam and Arcie. Sam is quite possibly one of the best assassins in the world, especially now that all the rest have retired. Arcie was the Guildmaster for the thieves, before they all retired. Now their professions are obsolete and they are the last of a dying breed, barely able to feed themselves. But soon they find themselves joining a band of fellow villains in order to save the world. Or more properly, to put it back to the way it was. For the world must exist in balance, with good struggling against evil, for in conflict there is life. With the ultimate destruction of evil, good has grown too strong and soon the world and even the entire universe will immolate itself in light. Even though cooperation is foreign to this dark company, sheer self-interest keeps them together. For if they do not cooperate, they will all die, and if there is once thing evil understands, it is self-preservation.

In a complete reversal of the traditional epic sword and sorcery tale, the forces of evil are called upon to save the world. And instead of the armies of evil arraying against them, the well-meaning armies of good try tooth-and-nail to stop them from undoing all their hard work. They already banished evil, and they see no reason to let it back into the world. This upside down story pokes great fun at the traditional fantasy story, while availing itself of the worst of its clichés. But therein lies its humor. Rarely does a book ever make me laugh out loud—not that I don’t think many books are funny, but there it is—but I could not help myself at one point. If you read it, and I hope you will, just beware of the tile with magic ability. Actually the whole sequence around that is marvelous. Our six anti-heroes meet one on one with some of the forces of good in underground tunnels. And according with their characters, they act appropriately. That’s all I’m going to say.

I didn’t really have high hopes when I started this book, I wasn’t expecting anything special. But I found such good tale-weaving that smacked the fantasy genre in its face. We get to look at evil from the inside, and to look at good from the outside. At that distance one can very much look like the other. It is rare that a character will stick with me after I finish reading a book, but Sam is one I don’t think I’ll forget quickly. No book is without faults, but I am going to highly recommend everyone to go out and find this book to read. It is really well suited to this newer trend in fantasy, and well deserves any attention it can get. It would also make a great movie, a kind of Lord of the Rings antithesis that I think would be very popular. A group of villains that must save the world: you can’t get much more ironic than that.

Magician: Apprentice, By Raymond E. Feist

Pug is a very ordinary boy of the castle of Crydee. His dreams are much like that of the other boys his age: to be chosen as an apprentice to a Master of the keep, and come into manhood. But when the choosing ceremony takes place, something goes horribly wrong. No Master is willing to take him as an apprentice—except for the Duke’s magician, Kulgan. And even though being a magician isn’t quite a proper calling, Pug accepts because he has no other real option. His studies in magic go very slowly, and soon it is apparent that his magic might in fact be different from the only sort of magic practiced in Midkemia. For instead of needing to read a spell off a scroll, Pug can recite it from memory; unheard of in the magical world. But his studies are soon interrupted by a most startling of events. It appears that somewhere in the wilderness surrounding Crydee, an alien race from another world is preparing to invade. They call themselves the Tsurani, and are fierce fighters, rather fighting to the death than be taken alive. Soon this simple boy is finding himself getting swept along with the Duke’s household in an attempt to understand these strange people, and find a way to stop the Tsurani from conquering their world.

Magician: Apprentice is the first book of the Riftwar Saga, and in more ways than one it seems a typical fantasy series. We’ve got elves, dwarves, wizards, simple boys becoming much more than they were, and a thoroughly cliché sounding book. It’s not really, even though some parts made me snort because of how generic they were. Especially the haunted dwarven mine beneath the mountain sequence. Especially that. But the mere fact of the Tsurani make the book more than just a rehashing of the common quest motif. It spins it off into a different direction that is very interesting to read about, especially the fact that the Tsurani have very little metal but make all of their tools and weapons out of coated wood/paper that is almost as strong as steel.

Feist writes an interesting world filled with strange and interesting people and events. The characters are more than simple cutouts, with complex motives and feelings. There is an aura of mystery surround the story that entices you further and further until the book is at an end and you are searching around you for the sequel. Feist is not a perfect writer, he has a few issues with the need to describe everything, and the strange and only slightly annoying habit of starting each chapter with a blank statement like, ‘so and so looked out the window.’ Or, ‘the day was sunny.’ As I said, it’s odd, but only slightly annoying when you notice it. The good of the rest of the book far outweighs the bad of this ‘problem,’ and lets you slip into another world, which is what a good book should do.

The Skies of Pern, By Anne McCaffrey

Now that the Red Star has been shifted out of its close orbit to Pern, many are wondering what will happen to dragonriders After. After this pass, thread will cease to fall, and dragonriders will not be needed in their former capacity. But the Weyrs realize that this will happen, and so are trying to learn skills that will support them After. But before the end of the Pass, Pern must face a new danger. Thread is not all that falls from the sky, and whether they wish it or not Pern sees dragonriders as responsible for skyward menaces. Dragon flame is useless against a meteorite, but a new ability is emerging in dragonkind, one that Aivas himself predicted they contained, but until now had not revealed itself. Whatever may happen After, dragons and their riders are still responsible for the skies of Pern!

Most of the story focuses on F’lessan, son of Lessa and F’lar, and Tai, green rider out of Monaco weyr. Their mutual interest in astronomy draws them together, and even when disaster strikes they will not leave each other. I admit this book has a place in my heart because I’ve never read a book that had my name as a main character, let alone any character at all. It makes me happy, but I realize that I can’t let my judgment be skewed by such a thing as that. Although, it is nice.

The Skies of Pern is the sad effect of an author running out of ideas for interesting stories in her universe. McCaffrey has made thread not such a menace anymore, and so must desperately search for any idea to carry a story forward. Now, the basic ideas contained in The Skies of Pern are decent ideas, but the climaxes happen too early, and we’re left with at least a hundred pages in which things are still happening, but not as interesting as they were before. This is what happens when you try to stretch a series further than it should go. Not to say I don’t like it, but I know what its issues are.

Like most Pern books, I enjoy reading them for adventure, derring-do, and amazing feats of bravery. The Skies of Pern definitely contains all three, whatever it’s shortcomings as a whole. It is a good book, though perhaps not as good as others that came before.