Like Warpworld, this review also has a number of firsts, this will be the first web novel I've reviewed, the first unfinished work I've reviewed and the first work written by siblings. Eve Forward has two novels (The Villains by Necessity which I hope to one day get a copy of and review and Animist which I know nothing about) and a number of animated episodes from shows like GI Joe (a great favorite of my childhood) and Biker Mice from Mars (which... I'm gonna be honest, I loathed). Robert D.Forward has also written two novels and has an extensive list of writing work for various shows among them Transformers Beast Wars (which I also enjoyed), GI Joe and BraveStarr... Which most of you won't have heard of and I won't get into here. I was around to watch both shows as a child though, which I am aware dates me. They are both the children of Robert Forward, a noted science fiction writer and physicist whose work I also hope to review here in the future. Rest assured I will do at least some of the works that have been recommended to me first, especially given that the folks of SpaceBattles, Libarc and elsewhere have handed me a huge list of books.
But moving on!
GyreWorld is a fantasy story set in a fairly original world very unlike our own. It's a world of moving gears and parts with 3 races of sapients settled in whatever parts can support life. It's a harsh world in a lot of ways, but the inhabitants have managed to create civilizations and cities despite that. While there are 3 races mentioned in the book, the story only focuses on two of them and so will this review. The most important race in this story is that of the kin, a small race of fuzzy humanoids that live in the city with humanity but apart in their own area they call the warren. The kin could have easily been another hobbit knock off race and I'll admit when I started the story, I had my doubts. The Forwards however do a very good job at making them distinct and a touch alien. None of the citizens of the Shire would fit in with these small, but at times, feral people. Their practices and outlook on life have been shaped by a long period of living in sparse, harsh environments and even centuries of easy city life haven't dimmed those cultural memories or erased the marks of that past. What I like best about this though is this is never info-dumped to us but details are fed to us through the interactions and statements of the characters. We are introduced to traditions and ideas that the Kin have by the Kin characters and left to come to our own understanding of this culture. Which makes the anthropologist in me giddy and the reader tired of wading through giant paragraphs of "As You Know Bob" dialogue feeling liberated when writers do this. There is one bit where a drunken ex-priest in jail begins to explain some social and political background to another character but I'm willing to spot a writer one chapter of "As You Know Bob" when you make a world this different and complex.
The story that takes us through Gyreworld is a simple one. A band of thieves have stolen a very important holy relic from a local church. I say important because with it missing, bad things are happening. Very lethal and dramatic bad things. I can't say much more then that without giving up some big spoilers. Suffice to say, our heroes have to find the relic and get it back to the church in question or the consequences will be dire. As in Oh God! Oh God! We're All Gonna Die! The Forwards do a good job with showing us these consequences to, as things build up gradually but unavoidably and we the reading audience must logically agree that the damn relic has to go back!
Our main viewpoint character is an odd Kin, by the name of Tod Pottersfield. Tod is a priest of the Kin god Badger and the Human Church Merciful and Inevitable. I think most of you have figured out that the Church concerns itself mainly with the dead and death. In fact we meet Tod in the course of his day job.... Cutting out the organs of a dead woman for storage in jars. Afterwards he'll cut away the flesh as well. Burial rituals on GyreWorld are very involved. Badger is a Kin god, a totemic force which also has a lot to do with death, dying and the here after. Tod is actually part of a thing in his culture where some Kin serve both Kin and Human religious organizations and it's made very clear that not all Kin (or all Humans for that matter) approve of this. I'll talk more about the religions later but right now I want to focus on Tod.
Our next viewpoint character and only second to Tod himself is also a Kin named Jillick. Jillick is in many ways Tod's equal and opposite. She's a girl and not very religious. He's conservative and very law abiding, Jillick likes to dabble in law breaking for the thrills. Tod is a bigot, especially in regards to the third character. Jillick had an licit relationship with him for shits and giggles and remains friends with him. Jillick is a watchmaker and lockpicker. Both of these things have alot to do with her clan the Pinchbecks whose talents has to do with machines. Figuring out how they work, how to make them, how to take them apart all sorts of things. It's frankly a more useful talents in many respects then the Potterfields' one and certainly has a lower social cost. No one gets afraid of the guy who knows how to fix your watch (well... girl in this case). But maybe they should because Jillick thinks your damn watch is boring and would rather take apart your locks and see if you have any cool stuff. She is quiet a bit more worldly then Tod in a variety of ways as you've likely guessed by now. She's a very vibrant, fun loving character and rarely judgmental. Most likely because she's aware that her metaphorical house is made of glass. She's also fairly clever, which is good! Because she's keeping a hell of a secret from Tod, who has recruited her to find the thieves who stole the priceless holy thingy bob. Jillick is not as selfless as Tod nor prone to wide character swings. She's fairly consistent throughout the story in mainly playing for what's best for herself and the people she personally cares about. This really helps balance Tod out, as I think if Tod was surrounded by characters who reinforce his world view and actions he would quickly become insufferable as character. On the flip side Tod also helps balance Jillick out, as her selfish streak could render her very unsympathetic without someone constantly pulling her towards working for a greater goal then breaking her boredom. What I really find interesting is despite her dabbling with corruption, is that Jillick enjoys greater status in Kin society. Tod is something of an outsider despite (or maybe because of) his priestly status. Jillick is a person in good standing in the both the respectable and disreputable layers of Kin society. Which is a testament to her charisma I think.
The third member of the cast is a half Kin, half human named Spanghew. He's considered an abomination by Kin society and human society isn't much kinder. At first he seems something of a joke character. Another obstacle to Tod in his inhuman pursuit of fulfilling his superiors commands. But over chapter by chapter, we see more of him and realize what's going on. His existance is a comfortable but tragic one. Adopted by a wealthy but childless couple, he lives well but with no official legal rights. He can't marry (being a hybrid he's sterile which means under the laws of the Church of life... No marriage for him). He can't inherent. He can't be considered a citizen and in many ways he's rather insane. He's had many relationships with curious women of both Kin and Human background but all those relationships are fleeting ones at best and he knows it. Because of his half in and half out status in society all of his friends, lovers and so on eventually move on. "They grow up" is how Spanghew puts it and you realize that he views his place in society as someone imprisoned in an external childhood. He can never have the rights of an adult, he can never be allowed to fulfill the responsibilities of an adult, he will always be viewed as half a person at best. So in public he adopts the role of the eternal teenager because why the fuck not? Spanghew gets involved when one of the few friends he has who didn't leave him was murdered in his home. Tod realizes Spanghew is holding on to important evidence and Spanghew uses it blackmail his way into the investigation. That said, Spanghew doesn't become a load around Tod's neck but instead is at times incredibly useful for reasons of his studies, money or use of the influence of his adoptive parents. He also is amazingly polite and cheerful in the face of Tod's rather rampant assholery (Spanghew makes the point that almost everyone thinks what Tod's says but Tod has the honesty to just say it to his face). It's not until much later in a scene set in a church run brothel (the church of life views sex as holy thing, because that's how you make more life, so you should have lots of sex) where a bribe is offered to him. The church can make him able to sire children or as the priestess puts it "We can fix you." Spanghew's response of screaming at the top of his lungs "I'M NOT BROKEN!" Pulls back the curtains of the hidden pain and rage that is in him. We don't get to see this inner font often but when we do, we're reminded that Spanghew isn't a joke and his societies treatment of him as one has a cost.
There are more characters here, from the thief that Tod is hunting who happens to be a famous adventurer (to be honest in a more standard fantasy novel this guy would be the protagonist). The various clan members of both Jillick and Tod. Like the details of the cultures we deal with we are feed parts and pieces of these characters leaving us guessing at their roles in the story. Are they allies? foes? Recurring individuals? Walk on parts? The mystery pulls you along as the Forwards refuse to make this a standard find the macguffin plot. We are also shown the the consequences of the holy relic of stuff's disappearance long before we're told. In fact when Spanghew finally digs it up in a Library, you're nodding along as it all makes sense with what you've already seen.
I also really enjoy the somewhat alien religions you deal with in Gyreworld, humans worship 9 divine forces (the Kin worship 3) that are very impersonal and focused. The "gods" aren't anthropomorphized here, their these vast alien forces that a person cannot hope to understand but many are driven by emotion and reason to serve. The sheer power that the priests and their devotees wield justify the political powers of the churches and you're never left wondering why these gods don't take a more direct hand in these things. Again we're not told these things, we're shown. Left to piece it together from things we hear and see while accompanying Tod, Jilliack and Spanghew in their quest. Which is I think one of the better ways to do it.
That said there are times when I want to scream at the Forwards to just get on with it. There's a bit of wondering around I felt we could have done without which means the plot isn't a tight as it could be. There are also several encounters which I felt were done mostly so the Forwards could show off this amazing world they built, not to tell a better story. There are also conflicts I felt we could have done without (Tod and his superior Badger Priest for example). That said it's hard to make that determination until the story is finished. Which I believe we are close to, as it stands Gyreworld weights in at 167 chapters.
Gyreworld gets a B, which is as high as it can go until it is finished. Once it is, I will revisit it and decide if the grade should be changed.
The third member of the cast is a half Kin, half human named Spanghew. He's considered an abomination by Kin society and human society isn't much kinder. At first he seems something of a joke character. Another obstacle to Tod in his inhuman pursuit of fulfilling his superiors commands. But over chapter by chapter, we see more of him and realize what's going on. His existance is a comfortable but tragic one. Adopted by a wealthy but childless couple, he lives well but with no official legal rights. He can't marry (being a hybrid he's sterile which means under the laws of the Church of life... No marriage for him). He can't inherent. He can't be considered a citizen and in many ways he's rather insane. He's had many relationships with curious women of both Kin and Human background but all those relationships are fleeting ones at best and he knows it. Because of his half in and half out status in society all of his friends, lovers and so on eventually move on. "They grow up" is how Spanghew puts it and you realize that he views his place in society as someone imprisoned in an external childhood. He can never have the rights of an adult, he can never be allowed to fulfill the responsibilities of an adult, he will always be viewed as half a person at best. So in public he adopts the role of the eternal teenager because why the fuck not? Spanghew gets involved when one of the few friends he has who didn't leave him was murdered in his home. Tod realizes Spanghew is holding on to important evidence and Spanghew uses it blackmail his way into the investigation. That said, Spanghew doesn't become a load around Tod's neck but instead is at times incredibly useful for reasons of his studies, money or use of the influence of his adoptive parents. He also is amazingly polite and cheerful in the face of Tod's rather rampant assholery (Spanghew makes the point that almost everyone thinks what Tod's says but Tod has the honesty to just say it to his face). It's not until much later in a scene set in a church run brothel (the church of life views sex as holy thing, because that's how you make more life, so you should have lots of sex) where a bribe is offered to him. The church can make him able to sire children or as the priestess puts it "We can fix you." Spanghew's response of screaming at the top of his lungs "I'M NOT BROKEN!" Pulls back the curtains of the hidden pain and rage that is in him. We don't get to see this inner font often but when we do, we're reminded that Spanghew isn't a joke and his societies treatment of him as one has a cost.
There are more characters here, from the thief that Tod is hunting who happens to be a famous adventurer (to be honest in a more standard fantasy novel this guy would be the protagonist). The various clan members of both Jillick and Tod. Like the details of the cultures we deal with we are feed parts and pieces of these characters leaving us guessing at their roles in the story. Are they allies? foes? Recurring individuals? Walk on parts? The mystery pulls you along as the Forwards refuse to make this a standard find the macguffin plot. We are also shown the the consequences of the holy relic of stuff's disappearance long before we're told. In fact when Spanghew finally digs it up in a Library, you're nodding along as it all makes sense with what you've already seen.
I also really enjoy the somewhat alien religions you deal with in Gyreworld, humans worship 9 divine forces (the Kin worship 3) that are very impersonal and focused. The "gods" aren't anthropomorphized here, their these vast alien forces that a person cannot hope to understand but many are driven by emotion and reason to serve. The sheer power that the priests and their devotees wield justify the political powers of the churches and you're never left wondering why these gods don't take a more direct hand in these things. Again we're not told these things, we're shown. Left to piece it together from things we hear and see while accompanying Tod, Jilliack and Spanghew in their quest. Which is I think one of the better ways to do it.
That said there are times when I want to scream at the Forwards to just get on with it. There's a bit of wondering around I felt we could have done without which means the plot isn't a tight as it could be. There are also several encounters which I felt were done mostly so the Forwards could show off this amazing world they built, not to tell a better story. There are also conflicts I felt we could have done without (Tod and his superior Badger Priest for example). That said it's hard to make that determination until the story is finished. Which I believe we are close to, as it stands Gyreworld weights in at 167 chapters.
Gyreworld gets a B, which is as high as it can go until it is finished. Once it is, I will revisit it and decide if the grade should be changed.
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