It was almost by accident that I discovered this amazing series by Cherryh, who rather quickly has become one of my favorite authors. I have noted in previous reviews that this very definitely is a series that should be read from beginning to end; in order to follow the action with any sense of understanding, you must start with the first volume and proceed forthwith. There are two reasons for this. One is that the central character, Tristen, is in effect created anew by an aged wizard at the beginning of the first book and is looking at life was completely fresh eyes and a blank mind, and part of the very charm of the first book was how life unfolded to him in his innocence, and how that very innocence affected the people he met; if you do not understand this from the very beginning, you will simply have no real understanding of Tristen’s character. The other reason is that Cherryh has created for this series an extraordinarily complex society, and the average reader would be unable to comprehend that milieu except by reading it in the same sequence by which Cherryh developed it.I have noted before that Cherryh has an incredible ability to create such fanciful worlds, and that when she is at her best writes prose that reads like poetry. I find myself often reading her sentences aloud simply because I love the way the words sound in sequence. Having said that, I find that this particular book is slightly less poetic than the preceding two, but makes up for it by having a great deal more action. I felt a little gypped by the fact that the long-delayed marriage between King Cefwyn and Ninevrise took place between two chapters at the beginning of the book, effectively happening offstage. But there is enough of other activity to sate almost any reader. I am not even going to attempt to summarize the storyline through this novel, as there is so much going on throughout the book that it would be extraordinarily difficult to summarize it without getting into explanatory detail that could not be followed by someone who has not read the previous two books. In gist, the story occupies the first half of the winter following Tristen’s creation, with Cefwyn sending Tristen back to Amefel as its new Duke, there to keep the southern inhabitants of the kingdom strongly opposed to the militant force being raised by the kingdom’s enemies across the river, while Cefwyn fights his own political battles in the northern part of the kingdom, and we read the story in more or less alternating chapters showing what is happening to one or the other of these two heroes. Amongst and around that simple storyline, Cherryh continues to weave her ever-expanding tale of wizardry.I ended my review of the previous book by a brief diatribe against the cover artwork, which portrayed in minute detail a scene that did not occur in the book — and indeed could not have occurred. I find I have to do that again; it seems an absolute puzzle to me that a publisher would contract with an artists to do a scene as the cover art for a book and not have it be a correct portrayal of the scene described in the book. It is almost as if somebody made an off-the-cuff remark about one of the scenes in the book (and certainly far from the most important scene, which makes it even more irritating), and the artist then went off to do his own thing without at least reading the page or two in which that scene occurred and with nobody in the publishing office ever bothering to note the discrepancies. This is so foreign to my experience of working with artists in the technical publishing field that it is incomprehensible to me.
This is another installment in the fortress series and I feel like I've settled into the story. We continue to follow Tristen and Cefwyn as Tristen becomes the lord of Amefel and Cefwyn continues to try to cement his reign in the north and prepare for war to win back his bride's land. The story continues to be remarkably engaging. I feel deeply involved in the characters and in the plot. Cherryh's sense of pacing is also excellent and there is a lyricism to the writing that I love. This still does not elevate to the level of the first novel where the tension was almost too much to bear and left me anxious to rush from one reading session to the next. I'm so thankful that I'm not in a position to wait for the next book to be published. The ending of this novel was not satisfying and I feel like this book, the last, and the next should all be one big thing. I'm really curious how Cherryh will finish up this story and whether the emotional immediacy of the next couple of books will jump up as the long anticipated conflict with Elwynor gets going.
What do You think about Fortress Of Owls (2000)?
9/10Although the ending is completely unsatisfying, the book itself was wonderful. Cherryh's language always matches the storyline--dreamy, confused, ominous, clear, joyous, wondering, crafty... as the plot changes, so the language seems to change to fit.Tristen, still an enigma, still a wonder and a danger, becomes more and more himself through the course of the book. Cefwyn and his wife also mature and wield statecraft in halls both great and small. And Emuin, wizard and adviser, also becomes more of a person and less of a character.Each book in this series fills in more of the puzzle while managing to pose new questions. I fear for Cefwyn, Tristen, and the others--not so much that they may die in some battle, but that they will betray themselves or their friendships. Emuin warns Tristen that he is not Tristen's friend and Tristen should not be his--they need to keep an eye on each other, to keep up their guard. I'm afraid of not bones, but hearts being broken.
—Kathi
