My wife and I are reading the entire trilogy that this volume opens together; and since I have at least one Goodreads friend who's curious about my reaction, I thought I'd review the three novels as we finish them, rather than as an omnibus volume at the end (though we're reading the omnibus volume). Personally, I wasn't as taken with this one as my friends Mike and Jon were, even though (obviously) I like it; through most of the read, I'd expected to give it three stars, but a strong ending pulled it up to four.This trilogy is the story of a young woman (in a fantasy world) who, as a tall, strapping farm girl of eighteen years, runs away from home to escape an unwanted forced marriage, and joins a company of mercenary soldiers. The Goodreads description sounds like it's copied from a jacket blurb, and (as blurbs sometimes do) has a few inaccuracies. Most obviously, Paks does NOT think of herself as special in any way. (Any hint that she's to play a role in "restoring a king to his throne" must come in the later two books, not this one!) Also, her military service doesn't require her to abjure ever seeing her family again. (And as far as the cover goes, she rides a horse only once or twice, briefly, in this book; she's a foot soldier and doesn't own a horse.)Moon's literary vision here has both strengths and weaknesses (which are sometimes the converse of each other). Her world-building is very detailed; it brooks comparison with Tolkien's or, at least, Paolini's on that score. She also brings a high level of realism to the fantasy genre; as a Marine veteran, she knows a great deal about what the experience of initiation and training into a military unit is like. Indeed, other than the fact that Paks trains with a sword rather than a rifle, her life as a recruit is probably much like that of real-life modern "grunts" going through boot camp; and Moon recounts it in great detail. The realistic note continues through the book; though magic operates in this world, it doesn't appear much here. (Elves, dwarves, orcs and other such species exist, but outside of old songs and stories, Paks only hears rare references to them, or gets rarer glimpses of one; magical healing of wounds is possible, but under limitations that make it pretty rare, and certain individuals and objects associated with various religions have supernatural powers, but these usually don't materially effect the story and aren't often in view.) Realistically as well, Moon is willing to suddenly kill off characters, including characters you'll have come to like and care about --exactly the way that real-life humans may die suddenly in combat situations, whether everybody likes and cares about them or not. Characterizations here are, not surprisingly, very realistic and vivid, and this is true of many secondary and minor characters too.Some fantasy fans may want a higher level of magical content in their reads, and find this one too much on the "mundane" side (though I don't have a problem with this myself). Some readers won't be happy to have characters they like, and expect to play more prominent roles, killed off. A bigger problem, though, is pacing. Usually, I have a pretty high tolerance for a slow narrative pace (and the time it takes Barb and I to get through a book with me reading aloud to her, what with our limited time for this, tends to make ANY book seem slow-paced). Even so, I found this one glacially slow. Moon takes us through every aspect of "boot camp" life, every stage of every journey, every part of a siege, etc. You learn a lot about the world and the characters this way, but some scenes don't add anything along that line. There are exciting, action-filled scenes, too; but many readers would find this narrative draggy in quite a few places.Religion in Moon's world is polytheistic, with cults of various gods (some of whom are quite nasty) and saints; some of these, both good and evil, appear to have actual power behind them. This aspect isn't developed much in this first book, but there are indications that one sect, that of St. Gird, will play a much bigger role in the next book. Ethical insight is more in evidence here than theological. For much of the book, to be sure, Paks' character frustrated me in this regard. She's likeable enough as a person, and she does have a moral code; but she simply doesn't think about the ethics of taking human life on the battlefield in wars over things like trade or border disputes, where her company happens to be on whichever side hired them first. To her, that's just what mercenary soldiers do; it's simply a morally neutral job that she likes and is pretty good at --though, to her credit, it's important to her that she's part of an "honorable company" that doesn't murder noncombatants or rob innocent peasants. (I felt, for much of the book, that though Paks is the viewpoint character, we're annoyingly not privy to her deep thoughts --until I realized that, duh, she's just a basically good-natured but simple young girl who doesn't HAVE really deep thoughts!) But there are indications that Moon doesn't share Pak's simplicity here, and that our heroine's ethical sensibilities are in for some growth and development in the succeeding books; and this one ends with a crisis of genuine moral decision, in the tradition of serious fiction that aspires to do more than just entertain, and that for me lifted the rating to four stars.Finally, I have to comment on two aspects where I found the realism of the tale a bit questionable. First, that a character, male or female, chooses to be chaste in relating to the opposite sex (that doesn't entail a vow of celibacy; married sex is chaste!), even though he/she has normal drives that need to be disciplined, isn't something I find unrealistic; rather, it's refreshing and commendable. But a total lack of interest in sex, to the point that a character is essentially asexual, is something else again, and does NOT strike me as realistic (especially in the late teen years, when hormone levels are still high from puberty); that makes Paks' character hard to relate to in that respect. Second, I appreciate Moon's depiction of a society where women can occupy positions of authority and can train and serve as warriors in full equality with men. But I wonder about the practical effects of mixed-sex units sharing the "jacks' and the sleeping quarters, especially when sex between soldiers isn't forbidden. (Unless the herbal contraceptives that are set out on the mess tables are more effective than the herbs used in our world, I can see one potential problem immediately.) The addition of homosexual soldiers to the mix (which Moon depicts in the book) adds another wrinkle of complication. (And no, that doesn't mean I "hate and fear" homosexuals!) In real life, I'm not so sure that all of this would work as smoothly, or that most people would handle the close proximity as well, as Moon depicts (and she does deal in detail with a case of sexual harassment, even here!); but I could be wrong, and that's not to say that I have all the answers. (I've generally tended to think that men and women in the military should serve in segregated units; and women's units like the all-female elite corps in the army of the old Dahomey empire, or the Russian Battalion of Death, certainly have set a great precedent. But I suppose it's arguable that mixed units create a more natural atmosphere than segregated ones do, and might also minimize or prevent some sexual problems; so the effects wouldn't necessarily be only negative.)Note: Moon begins the trilogy with what's apparently a "frame" device. One of my Goodreads friends who reviewed this book felt the other half of the frame should have come at the end of this one; but I'm guessing that Moon's intent was to put it at the end of the third book, so that the whole trilogy fits into the "frame."
Like a microscope on a game safari, Sheepfarmer's Daughter focuses on exactly the wrong details. The classic epic fantasy is notable for a common-born female lead, Paks, and the focus on her life after she joins a private military company. I enjoyed the writing style and the quality, but felt I would have liked a little more character development: the times we hear Paks' inner dialogue are too far apart, and there is too much description without reflection. I can appreciate that the lavish details of the road are pertinent to an infantry soldier, and I give Moon credit for attempting to capture some of the necessary repetition and drills in a soldier's life. While Moon captured that sense of hard routine, I would have thought including more scenes of her bedding down on the road, discussions around the campfire, etc., could have let Paks in for some personal growth. Without it, the characters lack all but the most distinguishing of characteristics, and there are few episodes of building camaraderie, except with Saren. When a soldier is lost, it is almost meaningless, an expected casualty. Likewise, Paks remains a young, amorphous blob of a character; it is evident she is Loyal, Honest, Strong and Energetic, but she seems to spare very little thought for the dynamics of a company, the larger world, why her superiors would be confiding in her and so forth. We can see from a couple of small events that Paks is bound for Greater Things, but because Paks doesn't want to think about it, the narration doesn't.The plot is decent, although troubled at times by the narrative jump of "three months ago..." or "six months later..." A long section at the beginning deals with investigating an assault involving Paks, and I found it both an odd narrative choice for the beginning of a story and a relief to be spared the actual scene. (Insert feminist rant about swordswomen needing to be assaulted/raped by men). Sexuality is mentioned a couple of times after that, but then never again addressed, which seemed odd. It was clearly an issue for company members, and for her family before she ran away, but once in the company, she spends almost no time thinking about it or even acting on it. The microscope focusing in on road quality leaves giant holes where other details might lie.Overall, the story felt remarkable for its thoroughness and for its determination to tell the tale of an Ordinary Soldier, even if that soldier is bound to become Extraordinary. Quite frankly, it was a "it was okay" level book for me, but I rounded up due to the quality of writing.Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...
What do You think about Sheepfarmer's Daughter (2000)?
Paks joins a mercenary military unit partly to get away from her overbearing father and partly for the adventure. After signing up she trains, gets beaten up by a fellow recruit, trains some more and goes on campaigns against other mercenary units and then eventually against an evil overlord. This is basically the whole book and although it isn't bad it's not great either. Pacing was fine, but what slowed it down for me was the lack of characterization. Paksarnarrion doesn't have much of a personality and has no progresssion and development as a character. The smattering of friends she made didn't stand out either. The characters really could have made the difference with a book like this, because the plot driving the story wasn't particularly interesting and almost passionless.
—Flint
A meandering medieval military fantasy about a badass asexual lady in a delightfully - though not fully or satisfyingly - progressive society.This book didn't have a plot, instead opting for an exploration of medieval military life in realistic detail. This includes training and battles, looting and plunder, friendship and loss, but also frequent slow-healing cuts, bruises, and broken bones, marching formations, inclement weather, road quality and construction, latrine digging, food supplies, morale-boosting, the relationship between militia and commoners, etc. I loved it all.At times, perspective changes would throw me off-balance, but this did not affect my enjoyment in any way.I picked this up specifically because it had an asexual main character, but I honestly wasn't expecting much. This book went above and beyond in that respect, and I couldn't be more thrilled.I know this will become a comfort re-read book for me. So many elements feel like they could have been written by Tamora Pierce. Paks has joined the ranks of the Big Three Tortall Ladies in my mind. I can see her and Alanna meeting on equal ground. I can't express what a big deal that is for me.Note: I actually read this in a bindup edition containing all 3 books in the series but didn't notice that I'd shelved the wrong thing until I'd gotten past the point where I was too lazy to change it.
—Monica
See my review of the omnibus edition The Deed of Paksenarrion. I love these books and highly recommend them!Let me say again that I love these books and can't recommend them highly enough. I read these books years ago, have read them several times, and will in all probability reread them again and again.This is one of those series (I think of them as a single book) where when I run on someone who doesn't like them or doesn't get them I am as the saying goes... flummoxed.I find these full of life lessons as well as one of the best most involving stories I've ever read. I give them 5+ stars and as I've said before can't recommend them highly enough.I have recently reread these and am almost impelled to come here, update this to say, don't miss this one. These are at the top of my favorites list. About very few books do I say, I love love this book (or these books), but in this case I do. Again, my highest recommendation. This trilogy always leaves me with a longing for more. Very few books are this good. Update: I want to add this as a friend mentioned how misleading the above synopsis is. The first line is diametrically opposite to an actual description of Paks' attitude. She never thinks herself something special....even when others do. She's the most humble and hard working of soldiers and sees herself as a common fighter, and is happy to be so.As noted I love these books and find the synopsis annoying.... Don't miss the book. Really.
—Mike (the Paladin)
