Characters are the Thing

I just finished reading Sherwood Smith's King's Shield, the third and pentultimate entry (or so she says; it began life as a trilogy, so who really knows) in her Inda series of fantasy novels. This collection was unexpectedly engrossing. Although the premise seems, upon first glance, to be a typical coming of age plot, the careful crafting of characters puts this series head-and-shoulders above standard writing. The characters are ambiguous. Readers can tell who the heroes and villains are - it's not like George R. R. Martin's fiction in which villain becomes hero and hero villain as reader perspective changes - but her sympathetic rendering of the most negative characters, as well as the ambiguity of her "good" characters gives this novel a depth and edge that we often do not see. Moreover, again unlike Martin, she appears to be writing at a good pace, enough to encourage anticipation without ending up in the throes of abandonment.

Which brings me to Martin's Song of Ice and Fire. I LOVE this series. The intricacy of plot, character, history is unparalleled. However, as a reader, I must say I am becoming cold and disillusioned on this cliff upon which we have been left to pine for the next installment. Inda was an accident; ever since my abandonment by Martin, I have carefully avoided beginning any trilogies, quadrilogies, quintrilogies, or whatever in sheer self-defense. Happily, I didn't realize the danger until I completed the book and discovered it was not, in fact, a one-off.

I have moved back to history after my little mystery and fantasy extravaganza. I am currently reading Norwich's trilogy on the history of Byzantium. It's proving an interesting read with lively narration and plenty of detail. Unfortunately, it does not have a driving point or analysis to make; it is very much a storyteller's version. As a story, it is very competently told, but it suffers from that lack of drive provided by a strong sense of purpose. I've just ordered Judith Herrin's Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire and The Formation of Christendom. I have high hopes for these two volumes since both are extremely well reviewed as driven, theoretically underpinned works of historical analysis. Here's hoping!