Ian Irvine's Books
The View from the Mirror
The View From The Mirror is the first series set on the world Santhenar. I actually read The Well of Echoes quartet first which may have encumbered me with too much pre-conception. The first series is serviceable fantasy. His protagonists, Llian and Karan seem to spend much of their time recovering from being beaten up or trying to find real, edible food among the mouldy cheese and onions they seem to get. Irvine overdoes the medieval poverty of food aspect of it a bit too much for my liking. I kept thinking of the Monty Python spin-off Jabberwocky while reading this series.
It's a well plotted series, but the end was left open in the good tradition of all sellable fantasy franchises. Neither Llian nor Karan could be considered heroic in the true sense. In fact, Llian doesn't have any real concrete personality at all, in my opinion. Karan is sometime a feisty red-head, but at other times papier mache. I guess I've read too much Philip K Dick and expect all characters to seethe with depth and definition.
The series revolve about character conflict between four human races, the Charon, the Faellem, the Aachim and Old Humans. The Charon and Aachim just come across as large and strong humans, though both are weighed down by tradition. The Faellem are a race bereft of their homeworld and a good deal of the quartet is devoted to the efforts of one of them to get her people home. After reading The Well of Echoes, this series came across as tired and well-trodden. At least it's elf- and faerie-free, and in no real way Tolkien Junior.
The Well of Echoes
Now, this quartet is more like it. It is altogether superior to The View From The Mirror in nearly every way. Character depth, plot, resolution, etc, ad anon. It is simply a far better page turner.
This quartet is set several centuries after the events in the first. Much has transpired, mainly the world has been invaded by a species known as the lyrinx and mankind (Old Humankind, to be precise) is involved in a genocidal war with them.
Once again, the viewpoint alternates between that of a female and a male protagonist. The female, Tiaan, is an interesting character. She's well-drawn and you genuinely feel moved as she suffers triumphs and travails. Nish, the male, is a buffoon. He's the type that falls flat on his face at the worst possible moment. He can be an annoying character, as well as pathetic. I'm sure Irvine fell over himself creating this guy.
But the standout character is Ullii. She's one of the most majestic and stupendous characters I've seen in any book and I dips me lid to Irvine for thinking her up. She is a hyper-sensitive woman, cringing at any smell, sight or sound, and her adventures in the world make captivating reading. I'm not going to give any more away about her.
It suffers a few of the illnesses of the first books; the characters get beaten up a lot, beyond what is really necessary for plot advancement, in my opinion. They're still in search of real, unadulterated food instead of the mouldy onion and vinegary wine they're fed. They also trip and fall and blunder at the last minute doing a lot of things, which smacks of Hollywood-style pratfalls. Maybe it's just me, but it's annoying to read.
The bad guys are transparent and I marvel how a world can be held in thrall by folk so obviously malicious and manipulating. The best evil men ruin the world while appearing to do nothing but good for their own kind. In other words, they're clever, strong-willed, charismatic and they give you good reasons to follow and obey their rule.
Irvine's bad guys don't and in reality he'd have insurrections and secessions on their hands. Still, this is nothing unusual in the fantasy world. There's no subtlety or intrigue. It's simply transparent power plays and a master/slave arrangement for convenience. Once again, it's probably just me, but I'm a huge fan of strong characterisation and believable human interaction.
Irvine's books suffer from what SF&F critic and editor Damon Knight referred to as a second-order idiot plot. In other words, the characters behave according to Irvine's pre-determined will rather than good sense or judgement. He's not alone in this genre when it comes to this particular ill, that's for sure.
All in all, The Well of Echoes are a superb read, but it ends with a sequel-ready cop out which got on my nerves somewhat as well. They're worth reading just for Ullii. Elf, dwarf and faerie-free as well, and that's always good.
Plus, Irvine is an Australian, and he's one of the few countrymen of mine I've read whose writing doesn't come across as self-conscious or they feel the need to put Australia on the SF/fantasy map.
Torments of the Traitor
My, how opinions change after a few years...
The first book in the third series. I tried so hard to read this book. I truly did. But, it's formulaic dross and in fact, it adds a new undiscovered facet to the dross diamond. Sure, it'll sell a lot of copies and make Irvine a richer man, and that's the point of it all.
Irvine's love for clichés, stock characters and papier-mâché/comic book villains wears very thin. Abundant are characters who fall or trip over at the worst possible moment time. Bullshit, the lot of it.
But, nobody gives a rat's arse - Irvine knows how to craft sellable fiction, much the same way Sidney Sheldon and Dan Brown do, and that's the sum-total of it all, let's be honest here.