Irenicon: Book
1 of the Wave Trilogy
By: Aidan Harte
Publisher:
Jo Fletcher Books
Blurb:
The river Irenicon is a feat of ancient Concordian engineering. Blasted through the middle of Rasenna in 1347, using Wave technology, it divided the only city strong enough to defeat the Concordian Empire. But no one could have predicted the river would become sentient—and hostile. Sofia Scaligeri, the soon-to-be Contessa of Rasenna, has inherited a city tearing itself apart from the inside. And try as she might, she can see no way of stopping the culture of vendetta that has the city in its grasp. Until a Concordian engineer arrives to build a bridge over the Irenicon, clarifying everything: the feuding factions of Rasenna can either continue to fight each other or they can unite against their shared enemy. And they will surely need to stand together—for Concord is about to unleash the Wave again.
The river Irenicon is a feat of ancient Concordian engineering. Blasted through the middle of Rasenna in 1347, using Wave technology, it divided the only city strong enough to defeat the Concordian Empire. But no one could have predicted the river would become sentient—and hostile. Sofia Scaligeri, the soon-to-be Contessa of Rasenna, has inherited a city tearing itself apart from the inside. And try as she might, she can see no way of stopping the culture of vendetta that has the city in its grasp. Until a Concordian engineer arrives to build a bridge over the Irenicon, clarifying everything: the feuding factions of Rasenna can either continue to fight each other or they can unite against their shared enemy. And they will surely need to stand together—for Concord is about to unleash the Wave again.
Review:
Irenicon is set an alternate history renaissance Italy where Rome was destroyed and the Concord Empire rules through its mastery of Science, which comes across as a cool mix of steampunk and alchemy. Although there is something of Christianity it’s very different as in this world as Herod succeeded in killing baby Christ and now Science holds preeminence above church and nobles, its power embodied by the mysterious and powerful First, Second, and Third Apprentices.
The novel begins with a mysterious prologue done in the manner I enjoy, which is to say you’re a fly on the wall listening to powerful people whose relationships, judging from the dialogue, seem out of kilter with what you would expect. The people are doing something, in this case having a conversation and issuing directives, that you don’t have the context to truly understand what’s going on though you can get a general idea, rather than the sort of prologue where the writer does prosaical gymnastics solely to keep you from figuring what’s happening.
We quickly move on to Sofia Contessa (Countess) is few months from inheriting the the title of Contessa (Countess) and rulership of the city-state of Rasenna. She is, like every fifteen year old, chafing under the restraints of her parental unit(s) in this case her foster father Doc, who is the power behind the scenes in Rasenna. Unlike most fifteen-year-olds she has trained to fight since she could walk in a style of martial arts that uses flags and is the preeminent fighter in the city.
I really-liked-borderline-loved Irenicon because pretty much everything but the action is subtle to the point where you could miss out on a lot if you are not looking, like James Enge’s Morlock novels. The depth is there if you look, otherwise it’s a light novel. On a side note the the attention paid to engineering was eerily reminiscent of nearly every one of K.J. Parker’s novels. The thing about Irenicon is that it is one of the novels I thoroughly enjoyed that I can understand how someone would not like it all. In the first half the author does not include description in every scene, though there is a general description you have to fill in the rest with your imagination. There’s much more description in the second half, but that may be due to a change that I won’t reveal as it would be a spoiler. But looking at other reviews it seems most readers greatly preferred either the first or second half while I enjoyed both.
Now on to the odd stuff.
The first third of the Irenicon had me concerned because of two things. The first, which cleared itself up nicely, was that Sofia seemed to be just one of the several interesting characters, not the lead, but as the novel went on she became more prominent until she was dominating the book, and the time spent with the other characters added the depth of understanding needed to explain their actions later in the novel.
The second thing was downright eerie. Other than Sofia, to the best of my recollection in the first third of the novel, there was only one other female in one scene, and this is in a large city. And I don’t mean there were just no other major female characters, nor do I mean there were merely no major or secondary female characters. I don’t even mean the only females were the requisite tavern wenches/prostitutes/sisters/mothers/daughters props. I mean other than Sofia and one other woman in one scene there were no women. Not even a passing mention of a female as I recall. It became so prominent in my mind that I was wondering if the Wave had done something to them all. And since there was not talk or referenc to amke it a culture where the women were repressed and seperated and not one character had a gender based issue with Sofia it was all the more strange. Anyway, a few more female characters pop us as we go along but not many. Good news those few and Sofia more than capably carried the weight of their entire gender in my opinion.
I am giving Irenicon a high recommendation with the caveat that you should download and read the free sample before deciding to take the plunge because this novel strikes me as one the relies heavily on the personal taste of the reader. Also, just enjoying the sample won't mean you'll enjoy the second half of the as it takes a significant change of tact in the middle.
Irenicon is set an alternate history renaissance Italy where Rome was destroyed and the Concord Empire rules through its mastery of Science, which comes across as a cool mix of steampunk and alchemy. Although there is something of Christianity it’s very different as in this world as Herod succeeded in killing baby Christ and now Science holds preeminence above church and nobles, its power embodied by the mysterious and powerful First, Second, and Third Apprentices.
The novel begins with a mysterious prologue done in the manner I enjoy, which is to say you’re a fly on the wall listening to powerful people whose relationships, judging from the dialogue, seem out of kilter with what you would expect. The people are doing something, in this case having a conversation and issuing directives, that you don’t have the context to truly understand what’s going on though you can get a general idea, rather than the sort of prologue where the writer does prosaical gymnastics solely to keep you from figuring what’s happening.
We quickly move on to Sofia Contessa (Countess) is few months from inheriting the the title of Contessa (Countess) and rulership of the city-state of Rasenna. She is, like every fifteen year old, chafing under the restraints of her parental unit(s) in this case her foster father Doc, who is the power behind the scenes in Rasenna. Unlike most fifteen-year-olds she has trained to fight since she could walk in a style of martial arts that uses flags and is the preeminent fighter in the city.
I really-liked-borderline-loved Irenicon because pretty much everything but the action is subtle to the point where you could miss out on a lot if you are not looking, like James Enge’s Morlock novels. The depth is there if you look, otherwise it’s a light novel. On a side note the the attention paid to engineering was eerily reminiscent of nearly every one of K.J. Parker’s novels. The thing about Irenicon is that it is one of the novels I thoroughly enjoyed that I can understand how someone would not like it all. In the first half the author does not include description in every scene, though there is a general description you have to fill in the rest with your imagination. There’s much more description in the second half, but that may be due to a change that I won’t reveal as it would be a spoiler. But looking at other reviews it seems most readers greatly preferred either the first or second half while I enjoyed both.
Now on to the odd stuff.
The first third of the Irenicon had me concerned because of two things. The first, which cleared itself up nicely, was that Sofia seemed to be just one of the several interesting characters, not the lead, but as the novel went on she became more prominent until she was dominating the book, and the time spent with the other characters added the depth of understanding needed to explain their actions later in the novel.
The second thing was downright eerie. Other than Sofia, to the best of my recollection in the first third of the novel, there was only one other female in one scene, and this is in a large city. And I don’t mean there were just no other major female characters, nor do I mean there were merely no major or secondary female characters. I don’t even mean the only females were the requisite tavern wenches/prostitutes/sisters/mothers/daughters props. I mean other than Sofia and one other woman in one scene there were no women. Not even a passing mention of a female as I recall. It became so prominent in my mind that I was wondering if the Wave had done something to them all. And since there was not talk or referenc to amke it a culture where the women were repressed and seperated and not one character had a gender based issue with Sofia it was all the more strange. Anyway, a few more female characters pop us as we go along but not many. Good news those few and Sofia more than capably carried the weight of their entire gender in my opinion.
I am giving Irenicon a high recommendation with the caveat that you should download and read the free sample before deciding to take the plunge because this novel strikes me as one the relies heavily on the personal taste of the reader. Also, just enjoying the sample won't mean you'll enjoy the second half of the as it takes a significant change of tact in the middle.
Review by Carlyle Clark for Heroines of Fantasy
1 comment:
Very interesting. You have me wondering at the lack of female characters. On purpose? If so, why? Oversight? Hmmm...intriguing. I'm off to read the sample.
Thanks, Carlyle!
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