Book Review – Black Sun Light My Way by Jo Spurrier

Black Sun Light My Way is Jo Spurrier’s second novel and the follow up to Winter Be My Shield (reviewed here).  It’s book two of what I suspect will be a trilogy, though it’s ending surprised me – it didn’t feel like the traditional middle of a trilogy.  I like to be surprised and I am eager to see what Spurrier does in the final book.  I thought I had a handle on where she was going, now I am not so sure.

At the end of Winter Be My Shield, Sierra having managed to learn some control of her powers lets herself be caught by Akharian slavers in an attempt to get closer to Isidro and the potential treasure hidden at Demon Spire.  An uneasy alliance is formed between Rasten, Isidro and Sierra as they manage to manipulate the Akharian’s and gain access to Vasant’s treasure trove of Ricalani magic.

Much of what I thought to be the goals of the major characters seemed to be resolved by midway through the story.  It turned out to be a decoy by Spurrier an easy victory before she really tightened the screws on the characters.  Much of the tension achieved in this novel comes from the testing and twisting of bonds between those characters.  Much of the physical danger and tension comes again from isolating the characters from their allies and from each other.

Rape as a threat to characters and bystanders features heavily in Black Sun Light My Way.  Spurrier, as she did in Winter be My Shield, didn’t restrict the threat or act to female characters.  I like( appreciate maybe is a better word) that she takes this realistic approach ( modern fantasy seems to skirt around the use of rape in conflict as a weapon used against all genders) but the prevalence of it as a way to manipulate the readers emotions came close to being overused for my reading.

There was some anachronistic dialogue that jarred with me much as it did with book one, phrases or figures of speech that sound out of place because they are modern.  But then we are reading fantasy; who says fantasy needs to be written in with an equally unrealistic 19th century English vocabulary?

What continued to impress me was Spurrier’s research and her use of it in bringing the Wild alive as a very visceral setting. Pregnancy as a plot device was an interesting and realistic addition to the story and adds another layer of emotional connection between characters that I am sure Spurrier will use against the reader in book three. 

Despite the points mentioned above Spurrier has an engaging style.  This was an easy book to slip into but very hard to get out of -  I read from midway to the end in one setting.  If you are a fan of Trudi Canavan’s work and are prepared for the adult content then I heartily recommend Black Sun Light My Way and Winter Be My Shield.

This book was provided by the publisher.

An interview that I conducted with Jo for Galactic Chat can be found here.

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This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013.  Please check out this page for more great writing from Australian women..

 

 

 

 

 

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Galactic Chat with Jo Spurrier

It’s that time of the week again and this week it’s my dulcet tones interviewing Jo Spurrier author of the Children of the Black Sun series.  You will find the show notes below but here’s the player and the download link if you prefer.

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Show notes:

In this episode Sean interviews Australian Fantasy novelist Jo Spurrier. Jo's debut novel Winter be My Shield was nominated for an Aurealis and Norma K Hemming Award. In this interview they talk about why someone with a background in the sciences decides to write epic fantasy, the decision to write about a disabled character and where the Children of the Black Sun series sits in relation to the grim works of Martin and Abercrombie.

Jo's books can be found at:

Amazon (for internationals)

Booktopia (Australia)

Author Website: Jo's Facebook Author Page

Credits:

Interviewer: Sean Wright

Guest: Jo Spurrier

Music & Intro: Tansy Rayner Roberts

Post-production: Sean Wright

Feedback:

Twitter: @galactichat

Email: galactichat at gmail dot com

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Book Review – Winter be My shield by Jo Spurrier

Winter be My Shield is the debut novel from South Australian fantasy writer Jo Spurrier.  It was released last year and the second in the series, Black Sun Light My Way was launched on the first of June this year.

It was one of my personal reads for the year, a non review copy that I obtained at Supanova in 2012. Like many reviewers I have books that I should be reading and those which I purchase and want to read.  The later, has books in it stretching back to 2011.  Winter be My Shield was plucked from the leaning to-be-read-pile by virtue of the buzz it seemed to be generating without significant spruiking by the author.  It was blurbed by Robin Hobb, Trudi Canavan had mentioned it favorably and folks in my twitter stream seemed to keep mentioning it.  If I wasn’t a scientific skeptic I might have said the universe was telling me something.

So did it live up to the buzz?  The short answer is yes.

For me, the tone of Winter be My Shield sits somewhere between the gateway genre works of Trudi Canavan and Rowena Cory Daniells’ Outcast Chronicles. There’s violence and torture but its pitched at a level that won’t be shock to anyone that’s coming to the genre cold.

Mentioning the cold, Winter be My Shield shares similarities with one of Daniells’ other works, The King Rolen’s Kin trilogy, in that it occurs in a snow bound landscape and both tales are shaped by the environment rather than it being just an element thrown in for flavour.  When an author goes to the trouble of considering how weather affects landscape and armies and thereby plot it rounds the tale out, makes it more three dimensional.

But enough of comparing Spurrier to other epic fantasy writers.  What does she offer the reader?  Stylistically there’s nothing in the writing that draws too much attention to itself, I did wonder at some anachronistic word choices in dialogue, but apart from that Spurrier’s writing is pretty transparent delivering  a well paced and entertaining story.  After having abandoned some other debut novels in my reviewing list, Winter be My Shield made the act of reading pleasurable again.

Though pop culture is now becoming saturated with a winter that is always coming, Spurrier’s choice of war in the frozen North still has enough wiggle room to deliver an original tale.  I did perhaps think that she may have been riffing off events surrounding the Varian Disaster but being somewhat of a history nerd that endeared me to the story whether it was the case or not.  Whether its the Wolf Clan versus the Akharian Empire or the Germans versus the Romans everyone loves an underdog and everyone likes to see the pompous getting taken down a peg or two.

The magic was delightfully loose in its description, logical enough for the author to place constraints on it for the purpose of narrative but free enough to give the reader a visual spectacle.  I am not terribly enamoured of magical systems that sound like they are derived from old school D&D and as such the rather elemental magic delivered here, is right up my alley.

The scale is epic, but there's also a nicely developing story of relationships – both romantic and platonic between the main characters.  The stakes are high not only for a people but also for distinct individuals. 

I eagerly await finding the time to read Black Sun Light My Way.

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This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013.  Please check out this page for more great writing from Australian women..

 

 

 

 

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Norma K Hemming Nominations announced:

The wonderful Rowena Cory Daniells brings us the glad tidings.  There are 4 authors nominated and 6 books.  They are in no particular order:

• Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan
• Winter be my Shield by Jo Spurrier
• Besieged, Exile, and Sanctuary by Rowena Cory Daniells
• Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth

The Norma K Hemming Award :

marks excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, sexuality, class and disability:

• in the form of science fiction and fantasy or related artwork or media.

• produced either in Australia or by Australian citizens.

• first published, released or presented in the calendar year preceding the year in which the award is given.

                                                                                                                   [source]

I have read 4 of the above titles and concur with the judges selections.  I haven’t read the Jo Spurrier (it’s in my non reviewing TBR pile) but I have heard some very good things.  I would have been severely (yes severely) perturbed if Rowena hadn’t made the list because there’s a whole lot of gender commentary wrapped up in some of the best gritty dark fantasy on the market.

For judges comments you can go here.

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