No Disrespect (SS spoilers)

[maulkin]

I am more ambivalent about the Soldier Son books. The setting and background are quite intriguing. The Speck culture is interesting and like the idea of setting a fantasy story in the context of a war between an emerging industrial society and a tribal forest people. I read the books on a research trip to the Siberian forests, so the issues explored in the books had particular relevance to me. I also quite like the quirky idea of storing magic as body fat and I think that the manner in which the books explore the difference in attitudes to obesity among the Specks and Gernians is quite interesting. However, I agree that the story just does not hang together well. The pace is too slow and the number of interesting events too few. I also agree that Nevare is a singularly unsympathetic and unengaging character. A character who fails to accomplish anything because of his divided nature may be interesting to contemplate in the abstract but does not make an engaging protagonist for a fantasy story.