A Sorcerer's Treason

Sarah Zettel

Reviewed by Aaron Bergman

Originally Posted 3/23/02

There is a lot of bad fantasy in the world today. There is a lot of mediocre fantasy out there, too. There are the books that you, or me, at least, pick up just to pass the time. They don't offend, but neither do they excite or enchant. _A Sorcerer's Treason_, the first book of "Isavalta", is better than all these books. That said, the book was somewhat disappointing. In Zettel's previous novels, all science fiction, there was always something interesting and different about the setting. At the very least, they took me somewhere I hadn't been before. Against this, I've been to Isavalta, the eponymous fantasy kingdom of this novel and two forthcoming, many times. In fact, the novel almost completely lacks a sense of place. It is as if the castle where much of the story takes place does not exist outside the one or two rooms in which our characters currently reside, and the lands outside the castle only exist in the broadest of outlines. There are intimations of long ago battles and far off kingdoms, but they never seem to take on any life of their own. Part of the allure of the generic quest fantasy is the broad backdrop of the world and how the actions of our protagonists change it. This book lacks that sense of expansiveness.

Perhaps it is that aspect, however, that rescues this book from it's own generic setting. The plot, consisting of the usual palace intrigue, wizardly battles and an ensorcelled heir, certainly isn't the place to look for rescue from the forces of banality. Things are generally quite predictable, and no one really turns out other than one expects them to be. It must be the focus, then, that separates this book, at least a little bit, from the vast chaff of its sub-genre. The book is the story of Bridget Lederle, a lighthouse keeper from fin de ciecle Wisconsin. I'm not quite sure that they were all that interested in the change of the centures on the shores of Lake Superior in 1899, but it seems a peculiar date to choose. Bridget rescues a shipwrecked stranger, contemplates her mysterious parentage and eventually travels across the Lands of Death and Spirit to far off Isavalta to discover that she's the most powerful sorceress alive and to save the kingdom from yadda yadda yadda. Nonetheless, it doesn't turn out completely how one might expect. There are no grandiose prophecies, no world spanning quests and no magical items to obtain. Instead, the story focusses narrowly on the main characters, and, as characters go, they're reasonably interesting to focus on. If there had been some great and glorious quest to save the world from unspeakable evil, I think this book would forever disappear into the masses of mediocrity. Instead, we are left with the palace intrigue and a reasonably interesting series of interactions with and asides in a world of animal spirits which, if not being the acme of originality, at least rises slightly above the plains of the commonplace.

Another thing that sets this apart from what will soon be my utter lack of remaining metaphors for the fantasy marketplace is that Zettel is a much better writer than most. She is not a prose stylist along the lines of a McKillip, nor does her writing have the harsh edges of, say, Martin. Rather, it is somewhat smooth, giving a sense of the immediate surroundings and a bit of a sense of the mystical. It is a refreshing change from the pedestrian writing ability that is endemic to the subgenre. I realize that this review perhaps will set records for damning something with faint praise, but I did read this book in one sitting ending somewhere around five in the morning after starting between one and two. This may just indicative of the long period it had been since I'd done any pleasure reading. All in all, I can't recommend that anyone rush to the bookstore and immediately buy this book. You won't be blown away, but if you're sitting on a spare thirty bucks and you go for this sort of this, you could certainly do a lot worse. Most of all, I wish that Zettel hadn't, like so many others, heard the calling of this particular subgenre and had stuck with the type of books that she writes best.

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Last updated 3/23/02