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igenlodeThis is very nearly a great book. It's just that every time I am getting sucked in it comes up with a piece of sloppy prose (comparing fantasy elements to a shish kebab?) or awkward over-explanation or unconvincing motivation; a little more polishing might have smoothed a good deal of it out. As it is, it's still a very good bit of fantasy.
The basic concept is a fascinating one: that of an alien world with Lamarckian evolution ("if trees grow taller, the next gaffi calves are born with longer necks. If lakes dry up, the offspring of underwater creatures are born with rudimentary lungs. Their need affects their DNA, in precise and perfect balance"), and where human minds can affect their surroundings simply by existing, creating an involuntary manifestation of every nightmare that crosses their awareness, or - in the case of those with training and mental discipline- by deliberate acts of will that amount in effect to magic. And then add in the handful of 'adepts' who are born with the natural, untrained ability to see this power, if it doesn't destroy them or drive them insane in their uncomprehending infancy, and a militant Church that seeks to outlaw human use of 'the fae' altogether in order to prevent human excesses from changing it even more for the worse than mere inadvertent human presence has already - and to prevent the moral corruption caused by unlimited access to inhuman power. Except that this element, having being established early on, is basically ignored throughout the rest of the book, as everyone is doing magic all the time.
There is also the classic conflict set up between the undead-but-apparently-honourable adept who literally feeds on fear (and death) and the hidebound Church paladin to whom his mere existence is anathema, and the tenuous relationship of mutual dependence and reluctant respect that is forged between them. The handling of it, like so much else, doesn't always quite work, but Gerald Tarrant (is that his real historical name, and if so, why is he still using it when his former identity must surely be infamous?) is one of the most compelling characters in the book.
Oh, and there are also the sapient natives of the planet, whom the subconscious force of human minds has caused to evolve into a bipedal life form ever more closely resembling humanity, until the perceived parody of their existence triggered a genocidal war that has left their surviving population deeply hostile...
The basic concept is a fascinating one: that of an alien world with Lamarckian evolution ("if trees grow taller, the next gaffi calves are born with longer necks. If lakes dry up, the offspring of underwater creatures are born with rudimentary lungs. Their need affects their DNA, in precise and perfect balance"), and where human minds can affect their surroundings simply by existing, creating an involuntary manifestation of every nightmare that crosses their awareness, or - in the case of those with training and mental discipline- by deliberate acts of will that amount in effect to magic. And then add in the handful of 'adepts' who are born with the natural, untrained ability to see this power, if it doesn't destroy them or drive them insane in their uncomprehending infancy, and a militant Church that seeks to outlaw human use of 'the fae' altogether in order to prevent human excesses from changing it even more for the worse than mere inadvertent human presence has already - and to prevent the moral corruption caused by unlimited access to inhuman power. Except that this element, having being established early on, is basically ignored throughout the rest of the book, as everyone is doing magic all the time.
There is also the classic conflict set up between the undead-but-apparently-honourable adept who literally feeds on fear (and death) and the hidebound Church paladin to whom his mere existence is anathema, and the tenuous relationship of mutual dependence and reluctant respect that is forged between them. The handling of it, like so much else, doesn't always quite work, but Gerald Tarrant (is that his real historical name, and if so, why is he still using it when his former identity must surely be infamous?) is one of the most compelling characters in the book.
Oh, and there are also the sapient natives of the planet, whom the subconscious force of human minds has caused to evolve into a bipedal life form ever more closely resembling humanity, until the perceived parody of their existence triggered a genocidal war that has left their surviving population deeply hostile...