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igenlodeI finally came across another copy of "The Witches of Wenshar", and could see why, as I remembered, I didn't really get on with it on my first reading; maybe I'm biased by the fact that I have now read all three books in this series, but I still feel that this novel is far more closely dependent on its predecessor than "Dark Hand of Magic" was on this, despite the mentions of "the King of Wenshar" in the opening lines of the latter. And it still feels darker in tone.
This is basically the "Mission to Destiny" of the series, being in essence a detective story told within the genre. The question is who, out of a small commmunity of people who dislike one another, is murdering apparently random people in a horrible way (and one that gets both protagonists captured and tortured under suspicion). And tied onto this is the sense that the knowledge Sun Wolf is seeking is in itself tainted and evil, something that isn't a part of the other books: the abilities of the Witches of Wenshar stem from a pact with demons that must be fuelled by raw human hate, which means that here the locals are right to fear and despise all use of magic, and those who are simply born with mage-powers learn to dread what they may become. If this is your first introduction to magic in Hambly's books, it's not a fate that anyone would crave for the protagonist, and the 'victory' that consists of acquiring books of the Witches' knowledge is an uncomfortable one. (I'm not sure Sun Wolf ever actually gets much use out of those books in the sequel, either, understandably!)
And basically everybody whom we get to know in the course of the novel either dies gruesomely and/or ends up hating the viewpoint characters; there is none of the 'teamwork' that provides support and a counterbalancing gleam of optimism in the other books. The only people who really come out of it in a positive light are the children, who both end up with a somewhat poisoned chalice as a result of the events, and who are inevitably more of a responsibility hung around Sun Wolf's neck than equals and comrades. Although this isolation does provide the author with an opportunity to show the grizzled ex-mercenary coping with emotional issues he hasn't had to face before; how to survive a romantic relationship, with all its new vulnerabilities in the face of danger, and the new realisation that his lifestyle means that he will never have children of his own, and maybe he might have liked them after all.
Unfortunately I don't feel that the romantic relationship works particularly well here (not sure why). Maybe it's because the characters themselves are still a bit unaccustomed to this change in their long-standing relationship with one another, but having them involved sexually just didn't feel comfortable -- possibly, I suppose, because it *is* explicitly (no, like that!) a sexual relationship; I don't remember sleeping arrangements coming up in either of the other two books. "The Ladies of Mandrigyn" is a 'working out that you are in love with your best friend' story (inasmuch as it is a 'love' story at all, which it mostly isn't!) with Starhawk and Sun Wolf working separately for most of the book, and in "Dark Hand of Magic" it's an unquestioning practical loyalty and partnership. Here I somehow wasn't convinced.
But the book is very *effectively* nasty, with the suffocating horror-elements of the demonic threat over the whole thing even before we know its nature. And it's a very different setting from the medieval fantasy-Europe of the other two, in a politically fraught area on the edge of the desert, dealing with the shirdar, who are and are not fantasy Arabs/Bedouin (a relationship we are shown through the eyes of both sides, the dangerous desert tribesmen and the uncouth ex-slaves who have taken over the old invading empire). It's just an uncomfortable read still, and I didn't find myself wanting to own a copy, as I did with the other two.
This is basically the "Mission to Destiny" of the series, being in essence a detective story told within the genre. The question is who, out of a small commmunity of people who dislike one another, is murdering apparently random people in a horrible way (and one that gets both protagonists captured and tortured under suspicion). And tied onto this is the sense that the knowledge Sun Wolf is seeking is in itself tainted and evil, something that isn't a part of the other books: the abilities of the Witches of Wenshar stem from a pact with demons that must be fuelled by raw human hate, which means that here the locals are right to fear and despise all use of magic, and those who are simply born with mage-powers learn to dread what they may become. If this is your first introduction to magic in Hambly's books, it's not a fate that anyone would crave for the protagonist, and the 'victory' that consists of acquiring books of the Witches' knowledge is an uncomfortable one. (I'm not sure Sun Wolf ever actually gets much use out of those books in the sequel, either, understandably!)
And basically everybody whom we get to know in the course of the novel either dies gruesomely and/or ends up hating the viewpoint characters; there is none of the 'teamwork' that provides support and a counterbalancing gleam of optimism in the other books. The only people who really come out of it in a positive light are the children, who both end up with a somewhat poisoned chalice as a result of the events, and who are inevitably more of a responsibility hung around Sun Wolf's neck than equals and comrades. Although this isolation does provide the author with an opportunity to show the grizzled ex-mercenary coping with emotional issues he hasn't had to face before; how to survive a romantic relationship, with all its new vulnerabilities in the face of danger, and the new realisation that his lifestyle means that he will never have children of his own, and maybe he might have liked them after all.
Unfortunately I don't feel that the romantic relationship works particularly well here (not sure why). Maybe it's because the characters themselves are still a bit unaccustomed to this change in their long-standing relationship with one another, but having them involved sexually just didn't feel comfortable -- possibly, I suppose, because it *is* explicitly (no, like that!) a sexual relationship; I don't remember sleeping arrangements coming up in either of the other two books. "The Ladies of Mandrigyn" is a 'working out that you are in love with your best friend' story (inasmuch as it is a 'love' story at all, which it mostly isn't!) with Starhawk and Sun Wolf working separately for most of the book, and in "Dark Hand of Magic" it's an unquestioning practical loyalty and partnership. Here I somehow wasn't convinced.
But the book is very *effectively* nasty, with the suffocating horror-elements of the demonic threat over the whole thing even before we know its nature. And it's a very different setting from the medieval fantasy-Europe of the other two, in a politically fraught area on the edge of the desert, dealing with the shirdar, who are and are not fantasy Arabs/Bedouin (a relationship we are shown through the eyes of both sides, the dangerous desert tribesmen and the uncouth ex-slaves who have taken over the old invading empire). It's just an uncomfortable read still, and I didn't find myself wanting to own a copy, as I did with the other two.
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Date: 2026-04-21 03:29 pm (UTC)Long time ago I was really impressed by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Zelazny and I still don't understand why no-one makes movie based on his work?