Song of Homana - Part One - Chapter One (And an Introduction)

[kalinara]

So I decided to widen my scope a little, and rather than stick to TWO books for these reviews. I'm expanding to three. I may regret this. I also may regret my choice of book, because I'm choosing the second book in the Chronicles of the Cheysuli: Song of Homana.

I've referenced Song of Homana a number of times in my Shapechangers review, because this was the book that started me reading this series. I don't think it was as bad as Shapechangers, if only because even as a teenager I found Shapechangers horrifying. I remember liking Song. But I also remember liking Dragonflight. So we'll have to see how it holds up to adult eyes.

One thing's for certain, it's GOT to be better than Shapechangers.



So the book starts with a map. It consists of one fairly blockish continent with two large islands to the west, which look like they're almost interlocked. The north one is Atvia (home of Thorne and Keogh), while the south one is Erinn (where Shaine's first wife/Alix's grandmother came from.)

Going from left to right, these are the kingdoms we see:

Solinde is on the entire west coast, and then juts over into the mountain range north of Homana.

Homana therefore is just east of Solinde. It seems to be mostly landlocked except for the southern coastline.

Ellas, where the Cheysuli found sanctuary in Shapechangers, is to the northeast, along the eastern border of Solinde and a bit of the Homana border.

Caledon is south of Ellas, across Homana's eastern border to the East Coast. Also along the East Coast, north of Caledon and East of Ellas are Falia and the Steppes. I feel like at some point, Ms. Roberson just ran out of names. Honestly, I don't remember Caledon, Falia or the Steppes having any real role in the series. Ellas either, for that matter.

So that's the map. I thought it might be helpful to describe it because events are going to have considerably larger scope from this point on.

--

Unlike Shapechangers, Song of Homana is told in first person, from Carillon's point of view. And Chapter One pretty much jumps right into the action, as Carillon and Finn are traveling on horseback through a snowstorm.

I have to admit, Ms. Roberson already does a pretty good job of evoking the feeling of the freezing snow. I particularly like this line: "I pulled the muffling wraps of wool away from my face, grimacing as the bitter wind blew ice crystals into my beard".

We get a patented Roberson non-sequitur moment, when Carillon notes that Finn doesn't wear a beard. Apparently, Cheysuli can't grow them. We continue with the animal comparisons though, since Carillon observes Finn's hair blowing in the wind, "baring a sun-bronzed predator's face".

Please stop that. We don't need more animalistic Native American comparisons. That said, you're really not doing anything to make me stop making diplomatic marriage jokes, Carillon.

I admit the non-sequitur actually works better here than they tended to in Shapechangers. Probably because it's not dialogue, and the first person point of view gives it the tone of someone's mind wandering.

Anyway, Finn's sent Storr on to seek shelter. Because Carillon doesn't have the Old Blood (...though, if you think about it, he probably should have a portion. At least if Shaine did, since Carillon's father is Shaine's brother. But I won't mention that again, because as I said in Shapechangers, I think it's the height of bad taste to present the genocidal monster as having more significant Cheysuli ancestry than his victims), anyway, because Carillon doesn't have the Old Blood, Storr won't have any dialogue in this book. How sad. I'll miss his rampant rape apologia.

Hah. No, I really won't. I already like this book better than Shapechangers.

This gets Carillon thinking about Storr, and Finn, and "[W]hat manner of man rides with a wolf at his side?" moreover, "what manner of man rides with a shapechanger at his side?"

Carillon also notes Finn's eyes, "Beast-eyes, men called them. I had reason to know why."

I appreciate your sense of drama, Carillon, but really, as we'll learn later, it's been like five years. So you probably should get used to them.

We get a bit of an "As you know, Bob" conversation between Finn and Carillon, when Finn mocks Carillon for being weary of the winter and asks if he'll spend his time "shivering and bemoaning the storms when [he] walk[s] the halls and corridors of Homana-Mujhar again?"

Carillon points out that they're not even in Homana, let alone "[his] uncle's palace."

"Your palace." For a moment he studied me solemnly, reminding me of someone else: his brother. "Do you doubt yourself? Still? I thought you had resolved all that when you decided it was time for us to turn our backs on exile."

"I did." I scraped at my beard with gloved fingers, stripping it again of the cold crystals. "Five years is long enough for any man to spend in exile, it is too long for a prince. It is time we took my throne back from that Solindish usurper."

Finn shrugged. "You will. The prophecy of the Firstborn is quite definite. You will win back the Lion Throne from Bellam and his Ihlini sorcerer, and take your place as Mujhar." He put out his gloved right hand and made an eloquent gesture: fingers spread, palm turned upward.

Tahlmorra. The Cheysuli philosophy that each man's fate rested in the hands of the gods.

1. No, he doesn't remind you of Duncan, Carillon. He hasn't raped or belittled anyone in two whole pages. This is Finn from the end of Shapechangers, when he apparently got possessed by a demon offpage that completely altered his personality from the asshole rapist.

2. That said, I rather love Finn's part here. THIS is how Tahlmorra should have been presented in Shapechangers. Finn isn't sitting back to wait for the Prophecy to happen. He recognizes that his role is to help Carillon get his throne back. At the same time, he sees no reason to get worked up about it. This is absolutely a done deal. That's how deep Finn's faith runs.

And if Shapechangers were written better, we would have a very meaningful contrast between this man and the restless, angry young hothead that we saw in Shapechangers. This transformation, this certainty, is what our characters are supposed to get from following their destinies.

Unfortunately, Shapechangers was a bullshit novel, so it reads more like a case of demon possession. (But it is rather interesting to me that in two lines, Finn demonstrates a far more vivid demonstration of Cheysuli faith and composure than Duncan ever managed in Shapechangers, for all that Duncan's the one who's supposed to have the priestly dignity.)

Then action happens, as an arrow takes out Finn's horse. Finn leaps free, and I still have a strong enough memory from Shapechangers, that I kind of hope they kill him. There are three attackers: Carillon takes out one while on horseback (while lamenting that his horse is a tiny Steppes pony rather than a Homanan warhorse). Finn takes out another, in wolf form, and he is about to kill the third when Carillon calls him back, pointing out that it's difficult to question a dead man.

It's rather interesting, because from Carillon's perspective, it seems that Finn loses some control while in wolf form. I'm not sure if that's intentional or not. Alix's experiences didn't indicate too much of a loss of self, but she never had the anger issues that Finn did. So Finn could be prone to a kind of berserker rage when attacked. On the other hand, Carillon might be letting his own prejudices influence his perspective.

Carillon questions the guy, who turns out to be Homanan rather than Ellasian. (By Carillon's surprise, I assume we're back in Ellas.) Carillon hasn't heard Homanan from anyone but Finn in five years, and generally even they only speak Ellasian or Caledonese. (...I'm presuming that'd be Welsh and Scots Gaelic?)

The guy starts going on a sob story rant about how he's got a wife and daughter, and he has no way to feed and shelter them. He lost his croft because he couldn't pay the rent. And his son died. So he couldn't resist the bounty.

You may wonder at my lack of sympathy here, but it comes out pretty quickly that Carillon wasn't the target of the attack: Finn was. Carillon would be far more valuable prey, but he looks like an ordinary man, Finn is Cheysuli.

And hey, dude. I hate Finn too, but you don't even know him. You've just decided it's worth aiding a genocide. You can fuck yourself.

And then I looked at Finn.

Like me, he was quite still. Silent. Staring. But then, slowly, he lifted his head and looked directly at me. I saw the shrinking of his pupils so that the yellow of his eyes - stood out like a beacon against the storm. Yellow eyes. Black hair. The gold that hung at his left ear, bared by the wind that blew the hair from his face- His alien, predator's face.

I looked at him with new eyes, as I had not looked at him for five years, and realized again what he was. Cheysuli.

Shapechanger. A man who took on the form of a wolf at will.

Dude. Really. You spent the entire first page commenting on his predator's face and his wolf and what kind of man has a shapechanger at his side.

It's good to know Roberson still doesn't proofread what she writes.

That said, if we HADN'T spent an entire page talking about Finn's eerie alienness, I'd like this part a lot. Because five years does breed familiarity. And the Cheysuli aren't prosecuted in Caledon.

I wonder, if Finn weren't quite so devoted to the Prophecy, would he have wanted to stay there?

Anyway, it's a bit of a blow to the ego for Carillon, who realizes that despite the fact that his head, delivered to Bellam, would be far more valuable than a Cheysuli bounty, this dude had no idea who he was. Instead, Carillon's a bit sickened, because he's realizing that his mission will be even harder than he thought. The qumahlin is still in effect, even in a ruined Homana, and he's going to need the support of both Homanans and Cheysuli if he's going to take back his kingdom.

Carillon starts pressing at the man, demanding to know what the Cheysuli did to him: did they slay his son? Take his croft? Rape his daughter?

Um. Carillon. I admit, the first time I read this book, I didn't think anything of this line. Because I hadn't read Shapechangers. You were there, dude. I wouldn't necessarily bring up "rape" here?

Anyway, Finn tells him not to bother, "You cannot straighten an ill-grown tree", Carillon starts to argue, but notices how closed off Finn's expression is. He asks instead if the man can be turned, since he's sympathetic to the guy's need, but he's not about to tolerate genocide.

...I'm not sure what I think of you advocating mind rape, Carillon. But I appreciate your commitment to being anti-genocide.

Anyway, Finn pretty clearly would rather just kill the dude, but he's a liegeman and he accepts Carillon's decision. Carillon watches and sounds a little turned on:

It shows in the eyes. I have seen it in the faces and eyes of others Finn has used his magic on. But I also saw it in Finn's eyes each time: the total immersion of his soul as he sought the gift of compulsion and used it on another.

He went away, though his body remained. That which was Finn was elsewhere; he was not-Finn. He was something less and something awesomely more.

He was not man, not beast, not god. Something—apart.

Ahem. Well. I'm glad to see your diplomatic marriage is going well, Carillon. Also, get a room.

Suddenly things go a little awry, Finn has some kind of attack and then breaks the man's neck. Carillon is aghast and offended at first, but realizes quickly that something is wrong. Finn finally comes back to himself and explains: Tynstar was somehow present in the man's mind, like a web.

...wait. How? No, bad question. But why THIS guy? Did Tynstar boobytrap every random Homanan who is having a hankering for genocide, just in case a Cheysuli decides telepathy is preferable to killing?

The qumahlin has gone on for twenty some odd years, and Homana is shattered by war. So that's a shit ton of desperate, genocidal people.

Unfortunately, Finn couldn't find out if these men were just sent to catch Cheysuli or if they also were looking for Carillon as well. Then he points out that if Tynstar is fucking with people's heads, he's going to have to be able to kill them to protect himself.

That seems reasonable. Though to be fair, for all my problems with Finn, I've never minded his inclination to kill the people who are trying to genocide him. That, in my opinion, is fair game.

Carillon has a moment of contemplation where he looks at his sword, studying the Cheysuli runes on a sword meant for a Homanan prince. He hides it again and offers Finn his horse to share, but Finn intends to go on in wolf form.

Carillon protests for a moment that Storr might be too far away, but Finn's already changing. I do find it interesting that Carillon knows enough about the weaknesses of the lir bond to argue. That's a lot of trust.

There's happy news though, Storr found them a roadhouse. There's a bit more teasing banter, where Finn notes that as a wolf, he'll be considerably quicker and warmer than Carillon himself. Carillon, rather disgruntledly, seems to agree when he sees Finn go off. And the chapter ends.

So this is Song of Homana. And already, I think it's fair to say that my memory didn't lie: this book is a vast improvement on Shapechangers. I would go so far as to say this book might be the high point in the series, because we've moved past the clumsy plotting and rape-trivializing bullshit of Shapechangers, but we're not yet to the point of the gross, cousin-fucking eugenics project that makes up the later books in the series.

That's not to say the book is perfect. There are a lot of flaws, and some very big WTF moments coming up, assuming my memory is trustworthy. And while we manage to NOT imply every Cheysuli is a rapist in this book, the narrative is still prone to Othering the Cheysuli, particularly Finn, and portraying them as animalistic and bestial.

But so far, no one's threatened anyone with rape. Carillon is not excusing genocide, and there is some nuance to his portrayal that feels right. Carillon is a white man, raised in privilege and power. And he wants to help his friend. But this is not a situation that can be fixed easily. And his friend doesn't want Carillon fighting his battles. I wish Alix's story got even this much by way of depth.

It's a good start so far. I hope the book can keep it up.

Comments

[copperfyre]

Carillon really /cannot/ keep it in his pants apparently.

I really hate how much of this is on the surface okay, but given the fact that I do actually remember Shapechangers, ends up being icky at best.

[kalinara]

That's the worst part of Shapechangers. I LIKED Song of Homana. But there's a lot of it that is so much worse when you remember what actually happened.

Shapechangers is so bad it retroactively damages the book I actually enjoyed.

[teres]

Velriset: Song of Homana! This should certainly be better than the previous one!

The description of the map was certainly nice.

I wonder... is Flight of the Raven told from third-person and A Tapestry of Lions from first-person?

Oh, Cheysuli cannot grow beards? That is interesting.

This is already a much better book... though it might be less repetitive.

I think that controlling this man's mind will only make him determined to kill Finn, so... no.

Yes, do get a room.

Finn finally comes back to himself and explains: Tynstar was somehow present in the man's mind, like a web.

If this was a trap, how did he know who to trap, and if it was not, how can he reach out this precisely, and why has he not done this before? It makes no sense! (I think I will say that quite a bit more about the villains.)

Oh, it is certainly a good start.

[kalinara]

Flight of the Raven is indeed third person. Tapestry of Lions has a split structure actually. The first part is third person and the second part is first person. But the viewpoint character is not actually Kellan.

Yeah, there's a lot about the trap link idea that makes no sense. But it is at least an attempt to add some suspense and danger to the story.

[teres]

Velriset: Oh, there certainly is. It is a better showing than anything in the first book, at least.

Well, then I will look forward to those books!