Disclosure: I only read the first 40 pages.
So. We have yet another modern epic fantasy novel being compared to GRR Martin’s work, so I jumped at it. And I jumped off again pretty quickly. The major issue here, for me, was the writing style. It combined the heavy-handed omniscient narration of Tolkien with the dry political reporting of the BBC. Yeah.
This is David Anthony Durham’s Acacia.
So there is lots of text telling you about the history of this and the background of that and the mining rights and the fencing styles and the blah blah blah. Each chapter follows a different character, sort of. There was so much exposition crammed in between the scraps of dialog that it was hard to remember who was supposed to be center stage. Yeah.
Frankly, I just want some characters I can enjoy following around. Some people I can get to know, heroes to root for, villains to hate, that sort of thing. Martin does it. Abercrombie does it. Maybe Durham gets around to it later, after he’s done stage-setting. The glimpses of character that we get up front here are so stereotypical and detached from plot or conflict that there was nothing for me to hold on to.
Oh, but I did pick up on one thing. Civilization is under threat of invasion from a bunch of wild savages from the distant north. Yeah. Gosh. Did these guys all get together at some point and decide that all fantasy kingdoms must be under siege from northern brutes? Couldn’t be religious folks from the east or technological folks from the south or obese folks from the west. Nope. No variations allowed, apparently.
So that’s that.
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