Has anyone else read the
Acacia trilogy (
The War with the Mein,
The Other Lands,
The Sacred Band) by David Anthony Durham? I read it this summer/autumn and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Durham follows, in a way, in George R.R. Martin's footsteps: epic high fantasy peppered with sometimes ugly realism and a world where nothing is black-and-white.
I was fascinated with Durham's frequent balancing between traditional fantasy clichés and more unconventional ideas - the first book is a story of the old emperor's four children, two girls and two boys, all of whom have a different destiny when their father is assassinated and they have to regain the throne. Yawn? Well then, what if I told you the empire was founded on slave trade and drugging their own people with an opium-like substance? Much more intriguing, says I. Durham's world is populated with humans and it has a very historical feel. There are fantasy creatures, but they are either just animals that don't exist in our world, or then monsters created by misuse of magic. Magic itself is rare but it does play a key role in the trilogy, as do human souls and boundaries between life and death.
It was also very nice to read basic entertaining high fantasy which is not a tad sexist (the female characters are just as important and active as the male characters, and none of them fall into the marysue category, or maybe a few, but the male characters are just as garysues!), has homosexual heros and heroines as well as stuff like communists opposing the monarchy (!!! that was totally unexpected and funny, and they were not any better or worse people than the main guys) and preaches co-operation, tolerance and trust in other people over other things (okay, to be fair, these are pretty common themes/values in fantasy, but it still makes me happy).
All in all, Durham writes more contemporary, liberal and realistic fantasy than many fantasy authors who seem still to live a bit in the past and harbor some sort of macho hero mythology. It doesn't prevent him from writing an intriguing and entertaining traditional epic fantasy plot (his twists and turns kept surprising me all the time) and having wonderful heroes you can root for and baddies you can dislike with all your heart. Also, Durham's world seems pretty real and thoroughly built, which is always cool.
I had a few grievances with the books too, but all in all I was impressed. I would warmly recommend the
Acacia trilogy to anyone who wants something refreshing and a bit but not too much different in their epic fantasy diet. (And apparently I'm not alone in my appreciation - I heard that Durham's sales went up when George R.R. Martin praised him recently. So all Martin fans, here's something you might want to try.
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