Lost Burgundy (Ash #4) - Mary Gentle

1999; 330 pages.  Book #4 in the "Ash - A Secret History" series.  Genre : Fantasy.  New Author? : No.  Rating : 9*/10.

    Oh, Ash.  You and your band of mercenaries are holed up in 15th-century Dijon.  Actually, you command all the forces there, about 2,000 fighters all told.  Unfortunately, there are 15,000 Visigoths besieging you. 

    They have catapults, Greek fire, and giant stone Golems that are nearly indestructible.  You don't.  They have food; you don't.  They have reinforcements on the way; the northern armies you were counting on have been annihilated, with their leaders' severed heads tossed on your doorstep.  The author has made it clear - there will be no deus ex machina.  Whatcha gonna do, Ash?

What's To Like...
The siege has been going on since 1/3 of the way through Book #3.  A lot of Book #4 is more of the same.  Mary Gentle keeps it interesting, even though Ash is at her best when she's hacking and slashing, not hunkering down behind city walls.

    The Alt-History is realistic and fascinating.  Mithraism is a major religion.  The Turkish Saracens come off as un-stereotypically noble-minded.  Ms. Gentle even deftly weaves the modern-day issue of gays in the military into the storyline.  The constant detailing of every weapon and piece of armor may be off-putting to some, but I thought it enhanced the believability of the novel.

Kewlest New Word...
Grotty : very unpleasant or miserable.  A corruption of "grotesque".

Excerpts...
    I think that I had almost come to believe in Vaughan Davies's theory out of sheer desperation - that there actually has been a 'first history' of the world, which was wiped out in some fashion, and that we now inhabit a 'second history', into which bits of the first have somehow survived.  That Ash's history was first genuine, and has now been - fading, if you like - to Romance, to a cycle of legends.  (pg. 783)

    White showed in his priest-cropped hair, as well as his beard.  He reached for his Briar Cross with his free hand; large, capable, and scarred.  A workman's hand.  His eyes were dark as the sow's, and each detail of his face was clear to her, as if she had not seen him for months and now he suddenly was before her.
    "You think you'll always remember the face," Ash whispered, "but it's the first thing to go."
    -You think there will always be time.
     "You try to fix it in your mind..."  Ash stirred, on the mattress.  Like water sinking through sand, the clear dream of Godfrey Maximillian in the snow sank away.  She tried to hold it; felt it sliding from her mind.  (pg. 984)

"You hunted a myth.  I made it real."  (pg. 780)
    Burgundy Lost is Book #4 of the Ash Chronicles, but I never did find it.  Instead I came across a copy of the British edition, which is a 1200-page, all-in-one tome.  The page numbers in the Excerpts reflect that, as does the book cover image.  British readers apparently have longer attention spans than us Yanks.

    The pacing is a bit uneven.  Book #3 covers only two days, and a large chunk of Book #4 stalls on Christmas Day, 1476.  There is a second storyline, the present day, told via e-mails.  A lot of people didn't like this, but I found it to be an effective set of entr' actes, nicely separating the chapters.

    Then there's the ending.  What a fantastic way of wrapping up an epic!  This is a spoiler-free blog, so we'll refrain from giving details.  But it truly is an innovative resolution of what to do with our doomed heroine.

    You can call this series (or 'this book' if you're reading it in England) Alt-History, or Historical Fiction, or just plain, old Fantasy.  It excels in all genres.  9 Stars, and that applies to both Burgundy Lost and the series as a whole.

The Wild Machines - Mary Gentle

2000; 391 pages.  Genre : Historical Fantasy.  New Author? : No.  Book #3 in the "Book of Ash" series.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

   Book 2 in the series closed with half of Ash's mercenaries (a couple hundred all told) journeying to Carthage and rescuing her.  Book 3 opens with them now just outside Dijon, trying to join up with the rest of her force.

    The bad news is that there are 20,000 Visigoths besieging Dijon.  The badder news is Charles, Duke of Burgundy, lies within, mortally wounded.  Upon his death, the city's defense will surely crumble.  The baddest news is the Visigoths are led by Ash's twin half-sister (is that an oxymoron?), The Faris, and she is militarily invincible.

What's To Like...
    As always, Mary Gentle paints a realistic picture of a soldier's life in 15th-Century Europe.  It's gritty; it's bleak; and the best you can hope for is to die quickly and cleanly.  The characters are well-developed and interesting; and the Alternate History is believable.

    The first 300 pages focus on the siege, with Ash and company trapped inside Dijon.  There are occasional assaults by the Visigoths, but mostly we sit around waiting, and discussing all the equally bleak options.  That's probably how it is during a siege, and it can be a bit tedious.

    The last 100 pages are all action, and there's a neat and unexpected ending to The Wild Machines, despite the fact that this is actually one humongous book chopped up into quarters for us attention-span-challenged US readers.

Kewlest New Word...
Meretricious : apparently attractive but having in reality no value.  Here, a meretricious proverb.

Excerpts...
    "Everything they ever said about mercenaries is true!  We're nothing but a bunch of horse thieves!"
    "Takes talent to be a good horse thief," Euen Huw remarked professionally, and flushed.  "Not that I'd know, see."  (pg. 144)

    "We'll get you another warhorse," Anselm said, appearing at a loss when she did not speak.  "Shouldn't have to lay out more than a couple of pounds.  There's been enough dead knights won't need 'em anymore."
    "Jeez, Roberto, you're an ever-present trouble in time of help..."  (pg. 165)

    "How long it is, since last you spoke to me?"
    "Minutes... Not even an hour."
    "I cannot tell, child.  Time is nothing where I am.  I read once in Aquinas that the duration of the soul in Hell may only be a heartbeat, but to the damned it is eternity."  (pg. 260)

"You can't hide anything from the washerwoman.  Courage is brown." (pg. 297)
    The total time elapsed in The Wild Machines is three days.  Given that it's a quarter of the total opus, one certainly hopes that some it contains some significant events, but we won't know until we read Book 4.

    Mary Gentle is a skilled writer who kept my interest throughout the long siege in this book.  The storyline is complex, and there are enough characters and subplots to make me look forward to reading the next (sub)-book, Lost Burgindy, to see how she's going to tie everything up.  Stay tuned.  8 Stars.

Grunts - Mary Gentle

1992; 480 pages. Genre : High Fantasy; Parody. New Author? : No. Overall Rating : 7½*/10.

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Sing along now. "Orcs! HUNH! What are they good for? Absolutely nothing!"

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Well not quite. They're good for cannon-fodder in Good-vs.-Evil battles. A bunch of big, hybrid, stupid, mean-tempered hamburger meat for elves, dwarves, and other good guys to use for target practice. Exceedingly expendable. Expected to last for one battle only.

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But what if orcs got tired of all that? What if circumstances turned them into a squad of highly-trained US marines, with AK-47's, bazookas, stealth jets, and tanks? How would they then fare against the Forces of Light? That's what Mary Gentle examines in Grunts!

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What's To Like...

Grunts! takes a playful poke at all those epic fantasies we've read, enjoyed, and gotten tired of for having the same old plotline. There are elves and halflings, Aes Sedai, and secret "finger-talking" (from - I think - some David Eddings series that I now only vaguely recall). There's a dragon to be slain, mages with spells, and even a Balrog and a Gandalf knock-off.

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But things aren't as usual. The elves are bigoted; the orcs are tired of gettng killed; and the halflings are positively nasty. The Evil Lord wants to win - but via the electoral process.

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To me, Grunts! had the feel like a well-run D&D quest or a Warhammer campaign. There was lots of action, a goodly amount of humor, and enough twists to keep you wondering which sacred cow Ms. Gentle would slay next. But keep in mind that war in general, and orcs in particular, are brutal and merciless. The language is coarse, and the violence is profuse and graphic. This is not a book for the kiddies.

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Excerpts...

The orc encampment steamed gently in the sunshine.

Barashkukor, leaning scabby elbows on the parapet of the Nin-Edin fort, gazed down from the mountainside at a wilderness only the vultures could love. He tilted his dented helmet back on his head. "So what do you get if you cut the legs off a warrior?"

Marukka gave a baritone chuckle, waving her jagged sword in the air for emphasis. "A low-down bum!" (pg. 16)

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"You don't like elves, do you, orc - I mean, gunnery Sergeant?"

"Me?" The orc grinned and shrugged, massive shoulders rising almost to her pricked ears. "Man, I just love elf! You can't beat roast and basted elf-haunch. Unless it's breast-of-elf with chilli peppers." (pg. 243)

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The Dark Lord surveyed the benches to left and right of the Throne. Her delicate profile turned to Ashnak. "Shall I preside well, do you think, little orc? This power has been so long in the achieving, I think I have forgotten what it was I would do with it."

"Buck up, Ma'am!" Ashnak removed his forage cap, coming solidly to attention. "You just do what every other Ruler of the World's done and You'll be all right - reward a few, hang a few, and tax everything that moves." (pgs. 448-449)

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A sucking chest wound is Nature's way of telling you to stay out of a firefight. (pg. 322)

My impression is that this was not a serious literary effort by Mary Gentle. The plot is a tad disjointed - the orc-transformation is glossed over, and a human from our dimension gets sucked into the story for little discernible reason. A little bit of re-write might've tightenend things up considerably.

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But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy Grunts! It entertained me throughout, as the Ash series is likewise doing. It is not for the prudish or those who deem Tolkien to be sacrosanct. But if you loved those "off-beat" D&D quests, or just want to see the Orcs come out on the winning side for once, Grunts! is for you. 7½ Stars.

Carthage Ascendant - Mary Gentle

2000; 422 pages. #2 in the "Book of Ash" series. New Author? : No. Genre : Alt-History; Historical Fantasy. Overall Rating : 7½*/10.

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It is August 1476, and the Visigoth armies of Carthage are overwhelming Europe. Burgundy stands defiant (and virtually alone) against their leader, known as The Faris, who gets her unbeatable battle tactics from a computer back in Carthage. Ash wants to lead a raid there, but is turned down.

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Ah, but be careful what you wish for. Because the Visigoths capture Ash, and take her to Carthage. Convenient, eh? Not if you're a condemned prisoner with only two days to live. And it will be Death-by-Vivisection, no less.

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What's To Like...

It's Carthage, and they're kicking tush. Hamilcar likes that. So what if they're the bad guys? As with the first book (see review here), Mary Gentle's descriptions of the battles, the cities, and everyday 15th-century life are realistic and vividly detailed.

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Ash's scoudrel husband again shows up, and seems to be turning from black to gray. Ash herself is evolving too. Always the conquering hero in the past, she now finds herself "on the other foot", vanquished and doomed.

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As with the first book, there are dual storylines, and as before, this is an R-Rated book; definitely not one for the Alt-History-loving kiddies. Also, this is not a stand-alone book, although the author does give a 1-page backstory at the start.

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Kewl New Words...

Asperity : something hard to endure. Heirophantic (sic) : relating to the position of chief priest. Liminal : barely perceptible. (I guess I cooda figured that out from 'subliminal'). Voluble : marked by a ready flow of speech.

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Excerpts...

"Why is it," Ash said under her breath, "that when the brown and sticky hits the fan, I'm always standing real close by?"

Thomas Rochester shrugged. "Just lucky, boss, I guess..." (pg. 52)

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As I have written elsewhere, it is my contention now that the Burgundy of which the 'Ash' biographers tell us did not vanish. It became transformed. The mountainous landscape of the past shifted, and when the earthquake was done, the nameless fragments of her story had alighted in other, different places - in the story of Joan of Arc; of Bosworth Field; the legends of Arthurian chivalry, and the travail of the Chapel Perilous. She has become myth, and Burgundy with her; and yet, these faint traces remain. (pg. 332)

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Carthage, ancient city, victor over the Romans... (pg. 399)

Carthage Ascendant is well-written, and has lots of action, but not much progress. The total time that passes is less than a month. It does give you a lot of answers as to how the stone golems and computer-like machine came to be, and why the Visigoths are resolved to conquer the world.

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There is no real conclusion at the end of the book. In fairness, Mary Gentle never wanted this to be a 4-book series. In the UK, it is a single-volume 1120-page opus. Wowza.

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Despite being a "middle book", Carthage Ascendant maintained my interest, so 7½ stars. Nevertheless, I am glad I'm reading this saga in 400-page chunks instead of all at once. The downside is that, although Book #3 is on my TBR shelf, I've yet to locate the grand finale, Book #4.

The Book of Ash, Volume 1 - Mary Gentle

1999; 424 pages. New Author? : Yes. Full Title : A Secret History, The Book of Ash, #1. Genres : Alt-History, Sci-Fi, Historical Fiction, Fantasy. Overall Rating : 8½/10.

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Europe in the mid-15th century is a turmoil-embroiled, crappy place to live. A hodgepodge of small kingdoms and duchies vie for power, and mercenary armies roam the countryside looking for employment.

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One of the mercenary bands is led by Ash. Now in her late teens, she killed her first two men (with just cause) when she was eight. Guided by a voice in her head, she excels in battle tactics. It is challenging to keep her army fed and paid, yet so far she's managed to do it. But there is a great dark force surging northward out of Africa, the like of which Europe has never before seen.

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What's To Like...

There are two storylines here - one in the present; the other in the 1470's. The present-day one is given as a series of e-mails between a historian and his publisher. He is in the process of translating a newly-discovered manuscript about Ash, and the 1470's timeline is in effect his translation. This allows Gentle to use some modern, anachronistic words, especially when it comes to cussing.

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The first quarter of the book is historical fiction, and is well done. You can feel the grit and grime, and see the soldiers in their armor, which they have to work at constantly to keep it from rusting. However, around page 135, golems and dwarves and Visigoths show up, and you realize you're not in Kansas anymore. It's a different world, one where Carthage is still a force, and Mithraism exists right alongside Christianity.

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There is a lot of cussing, and some savagery and ravagery. The coarse language seemed a bit strange coming from a female author, and some readers found it off-putting. Personally, I thought it enhanced the realism.

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Kewl New Words...

I'm skipping a bunch of technical terms about armor, etc. Gormless : lacking intelligence. Farrago : a motley assortment of things. Bolshie : radical, left-wing (here, an anachronism). Chine : a ridge or crest. Wattle : sticks and poles intertwined with twigs and branches, and used for walls and fences. Frowsty : musty, stale-smelling. Fug : a smoky, smelly atmosphere. Chiaroscuro : an artistic effect characterized by strong, light & dark contrasts of a single color. (Wiki it). Pantler : a servant in charge of the pantry of a large household. Dagged : having a pointed flap along the edge of a medieval garment. Attainted : disgraced, having a stigma (a legal term).

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Excerpts...

Godfrey must have read something of this on her face. He said to Constanza del Guiz, "Sorry to be so unkempt, my lady. I've been riding from Neuss. Captain Ash's men need her advice on several things, quite urgently."

"Oh." The old woman's surprise was frank and genuine. "Do they need her? I thought she was a figurehead for them. I would have imagined that a band of soldiers functions more smoothly when women are not there."

Ash opened her mouth and the younger serving women whipped a light linen veil over her face.

Godfrey Maximillian looked up from inadvertently shaking his muddy cloak over the tailor's bales of cloth. "Soldiers don't function with a figurehead in charge, my lady. Certainly they don't raise over a thousand men successfully for three years running and have most of the German principalities bidding for their services." (pg. 85)

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"The heavens are out of order..." Godfrey Maximillian did not stop pacing. There was a book in his hands, illuminated in red and blue; Ash might have made the text out with enough time to spell it letter by letter; he paused by one of the candles and flicked from page to page with a rapidity that both impressed her and filled her with contempt for a man who had no better use for his time than to learn to read. He did not even read aloud. (pgs. 231-232)

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Don't count your castles before they're stormed. (pg. 249)

This is Book 1 in a 4-part series. It was originally published in the UK as a mammoth 1,133-page single volume. Apparently the publishers think we Americans suffer from ADD. That's ridicu... oh look! A spider!

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Now where was I? Oh yeah. I found this to be a great start to a monumental story. It's only problem was that the book ended abruptly, which I presume is due to the US publishers breaking up the huge, single story into four equal parts. If you like the genres listed above, and if you're okay with some cusswords and coarseness (Make lust! Not love!), you will find this to be a good read. 8½ stars.