Publisher:
Tor
Date:
2006
Size:
424 Pages
Format:
Paperback
Price:
£6.99
ISBN:
978-0-330-42691-6
Reviews & Overviews by Rod Cameron
Publisher: |
Tor |
|
Date: |
2006 |
|
Size: |
424 Pages |
|
Format: |
Paperback |
|
Price: |
£6.99 |
|
ISBN: |
978-0-330-42691-6 |
|
Reviewed by: |
Rod Cameron |
|
Review Date: |
March 2007 |
Darkland is Liz Smith’s sixth novel. What style or genre the first five are about I can only guess as I haven’t come across her work before. Perhaps there is a clue in Darkland’s dedication in that she thanks Tanith (Lee) for all of her books. Darkland is a magnificent, dark and complex space opera set on three planets. Initially, each chapter concerns a different very disparate character on a different world. But the threads do come together by the end of the book.
In the far future, mankind has spread among the stars and taken advantage of a knowledge of genetic engineering to tinker with humanity and the local fauna, before forgetting how to do it. The heroine, Vali Hallsdottir lives on the planet Muspell where she is an assassin for an organisation known as the Skald, which uses telepathic powers. At the start of the book she has been sent to a desert planet of Nhem to kill the head of the patriarchal totalitarian regime who are trying to breed a race of mindless women. She is swiftly betrayed by her mission partner, and spends a large chunk of the story trying to track him down. Her travels take her to the planet of Mondhile where she locates her errant partner.
By the end of the book, a number of questions have been answered, but there are even more that remain open for a sequel to consider.
As a male, I found the character of Vali difficult to assimilate as one of her most formative experiences was being raped at an early age by her brother. However this did give an insight into how corrosive and destructive this experience could be. There is very much a female agenda in this book. In fact, I am not sure that some of the ideas could be comfortably raised by a male author. Please don’t misunderstand, I am not complaining, I am just trying to explain that the ideas and plots are very (and refreshingly) different from some more mainstream books. I enjoyed Darkland very much and am looking forward to reading the sequel Bloodmind which is out now in Trade Paperback.