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Inda (A book that SUCKS!)

author: Sherwood Smith
book published: 2006
Rating: 2

The first thing I have to say about this novel is that it is very much the first in a series. Absolutely nothing was resolved in the end. Nothing at all. In fact, there wasn't much of a story either, which is quite a challenge for over 500 pages.

Here's the rub: I still want to read the next one in the series. A cast of hundreds of points of view, a meandering plot that seemed to jump forward at a ridiculous pace, then slow down just as fast, as if the entire novel is one giant montage. Worked for the movie Fight Club, but does not work here.

Still, I don't want to, but I'm actually considering spending my hard earned dollars on the next in this abyssmal series, which is probably a testament to the author's particular skills.

How can I sum this up for you? There are approximately five novels in here, all summarized wonderfully, but losing their power in the summary. I don't want to spoil it for you, because I am definitely recommending this for hard-core fantasy readers, who often read so much and so fast that this novel/series would be perfect for them. Let's just say that it feels like Sherwood Smith started a novel, got bored with it, and hit the fast-forward button on her word-processor to get to the next section.

I guess that would be fine, if it weren't for the fact that the author never actually settles on a story to tell. We just keep pinging all over the place, to the effect that we, as readers, are never truly invested in what's going on in the story, and simply keep reading to see what happens next. Sherwood tries to build suspense, but I have a hard time caring because the characters have not had time to evolve in my mind, and therefore I really don't give a shit that they're in danger.

I think I've made my point, so let's move on to craft, something that makes or breaks a review for me.

As far as I can tell, Sherwood Smith has never been trained to write. At a sentence level, it's obvious that Smith is quite enamored with language, and likes to throw in volumously poetic phrases to end chapters or sections using some sort of a literary bang. But it's a gimmick: the blatant attempt at manipulation is insulting to mean. I more often roll my eyes than say, "How perfect." That's what should be the author's principle concern: not what sounds pleasant or is neat, but what fits the story. And the story is so completely barebones that these literary indulgences seem completely out of place, like Paris fashions at a PTA meeting. I stole that from a commercial.

The world does not really hold together, with its unexplainedly accepting sexual mores, its strange equality amonst the sexes. I admit that it is a refreshing change from the unremittingly masculine fantasy of most spec-fic, but it's just so polished and pretty that's it's almost passive-aggressive. The internal and external politics are less than intuitive, and constantly bashed over the reader's head. I'll let you decide on that one.

Let me reiterate the fact that NOTHING IS EVER AT STAKE. The main character(s) goals are constantly thwarted, but only as plotpoints. Inda never fails, never has to learn from his failures, is always perfect from his extreme youth through his teens. He just always succeeds. For God's sake, Horatio Hornblower suffered less success in his own storied career.

What saves this novel from the dismal depths of a 1 is the simple fact that, despite hating the book and never being able to read it for even the short train ride from my work to my house, I still want to find out what happens next. I must be a little masochistic. Read this if you read quickly and voraciously, as it passes the time. Bear in mind, it's definitely a book for teenagers.

2 out of 6