Subject: Review of _Silverhand_ by Llywelyn and Scott

From: Noctua <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 16:48:19 GMT

_SILVERHAND_ 
                 by Morgan Llywelyn and Michael Scott.
                       Reviewed by Maura McHugh

I have read books written by Morgan Llywelyn and Michael Scott separately
before, and liked them, so it was with great interest that I approached
their first fantasy collaboration - _Silverhand_.  Warning, for all you
people who hate serial fantasy: this is the first in a three book series
collectively called _The Arcana_

_Silverhand_ is set in the troubled land of the seven nations, where the
laws of nature are increasingly breaking down - more and more mutations
such as the Madra Alta (werewolves) are occurring.  The main character is
Caeled, initially a young boy whose mother was a thief.  At the beginning
of the story he witnesses the destruction of the small hamlet he and is
mother are living in by a Void - a vortex of energy which destroys
everything it touches.  He is the only survivor and when he leaves the
town he encounters Armadiel, a Seeker from Baddalaur who protects him from
a roving gang of Madra Alta.  Not before Caeled loses his hand to one of
the werewolves.  Unknown to Caeled, the Seekers at Baddalaur (a
bardic-style College) have predicted Caeled's coming as the Silverhand, he
who will save the land from the chaos that is slowly consuming it.  The
main antagonists in the story are the Duet - twin brother and sister who
rule one of the nations and have plans for the conquest of the rest.  They
practise a perverted sex magic and have been creating and controlling the
Voids in order to destroy whoever or whatever they want.

This is a well-paced and tautly written novel which has enough new
concepts and strange twists in its fantasy environment so that the reader
does not think this is just "more of the same".  One thing that struck me
was that Llywelyn and Scott conjured up a very _gritty_ world.  In this
world the reader gets the sense of the very real hardship of peasant life
(no happy shepherds gambolling under sunny skies), and the utter nastiness
of violence and fighting.  Nothing is glossed over to look pretty, the
reader gets to see all the horrible details of battle.  And, this is a
rather depraved world.  Nature is breaking down (helped by the breeding
programmes of the Duet) and this is reflected in many of the encounters
that Caeled has throughout the book.  

Caeled himself is a well developed character, growing from a curious boy
to a well trained Scholar and warrior.  However, this is not a one
character story.  There are numerous other characters - such as the Stone
Warrior and a Vampire - who also feature in the storyline.  Even the
characters who are only glimpsed briefly glow with life.  Thankfully,
Llywelyn and Scott have not fallen into the common fantasy trap of making
the female characters either insipid or dependent - they are all very
believable.  The villains are also interesting - the Duet are both
beautiful and deadly, and utterly cold. 

Personally, I am looking forward to the next book and I would recommend
_Silverhand_ to anyone who is looking for a fantasy novel which is cut
above the average.  Rush out and buy it now, you won't be disappointed.

%A      Llywelyn, Morgan & Scott, Michael 
%T      Silverhand
%I      Baen Books
%C      New York
%D      1995
%G      ISBN 0-671-87652
%P      405pp
%O      hardback, US$22.00, CA$29.00

Maura McHugh
[email-masked]

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"What is written without effort is read without pleasure."
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