Subject: Review -- Chronicles of the Cheysuli by Jennifer Roberson

From: Doug Ingram <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 1994 01:31:58 GMT

Chronicles of the Cheysuli
                          by Jennifer Roberson
		
                 Review copyright (c) 1994 by Doug Ingram

	The Chronicles of the Cheysuli is an 8-book series started
in 1984 (and originally intended as one, then three, books) and
finished in 1992.  The series takes place in a fantasy world consisting
of three major races:  humans, Cheysuli and Ihlini.  The Cheysuli
are distinguished by their ability to bond with a given animal during
the course of their lives...the particular animals for bonding, known
as lir, are specifically created by the gods at birth for each
individual Cheysuli.  The Cheysuli's "coming of age" involves 
seeking out this lir and forming a bond with it that enables a
form of telepathic communication with the lir as well as the ability
by the Cheysuli to change shape into the shape of their lir.  The
lir bond is so strong that if the lir dies, the Cheysuli usually
commits ritual suicide.

	The Ihlini are a race that is endowed with a special
talent for wizardry.  They have the ability to cast spells using
drawn runes, and they either follow a dark god, called the Seker,
or they follow the same gods as the Cheysuli follow.  The two
magical races are related in some way that is unclear to them
from long ago, and the two races, each in the presence of the
other, have the ability to cancel each other's special abilities.
In addition, the Cheysuli's lir have been commanded by the gods
never to interfere when the two races fight.  The reasons for this
and the specific relationship between the lir and the gods is
disappointingly (to me) never revealed, even at the end.

	The major action in this series takes place in the two
major realms of the land known as Homana and Solinde.  Homana is
known to have a rich tradition of Cheysuli, while Solinde has an
Ihlini tradition.  Long ago in the history of this world, there
was a special race, called the Firstborn, which somehow became
extinct through too much inbreeding (it is never quite clear) and
the two races, Cheysuli and Ihlini, are their descendants.  The
Cheysuli have a prophecy, however, that if a person is ever born
with the blood of both Cheysuli and Ihlini and the blood of four
different realms (there are six other realms in this world other
than Homana and Solinde), then the Firstborn will return, which is
the wish of the gods.

	The series begins by following the adventures of a woman 
named Alix, who believes herself to be a simple farmer's daughter
wanting to have an affair with the prince of Homana, Carillon.
She soon discovers, however, that she is the daughter of a couple
who, thanks to their elopement, drove the king of Homana to declare
a holy war on all Cheysuli (since he thought a Cheysuli man had 
kidnapped his royal human daughter, and there was and is already
racism present between humans and Cheysuli).  In addition, she has
a bloodline linking her back to the Firstborn directly and is
wanted by the Cheysuli to both give birth to a new Cheysuli prince
with the prophetically required blood.

	The first three books of the series involve the adventures
of Alix, Carillon and some of the Cheysuli who are both trying to
help them win a war against Solinde while also trying to stop the
holy war declared by the king against them.  Working against the
completion of the prophecy are the Ihlini who follow the Seker
(the dark god), led by Tynstar.  These Ihlini believe completion
of the prophecy will destroy their race.

	By the end of the first three books, the prophecy is still
on track, despite repeated efforts by the Ihlini to foil it by killing
those involved in the birthlines.  The next five books essentially
involve the continuation of the wars between the descendants of
Tynstar and the descendants of Alix.  In addition, as the series
continues, some Cheysuli are encouraged to fight against the prophecy,
either because a given bloodline wants the throne for themselves
or because they believe like some Ihlini that the fulfillment of
this prophecy will result in the loss of their magical powers as well.
The gods eventually appear to one particular Cheysuli and try to
explain their motivations.  All the while, the Cheysuli, whether they
understand why or not, continue to follow their "tahlmorra" (or fated
destiny) and work toward the completion of the prophecy.

	In my summary of this series, I have repeatedly mentioned
the importance of the prophecy in guiding the lives of the Cheysuli.
The Belgariad (and Malloreon) is another series that uses this 
device, but the two approaches are quite different.  Here, the 
prophecy is simply used as a driving motivation for the characters.
No specific predictions are made about exactly how this prophecy
will eventually come to pass or when.  In fact, it is interpreted
in different ways by different people, which is a major focus of
contention in the books.  Unlike the Belgariad, the prophecy simply
remains in the background as something the Cheysuli are striving
for but may never complete.

	In the first three books, the focus is clearly on the conflict
between Carillon and Tynstar, with Alix and the rest of the Cheysuli
leaders (such as Finn and Duncan) left somewhat in the background,
although very important.  At the end of the third book, one is left
with a sense of resolution, but Roberson leaves enough of an opening
for later books.  It is unfortunate, I think, that she spent her
talents on five more books that essentially retold new generations
of the same story.  The original story is a good one, despite some
major flaws.

	Overall, the plot moves very fast...100 years of quite complex
history is covered in eight books.  At times, there are sudden jumps,
such as from the decision in a conference room to go to war followed
by a heat-of-the-battle scene on the very next page.  Roberson draws
a fine line between a fast-paced plot and a sense of disjointedness.
I enjoyed how fast things moved along so that there were always new
things happening, and the plot had a very unpredictable element about
it, especially for the first few books.  I never knew when a major 
confrontation would take place, and I almost never could guess the 
outcome beforehand (not that I tried, but in retrospect, I was pleasantly
surprised by most plot twists).

	Another major feature of the writing style is the violence.
I'm not sure why it is, but Roberson's violent scenes were sometimes
almost too graphic.  Maybe it is because they were so few and far
between, and maybe it was just because of the ruthlessness displayed
by some of the Ihlini despite their seeming willingness to reasonably
and rationally explain their motives (racial self-preservation, often
mirroring their plight to that of Cheysuli under the old king's
holy war).  Or maybe it is just that Roberson does a very good job
of making the reader empathize with a powerless Cheysuli in the face
of a strong Ihlini wizard.

	Also, Roberson switched between first and third person a few
times during the series.  I actually found this rather refreshing since
she gave us strong characterizations and viewpoints from a variety of
characters.  It was a nice change of pace in a long series, and I 
think it is a good indication that Roberson has a lot of talent.

	Some of the flaws, though, were distracting.  The major problem
I had with this series was what I call the "Batman complex".  You
remember the old TV series where the Joker or the Riddler or the Penguin
or whoever would put Batman into one of those death-traps, gloat for
a while, then leave, only to find the following week that, despite all
the odds, Batman somehow escaped.  Why wouldn't they learn after a
while and just shoot the guy?!?

	The Chronicles have this same problem.  On the one hand, the
Ihlini believe so passionately in the preservation of their race at
the cost of the fulfillment of the prophecy that these Ihlini are
ready to slaughter hundreds of Cheysuli.  On the other hand, when the
only link remaining in the prophetic chain is sitting right in the
palm of the head wizard's hand, the guy basically says, "Well, you
are so pathetic and hopeless that I'm just going to let you go and
watch you suffer."  Only to find that somehow, against all odds, the
hero ends up coming back and killing the head wizard.  This bugged me
a little bit the first time, but by the third or fourth time, it was
downright annoying.  I wish Roberson had not provided us with confronta-
tions between the major antagonists if she couldn't provide a satisfactory
resolution.

	Another problem was the inconsistency in the cancelling out
of magical powers between Ihlini and Cheysuli.  Sometimes it seems
to work, and sometimes not.  The blood of the Firstborn being immune
to this effect could perhaps be used to explain some of these cases,
but not all.  In addition, Roberson goes on and on about the legendary
fighting strength of the Cheysuli in the first few books, only to later
have hundreds of them slaughtered at the hands of a band of Ihlini.

	The characterization is fairly strong in the first few books.
I came away with an excellent image of what Alix, Carillon, Finn
and Duncan were like.  Later books, however, seemed to define 
characters only by their quirks (or lack of them) for the most part.
There were just too many family members who were potential links
in the prophecy for Roberson to follow.  Perhaps in order to keep
the reader guessing, she gave equal time to a lot of different
characters in subplots that eventually turned out to be dead ends.
That's fine as long as the subplots are interesting, but it is
not the stuff of a classic series.  It is, rather, a sign that a
series has gone on too long.

	And that is really my chief criticism of the Chronicles.  It
is a great idea for three books.  The writing style, plot elements,
characters, etc. are all innovative and interesting.  Had she quit
there, she would have had a classic fantasy trilogy that might even
be more accessible today than it is (the length of 8 books IS somewhat
daunting and will probably prevent many from buying these books when
they might take a chance on a trilogy with a good recommendation).
Unfortunately, the Chronicles didn't die.  And I'm not saying they
were bad for the last five books.  They just weren't that good.

	And I know from the first three books that Roberson is a very
talented writer.  I look forward to future non-Cheysuli stories from her.
In the meantime, I would recommend buying the first three books of
this series if you can find them (I found them at a used bookstore).
If you really like them, go on to the later books, but realize going
in that you can get a satisfying and well-written story by just 
pretending this is a trilogy.

Doug Ingram -- [email-masked] // "Carpe Datum."
  More reviews:  http://www.astro.washington.edu/ingram/books.html

%A Roberson, Jennifer
%T Shapechangers
%I DAW Fantasy
%C New York
%D 1984
%G ISBN 0-88677-140-4
%S Chronicles of the Cheysuli

%A Roberson, Jennifer
%T The Song of Homana
%I DAW Fantasy
%C New York
%D 1985
%G ISBN 0-88677-317-2
%S Chronicles of the Cheysuli

%A Roberson, Jennifer
%T Legacy of the Sword
%I DAW Fantasy
%C New York
%D 1986
%G ISBN 0-88677-316-4
%S Chronicles of the Cheysuli

%A Roberson, Jennifer
%T Track of the White Wolf
%I DAW Fantasy
%C New York
%D 1987
%G ISBN 0-88677-193-5
%S Chronicles of the Cheysuli

%A Roberson, Jennifer
%T A Pride of Princes
%I DAW Fantasy
%C New York
%D 1988
%G ISBN 0-88677-261-3
%S Chronicles of the Cheysuli

%A Roberson, Jennifer
%T Daughter of the Lion
%I DAW Fantasy
%C New York
%D 1989
%G ISBN 0-88677-324-5
%S Chronicles of the Cheysuli

%A Roberson, Jennifer
%T Flight of the Raven
%I DAW Fantasy
%C New York
%D 1990
%G ISBN 0-88677-422-5
%S Chronicles of the Cheysuli

%A Roberson, Jennifer
%T A Tapestry of Lions
%I DAW Fantasy
%C New York
%D 1992
%G ISBN 0-88677-524-8
%S Chronicles of the Cheysuli