Subject: Review: Stableford's _Serpent's Blood_

From: [email-masked] (Paul S Jenkins)
Date: 22 Jun 1998 15:52:53 -0400

_Serpent's Blood_ by Brian Stableford
	A Review by Paul S. Jenkins
	Review Copyright 1998 Paul S. Jenkins

_Serpent's Blood_ is the first in Stableford's _Genesys_ trilogy, the
others being _Salamander's Fire_ and _Chimera's Cradle_. It introduces us
to the main character, Andris Myrasol, a one-time prince, map-maker and
martial arts practitioner. As the story opens he's out of place and down
at the heels, and while he's listening to a blind beggar relating
something of the mythology of the strange, rotting planet where the action
takes place, he finds himself unwillingly involved in a bar-brawl and ends
up in prison.

Soon we meet a military officer, Jacom Cerri, whom we also follow through
the story and, but for the novel's beginning with Myrasol, we could be
forgiven for thinking that Cerri was the main character. Then there's
Princess Lucrezia, a young woman who seems to want to become a witch, such
is her interest in seeds and potions.

These and other characters, along with the setting, might suggest that the
novel, and presumably the trilogy as whole, is a fantasy. But Stableford's
scientific rigour places _Serpent's Blood_ firmly in the SF
classification, despite the presence of medieval castles, royalty and
horseback-riding. He describes Lucrezia's experiments with poisons in
terms of the ever-corrupting biology of the planet, rather than as mystic
spells.

The burgeoning civilisation's mythology, which Myrasol glimpses just
before his incarceration, hints that the inhabitants are descendants of
human colonists, and have long since lost touch with Mother Earth.  So
this is in fact an alien planet, and what would an alien planet be without
aliens? Well, therein hangs a tale -- one that could easily stretch across
three volumes.

_Serpent's Blood_ starts off very readable and profluent, with sparse
but well-drawn characters. Half way through, though, I began to feel that
there's no 'greater scope,' no higher ideal involved.  It's all rather
parochial and confining; but maybe this was Stableford's intention.

The narrative, though stylish and literate, is very even in tone. When the
pace of action quickens, it's like choreography, related in a matter-of-
fact series of steps.

The last 40 pages, however, reveal some wider objectives, and at last some
of the characters come out of themselves. With a sense of relief I
witnessed the main protagonist's rebellion against his circumstances. If
only we could have had some of this earlier on.

Despite this reservation the novel is worth it for Stableford's scholarly
but sublimely readable style.

%A   Stableford, Brian
%T   Serpent's Blood
%S   Genesys
%V   Book 1
%I   Legend
%C   London
%D   1996
%G   ISBN 0 09 944341 4
%P   485 pp.
%O   paperback, GBP 5.99