A Mist of Grit and Splinters

Commonweal #5

by Graydon Saunders

Egalitarian heroic fantasy. The first Creek standard-captain known to history, certain curious facts concerning the graul people, and an operational test of the Line's altered doctrine.

Genres: Fantasy

318 pages, ebook

First published January 17, 2020

Reviews

[rixx · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saunders goes back to military fiction here, and I didn't find any part of it particularly compelling, apart from the sneaky worldbuilding updates. The characters had enough personal stories, but didn't interest me, the overarching plot was slow, and the time jumping (there are five parts to the book, all start at the same time and move forward) didn't really work for me and was annoying to keep track of.

I expected to be annoyed by the military organization and engineering stuff, but I actually was okay with that, and found parts of it compelling. Particularly starting up a new group and getting from nothing to social cohesion *and* competence at the same time was a good setting with a satisfying resolution.

But as with the previous two books, the worldbuilding that *does* get filled in is excellent and makes me very happy. From exploring the ethics of requiring people to behave in a way that can't be meaningfully expressed in their language, to the functioning of an army in a society that functions non-violently and with a strong desire to not rule anybody (and with an army always being a net loss to the normal operating society!), we get more looks at Saunders' brain and it's so good. Could have done without the weird graul mating ritual, but at least it's weird in a thoroughly neutral sci-fi way.

Notably, this is the FIRST time that the sizes of files, platoons, companies and battalions are explained, ever, in the history of this series. Having an understanding of those earlier might have been nice. Also, shout-outs to the single word of Ancient Greek that Saunders just drops in his text – what was that, why was that, I wish I didn't enjoy it. Generally, this book was surprisingly quotable, which none of the others were.

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Mist of Grit and Splinters goes back to the first book, with a more-or-less straightforward military fantasy, as told through several points of view, each chapter with a ticking -X days until D-Day heading. The Second Commonweal doesn't have the people to spare for the military it needs or the time to train the people it does have, but they are going to do their best in the calm rationality that is the hallmark of this series.

Where I liked the book was where it departed from calm rationality. There is an extended digression on graul reproduction, which is incredibly weird in a way 180 degrees away from horny. Closer to emotion is a discussion between Duckling, one of the main points of view, and a junior Parlimentary clerk, about whether or not the Captain and Team Awesome is secretly plotting a coup against the Commonweal. Duckling, who's normally a very professional soldier, is on leave and wearing the kind of dress that shows everything and then too much if you move. Imagine intense political and philosophical debate, while one of the characters keeps thinking "I better not boob too bustily". Hilarious.

But what we're all here for is action. And it takes a while to get there, but the Battalion unleashes some truly intense violence against Sea People invaders. Commonweal doctrine is based on annihilation even more than victory. Forces that attempt to invade must be defeated entirely without even the dead and information leaking back home. To outsiders, the boarders of the Commonweal must be ringed in red. In this case, that annihilation comes in the forms of hundreds of red-hot shells, an end of the world-megatonnage, and the battalion marching through the fireball under the glowing shield of the Bubble, wrecking everything it can see with javelins and blasts of force.

So that's the Commonweal series. Weird books, but entirely different from anything out there.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best things about Saunders's writing is that he does not pamper the reader. There are no expository lumps or stilted monologues in which characters review things that are supposed to be common knowledge. The motivated reader is expected to work at apprehending the rich background that peeps out from the story. Unlike the early books in the series, "A Mist of Grit and Splinters" cannot be read in isolation. Not enough information peeps out from the story.

The book differs from its predecessors in other ways too. It does not revolve around main characters. (There is reference to Slow's memoirs, but Slow is mostly a background character. The character who gets the most focus time is Duckling, but Duckling functions as a point of view, not as a character who is central to the story.) Major sorcerers are almost absent. There isn't much plot; the book seems to serve mostly to fill in background. The book is structured around the first major conflict with the invading Sea People, but if there is an overall story being told, this book advances it very little.

I read the book and enjoyed it (hence the four stars), but it lacked the brilliance I've come to expect from Saunders's writing. There wasn't enough story, and what story there was wasn't seen through the eyes of characters central to the story.

[summervale1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting, and as usual highly compelling

Slow's biographies are hilarious, and you can feel the personality emanate. Again not much actual politics, just people being scared. The training montage is a bit too long, the war a bit too short. Combat at the powers and ranges described beings to feel a bit like Weberian spaceships fighting rather than armies.

Graul breeding being another instance of giant, super-strong women is a bit on the nose, and here there's not even a legible romance element. (I like the romance elements of these books, and miss them when they are not present.)

Commonweal book scoring:
Awesome war 8/10
Awesome magic 6/10
Awesome engineering 4/10
Plot progress 10/10

[Japunkt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy the worldbuilding in the series, and there certainly was a lot of that. What I most enjoy is the interplay between the general population and the Independants (scarily powerful magic users), and that was a little lacking.