Above The Snowline

Fourlands #4

by Steph Swainston

A prequel to Swainston's Castle novels, this story of reader favorite character Jant Shira is perfect for fans of China Mieville, Hal Duncan, and Alan Campbell—the bright cutting edge of contemporary fantasy  Here is the story of Jant Shira's life as a hunter in the mountains, before the drugs took over. Awian exiles are building a stronghold in the Darkling mountains, where the Rhydanne hunt. Their clash of interests soon leads to bloodshed and Shira Dellin, a Rhydanne huntress, appeals to the immortal Circle for justice. The Emperor sends Jant—half-Rhydanne, half-Awian, and all confidence—to mediate. As Jant is drawn into the spiraling violence he is shaken into coming to terms with his own heritage, and with his feelings for the alien, intoxicating Dellin. This story of Jant's early years in the Circle shows the Fourlands as readers have never seen them before.

Genres: Fantasy, New Weird, Fiction, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Literature

400 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2009

Reviews

[Vít · Rating 3 out of 5]

Po přečtení čtvrtého dílu už asi chápu, proč vyšly česky jen první tři. Takhle: není to špatné, ale ta originalita a ten "weird" je bohužel pryč.
Nenavazujeme na Hradební mýty, ale vracíme se nějakých 100 let do minulosti, do doby kdy Jant ještě nejede v drogách a je nejmladším členem kruhu. Když se z Temnin náhle vynoří tajemná rhydanská divoška Dellin a namíří si to rovnou k císařovu paláci, je Jant vzhledem ke svému rhydanskému původu samozřejmě tím, kdo má zjistit co se v horách děje. Vydá se tedy s Dellin na cestu, aby našel nějakou cestu ke smíru mezi divokými Rhydany a novými usedlíky z Ptakky, kteří jim zabírají loviště. Kdybych to celé nečetl už tisíckrát v nejrůznějších knihách o Indiánech, včetně vzletných proslovů náčelníků o souladu s přírodou a podobně, chytilo by mě to asi víc. První třetina knihy není vlastně o ničem jiném, než o tom jak "divoká" Dellin dokáže v horách přežít a "civilizovaný" Jant ne. Pak nám do děje vstoupí pokus místního guvernéra Havrana Ostnovoda, mladšího bratra ptacckého krále, zmocnit se trůnu. A do třetice tu máme city, které mezi Dellin a Jantem přes všechny rozdíly mezi nimi vznikají. Čili žádný Hmyz, žádný Přesun, vlastně jen dobrodružná knížka, která se mohla klidně odehrávat na Zemi.
Mám tu připravený i pátý díl, ale dám si asi chvíli pauzu.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turned out to be pleasantly surprising instead of slightly disappointing (as the first three books were for me in retrospect). Nice that Jant wasn't constantly shooting up, for a change.

[Clint · Rating 5 out of 5]

completely different than the other castle books - in that this a prequel with a pre-drugs jant (although you may see why he'd want to do drugs after this).

oh and the cover is definitely different than what is displayed!

there's a few interesting "cameos" - if you'd call them that as well. i enjoyed it wholly, but i'm definitely interested what happens next - in the new pentradrica.

oh and i read the uk edition - better cover and i didn't have to wait for it to come to the us.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a good read, a bit more straightforward than the previous Fourlands books (lacking some of the surreal elements caused by Jant's drug addiction in the earlier books) but still had an interesting plot, at one point the clash-of-cultures storyline did threaten to turn into a snowy version of "Avatar" but Swainston is obviously more cynical than James Cameron so it doesn't have such a neat ending.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well this kind of blunted the momentum of the series so far. An extended novel-length flashback to when Jant was a young wee immortal not yet hooked on drugs and jumping in and out of the Shift. An Awian colony has been plonked down on the flank of a glacier on the edge of Jant's old home mountain range, but they're killing all the game and starving the local nomadic hunters who don't really have money and don't have borders and who tend to take what they need when they need it. A Rhydanne woman goes to the Castle to petition the Emperor himself, and the Emperor sends Jant to mediate. The Awian governor is the exiled brother of a King, and he's secretly plotting a new coup and not happy for an Immortal to arrive on the eve of his big invasion, nor does he need the distraction of a Rhydanne uprising.

This should be good. It's well-written and the characters are great there's a lot going on, but honestly, it somehow feels stretched out and not terribly interesting. The stakes aren't as high as in the previous books, where big world-threatening Insect invasions were balanced with smaller concerns and there were some big epic battles to keep things lively. Swainston is a superb action writer, and there's one blistering running battle between Awian horseman and Rhydanne hunters, and honestly the book could have done with a bit more of that. There's far more character stuff, and some works better than others. Jant is fairly unlikeable, vain and self-absorbed and often very stupid, getting by on good looks and charisma. His chapters are wearying.

I dunno, maybe if I wasn't ploughing through all the books together I'd like this more, but I didn't want a long flashback, I wanted to find out what happened next after the end of The Modern World. Perhaps if I'd skipped this and gone straight to Fair Rebel?

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! I think I enjoyed re-reading this one more than I liked it at first go. Being a prequel of sorts and not involving any shift or insects I think on my first read I was constantly waiting for things I expected rather than drinking in this excellent tale. We get a good bit of Jant development, with him getting in touch with his darkling/rydanne side, some Awian politics and a great native fightback.. There's a lot happing, it's just very different from the other castle/fourlands books.

I also absolutely love some of the alternating viewpoint storytelling in this book. And despite being a re-read I really couldn't put it down.

[Benj · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different tone to the Fourlands saga, as this book concentrates of a single, localised story. It is, however, one of the oldest stories in the world, as old as Cain and Abel: the conflict between settlers/farmers and nomadic hunters.

The other theme is Jant's rampant ego and lust, mixed with remembrance and recognition of his early upbringing. The multiple POV works well, as does the story as a whole.

[Samantha-jane Osmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great descriptions, although a bit lengthy. I would probably have enjoyed the book more if I had started at the first one rather than most of the way through the series. I liked the perspectives though.

[Sue Chant · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dull - didn't finish. A collection of cliches sadly lacking in any characterisation or innovation. I won't bother with any more of her stuff. From a promising start it's slipped inexorably downhill.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I jumped into the middle of a series to read this book, I found it really enjoyable and easy to get into.

[Vladimir · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4/5

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

In one of the previous books, there was an offhand mention of "since Dellin." At the time I wondered whether I'd forgotten something. This book goes back before the others in the series, even before Jant Comet's marriage and his cat addiction, to fill out the story, starting from when a lone Rhydanne shows up in the Castle courtyard demanding to see San. Awians are settling in Rhydanne hunting territories. The situation seems to be modeled on modern colonialism in some ways, but the Rhydanne are truly wild in a way no humans in the real world ever have been, and Awia is feudal through and through rather than proto-capitalist in any way. Of course this also becomes an identity crisis story about Jant, since he's half Rhydanne and half Awian. Though Jant is still the main character, this book is different from the others in having other characters as narrator for most chapters, plus a few pages of prologue in omniscient third person - just enough for one significant revelation about Fourlands prehistory.

[Tim Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been too long since I read the previous books in this series, but it didn't matter too much.
As a standalone, this might seem thinner than it is with the full 3-book story behind it.

This prequel takes Jant/Comet into the mountains for his first major assignment.
He meets a challenging situation, and he's not exactly the perfect person to send,
being a tad, er, flighty, impulsive, hot-headed etc.

In this book we learn that in those days he wasn't very good at reading people and situations, either.
It matters because he's given a very difficult one to read in Dellin.

It takes the entire book before we - and Jant - really understand Dellin. In the process, Jant learns a lot about himself.

The Rhydanne are well developed, and believable. Well, within the context of a fantasy novel, anyway.
Raven and Snipe turn out to be much more than cardboard characters, too.

If you're a Lightning fan, he's there too.

I enjoyed this. If you've read the others, I recommend this.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this book is a slightly different virw of Steph Swainston's world, without the drug induced alternative universe, or the giant insects. Turns out I really missed them. Without that, this one is a bit generic. Well written for fantasy but not a patch on 'No Present Like Tine'.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

really liked

[Sherryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book by the author. Not outstanding like his earlier books in the series.

[Chance · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, wasn't quite as gripping and unique as the previous 3 books but still an enjoyable read.

[Philip Chaston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable prequel.

[Matti Tornio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked the first Fourlands book, but both the sequels suffered from various issues. This prequel works much better, in big part because it's a much more focused book.