This time around, I thought I’d start off with some thoughts regarding stories and why they’re told. The answer to that question is fairly simple and all-important for both the man telling the tale and his audience who take the time out of their day to listen. Stories exists because they’re worth hearing. They possess some kind of value that translates into entertainment or education, or better yet; both.

With “The Long Price: Shadow and Betrayal” you get to bear witness to a tale that is at times funny, heartbreaking and epic. But you don’t get to do it from your normal seat. Daniel Abraham manages to weave something has both the taste and appearance of a full blown epic, yet he doesn’t take you hunting along with waring princes and clashing armies. No, this author aims to pull your heart-strings from a more human perspective. Whether or not he manages it… is an entirely different question.

“The Long Price: Shadow and Betrayal” is an omnibus edition published by Orbit of the two first books in a four piece long epic fantasy series called “The Long Price Quartet”. Daniel Abraham has steadily grown a solid reputation among fantasy fans, and being groomed by George R. R. Marting certainly does help when you’re trying to make it as a writer. In addition to “A Shadow in Summer” and “A Betrayal in Winter”, Abraham has managed to co-author the much acclaimed “Hunter’s Run” with GRRM and Gardner Dozois, and he’s also a part of the upcoming “Wild Cards” novel, “Inside Straight” which is edited by GRRM himself. So yeah, Daniel Abraham is without doubt a man to keep an eye on and I liked a lot of what I saw in this little book of his.

“A Shadow in Summer” is only about 305 pages long in this edition, and “A Betrayal in Winter” is some pages shorter, making the entire thing 594 pages long in all. The prologue of the book introduces us to Otah Machi - the youngest son of the Khai Machi, who is proverbial king of the great city of Machi and the one who commands the poet and his andat. Since Otah is the youngest of his siblings, he gets sent away to a school where the Khaiem and the utkhaiem are safe from the ancient tradition where the brothers of the family kill each other until only one stands left to lead the family. In this school they either fail the tests and acquire the brand that keeps them safe from their brothers, or they go on to become poets - the true leaders of the world.

The poets are named thus because of binding that takes place between them and an andat. An “Andat” is an abstract thought like “Time” or “Rain” that has to be described in the fullest and held withing the poet’s mind forever. If the poet is able to do such a thing, he becomes the slave master of the andat; things so powerful that they are like small gods. Otah Machi is chosen to become a poet in the prologue (at which point you can imagine in perfect detail how things are about to unfold; he goes to school, learns how to control a really powerful andat, takes over the world etc etc), but instead of taking the opportunity, he does something no one has ever done before; he refuses the proposition and leaves the school. I thanked the sky above when he did so.

Because in stead of getting your normal fantasy-epic with all the trappings of the genre, you get to read something that’s very fresh and, at times, exciting. The first chapter takes us some time into the future after Otah left the school. “A Shadow in Summer” is for the most set in the city of Saraykeht - a blooming southern city, rich from its cotton trade that is helped by the poet Heshai and his andat, Removing-The-Thing-That-Continues, or “Seedless”, as he’s most often called. Enemies of the Khaiem have set a plan into motion which will rid Saraykeht of its poet and andat, and thus removing their advantage in the cotton trade. But things aren’t going to go as smoothly as the Galts are planning…

The story-telling technique and setting of these two books are what sets them apart from the pack. Where most authors would have chosen to spin the tales using a more mysterious, “who did it?”, angle, Abraham shows us that this isn’t his point at all. What’s important isn’t what is happening, or even why. The gist of the tale is the persons who’re involved, and suddenly you’ll find yourself reading a tale that is built on some rather hopeful pillars. The story stands and falls on whether he manages to make you care about the characters. I’m sad to say that this wasn’t always the case.

Abraham writes overall good characters filled with inner turmoil, but none of them are especially interesting. If I had to choose, I’d say that Otah Machi was definitely my favourite, and the andat Seedless was also quite good, but aside from those I didn’t find myself caring much about any of them. Which is too bad, cos I really wanted to.

What I did like, however, was the setting of the story. I can’t recall ever having read any epic fantasy stories set in an Asian-inspired world. It made both books seem fresh and I very much hope more authors will turn away from the medieval European setting in the future.

The pacing of the books were pretty similar. They start off quite briskly when they’re with setting things up, and then they dwindle out like a balloon that’s slowly loosing air towards the middle and end. It was probably what bugged me the most about these books; you knew where things were going and there weren’t any surprises along the way. Not my kind of stories at all, but I appreciate what Abraham was trying to do.

Thankfully his prose was always easy to follow and nicely done, so I never really grew bored. But all in all I doubt I’ll be picking up the last two books in the series, but I may very well try a different series by Abraham in the future; these books are quite good, but they’re just not my kind of poison. And I like my special kind of poison - it’s what keeps me up at night, sweating and turning while I wonder what’s going to happen next.

I’d recommend these books to anyone looking for an epic fantasy series with a slightly different focus and feel than what we usually find. This isn’t a masterpiece my any means, but it holds promise for things to come, and I’m glad I gave Abraham a chance. He may well earn it before long.

7 /10 (strong)