Subject: Review: OF SWORDS AND SPELLS by Delia M. Turner

From: David Brukman <[email-masked]>
Date: 07 Feb 1999 17:36:12 -0500

OF SWORDS AND SPELLS by Delia M. Turner
		Book review copyright 1999 by David Brukman

This "science fantasy" pits humane magic against ruthless power-hunger and
technology in the struggle of an intriguing girl, with elements of romance
and swordfighting.

Reviewed by David on January 02, 1999 (rev. 1)

Genre: Fantasy (Romance, Space Opera, Swordfighting)

Synopsis: Malka, a magically gifted angry young girl hiding from the cruel
interstellar Enforcer Police, runs into a ship of misfits commissioned to
monitor and restrain the worst abuses of the police force. When star-
spanning conspiracies threaten the ship as well as the law in the world-
spanning Web, the witches of the ship are badly outmatched, unless one
counts the hidden skills of Malka. Unfortunately, while harboring hidden
strengths, Malka also suffers from more dangers than the crew realizes,
and her help carries a high price indeed.

Full Review: In this book which takes place in the universe of _Nameless
Magery_, the many worlds of the Web are menaced by the growing grip on
power by the office of Enforcement. At first content to control and
condition the witches who created and operated the network of magical ship
engines and communications, the Enforcers have now created their own,
magic-less technology. Independent of the troublesome witches and their
semi-sentient magical artifacts, the Enforcers have started to destroy the
magic-wielding worlds.

Some of the action takes place on the world of _Nameless Magery_, with the
main characters of Magery making an appearance near the end of this book.
Most of the action centers on Malka, a puzzling girl, full of anger and
hidden strengths, and her perplexing relationship with the Monitor ship's
charming captain and diverse and emotional crew, a familiar of a dead
witch, and her painful and unwanted destiny. Most of all, this is a story
of becoming human, the cost and rewards of humanity, the choices on the
narrow path between freedom, danger and duty.

This book elaborates on the cruel and 2-dimensional nature of the
Enforcers.  It also makes the natives of Mennenkalt, featured in Ms.
Turner's first novel, more intriguing and sympathetic. Much of the plot
development is an unusual romance. The character of Malka is detailed and
appealing, with some of the self-deprecating edges formerly seen in Lisane
(in an early chapter, she names herself "Malka the Mighty, the Nemesis of
Soup"). As in Lisane, the self-deprecation hides enormous power. Many
fantasies describe the process of coming of age, often accompanied by
coming into power. This book concentrates on maturity in the use of power,
with consequent cost and constraints.

On the whole, the book is a fun read. One quibble is that most characters
outside of Malka herself seem somewhat faded. A bigger problem is the
flatness associated with villainy of the Enforcers, together with the
"master villain" syndrome: one evil mastermind who can't resist showing up
everywhere and twirling his mustache while sneering at the hero, thereby
putting himself in the harm's way. The Enforcers' cruelty does not appear
to be matched by efficiency: an organization destroying whole populations
and operating interstellar fleets still resorts to hand-wavy "shock
cannon", swords and overly-elaborate traps. The bad guys seem highly
reluctant to use things like explosives or distance weapons, perhaps
another symptom of mustache-twirling.

The positives are the pleasant and very intriguing character of Malka
herself, together with the fresh, possibly unique, look at magic as a
collection of semi-sapient forces, sometimes like obedient and trusting
dogs, other times like enigmatic cats, and occasionally like vicious
wolverines.

Universe: Web

Copyright Date: 1999

Overall: 6; Plot: 5; Characters: 6.5; Style: 6; World-building: 5; Originality:
7;

%A Turner, Delia Marshall
%D January 1999
%G ISBN 0-345-42432-8
%I Ballantine Publishing Group (Del Rey)
%O Mass market peprback
%P 218 pp.
%T Of Swords and Spells

	David Brukman	"Long live Jame Talissen!"	
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/dbrukman  "Fantasy, SF & Mystery Reviews"