REVIEW: David Anthony Durhams's ACACIA: THE WAR WITH THE MEIN

If I've never previous heard of David Anthony Durham before this, does that make me a bad fantasy

person?

Maybe! I did learn about him, though, a few months back after reading an interview by Charles R. Saunders, who mentioned Durham as a good black writer producing recent fantasy. So I ordered Acadia: The War with the Mein (2008), and I was deeply impressed with Durham's thematic ambition and his world-building. Notably, it's probably the single most diverse fantasy world I've yet encountered .... all kinds of skin colors in the provinces of the "Known World," from white to brown to dark black, and each gets some narrative playing time.

The oddest (best?) thing is that you don't know quite whom to root for, at least initially. On one hand, yeah, you root for Emperor Leodan Akaran. While he's not a terribly good ruler, he super loves his kids, who all have distinct personalities and seem like decent chaps, at least for pampered princes and princesses.

Problem is, Leodan's entire empire is founded on slavery and the drug trade, a fact Leodan tries to think about as little as possible, and Durham makes it absolutely clear that this lifestyle for the empire's upper 1%, including Leodan's beloved children, rests on the brutal oppression of the other 99%. Which includes selling poor people's children into a mysterious slavery across the ocean. So there's that.

However, should we then start rooting for the Mein, the oppressed people who overthrow this drug-and-slave empire? Not so fast, cuz the Mein are a Norse-inspired (white) people who believe in “racial purity.” And their name is the Mein, for crying out loud …. as in “Mein Kampf.”

Anyway. I've seen several comparisons of Acacia to George R. R. Martin. That kinda makes sense, but in terms of the "New Weird" factor, I'd go closer with China Mieville or Steph Swainston. There's some truly weird non-human races going on in this series (with hints of more to come), and humanity ain't necessarily top of the food chain. Add some genuinely mysterious sorcery, and you got yourself a good basis for future books.

As for the Martin comparisons, though, who's more grimdark than New Weird, there's a little something to that. However, the similarities are mainly due to epic fantasy commonplaces. Granted, Leodan Akaran's four children have some similarities to the Stark children. For instance,

• Aliver = Robb Stark
• Corinn = Sansa Stark
• Mena = Arya Stark
• Dariel = Jon Snow

And, of course, they're displaced after the Mein usurp the throne, much like the Starks are scattered to the wind after the Lannisters take over. Still, if you have an epic fantasy, this kind of core situation shouldn't be too uncommon, and thematically, Durham and Martin go in different directions. What I particularly like is how Durham builds off his knowledge of Carthiginian history (he once did a historical novel on Carthage). Aliver's army is extremely diverse in terms of languages and ethnicities, and that exactly mirrors the Carthaginian situation.

Reading through a few criticisms of the series, a few complaints ring true. Durham's prose is dense ... not hard, mind you, but it's mostly description and narrative rather than dialogue. It's also difficult to really like any of the characters. Although they're all clear, distinct, and well-written people, I didn't feel any attachment to them. (Actually, that was my precise reaction to the first two books of A Song of Ice and Fire, too.) Likewise, a few plot points seemed somewhat contrived just to move things along, such as Aliver accepting a duel with Meander, but whatever.

All in all, this is a very impressive series, and I look forward to someday having the time to finish it.