Acacia: War with the Mein Bk. 1 (The War with the Mein) [Paperback]

Hype has a funny way of creating expectations in a reader's mind. Naturally, with critics calling David Anthony Durham's novel one of the best fantasy debuts of 2007, my expectations were quite high. Too high? I think not -- not with everything that's been said about Acacia: The War with the Mein. Nevertheless, I'm sad to report that this book, in my humble opinion, doesn't live up to the hype which was generated by the incredibly positive buzz surrounding this novel.

I feel bad about having to write a somewhat negative review about this one. As was the case with Brandon Sanderson's The Well of Ascension, Durham is a great guy and I really wanted to like Acacia. The near totality of the reviews I've read pertaining to this book -- online and in print -- make it sound as one of the best fantasy titles of the year. Hence, I was more than a little disappointed to discover that the novel suffered from a number of shortcomings.

My favorite aspect of Acacia turned out to be the worldbuilding. Indeed, David Anthony Durham created a fascinating universe, simultaneously traditional and exotic, which serves as a backdrop for his epic fantasy tale. His multiethnic cast, though not as well-done as Erikson's, is a welcome change to what has been the norm in the genre for years. The author's background in historical fiction is evident, thus allowing him to create an environment exuding a "realistic" feeling.

The prose is neat, and Durham paces Acacia adroitly. The initial premise and the ensemble of storylines woven together to assemble this tale are all very interesting. I found the plotlines involving the Lothan Aklun, the Quota, the Other Lands, the mist, the Numrek, the Mein and the Tunishnevre, and the Santoth to be absorbing. Those are the storylines that fueled my interest and urged me to read on. So where did it all go wrong?

What killed Acacia: The War with the Mein for me turned out to be the characterization. To say that they are lacking or leave something to be desired would be an understatement. For some unfathomable reason -- this is a first for me -- I absolutely hated all the main protagonists, good or bad. Throughout the book I kept hoping for the Arkan siblings -- Aliver, Dariel, Corinn and Mena -- to die. I kept wondering how Durham could come up with such an interesting setting, yet populate it with clichéd, two-dimensional characters that lacked a lot in the way of realism. Needless to say, I was unable to get into any of the siblings' storylines. As I mentioned in my review of Tad Williams' Shadowplay, it's decidedly hard to make royal teenagers likeable. Moreover, there were quite a few similarities between them and GRRM's Stark siblings. The fact that they achieve everything so easily, with all that's require of them falling into place perfectly, as if by magic, didn't sit well with me either. The supporting cast is a bit lame and unbelievable, which is what ultimately prevented me from enjoying the book beyond Durham's first-rate worldbuilding.

I found many of the concepts underlying the story to be engrossing enough to want to read the upcoming sequel. My only hope is that David Anthony Durham will up his game where characterization is concerned.

Acacia: The War with the Mein showed great promise. Unfortunately, poor characterization makes it impossible for this novel to fulfill its full potential.

David Anthony Durham's debut in Fantasy is absolutely spectacular.

A writer of historical fiction, David has had ample time and practice to hone his craft. This is obvious from the first few opening chapters of "Acacia: The war with the Mein", from the bubbling tension to the perfect characterisation of even the supporting characters. In fact it takes a while to realise who the supporting characters are, as David has taken as much care developing them as the main "cast".

By the middle of part one, this is cleared up. The star of act 1 is one of the secondary characters--Leodan, King of the Acacian empire. Although many other, less capable authors would not have bothered developing a character they intended to die early on in the story, David seems to have bucked the trend and done the opposite. Why is this so important? Because the reader cares more about what happens to a guilt-ridden, disillusioned widower and father of four than just "a King". In fact, Leodan is a pivotal character in the entire book, despite appearing relatively briefly. Were he not so well written, I wouldn't have cared what happened to his children. Were he not so believable and remorseful, I wouldn't have cared what happened to the "Known World". Secondary characters are just as important to the enjoyment of a book as Primary characters, whether they have a huge effect on the plot or not.

One of the great things about "The war with the Mein" is definitely the characterisation. The protagonists and indeed antagonists do not stagnate (which is a good job, as the book leaps a 9 year gap between act 1 and 2), and being in totally different situations grow in different ways- no two characters are the same. Skirmishes are usually skimmed over, or taken down the the personal level, allowing for yet more characterisation and tension as violence is experienced on the personal rather than grand scale.

Although I've made a huge issue of how well the characters are developed, Acacia has a lot happening in it, from full-scale invasion, through gigantic explosions to duels and weaselling. I was utterly blown away by The war with the Mein--and cannot wait for the next installment.

This isn't so much a fantasy novel as a novel written utilizing the fantasy genre. It feels far more realistic than a great deal of other fantasy books out there, partly due to the characters' realistic actions and reactions, and partly due to the inclusion of non-caucasian people and tribes (which in a lesser writer's version of events may have turned into elves or dwarves).

5*

Acacia is a novel which is epic in the broadest sense of the word, concerning the shattering and building of empires, across a large scale of time, and centred around a relatively small key cast of characters.

It is in this first area that Acacia does best. The world which David Durham has created is intricate, fascinating, and lovingly presented. The gradual revelation of each area of that world is handled well, and the reader is left breathless from the sense of grandeur and scope, and impressed by the background which interweaves each of the disparate cultures that are presented.

The book is written across a large piece of internal time; that time is not all present in the novel. The characters we will follow are introduced in the first half of the novel, and their fates left undecided - the reader is then re-introduced to those characters some years later. I enjoyed the abrupt nature of this change, exploring what were familiar characters, and reorienting my expectations from the character's actions, and the hints of their `missing time' gleaned from their interactions with others. On the other hand, some people may find this sudden jump in continuity more jarring than refreshing.

The characters are at once the greatest strength and weakness of the text. Each character within a faction has their own motives, and, as mentioned in other reviews, each faction of characters has their own point of view - Durham allows the reader to feel sympathy for one set of characters, and then swings to another viewpoint, and establishes your sympathy with those (often adversarial) characters instead. While some characters are less ethical than others, each has a valid point of view, and Durham tries hard to get us to understand it.

This `shades of grey' characterisation is one of the strengths of the book. Unfortunately, it feels as if the individual characters (as opposed to the factions, or groups of characters) are a little shallow. While some have their motives expressed in detail, others seem to remain question marks throughout the book. Perhaps that will change in later novels, but it is sometimes difficult to empathise with a character about whom we are shown or told a great deal, but not given much access to their personal motivations.

Having said that, the key characters are well written and represented, and while they may seem to play second fiddle to the world around them, that world is so rich that it may not matter. Throw in a plot which is reasonably deep and complex, with a few sharp twists and turns to throw off standard fantasy tropes, and this is an excellent novel. Highly recommended.