Harshini (Hythrun Chronicles) [Hardcover]

Harshini is the final book in the first trilogy of Jennifer Fallon's The Hythrun Chronicles. And if that sounds confusing, that's because Tor has decided to put all six books into that series name, despite the fact that it's two different trilogies. In this book, a lot of the intricacies of the previous two books are undone and it's a lot more straightforward than either Medalon or Treason Keep. That can be a good thing, except that it loses a little bit of what makes Fallon's work so special. It's still a fitting conclusion, but things are wrapped up a bit too quickly and the characters are a bit flatter than normal.

Usually, I really like the way Fallon handles political intrigue, juggling so many balls that many authors would likely lose them all. In Harshini, she does a decent job, but I didn't get the same sense I have in her previous books, where R'Shiel and her companions have to constantly be moving in order to keep all of the balls in the air. Instead, this book almost has her do it in step-by-step fashion. She's solved one problem with Damin and Adrina's marriage, so she travels with them to Hytheria. There, Damin has his own problems, especially with having a Fardohnyan bride, so R'Shiel has to help him solve that problem. Then another roadblock gets in the way, and dealing with that one also helps her deal with a subsequent one. Then she has to go back to Medalon for the final showdown. It's almost fantasy politics by rote, and it got a little boring. Thankfully, Fallon's skill with characterization made sure that it didn't get too dull.

R'Shiel is still done very well, though she became a bit more wooden in this book than she has in the past. The only time I was able to get deep into her character was when Brak, another half-Harshini man, showed her the true meaning of being Harshini. The wonder that was on her face and in her eyes was fabulous, and Fallon described it very well. However, the rest of the book she's like a bull in a china shop, demanding that various gods help her in certain ways, being reprimanded even as the gods sullenly do as she asks; always promising that there will be a reckoning, but there never seems to be. One might say that her final heartbreak would be punishment enough, but that was already coming even before she annoyed a number of the gods, so it can't really be considered her comeuppance.

While Tarja is much the same way, more two-dimensional than I'm used to from Fallon, she really excels at characterizing Damin and Adrina. Their relationship is a joy to watch, as both of them have walls around themselves so high that they don't trust the other one, even when it's obvious to everybody around them that they love each other. Damin is a wonderful combination of sarcasm and intelligence, with the sarcasm hiding a deep devotion to Hytheria and to the people he loves. Adrina is, at times, too much of a spoiled brat, but it was how she was raised. Other characters aren't as strong, with Adrina's father coming off the worst. He's stereotypically greedy and wimpy when R'Shiel demonstrates her full power to him, and he just doesn't come off the page very well. I found him annoying every time I saw him, which makes it nice that it wasn't very often.

The major problem with Harshini, however, is the dropped plot threads that just scream for better treatment. The book is short by today's fantasy standards, and I think it could have used a few more pages to handle some of these, or at least Fallon could have re-worked things to actually resolve them better. The first is Loclon (who I also complained about in Treason Keep), whose storyline just withers on the vine until it's resolved in an almost perfunctory fashion at the very end. He hates R'Shiel for what she did to him, and she hates him for what he did to her in captivity. They spend a lot of time talking about having to find him in the Citadel and not letting him escape during the siege, but then he simply disappears. He then turns up again for a brief appearance so that Fallon can end his storyline. The other plot thread that goes nowhere is what happens to little Mikel. After what he's coerced into attempting to do, he's cast off without a second thought. At least his story does end in a fairly believable fashion, but it's not very interesting. Sure, it manages to throw some more conflict between Damin and Adrina, but that doesn't really go anywhere either, making this storyline seem even worse.

Ultimately, though, Harshini is an enjoyable climax to the series, and I'm looking forward to the next one (a prequel). While it's not as good as the first two books, it's not a complete dud. I just wish Fallon would have done a few things differently.

David Roy

I liked this series and burned through it in about 5 days, the author has a knack for moving things along quickly which I really enjoyed and find lacking in a lot of other authors. I give it 2.5 stars but rounded up because of the entertaining value of the book. The reason I write this review is because I found few reviews on this book that actually told me what I was getting into, so hopefully you can get a bit from these points.

Pros:
-Very unique ideas in this novel, the concept of the Harshini and the demons, and how God's worked especially, were very entertaining, and sparked some actual real world thought about the nature of religion and God. The way she included dragons was interesting as well. I liked how they were melds and not "real," but the author never really told us how they got the idea of dragons in the first place, so they didn't really fit the story.
-As mentioned above, the book is not lacking action and it moves quickly, the story is intriguing and keeps your attention. I would say that I only found my attention falling about 3-4 times in each book of the series.

Cons
-Many people on here acclaim her character development but I never really saw it. Their depth really wasn't there. For example, Tarja, hes a defender, believes what is right and wrong, and does that exclusively and by almost any means. You never really get a feel for him. The author treats the main characters almost as literary tools at times which tended to annoy me.
-The way events happen in the book rarely have much to do with the characters actually being smart, and more with luck, or a God coming in to help. The blatant use of a Deus Ex Machina in the form of one of the Gods OVER AND OVER again really starts to grate on you.
-Predictability is a major issue, the author leaves "hints" of the futures that end up coming across as beacons for what will happen. A good example is when Adrina is kidnapped. Right before hand, Damin mentions that he feels something important was unsaid, but then to add more insult to the readers intelligence, Adrina thinks something to the extent of "I'll tell him about the baby and blah blah as soon as I see him next" Or something to that extent. Its not hard for the reader to figure out, hmm, I think just maybe, she might be STOPPED from going through with her simple plan that she would not even need to mention in the first place unless something were going to stop her.
-The Author is obsessed with torture. In some form or another, there is someone constantly being administered pain throughout the whole novel. The amount of times that the main characters are captured and then inevitably rescued by something that doesn't make sense at all, but which is proceeded by a large amount of pain or torture happens almost too many times to count. The author simply loves administering pain, but while it may be RARELY entertaining it ends up doing really nothing. The author has no knack for describing torture, I was simply annoyed by it, I never felt the characters' pain. Even after R'shiel was raped (in the first book), she doesn't show much change in character and it is simply used so that the reader will hate Loclon more. Its a pity that the author obviously has never known a rape victim, they tend to be quite different after the fact. Even if you like books where the characters go through plenty of hardship and pain to get their goal, this author doesnt even do it well.
-The last chapter (no spoilers) easily proves that the author has no concept of personal growth and leaves a lingering taste in your mouth that the main female character isnt really much more grown up then she was in the first book, despite being raped, beaten, humiliated, had a terrible childhood, killed a god, killed people, lost loved ones, started a rebellion, had her brother pretty much feel total apathy for her in the end, have no purpose, etc. I'm sorry, these books just didnt seem to recieve the amount of time they should have deserved.

There are a few other things, but other then a lot of editing errors (sceptical=skeptical?) that covers the main things you should know before purchase. Don't let this scare you off from the series though, its quite entertaining and I really enjoyed reading it. Just know that if you just finished a very well written book, you may be disappointed in that aspect with this one.

Up till now I've enjoyed Jennifer Fallon's Demon Child trilogy; her writing is competent (not beautiful, but competent), her characters intriguing, and the story was interesting enough. But I always had this feeling ... the same feeling I get when I watch my 2 year old daughter constructing a tower of blocks by stacking the big ones on top of the smaller ones ....

Sure enough, just like my daughter's tower, in Harshini, it all comes crashing down.

R'shiel finally embraces her role as Demon Child and we at last see her putting her riding leathers to good use -- she actually rides dragons in this novel (though it doesn't help much when taking a trip on a flying dragon takes just as long as it does in a rowboat). And that's probably the nicest thing I can say about R'shiel. She was never a particularly loveable heroine, but in Harshini, she's just a b*$&#. She is suddenly an outspoken expert in world politics and military tactics and the rulers of all the lands jump to obey her (even though she has no political or military experience and her grand plan in the last novel was a complete disaster). If they don't obey, she threatens to sic the gods on them. She's a bully, and it's hard to like people who act like that.

Then we still have the problem with the arbitrary activities of the gods, the demons, and the Harshini. Gods and demons are called on to help at random times in random ways. I was really ticked when a demon popped out of nowhere to protect Brak from a crossbow bolt and Brak informed us that "the demons live to protect the Harshini." Huh? If this is true, why haven't we seen them protecting Harshini before now? R'shiel is supposedly undertaking this very dangerous and important mission, so where were the demons when she was beaten, raped, captured, stabbed in the gut, etc.? And, if they exist to protect the Harshini, why are they running around trying to gather believers so they can become gods? And, about the Gods: okay, I can understand a goddess of love, but a god of thieves? And, if Xaphista (the "bad" god) can so easily coerce people to try to kill R'shiel, why does he only try it with one person (who fails)? Why not several people? He's bad, but he's not smart. And I won't even get into the hypocricy of the Harshini not being able to do anything that might indirectly cause death -- there are too many logisitcal problems with that.

The climax and ending of the novel was also random -- R'shiel's weird idea for killing the "bad" god was just plain silly. Most of what R'shiel does to solve problems is arbitrary and easy. She puts on a glamour to escape. She puts on a glamour to help other people escape. She threatens someone into doing what she wants them to. She gets crazy ideas that end up working. This randomness causes the reader to never be concerned that things won't work out in the end. I never felt any sort of fear or tension. Got a problem? Call a god or a demon, or do some random magic trick. Fantasy novel needs tension, and Fallon fails to deliver it in the last Demon Child novel.

But, she's a good author -- I will not hesitate to pick up another Fallon series someday.