Karavans [Mass Market Paperback]

I am a big fan of Jennifer Roberson. Her storytelling makes her one of my all time favorite writers, fantasy or otherwise. So when Karavans came available I ordered it the first day. It's with mixed emotions that I rate Karavans with 3 *

Character development and World Building: *****

Storytelling: **

Pro:

I agree with the other reviewers that JR excels in masterfully developing characters and world building. The premise of the story is that the Hecari, a warlike people who remind of Attilla and the Hun army, overrun countries. Sancorra refugees are joining caravans to escape into neighboring lands to avoid the continued bloodshed. They must risk passing near the Alisanos forrest, a malicious magical place that is about to move it's borders. Few people caught inside the forest return. Those who do have their minds and bodies warped, consumed by Alisanos' madness.

The characters are believable and complex, such as Audrun - expecting mother who must risk skirting Alisanos to birth her magical infant in a "safer" land, Rhuan - Shoia and Karavan Guide who can be killed 6 times before a true death, and Llona the hand-reader (diviner) who seeks to know the true intentions of Rhuan and his rival cousin. Everyone has secrets which partially unfold along the turning pages.

Con:

Jorda's Karavan is where book one starts, but the story never quite gets started. JR is a gifted storyteller with great versatility as shown in such adventure series as the "Sword-Dancers" and "Cheysuli," and the more internal story "Lady of the Forrest." Setting aside debates over character-driven vs. plot driven stories, in the end there should be a "story" where characters change and grow and a plot that by novel's end addresses the major conflict.

Instead, Karavan succeeds in establishing characters that as one reviewer notes prepares us for the story to come in the next book. The novel spends over 400 pages introducing the threat of Alisanos and the Hecari without developing either as "the" major conflict.

Readers new to Jennifer Roberson should consider one of her other books first, and you'll see why I rate her as one of my top all time favorite novelists. Avid fans should prepare themselves for a 400 page character sketch/world outline. You can read a good prequel to the novel at:

http://www.cheysuli.com/author/story.karavans.html

Despite the lukewarm results of Karavan #1, I avidly await for the release of Karavan #2. After the character and world development, expectations are higher for a well told story as only Jennifer Roberson crafts.

KARAVANS is a gloriously written novel that introduces a unique and deeply envisioned world complete with richly detailed settings and fully fleshed characters. You'll fall in love with them, hate them, worry about them, and wish you could give one or two of them a good kick in the posterier. And when you finally lift your attention from the pages, you'll be dazed to discover you haven't actually been traveling beside them along Alisanos for real.

Readers expecting a complete story arc in this volume may be disappointed, as the book is an introduction piece, presenting story elements and unveiling the players for the following volumes, but--as one who generally doesn't appreciate that structure--I found the book satisfying as a whole, with enough resolution to provide the sense of closure I expect. Think of this work not as a digital photograph, full of sharp detail and no vision, but as the first painting in triptych by one of the old masters.

Karavans (2006) is the first fantasy novel in the Karavans series. Alisanos -- the Deepwoods -- is a place where demons live. If humans come close enough, demons capture them. Some humans return from Alisanos, but they have been changed. One such human is rejected by Alisanos and comes to the place of farewell in Sancorra where the karavans assemble before going elsewhere.

In this novel, Audrun is the wife of Davyn and the mother of Gillan, Ellica, Torvic and Megritte. She is bearing her fifth child. Their family has been burned out by the invading Hecari tribesmen and they are now fleeing to her kinfolk in Atalanda. After Davyn leaves to talk to Jorda -- the Master of the last karavan of the season -- Audrun and her children are the first to encounter the changed man from Alisanos.

Rhuan is a guide for Jorda's karavan. He is Shoia, not human, and can rise from the dead six times. Hearing that Dardannus -- the Kantic priest -- is divining with Shoia bones, he pays a little visit to the bone diviner. Dardannus sends him to Hezriah the bonedealer. Rhuan is confronting Hezriah when the man from Alisanos enters, faces him and falls down dead.

Brodhi is a courier and brings news to the place of farewell of the death of Sancorra of Sancorra at the hands of the Hecari. Brodhi is also Shoia, cousin to Rhuan -- their fathers are brothers -- but Brodhi and Rhuan do not get along with each other. Brodhi thinks Rhuan likes the humans too much and Rhuan thinks Brodhi is too disdainful of the humans. Rhuan and Brodhi are the only Shoia known to those in the settlement.

Ilona is one of the diviners in Jorda's karavan. One night she has a premonitory dream. Being only a reader of hands, she takes her dream to Lerin -- a dream-reader -- but the dream was too fragmentary to read as a whole. Yet Lerin does leave these fragments available to Ilona's waking mind.

Darmuth is a fellow guide and partner of Rhuan. Ferize is the wife of Brodhi. Yet both are demons from Alisanos, who are accompanying Brodhi and Rhuan in an oath quest.

In this story, Audrun and her family are accepted into the karavan despite the slowness of their oxen. They are assigned to the last position in the karavan, behind the Sisters of the Road. Although their oxen are slow, the lack of speed will not matter that much before they reach the turn off to Atalanda, where they will leave the karavan.

Rhuan tries to talk them out of taking that particular turn off to Atalanda. It is much too close to Alisanos and they will not have the protection of the others in the karavan. But Audrun and Davyn have been told by fourteen diviners that the baby must be born in Atalanda and so it will be.

This story describes a peaceful land being invaded by mounted tribesmen much like the Mongols. Their weapons may be different, but their methods are very similar. One of their tools is decimation, culling the settlements by killing one in ten.

Alisanos is located in another dimension with a gateway into the human world. This gateway is moved occasionally and humans caught by the move are changed. Sometimes humans are lured into the gateway and other times humans are hunted down by demons. The only thing worse for humans than dying in Alisanos is living there.

The ending of this novel leaves plenty of room for the sequel. The main characters are left in a fine mess. Hopefully things don't get even worse, but don't bet on it.

Highly recommended for Roberson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of alien magic, human foolishness, and sheer perseverance.

-Arthur W. Jordin