The Anvil of the World (Hardcover)

Kage Baker is one of my favourite authors. Her books about the Company are not to be missed. How successful would she be at fantasy? If The Anvil of the World is anything to go by, she has nothing to worry about. With her trademark wit and punchy style fully in evidence, The Anvil of the World contains enough juicy goodness for even the most cynical palate.

The book is actually a collection of three linked novellas starring Smith (an alias), a man of many mysteries and an unknown past. A blood feud (the Children of the Sun are notorious for them) has forced him to become the caravan master in his cousin's business, and he's selected to lead one to the pleasure city of Salesh with some valuable cargo. Things don't quite go as planned. In the second story, Smith has started a hotel in Salesh with the staff from his caravan, and business is booming, especially during festival time when freedom is loose and the participants are looser. Unfortunately, a death in the hotel could cost him everything as the constable gives him just four days to present a murderer or the constable will shut down the hotel. The third story involves an expedition to rescue Lord Ermenwyr's sister. This becomes a mission of destiny for Smith, as it turns out he holds the fate of the entire world in his hands. One wrong decision will result in the death of everything.

Baker has a wonderful way with words, and The Anvil of the World is a breezy read. She is a master character-builder, knowing just how much detail to add to make you care about (or at least be entertained by) each person in the story. The two biggest characters are Smith and Lord Ermenwyr. Smith is a former assassin who's given it up because he was getting tired of killing. Now he just wants to be left alone to run his business. Ermenwyr is a decadent demonic half-breed who whines a lot and thinks he's going to die all the time. He's also immature and stubborn, causing Smith no end of grief. It's even worse when his family gets involved.

The world Baker has created is alive. While there are many races around, there are mainly two: The Children of the Sun (humans, basically) and the Yendri, a deeply spiritual people who abhor violence (though they're not above having others do it for them). The Children of the Sun have all the foibles that our own human race has, especially where ecology is concerned. In fact, that's one of the minor problems I have with the book, that the ecological message is heavy-handed at times, especially in the last story. One pitfall she avoids, however, is making the Yendri pure of heart. Many of them think they are, but Baker does a good job showing both the good and the bad side of them.

The best thing I can say about this book is that it's fun. While Ermenwyr is the source for most of the humour, everybody gets involved. Smith is the straight man for the most part, trying to deal with people trying to kill him or his companions. When he realizes that he is the key to whether or not the world is destroyed, he is suitable (and humorously) overwhelmed. Some of the events are absurd enough that they make the reader laugh even without character involvement. However absurd the events are, though, they are realistic in the world that Baker presents. I had no trouble suspending my disbelief for any of it.

One word of warning for those who wish to browse just one of the stories in the bookstore: The stories are not individually titled and there's no way to distinguish where one ends and another begins other than reading. Read the whole book, as it's well worth it. While each story stands on its own, they do read better as a whole, with events in one story influencing the next.

Other than the occasional blunt message as noted above, there really isn't anything noticeably wrong with The Anvil of the World. Baker has further cemented her place as one of the best authors of the genre, showing that she can handle fantasy just as well as science fiction.

David Roy

Smith is a mystery man, an ex-assassin who has joined his cousin in a caravan going from dusty Troon to Salesh, with a sickly half-demon playboy Lord Ermenwyr and his beautiful nurse, a mysterious courier, the capable cook Mrs. Smith, a cold Yendri healer, a sulky runner, and a load of glass butterflies. As the caravan proceeds, they thwart attacks

When the caravan arrives (minus a few passengers), the butterflies are shattered and Smith and his friends have to open a hotel, only to have a celebrity guest croak in the middle of an orgiastic festival of free love. One verbal mage duel and a few surprises later, a Yendri sacred site is endangered, and a race war may break out -- with religious Yendri fanatics seeking out a mythical object that could wipe out all human beings.

When the first page casually mentions the "Festival of the Respiratory Masks," you can tell you've got a winner. This is not a tightly-written book, but it makes up for its lack of tightness with continuous humor and a cool invented world with interesting magic, some rather weird demons, and invented fantasy races whose "magic" is scientific in nature (the Yendri doc's explanation of infection is a hoot).

Fans of Terry Pratchett will find some similarities in "Anvil": Smith is somewhat reminiscent of Sam Vimes, and the humor is like a mildly racier version of Pratchett's. The verbal duel is pure genius, where two mages call each other names -- and magically transform one another ("I know you are, but what am I?!"). And like Pratchett, Baker manages to toss in a little social commentary -- religion, enviromental problems -- without being preachy.

The main problem lies in the structure. "Anvil" was originally three novellas, and so the story is divided into three main parts. What's wrong with that? Only the barest threads seem to tie the plotlines of the first two to the third climactic one. The dialogue is spectacular, especially when the demon siblings are bickering ("You can't tell us to shut up. We're DEMONS"; "You're going to break heads! You're going to rip off limbs! You're going to do amusing things with entrails!")

Smith is a likable guy, solid and essentially honest in nature. Mrs. Smith is a pleasant older woman whose respectable appearance hides her racy past; Willowspear and Burnbright are okay but not amazing. It's fussy, sickly, blunt, underage-playboy-mage-turned-junior-gigolo Lord Ermenwyr who really steals the show, whether he's resurrecting demons or whining about his food.

"Anvil of the World" is one of those books that begs for a sequel. While it's rather fragmented and a bit confusing, it's also too hysterically funny to not check out.