No, "Suldrun's garden" is NOT related to Conan books or movies - but for reasons which will become obvious in a little moment, I simply couldn't resist and HAD TO recycle here those opening words from the first "Conan" movie...)))
"Suldrun's garden" is the first - and the best - of three volumes of "Lyonesse Trilogy", written between 1983 and 1989 by the already very renowned American SF, fantasy and criminal mystery writer Jack Vance (1916-2013). Very prolific writer, Vance began publishing in 1945 but due to deteriorating eyesight he had to slow down greatly his work after 1992 - he ultimately stopped writing fiction in 2004 due to his advanced age and total loss of sight. "Lyonesse Trilogy" is therefore, together with roughly contemporary SF trilogy "Cadwal Chronicles" (1987-1992) and the stand alone "Night Lamp" SF novel (1996), amongst his latest but also greatest books. The whole trilogy is a GREAT read - but "Suldrun's garden", darker and less optimistic than most of Vance's books, is my favourite.
The story happens in Early Dark Ages, one or two generations before the times of King Arthur, on Elder Isles, a fictitious archipelago situated on Atlantic Ocean, roughly in the Biscay Bay, not far from France to the east, Spain to the south and British Isles to the north. The archipelago is composed of the huge main island Hybras, slightly larger than Ireland, surrounded by numerous smallers islands, of which the three most important are Skaghane, Troicinet and Dascinet.
There are some suggestions that Elder Isles were once part of a mightier and larger giant island - or small continent - on which a powerful civilization of wizards and wonders existed, but which was mostly swallowed by the ocean in an undescriptible, powerful cataclysm, remembered in realms further east as the story of Atlantis... The powerful Arch-Magicians, of which eight still endure on Elder Isles at the beginning of the story, are probably the last custodians of some knowledge of this ancient civilization - even if they do not master anymore the secrets of creation of new magical apparatus and therefore are greatly dependent on the few magical relics which survived the cataclysm.
Even after the cataclysm Elder Isles used to be governed by one High King but after a long series of civil wars were divided in smaller independent kingdoms. When the story begins, following realms exist on Elder Isles:
- Lyonesse, the most powerful; its ruler, King Casmir, has the best claim for the title of High King, being without question descended in straight line from the old dynasty of rulers of all Elder Isles
- Dahaut, the second most powerful, ruled by king Audry, also descending from old kings, but a much less ambitious character than Casmir
- Troicinet, relatively small by its surface, but owning the best navy on the Elder Isles; its ruler, King Granice, has no sons - and his succession is likely to be a troubled one...
- Dascinet, another sea power; its ruler, king Yvar, is allied with Casmir of Lyonesse and a bitter enemy of Troicinet
- North Ulfland, nominally under the rule of old king Gax - but most of the country is occupied by the Ska invaders...
- South Ulfland, nominally under the rule of king Oriante - but in reality the king controls only his own castle, the rest of country being divided between a multitude of independent permanently fighting and quarelling barons
- Godelia, the only kingdom populated by Celtic immigrants from the continent; it is ruled by king Dartwed and slowly expands its borders, thanks to the constant new arrivals of new Celtic warriors to Elder Isles
- Pomperol, Blaloc and Caduz, are small kingdoms trapped between Lyonesse and Dahaut - they survive for the moment, as neither of their two big neighbors dares attack them, fearing open war with the second one...
- Skaghane, a ferocious kingdom of grim invaders from distant northern lands, the Ska; this agressive new power also controls North Ulfland and prepares for even more expansion
- city-state of Ys, governed by a council of wealthy merchants ("syndics")
Then there are also some areas which escape all control by those human kingdoms - most of them are wild forests, rugged hills or misty swamps populated by fairies and monsters. Those places are terribly dangerous even for large groups of humans...
I will not tell you much about the story itself neither will I reveal who is the MAIN hero of this book (it will take some reading to discover it), but let me just tell you, that this is storytelling at the highest possible level! Mixing classical Celtic and German fairytales with some swashbuckling, some Tolkien-like travel tales, some "Game of Thrones"-style intrigues and fights and last but not least the typical Vancian enchanting touch of ironic humor, sadistic twists and especially absolutely UNIQUELY worded dialogs, this is a JEWEL!
The one thing I didn't really like was the Christian bashing - but at least there is not much of it and once we pass this couple of pages, the incident is over and we can continue reading...
CONCLUSION: one of the greatest and best fantasy books ever written, which I discovered first in French in the 80s, before re-discovering it with equal pleasure in its original English! A TREASURE, to buy, read, keep and pass to your children! ENJOY!
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Reviewed in Germany on 10 September 2007