In his afterward to Days of Shattered Faith, Adrian Tchaikovsky makes the self-evident statement that this third novel in a projected series of five secondary world fantasies, known as The Tyrant Philosophers, is not a work of history. But he says that he owes a lot to a couple of historians, notably Anita Anand and William Dalrymple of the Empire podcast (I’m also a fan). Once I got into this novel, I could see what he means, for Empire is full of the histories of dynastic turmoil and fratricidal mayhem that drive much of Days of Shattered Faith. I can’t pretend to keep up with Tchaikovsky’s output of multiple books per year, so I started delving into the series with this third book, and that turned out to be fine.
The stories in each part of the series stand on their own. Each, so far at least, has its own cast of characters and is set in a different country that is either under the present sway of the expansionist Pallesand or about to be captured by it. The action of this novel focuses on Usmai, a coastal state, where the Palleseen and rival powers have been scheming against each other for some time to wrest control from the aged Usmai Alkhand, or king. In this world, weapons and other machines are powered by magical tablethi, monsters and demons great and small are part of everyday life, and a giant frog, the Kakrops, is the central deity of Usmai worship. That being lives in a cave not far from the House of Tranquility, the royal palace in the capital city of Alkhalend. That’s the scene of action, and Tchaikovsky provides a good map of the city as well as the Successor States, so called because they were once part of a long-dead empire that controlled them all.
This story is, in part, a chronicle of infiltration and attempted conquest, but, just as we still hear the word “liberation” describing invasion and obliteration of local cultures, the Palleseen talk of “perfection.” It means doing away with all local gods, traditions, priestly orders, languages, etc, in favor of a more perfect state based on reason. Of course, the language of perfection includes officials, backed by regiments of soldiers, who are decanters, brokers, inquirers, valuators, monitors. In others words, those who spot opportunities for seizing wealth, imposing taxes, organizing covert operations, enlisting the aid of demons and monsters and generally laying the groundwork for the “peaceful” takeover of a country.
Speaking of language, Tchaikovsky uses a flexible tone for his narrator, shifting from restricted third person to omniscient as the context demands. It can adapt to a world of betrayal and calculation of self-interest, embedded in ideals that serve only as veneer for occupation and suppression of native culture. The narration easily swings from ironic detachment to immersion in the directness of fast action, then becomes as arch and cunning as the minds of many of its characters. There are fanatics devoted to religious orders, usually hiding their human faces behind hideous masks, but even they have learned to adapt their external loyalties to shifts in power.
We see this world first through the eyes of a young woman named Loret who is, apparently, the new aide to the resident Sage Invigilator, or ambassador, of Pallesand to Usmai. Angilly, or Gil for short, immediately comes across as a fairly relatable and humane character. She is always balancing an intimate knowledge of Usmai culture, which she has quite well adapted to, with the necessary tricks of her trade to elbow aside ambassadors of countries competing with Pallesand for influence or outright invasion.
In fact, when we meet Gil, from the perspective of her new and nervously inept aide, she is about to fight a duel with her opposite number from a different country. While she discusses with a male friend (who, we soon learn, is heir to the Usmai throne) her reluctance to be drawn into a possibly fatal encounter, that concern is offset by the knowledge that it is she who has caused the disgrace and downfall of the man who has challenged her. So, at once, we see her decent side and her manipulative skill in advancing the cause of Pallesand “perfection.” And that detached narrative voice tells us how Gil’s relationship had shifted from comradely friendship to violent enmity.
“Then he’d done some things, used his influence to tilt the scales. Then she had. And she’d done it better, really. Cheated, risked more, gotten lucky, however you shone a light on it. She’d won and here they were. Not friends any more, not even a little, save that she could absolutely have refused when he called her out. Have let him go home in disgrace, not even this last chance to stem the gushing flow of his reputation.”
Days of Shattered Faith, Amazon ebook edition, Location 407
The fact that she doesn’t refuse the challenge and let him go home in disgrace says something about Gil’s sense of honor and the strange combination of sympathy and violence that governs much of this world. The passage sets us up for a long series of surprising twists, betrayals, and murders as the Palleseen sway begins to make itself felt in Usmai.
The story revolves around a struggle for succession to the throne and then a rebellion of Usmai against Pallesand influence. A central battle scene in Days of Shattered Faith is one of the most exciting I’ve read in a long time and shows again Tchaikovsky’s versatility and brilliant style.
The elements of conflict in the royal family are clear from the outset. The revered Alkhand, Oparan, guarded by masked monks adept at wielding long hook-bladed weapons called falx, is the aged ruler of Usmai. He has retreated more and more into inner thoughts and reflections, often speaking them to the bejeweled skull of his treacherous brother that he keeps with him at all times. His heir is Dekamran, the second son, his eldest having been banished for arrogant behavior. But Dekamran is nothing like his warrior brother, Gorbudan, who is revered by his troops and just waiting for a chance to swoop back into Usmai and take the throne. Dekamran is gentle, scholarly and utterly lacking in battle skills. Furthermore, he is scandalously close to Sage Invigilator Angilly.
Days of Shattered Faith is an absorbing reading experience on many levels. It brings out the fragility of most relationships where survival might just depend on betrayal. While there is a lot of attention to the machinations around the rulers of Usmai, the novel offers a vivid mosaic portrait of all levels of a complex society, from the royal palace to the military camps of the rank and file to the lives of the poor in the district of Alkheland known as the Sand Lanes. Even demons form relationships they cherish; pirates add another dimension to the story with their own gods of the sea; and the mysterious orders of monks surround and take part in most of the action. Days of Shattered Faith presents a rich and exciting world that makes me want to move on to the other novels in this fantasy series.
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