I forget where I first saw mention of PC Hodgell’s Chronicles of Kencyrath, a fantasy series so heartland it could almost pass as a campaign for a role-playing game… But wherever it was, it clearly intrigued me enough I ended up buying a hardback copy of The God Stalker Chronicles (2009, USA), an omnibus of the first two books of the series, God Stalk (1982, USA) and Dark of the Moon (1985, USA), at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton in 2013.
A year later, I read the first book of the omnibus — and I remember enjoying it. But I never got around to reading the second book, although God Stalk had left me with a vague ambition to continue reading the series. And that despite persistently misinterpreting the “stalk” in the title as something like a beanstalk, ie, part of a plant, when it actually refers to the act of stalking, as is clear in the title of the omnibus.
I recently reread God Stalk, and then followed it with the second book, Dark of the Moon. Once again, I plan to continue on and read the rest of the series. Which currently numbers ten novels and one collection. This time, however, I’ve made more of an effort and have already bought a copy of Seeker’s Bane (2009, USA), an omnibus of books three and four, Seeker’s Mask (1994, USA) and To Ride a Rathorn (2006, USA).
Oh, and I found a copy of the collection, Blood & Ivory (1994, USA), which exists in several different editions, at a convention in Oslo; and have now read that too. Its appeal is probably limited to fans, but it does include ‘Child of Darkness’, a science fiction story which eventually, and interestingly, morphed into the Chronicles of Kencyrath fantasy series.
Once again, I finished God Stalk feeling generally positive about the book. It was as enjoyable as I remembered. Its restricted setting — entirely within the city of Tai-Tastigon — and somewhat over-powered central cast, especially central protagonist Jame, did make it all seem very like a RPG scenario, but I liked the world-building and the story promised to move forward in interesting ways.
(To be fair, another, and far more popular, fantasy series did something similar: intriguing world-building and a plot which seemed to break the template of LotR-inspired secondary world knock-offs. Unfortunately, its prose was appalling, its characters little more than cardboard-cutouts, the books grew increasingly padded, and the author seemed progressively incapable of finishing the series… The TV adaptation was a definite improvement.)
In God Stalk, Jame finds herself in the city of Tai-Tastigon, an independent city dominated by its thieves guild. Jame is Highborn Kencyrath, one of three races who fled to the world thousands of years before, and have a history of fleeing from world to world going back some thirty thousand years. Jame does not remember her past — or rather, she remembers snatches of it. She joins the thieves guild, and is admired for her exploits. She also works as a dancer at a popular inn. But the local priest of the Three-Faced God, the Kencyrath deity, involves Jame in a plot which leads to her fleeing the city as it burns.
In Dark of the Moon, Jame and her Kendar (another Kencyrath race) companion cross into the western part of the continent. Jame learns her brother is now leader of the Highborn, and that a horde of savages have invaded and are moving north. There’s an interlude where Jame is trapped in a palace in a dead city — and the palace contains doorways to other worlds the Kencyrath have visited in the past… which reminded me of a Conan story but I can’t remember which. In fact, if God Stalk smacked of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (and Hodgell has admitted Leiber’s stories were a major influence), the Dark of the Moon definitely has a Conan vibe. The novel ends with the savages beaten back by an army commanded by the Highborn.
These are not books I would usually write about. I enjoyed them, but I’m not a fan of secondary world fantasies, and I have a poor opinion of many of those I’ve read. But Adam Roberts, excellent writer and critic, has been working on a history of fantasy fiction, and has recently read a great number of popular and well-known category fantasy novels and series — an act typically known as “taking one for the team”. I’ve read some of the novels he’s written about on his blog Sibilant Fricative, and I marvel at his constitution.
The Chronicles of Kencyrath are almost a cliché in and of itself in their adherence to the forms of the genre. They take place on a world which boasts a roughly Middle Ages society and level of technology, and an early twentieth-century style of capitalism. There are plenty of made things, from clothes to weapons, but no mention of the industries required to make them. There are, however, a lot of gods, thieves and warriors. This is a world that has no mills or weavers or mines, but plenty of jewellery and rich clothing to steal. It continues to amuse me most fantasy novels make no reference to the infrastructure required to support what’s mentioned in the story. (A Song of Ice and Fire is a rare exception, but still focuses almost entirely on the privileged.)
The Chronicles of Kencyrath series is not great literature. Its prose is unexceptional, but not actively bad like many series of its type. It was originally published by two small presses, both of which went under, and is now published by Baen. When compared to other, more popular or more successful, category fantasy series, it has much to recommend it — at least to fans of secondary world fantasy.
For those who aren’t fans of category fantasy, but do read genre, it’s worth a punt. I’m actually looking forward to reading Seeker’s Mask…
