The Broken Crown

Well, I'm quite late to this party. More than two decades late, I'm afraid. Michelle West's The Broken Crown was originally published in 1997 and it took me this long to finally give it a shot. Better late than never, I know. Yet I really feel like an idiot, especially given how much I enjoyed this novel.

You'll probably recall that I was actually looking for this one when I was going through the boxes of books I have in storage, but instead got my hands on my Kate Elliott works and elected to give King's Dragon and then Prince of Dogs a go. Alas, I couldn't find any of my Michelle West titles and I was forced to order another copy of The Broken Crown. I received it before the Holidays and decided to bring it with me on my latest South American adventure in Colombia. I started to read it in Cartagena and finished it in Medellin, and it was an amazing read!

Can't believe I waited this long to finally read it. And again, I have no excuse. The only good thing is that I don't have to wait months/years between installments and I can now read the sequels as soon as I wish. So in that regard at least, my stupidity paid off.

Here's the blurb:

The first novel of the acclaimed Sun Sword series introduces readers to a war-torn world of noble houses divided and demon lords unleashed...

Tor Leonne—the heart of the Dominion of Annagar, where the games of state are about to become a matter of life and death—and where those who seek to seize the crown will be forced to league with a treacherously cunning ally....

Tor Leonne, ancestral seat of power, where Serra Diora Maria di’Marano—the most sought-after beauty in the land, a woman betrayed by all she holds dear—may strike the first blow to change the future of the Dominion and Empire alike....

Averalaan Aramarelas—that most ancient of civilized cities, the home of the Essalieyan Imperial court, has long been a center of magics both dark and bright. And though the Empire won its last war with the Dominion, and survived a devastating, magic-fueled battle with a far deadlier foe, both those victories were not without their cost....

But now the realm is on the brink of a far greater confrontation, faced with an unholy alliance that could spell the end of freedom for all mortalkind.

If you peruse reviews and West-related posts on the internet, you'll see that no one truly agrees on what makes the best starting point for the Essalieyan saga. The Sacred Hunt duology, comprised of Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death, occurs first in the timeline but is considered weaker than the rest because the books were published first when the author wasn't as experienced. The Sun Sword series, of which The Broken Crown is the first volume, comes next. It was followed by the House War sequence, whose first three installments take place prior to the events of the Sun Sword series and the last five volumes taking place after. If you ask what's the best way to jump into the saga, many will argue that The Broken Crown is the perfect entry point, while others will encourage you to read the first three House War books first. So yes, it can be a little complicated to choose exactly where to begin. In the end, since West wrote the House War to further flesh out characters and events from the Sun Sword and then to elaborate on the aftermath of that series, I felt that going with the publication order might be the best way to go. And to all ends and purposes, it worked out fine for me. There are references to the Sacred Hunt, but it's not necessary to have read the duology to follow and understand what's going on. Although I'm persuaded that there are some nuances, especially with everything that has to do with the seer Evayne's storyline, that were lost on me. In many ways, though they share nothing in common in style and tone, starting to read Michelle West's The Broken Crown felt akin to reading Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon. You get that you're thrust into something that's already underway and that the author will not spoon-feed you all the information that you'd like to know immediately. But as was the case with the first Malazan installment, if you just buckle up and let the tale unfold at its own pace, you'll be rewarded with a great read. Because it does take quite a while for the whole story to come together.

The worldbuilding is incredible. West has an eye for details and the imagery she creates leaps off the page at every turn. Whether it's the Dominion, influenced by both Arabic (but not Islamic) and Japanese cultures, or the Essalieyan Empire, loosely based more on Western cultures and traditions, there is a depth to her universe that is seldom achieved in the fantasy genre. Yes, West can be repetitive and sometimes certain readers might feel like it's overdone a bit, but the author has created a world that lives and breathes. And though there are some action scenes, political intrigue lies at the heart of this novel. This is adult fantasy in its truest form, so don't expect any bells and whistles à la Brandon Sanderson. Slowly but surely, Michelle West weaves a tapestry that is as complex as it is multilayered. And in a deeply patriarchal society like the Dominion, where women have so few rights, it was a joy to see female characters with agency finding ways to directly and indirectly affect the world around them.

Structurally, The Broken Crown has issues that readers could find off-putting. There is a long prologue featuring characters that you'll never see again that sets the stage for what comes next and that only begins to make sense much later in the novel. Surely this could have been done in less than 76 pages. Perusing online reviews of people who never finished the book, most of them never got past this prologue. And though the bulk of the tale occurs in the Dominion, at one point one of the storylines forces the author to shift her focus to the Essalieyan Empire and thus introduce us to a slew of new men and women that will eventually return later in the series, but whom you won't get to see again in this book. Though I personally had no problem with that approach, it's obvious that many a reader found it jarring. Considering that the Dramatis Personae is akin to that of some of the later installments in Erikson's The Malazan Book of the Fallen, that makes a lot of characters to keep track of. Especially given that this is just the first volume in the series. Hence, like Gardens of the Moon, if for different reasons, The Broken Crown is not the easiest speculative fiction work to get into.

The characterization is particularly well-done. Both the Dominion and Essalieyan Empire feature three-dimensional men and women, and the supporting cast is made up of plenty of interesting secondary characters. While it's true that it takes time for the author to flesh them out, I felt that West did an excellent job building on those relationships as the story progressed. Readers looking for strong (and remember that strength comes in many guises) female leads will find a lot to like about Serra Teresa, Serra Diora, the Kalakar, Princess Mirialyn, Kiriel, and a few others. Truth to tell, I can't recall the last time I read a novel in which so many female characters played such an important role in the plot.

Michelle West's beautiful prose is reminiscent of that of Guy Gavriel Kay, or Jacqueline Carey. Having said that, there's no denying that the author is quite verbose and that countless portions of this novel were overwritten. I understand that it's a question of style, but regardless of how beautifully written it turned out to be, bloat remains bloat. Which in turn doesn't help with the rhythm, so it's no surprise that The Broken Crown suffers from pacing issues. Indeed, this novel is a slow-paced work from start to finish. And when I say slow, I mean that West makes L. E. Modesitt, jr. look like R. A. Salvatore. According to the same aforementioned reviews, it appears that lots of readers lost interest at some point for that very reason. But those who decided to stick with it were rewarded with a remarkable and captivating read. So I encourage you to stick with it.

And though the plot moves slowly, as the various threads come together to form the endgame, West caps it all off with the sort of ending that makes it impossible not to want to read the next volume. Hence,  although it will not appeal to readers looking for fast-paced and action-packed adventures, those who relish big, sprawling fantasy epics featuring well-drawn protagonists should enjoy The Broken Crown.

Looking forward to the next one!

The final verdict: 9/10

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