Review: Riders of the Storm, by Julie E. Czerneda

Russ Allbery eagle at eyrie.org
Sun Aug 19 20:05:52 PDT 2018


Riders of the Storm
by Julie E. Czerneda

Series:    Stratification #2
Publisher: DAW
Copyright: 2008
ISBN:      1-101-21557-7
Format:    Kindle
Pages:     452

Riders of the Storm is the second book in the Stratification sub-series
in Czerneda's larger Trade Pact universe, and a direct sequel to Reap
the Wild Wind. Czerneda is telling a larger story in multiple parts, so
this isn't a series to read out of order.

Reap the Wild Wind broke apart Aryl's world view (along with everything
else about her life) and gave her contact with a larger universe than
she thought existed. Riders of the Storm builds on that, doing
middle-book setup and stabilization and bringing the shape of the
trilogy into clearer focus. But it takes its sweet time getting there.
First, we get an interminable slog across snowy mountains during a
winter storm, and then a maddeningly slow exploration of an oddly
depopulated Om'ray settlement that none of Aryl's clan knew about (even
though that shouldn't be possible).

This book does get somewhere eventually. Aryl can't avoid getting
pulled into inter-species politics, including desperate attempts to
understand the maddeningly opaque Oud and unpredictably malevolent
Tiktik. There's less contact with varied off-worlders in this book than
the last; Aryl instead gets a much deeper connection and conversation
with one specific off-worlder. That, when it finally comes, does move
past one of my complaints about the first book: Aryl finally realizes
that she needs to understand this outside perspective and stop being so
dismissive of the hints that this reader wished she'd follow up on.
We're finally rewarded with a few glimpses of why the off-worlders are
here and why Aryl's world might be significant. Just hints, though; all
the payoff is saved for (hopefully) the next book.

We also get a glimpse of the distant Om'ray clan that no one knows
anything about, although I found that part unsatisfyingly disconnected
from the rest of the story. I think this is a middle-book setup
problem, since the Tiktik are also interested and Czerneda lays some
groundwork for bringing the pieces together.

If Riders of the Storm were just the second half of this book, with
Tiktik and Oud politics, explorations of Om'ray powers, careful and
confused maneuvering between the human off-worlder and Aryl, and
Enris's explorations of unexpected corners of Om'ray technology, I
would have called this a solid novel and a satisfying continuation of
the better parts of the first book. But I thought the first half of
this book was painfully slow, and it took a real effort of will to get
through it. I think I'm still struggling with a deeper mismatch of what
Czerneda finds interesting and what I'm reading this series for.

I liked the broader Trade Pact universe. I like the world-building
here, but mostly for its mysteries. I want to find out the origins of
this world, how it ties into the archaeological interests of the
off-worlders, why one of the Om'ray clans is so very strange, and how
the Oud, Tiktik, and Om'ray all fit together in the history of this
strange planet. Some of this I might know if I remembered the first
Trade Pact trilogy better, but the mystery is more satisfying for not
having those clues. What I'm very much not interested in is the
interpersonal politics of Aryl's small band, or their fears of having
enough to eat, or their extended, miserable reaction to being in a
harsh winter storm for the first time in their lives. All this
slice-of-life stuff is so not why I'm reading this series, and for my
taste there was rather too much of it. In retrospect, I think that was
one of the complaints I had about the previous book as well.

If instead you more strongly identify with Aryl and thus care about the
day-to-day perils of her life, rather than seeing them as a side-show
and distraction from the larger mystery, I think your reaction to this
book would be very different from mine. That would be in line with how
Aryl sees her own world, so, unlike me, you won't be constantly wanting
her to focus on one thing when she's focused on something else
entirely. I think I'm reading this series a bit against the grain
because I don't find Aryl's tribal politics, or in-the-moment baffled
reactions, interesting enough to hold my attention without revelations
the deeper world-building.

That frustration aside, I'm glad I got through the first part of the
book to get to the meat because that world-building is satisfying. I'm
thoroughly hooked: I want to know a lot more about the Oud and Tiktik,
about the archaeological mission, and about the origins of Aryl's
bizarre society. But I'm also very glad that there's only one more book
so that this doesn't drag on much longer, and I hope that book delivers
up revelations at a faster and more even pace.

Followed by Rift in the Sky.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Reviewed: 2018-08-19

-- 
Russ Allbery (eagle at eyrie.org)              <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>


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