Song of Naga Teot by Heather Gladney
Jul. 28th, 2004 11:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmarleyOn an impulse, I started poking around for information on an old favorite, Heather Gladney, today, and found out that she delivered the manuscript of the third Naga Teot book to DAW back in January. Squeee!!!
For those of you now scratching your heads, Heather Gladney is the author of Teot's War and Bloodstorm, books one and two of a series called The Song of Naga Teot (published by Ace Books). Bloodstorm, the second book, was published in 1989, and as one might imagine I'd long ago given up on the series being finished.
The story is, as the series title suggests, about Naga Teot, a desert-dwelling Upai warrior/harper, who risks life and limb to deliver an urgent warning to Caladrunan, the Liege Lord of Tan. Teot's people have been nearly wiped out by the vicious flame-throwing machines of the Osa, and he has to convince the Tannese that the Osa threat is much greater than they think, and that they should prepare for a much worse war.
But that's only the plot. For me, one of the two great strengths of the story lies in the rich, complex detail that Gladney has put into her world. Every sentence, nearly every word, gives the reader another clue about the culture, another insight in the characters. It's a dense read, and I pick up missed details nearly every time I read the books again. I admit, I tend to dislike the "toss the reader into the deep end" school of explication, but Gladney completely made it work for me.
That's not to say that the story drags down in detail. Even though the details are crucial, the broad strokes of the plot flow along well enough even if--as I did on my first reading--the reader doesn't quite absorb all the nuances. The different cultures are all well-crafted, and the author has done an especially good job of portraying the alliances and conflicts and shifts of power between them.
And then, of course, there's the other aforementioned strength: the relationship between Naga and Caladrunan. It's a strong "duo" partnership, to quote Ray Kowalski, founded on mutual respect and trust. It's a classic buddy relationship, and of course the (very) slashy subtext has nothing to do with my enjoyment of it. At all. Really.
So, with any luck at all, the third book might be out within a year. Here's hoping. :)
For those of you now scratching your heads, Heather Gladney is the author of Teot's War and Bloodstorm, books one and two of a series called The Song of Naga Teot (published by Ace Books). Bloodstorm, the second book, was published in 1989, and as one might imagine I'd long ago given up on the series being finished.
The story is, as the series title suggests, about Naga Teot, a desert-dwelling Upai warrior/harper, who risks life and limb to deliver an urgent warning to Caladrunan, the Liege Lord of Tan. Teot's people have been nearly wiped out by the vicious flame-throwing machines of the Osa, and he has to convince the Tannese that the Osa threat is much greater than they think, and that they should prepare for a much worse war.
But that's only the plot. For me, one of the two great strengths of the story lies in the rich, complex detail that Gladney has put into her world. Every sentence, nearly every word, gives the reader another clue about the culture, another insight in the characters. It's a dense read, and I pick up missed details nearly every time I read the books again. I admit, I tend to dislike the "toss the reader into the deep end" school of explication, but Gladney completely made it work for me.
That's not to say that the story drags down in detail. Even though the details are crucial, the broad strokes of the plot flow along well enough even if--as I did on my first reading--the reader doesn't quite absorb all the nuances. The different cultures are all well-crafted, and the author has done an especially good job of portraying the alliances and conflicts and shifts of power between them.
And then, of course, there's the other aforementioned strength: the relationship between Naga and Caladrunan. It's a strong "duo" partnership, to quote Ray Kowalski, founded on mutual respect and trust. It's a classic buddy relationship, and of course the (very) slashy subtext has nothing to do with my enjoyment of it. At all. Really.
So, with any luck at all, the third book might be out within a year. Here's hoping. :)