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May. 19th, 2008 06:14 pmI will admit, one of the main reasons I picked up Steven Barnes' Lion's Blood is that I have a fascination for books that come with their own soundtrack (which, by the way, is excellent as one would expect of Heather Alexander.) However, it is definitely worth reading for other reasons besides this.
The basic concept of the book is a North America that was settled by Vikings in the north and African Muslims in the south. The Vikings kidnap Northern European peoples and sell them to the southern territories for slave labor. Essentially, it's an exploration of slavery with the roles reversed, but what makes the concept work is the way in which the history around this reversal is set up. In this universe, a powerful history-shaping empire arose out of North Africa rather than Rome and incorporated most of Southern Europe into itself, dominating technologically, artistically, and intellectually while Northern Europe failed to advance. This shift in history reverses centuries of privilege. The perspective of the novel shifts between a white slave, Aidan, and the youngest son of his master's household, Kai, and the book focuses on the relationship (all the back matter/front matter/etc. says friendship, but of course it's a whole lot more complicated than that) between them.
My general approval does not mean I did not have some major problems with the book. For a start, though I was impressed by the worldbuilding of the alternate history in general, I sort of feel that it is cheating to to have cute little references to our major historical figures in an alternate history with such a dramatic split; in an Italy subjected to a Carthaginian empire in which native Italians were used as slave labor, it is highly unlikely that any of Leonardo da Vinci's grandparents, great-grandparents, or great-grandparents would have met, and even if so he would not have been named da Vinci! Plopping Shaka Zulu down in North America is also out. I am even dubious about the feasibility of having Christianity, and hence Islam, emerge from a Judea not controlled by Rome (although Barnes gets around it by having Christ crucified by Egyptians, but I still think this is cheating.) More importantly, it is really not a great book for women. The main female character gets like ten pages of being a sex slave and then decides that all she really wants out of her life is happy marriage and babies!!! and promptly becomes a Plot Device for people to fight over. There were a whole bunch of minor female characters who could have been really interesting, but none of them were really developed or got to do much. And this makes me sad.
But in spite of all this, I would still recommend the book - because it is emotionally engaging, yes, but more importantly, because I think this world in which privilege is entirely reversed is fascinating to read about and important to think about. And I will probably go on to seek out the sequel.
The basic concept of the book is a North America that was settled by Vikings in the north and African Muslims in the south. The Vikings kidnap Northern European peoples and sell them to the southern territories for slave labor. Essentially, it's an exploration of slavery with the roles reversed, but what makes the concept work is the way in which the history around this reversal is set up. In this universe, a powerful history-shaping empire arose out of North Africa rather than Rome and incorporated most of Southern Europe into itself, dominating technologically, artistically, and intellectually while Northern Europe failed to advance. This shift in history reverses centuries of privilege. The perspective of the novel shifts between a white slave, Aidan, and the youngest son of his master's household, Kai, and the book focuses on the relationship (all the back matter/front matter/etc. says friendship, but of course it's a whole lot more complicated than that) between them.
My general approval does not mean I did not have some major problems with the book. For a start, though I was impressed by the worldbuilding of the alternate history in general, I sort of feel that it is cheating to to have cute little references to our major historical figures in an alternate history with such a dramatic split; in an Italy subjected to a Carthaginian empire in which native Italians were used as slave labor, it is highly unlikely that any of Leonardo da Vinci's grandparents, great-grandparents, or great-grandparents would have met, and even if so he would not have been named da Vinci! Plopping Shaka Zulu down in North America is also out. I am even dubious about the feasibility of having Christianity, and hence Islam, emerge from a Judea not controlled by Rome (although Barnes gets around it by having Christ crucified by Egyptians, but I still think this is cheating.) More importantly, it is really not a great book for women. The main female character gets like ten pages of being a sex slave and then decides that all she really wants out of her life is happy marriage and babies!!! and promptly becomes a Plot Device for people to fight over. There were a whole bunch of minor female characters who could have been really interesting, but none of them were really developed or got to do much. And this makes me sad.
But in spite of all this, I would still recommend the book - because it is emotionally engaging, yes, but more importantly, because I think this world in which privilege is entirely reversed is fascinating to read about and important to think about. And I will probably go on to seek out the sequel.
