Chaz Brenchley

Moshui, the Books of Stone and Water — (2009-2010) Publisher: The island of Taishu may be a remote outpost of empire, but it is also the only source for true jade, which is far more than a symbol of imperial power. Rebellion has driven the young emperor from his capital; eventually, inevitably, he leads his defeated army to Taishu, a last stand for a lost cause. Crossing the strait, he encounters a fisher-girl and claims her for himself, brief comfort for a lonely and frightened boy. There are known to be pirates in the strait, drawn by the lure of jade-ships, fabulous wealth. There is said to be a dragon under the water, chained there long ages since. A pirate crew slays the monks who supposedly keep the dragon quiescent; at the same time they free a slave, who howls when his chains are cut. And takes possession of a cabin-boy, puts him in chains, cuts curious signs in the iron... That boy has seen the dragon once already; now he feels her stirring. In his mind.

Forthcoming: Hidden Cities

Dragon in Chains

Fantasy novels have a habit of treading over familiar territory and Daniel Fox’s Dragon in Chains is no exception with youthful protagonists, an empire divided by rebellion, pirates, and a dragon among the book’s most obvious tropes. On top of that, the book follows a standard ‘first-volume-in-a-trilogy’ formula including an emphasis on character development and setting, unresolved storylines, and an ending that leaves readers hanging. Fortunately, the book is not all archetypical and because of parts like the setting, the characterization and the prose, Dragon in Chains has much more to offer than your average fantasy novel.

Firstly, the world of Dragon in Chains possesses an oriental theme — specifically Chinese — which immediately lends the book a different flavor from other fantasies, especially those with a pseudo-medieval setting. This is most evident by the role that jade plays in the book, not only as a symbol of the emperor’s power, but as a stone imbued with magical properties, while other cultural influences include the importance of ceremony. While I loved the Asian setting though, I thought the world-building was a bit lacking particularly toward the world’s history and religion as well as the reasons behind the rebellion and the imprisonment of the dragon, two of the novel’s most important storylines. I also felt that court politics and the difference between noble life and a fishergirl’s life were underdeveloped.

Characterization meanwhile, is one of the book’s strongest assets. Han, Mei Feng, Mei Feng’s grandfather Old Yen, and Yu Shan are all likeable characters infused with depth, personality and compassion, and their narratives are all the more compelling because of it. Plus, they are complemented by a very strong supporting cast — the pirate captain Li Ton, the emperor Chien Hua, the bandit woman Jiao, the jade carver Gaungli, etc. — who are almost as interesting as the main players. Unfortunately, because characterization is such a focal point of the novel, other areas tend to suffer, such as the story’s slow pacing, a lack of action, and the aforementioned world-building issues. There were also two narratives in Ma Lin and the rebel leader Tunghai Wang that seemed pointless, but I’m hoping the characters will figure more prominently in the sequels.

The novel’s greatest strength however, lies with Daniel Fox’s poetic prose:

Gently, gently, one coaxes stone from darkness. Impossible to lift and carry through these awkward channels, where a man may be crawling at one time and then slithering on his belly and then sidling through a vertical crack, a large stone must be dragged, slid, rolled, inveigled on its way. Never coerced. Flesh can be crushed and stretched and scraped, but stone is immutable.

Lay hands on jade — even through sacking, through layers of sacking — and there is never any hurry but there is a surging urgency, a riptide in the blood, a brightening. Yu Shan had known it all his life. This stone made his skin shiver and his bones yearn; he wanted to rear up and break the hill apart above his head, to raise the stone to the sky and roar its wonder.

It did take me a little while to get used to the prose, and there are moments when the author’s writing style is more clumsy than elegant, but it really adds a unique dimension to the novel and makes even the mundane seem marvelous. One drawback of the prose however, was the narrative voices which all tended to sound the same, but that was a relatively minor problem.

Despite some issues with world-building, slow pacing, familiar fantasy tropes, and getting used to the writing style, I mostly found Daniel Fox’s Dragon in Chains to be a refreshing and spellbinding experience, one that I very much look forward to continuing. Definitely a novel — and a series — that should be on every fantasy reader’s radar. —Robert T.   Comments

Jade Man’s Skin

CLASSIFICATION: Like its predecessor Dragon In Chains, Jade Man’s Skin is a character-driven, Asian-influenced epic fantasy in the vein of Daniel Abraham’s THE LONG PRICE QUARTET, Kate Elliott’s CROSSROADS series and Lian Hearn’s TALES OF THE OTORI.

FORMAT/INFO: Page count is 432 pages divided over 6 titled parts with each part divided into numbered chapters. Narration is in the third-person via several POVs including the slave-boy Han, the fishergirl-turned-emperor’s mistress Mei Feng, Mei Feng’s grandfather Old Yen, the young jade miner Yu Shan, an imperial messenger named Chung, the doctor’s daughter Tien, and the bandit woman Jiao. Minor narratives include the mother Ma Lin, the rebel leader Tunghai Wang, and the imperial general Ping Wen.

Jade Man’s Skin is the second volume in the MOSHUI: THE BOOKS OF STONE AND WATER TRILOGY after Dragon In Chains, and ends on another cliffhanger. The third book in the trilogy is currently titled Hidden Cities. February 16, 2009 marks the North American Trade Paperback publication of Jade Man’s Skin via Del Rey. Cover art once again provided by Robert Hunt.

ANALYSIS: Thanks to mouth-watering prose, compelling characters, and an oriental-flavored backdrop, Daniel Fox’s Dragon In Chains was one of the better fantasy novels I had the pleasure of reading in 2009. Because of that, I had very high expectations for the sequel, Jade Man’s Skin, and the second volume in the MOSHUI TRILOGY delivers with another rewarding reading experience, albeit an experience that is very much like the one found in Dragon In Chains.

The reason for this similarity is simple: Jade Man’s Skin shares all of the same strengths and weaknesses as its predecessor. For instance, strong points once again include Daniel Fox’s lyrical prose:

“The tiger leaped down like moonlight pouring from a jug, a vivid flow immediate in movement and immediate to halt. When it had landed on the path before them, it was entirely still again. And then it had turned and was leaving, leaping away, and was gone; and its absence was a sudden aching hollow in the world that the night could rush into, rush and rush and never hope to fill.”

... and engaging characterization. Of the former, Daniel Fox’s prose is as beautiful as it was in Dragon In Chains, but at the same time I felt it was even more graceful. As far as the characters, Jade Man’s Skin continues to feature a rich, diverse and fully-developed cast of men, women and youths who all play an integral role in the author’s elaborate web of war, betrayal, and love. Of the characters themselves, I was most impressed with Chung’s and Tien’s increased role in the book, saddened with Han’s diminished one, and disappointed that Tunghai Wang, Ma Lin, and General Ping Wen did not receive more face time.

Meanwhile, weak points range from listless world-building to a story that suffers from sluggish pacing, slow-developing plots, and over-used fantasy tropes (dragons, a divided empire, an impetuous emperor, a goddess who manifests through people, etc), all problems that appeared in the first book. Fortunately, these are minor issues when looking at Jade Man’s Skin as a whole since world-building and the story play second fiddle to characterization and Daniel Fox’s prose. Nevertheless, I wish the author had been able to delve further into the history and lore surrounding the Empire, the imprisoned dragon, and the Li-goddess. The story itself is actually pretty interesting despite its familiarity, but most of the novel’s major twists and turns are fairly easy to figure out, including the book’s climactic scenes.

In addition to sharing the same strengths and weaknesses as Dragon In Chains, Jade Man’s Skin also follows the same formula as the first book, emphasizing character development, telling a story that comes to a stopping point but with unresolved storylines, and ending on a cliffhanger. In fact, apart from the cliffhanger, Jade Man’s Skin doesn’t read like your typical ‘middle volume’ in a trilogy. Instead, the book reads more like the continuation of a single novel that was split into three parts, and I expect that Hidden Cities will also follow suit.

CONCLUSION: In the end, I had pretty much the same experience reading Jade Man’s Skin as I did reading Dragon In Chains, which can be construed as either a good or bad thing depending on your point of view. For instance, if you didn’t like the first book in the MOSHUI TRILOGY or can’t stand novels where story or world-building take a backseat to characterization and prose, then avoid this sequel. On the other hand, if you enjoyed reading Dragon In Chains and want more of the same, then you can’t go wrong with Daniel Fox’s Jade Man’s Skin. —Robert T.   Comments