Bridge of Dreams (Selling Water by the River)

Chaz Brenchley is the prose-lover's fantasist. He first hit the American scene with his six-volume Outremer epic -- Outremer #1: The Devil in the Dust (Outremer, Book 1) -- which stood as quite the peculiar fantasy series. Mixing myriad heady themes with a vastly exotic locale and challenging, not exactly likeable characters, it didn't quite gain the overnight fan base the man deserved. Having enjoyed all six of the Outremer books myself, it was nevertheless easy to see why so many (at least so many American middle classers) failed to share my admiration. It's an unusual fantasy, by-and-large a re-imagining of the Crusades and the trials faced by the people therein, although while most Westerners think of Merry Olde England, knights and shining armor and holy grails and little else besides whenever "The Crusades" is mentioned, the truth, however, being that England was simply where knights set off from and came back to. The actual Crusades, (i.e. the actual warfare/struggle) took place in the Middle East, and the only other work of modern fiction I can think of to placed the Crusades inside its actual, natural habitat, was the movie Kingdom of Heaven...and we all know how wonderfully that flick went down (it tanked). Add to this already-doomed-to-failure set-up a strong seasoning of poetic prose, and not just purple prose, which fantasy lovers are (unfortunately) more than accustomed to and willing to accept, but rather a high-brow and personal sense of word-play that, honestly, I've yet to discover in full outside of Brenchley's own, singular wordsmithery, and it's understandable why he's wasn't an overnight sensation. But wait, isn't this post about Bridge of Dreams? Yeah, it is, so let's get to it: with no peer support group for my love of Outremer, over the years I lost track of Brenchley and failed to discover his newer works. Recently, however, I was once again took the plunge, this time into the author's first US-before-UK work, the duology Selling Water by the River, the first book being the outstandingly-conceived Bridge of Dreams. Whatever reservations anyone may have had when sampling Outremer, I can unabashedly say: Bridge of Dreams is by far a superior work. The world herein is remarkably well rendered, filled with a cavalcade of wild ideas and concepts though tightly focused upon to see a smaller, personal tale. It's about two neighboring countries: the ruling Maras and the ruled-over Sund. Maras marched into Sund long ago, due to crossing an unbridgeable river by crafting a Bridge made out of magic, out of children's dreams. The Bridge, being a bastard thing of wizardry, poisons the water it touches, and the result is an impoverished land peopled with deformed mutations, including one small boy who develops an ability that just might turn the tide in Sund's favor once again. Alternating between this particular Sundian boy and a new bride for the Marasi Sultan, the worlds of both states are explored in full, develop

The city of Sund thought its walls made it impregnable and the use of water magic made it a very special place to live. In a day, what took thousands of years to create was broken by the Marasi who created a magical bridge that scaled the walls and let the army in. Now Sund is a place of occupation where magic is outlawed and the bridge is constantly replenished by the dreams of children who eventually die. In Sund, Issel, liar, thief, con-man and water seller has the raw water magic in his blood though he doesn't know how to use it. He is taken in by a teacher who runs a school where the children learn how to use the magic so their heritage will not die. There are rebels who want to find a way to throw out the Marasi from the city and Issel lights a spark of rebellion in the population with an action he takes. The occupiers torture and kill many of the Sund and put their bodies on display. Issel uses his magic to form a new kind of weapon and with the Marasi government in turmoil; the Sund just might have a chance of getting the occupiers out if his life and keeping them out. This stand alone book by the author of the Outremer novels is an exciting fantasy thriller about an occupied city and how the people who live there cope with being under the harsh thumbs of their rulers. The protagonist is an unlikely hero more of a criminal than a savior yet against his will he is taught the gentler emotions and becomes a person readers will care for and admire. Chaz Brenchley is a brilliant world builder who is a master storyteller. Harriet Klausner