Fortress of Eagles (Fortress Series)

Fortress of Eagles (1998) is the second fantasy novel in the Fortress series, following Fortress in the Eye of Time. In the previous volume, Cefwyn, Ninevrise and Tristen led an army from the Southern provinces against the Elwynim rebels in Amefel. During the slow march, Tristen finally discovered how to read the book given him by Mauryl Gestaurien and learned something of the nature of the gray space. As the Elwynim rebels under Aseyneddin ambushed the Ylesuin column at Lewenbrook, a great Shadow assaulted the vanguard. Tristen rode directly into the light at the center of this Shadow, carrying the magic blade he had created, and slashed the spirit of Hasufin Heltain. Defeated, yet still not dead, Hasufin withdrew from the battlefield. Afterward, Uwen called back Tristen from the gray space and they rejoined the survivors. In this novel, Cefwin returns to Guelessar with Ninevrise and Tristen. The Guelenfolk who had been at Lewenbrook bring back strange tales of sorcery directed against their king. Of course, the Northern Barons hadn't been there, so they disbelieve the talk of magical forces, but they hear enough about Tristen to fear him. The Quinalt priests are upset at having a Sihhe Lord among them. The Quinalt Patriarch complains that Tristen is using magic to have the pigeons make a mess on his portico. Then someone introduces a Sihhe coin in the harvest offering and lightning blasts a hole in the roof of the Quinaltine. The Patriarch comes to Cefwyn to complain of sorcery. Cefwyn becomes exceedingly angry with the Quinalt Patriarch and forcibly reminds the priest of his grandfather's attitude toward the Quinalt Hierarchy. The Patriarch, who is a political priest, gains a healthy fear of the rage of his King, but his priests defy him to force a confrontation. So Cefwyn invests Tristen with the Duchy of Amefel and sends him back to Henas'amef. Emuin decides to return to Amefel with Tristen. In this story, Tristen feels the need to travel quickly to his duchy. When the farrier wagon breaks down, Tristen decides to leave the wagons to travel at their own pace and rides ahead with his Dragon Guard in Ivanim style, each with only a horse and a remount. They reach Henas'amef in two days, only to find that an Amefin earl has taken over part of the Zeide. The Guelen Guard under the Viceroy has occupied another part of the Zeide containing the spring and food stores. Yet the rebels are holding the King's Herald. Tristen has his men declare his identity and estate and, when the rebels fail to respond, leads the attack over the wall against the rebels. Tristen drives them back through the Zeide and out the eastern side until the rebels are surrounded by his men and finally surrender. The Lord Viceroy is a hindrance from the moment Tristen enters the fortress. After he orders his Guard to kill the Amefin prisoners, Tristen banishes the Viceroy from the province. When he takes Liss, Uwen's newly purchased mount, Tristen reach

This book follows the action of "Fortress in the Eye of Time" and marches forward into a new series of unknown length: "Fortress of Owls" and "Fortress of Dragons" follow, and it doesn't end there, so we may have to wait a year or two to get the ending! Fortunately Cherryh writes fast, and we probably will not have to wait as long as we will for the conclusion of Jordan's "Wheel of Time".Without going into all the Cherryhshly complex history of the world, the situation at the end of "Eye" was pretty much like this. One of the chief protagonists is Cefwyn, newly the king of Ylesuin, his father having died in the course of "Eye". The political situation in his realm is something like 14th-century Britain or France: that is to say that he is not one of those absolute rulers of later centuries, but is trying to reign over a large number of largely autonomous lords who are continually plotting with and against each other and with whom he has to practically renegotiate his sovereignty every time he turns around. Across the river from Ylesuin is Elwynor, to whose young queen, Ninevrise, Cefwyn is betrothed. Most of her realm is in the hands of rebels hostile to Ylesuin, however, as a result of the sorcerous conflict recounted in "Eye". Cefwyn must unify his realm, wage war on the Elwynoran rebels, and restore Ninevrise to her throne. This task will take at least four volumes (depending on how many volumes will follow "Dragons").Cefwyn's most loyal and problematic ally is Tristen, who is not "of woman born," but a "Shaping" created by Mauryl the wizard (now deceased), raised to adulthood in a few months' time, and still largely naive about the stuff of human life. Tristen is thoroughly good and innocent, but is likely to be the reincarnation of a dangerous wizard-lord of the past. Of course he has magic running out of his ears, and in "Eye" was mainly on hand to blast the evil sorcerous revenant Hasufin by indescribable means.I read "Fortress in the Eye of Time" a few years ago, and am only now catching up with the sequels. I'll be very honest here: I didn't like "Eye of Time" all that much. The hero who is weak, the flawed, innocent, crippled hero, the hero who is not quite what we think of as human, the fool-as-hero: this is a common theme in Cherryh's work, but I found Tristen a bit overdrawn for my taste in "Eye". And then there is the whole theme of the newbie wizard who discovers how to defeat the powers of Evil just by Discovering Who He Is, without having to do any work hardly - a theme which is a cliche' in the Fantasy genre, and a cliche' which is just not to my taste.In my view, however, the pace and tone of "Eagles" and the succeeding volumes (well, "Owls" anyway, which I've read) are much different from "Eye of Time", AND are an improvement on it. Gone is the breathless urgency of "Eye", punctuated by battles and megamagic attacks and wizards' duels. The pace has become MUCH slower, much

So many words to cover so brief a span of time. A time of great tumult in Guelessar, to be sure. And so many faiths for so small a land! The ongoing religious intrigues among Quinaltine, Bryaltine, and Teranthine do become a bit vexing. (I keep expecting the appearance of the Ovaltine, and their elliptical doctrines.)

There is no need to repeat all those praises Cherryh has received already, especially concerning her skill of creating believable worlds and sketching convincing characters.Though Fortress of Eagles is a sequel and these lines may therefore be a bit late, it should nonetheless be mentioned that Cherryh has had predecessors. I do not want to write an essay on all the roots modern fantasy has, but still I am quite surprised no one has mentioned the strong parallels of the very story of Tristen's with Katherine Kurtz's Deryny universe. There is f.e. the existence of magic within a medieval world, the conflict between orthodoxy and magic and the fight for power within a feudal, almost utterly Anglo-Saxon society. Of course Fortress of Eagles is about good v. evil (it is still fantasy), but since Tristen's rise to ducal honors it is not the absolute evil the hero has to fight but the evil of every man's life, insofar again quite similar with Kurtz. So why 5 stars? Simply because besides all the aforementioned skills every page is breathing authenticity in an up to now unknown scale. Never before I have read f.e. about the necessity of oxcarts and their tactical influence on medieval warfare or about the scale of a royal household, lest the behavior of horses in such detail and knowledge. It is a commonplace that a splendid scholar does not necessarily turn up a splendid writer. Having read almost every available book of hers, I have no doubts that Cherryh's erudition will be the source of reader's future delight.

Ok, if you became addicted to the life and times of Cefwyn and Tristen in "Fortress in the Eye of Time," and impatiently await the release of the next block buster, currently looming on the horizon, "Fortress of Owls," you'll relish "Fortress of Eagles." This book continues where the first leaves off and where, as it Unfolds to me, the next one picks up.In other words, this is a "bridge" novel between the two major works, but it is essential to the reader's understanding of the work.Enjoy.