Snow Brother

It's been many years since I read this, when I was a teenager. I didn't exactly find it enjoyable at the time - the protagonist is not 'good' by most definitions (she could have been worse?), unpleasant things happened (rape, murder etc.), and, well, it just existed in shades of gray that, at the age I read it, I was not entirely happy with. Half a lifetime later, I still remember that book. It's a tale of a peaceful little village up in the mountains that's just been invaded by barbarians, who then hunker down and occupy the place. Much of the book is about how the villagers deal with the occupation and mount their own resistance. It's about the weak versus the strong, about caring for people who you really shouldn't, about a rough, tough barbarian who's silly enough to fall in love. I've read and forgotten a lot of generic fantasy novels where the Heroes and Proponents of All That Is Good lay into the Forces of Darkness and win, because that's how the plot has to go. Sh'kaira(sp?), and her lover playing twisty little flute-songs, has stayed with me.

To begin with a warning: this is a fairly typical (if there is such a thing) S.M. Stirling novel. If graphic (though never gratuitous) sex and violence bother you, you really shouldn't read it. If you don't listen to me and do so anyhow, please don't write a review whinging about how disappointed you were, as some unfortunate people seem to do around here. It's not for children, it's not for idiotic people who think that everyone on the planet, now and in the future, should speak 20th century American English. But if you're a person who likes fully developed cultures and the characters who live in them, who likes beautiful description and interesting plot, this is a novel for you. Three thousand years in the future, the ill-tempered descendants of USAF personnel, bred up into one of the most dangerous mounted forces ever to ride the earth (think Mongols with compound bows and an incredible level of discipline), tangle with forest dwelling anarcho-syndicalists (think hippies with more sense and no shortage of guts). The contest is more even than one might think. Sound intriguing? I thought so. Now go buy the book!!!