Sos the Rope

When Anthony first arrived on the scene, he blessed us with several quite original science fiction works, before turning to his pun-filled Xanth series. This is one of those very early works, and while the basic scenario of a post-apocalyptic world had been done many times before, the unique slant he brings to this world is intriguing and well rationalized. The world of Sos is one where all conflicts are decided in the battle circle, with a limited choice of weapons (provided for free at the cookie-cutter `hostels' that dot the landscape): sword, Morningstar, club, staff, sticks, and daggers. Sol the Sword, at the beginning, runs into Sol of All Weapons, and they contest for the right to the name. Sol of All Weapons (he hauls all of them around in a barrow) is victorious, and Sol the Sword ends up nameless, only later taking the name Sos. But it seems that Sol of All Weapons has greater plans than individual triumph in the circle; he dreams of empire, of uniting all the nomad fighters into one great clan. However great his prowess is in the circle, however, mentally he is not the match for Sos, and Sos eventually agrees to become Sol's advisor and trainer. As Sol proceeds to put together his empire, a larger look at this world appears, populated not just by the nomads of the circle, but by the `crazies', the people who put up and stock the hostels, though why they do this is unknown, and this seems crazy to the nomads, as they apparently get nothing in return for providing this service. Some areas of the world are still feeling the effects of the Blast, with some mutated animals that are quite horrific (this is one area that Anthony seemed to delight in, managing to create monsters that will haunt your dreams long after reading the book, as shown not only here but in Chthon and several other books). Sos, feeling the sting of being weaponless in a society where status belongs to the best fighter, eventually goes to the crazies, where he manages to find a weapon that he is not honor bound not to use, the rope. What he does with it, and an even deeper picture of this society, form the rest of this book, and lead into the sequels to this, Var the Stick and Neq the Sword. The battle scenes are well described; not just hack and slash, but a good look at the strategies and mental thought processes of the participants. And the main conflict of this book grows out the envisaged society. Some of the elements of this society may infuriate feminists, as women are definitely not only second class, but are basically property, but the why behind their status is fairly well shown and makes logical sense. Some of the characterization is a little weak; I would certainly have appreciated a little deeper look at Sol, but in general the people are more than well-enough developed to carry the story. A very different society, one that will make you think a bit about how our own society came into being, and what is important in life. ---Reviewed by Pa