Stormlands #01: The Islander

John Maddox Roberts is one of those guys that just can't seem to gain popular acclaim, despite masterful works such as his `SPQR' series, mysteries involving the adventures of Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger as he solves crimes in ancient Rome. He's also known for solid works of alternate history, such as King of the Wood, Hannibal's Children, and The Seven Hills. In addition, he's got several other works of fantasy and science fiction to his credit. Among these, my favorites are the five books of the `Stormlands' series. In the first volume, The Islander, we're introduced to a fantastic setting - Earth, some unknown number of centuries after modern-day civilization was wiped out - and several equally fantastic characters. The book is centered on Hael, a young warrior from a tribe known as the Shasinn. The Shasinn are herdsmen, following their herds of horned kagga (a sort of mutant cattle) from one pasture to another on their home island of Gale. Gale is part of a vast chain of islands that line the west coast of a large continent. Together, these islands and the adjacent coast are known as the Stormlands. It is never made explicitly clear in the series, but as more and more of the story is told in the following volumes, one can deduce that this is the West Coast of North America. The Stormlands are roughly central California up to Washington state. Hael is mainly content with his lot in life; he'll spend a number of years as a junior warrior. As he gains seniority, he'll be allowed to marry and own his own kagga herds. He's an orphan though, marked as something of a social outcast. His orphan status kept him from becoming an apprentice to the tribe's Spirit-Speaker, and also threw him together with a new half-brother: Gasam, a warrior of the same fraternity Hael belongs to. Gasam holds an unreasoning hatred for Hael, and eventually, sets up Hael to be exiled. Left without a tribe, adrift in life, Hael goes down to the sea, where he boards a trading ship bound for the mainland. The middle third of the book follows his adventures at sea, in the ancient and decadent nation of Neva (roughly situated in present-day Nevada), and in a merchant caravan bound for the unexplored eastern plains. It is there, on the plains, that Hael discovers his true destiny - to unite the disparate peoples there into one nation, one that will eventually change the world... The Islander makes no pretensions to being high literature; it is a swashbuckling romp of an adventure novel, with a larger-than-life hero, beautiful princesses, duplicitous courtiers, decadent kingdoms, and fierce warrior tribes. Roberts has a gift for description; the Stormlands are brought to life beautifully, from Hael's island home all the way to the vast plains of the interior. Equally well-described is the flora and fauna of this world. Gone are modern-day animals such as horses, lions, or bulls. In their place are kagga, terror-cats, longnecks, and other, even more