The Man Who Fought Alone

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First, I'd say that Stephen R. Donaldson is my favorite author. Secondly, I'm not just a sci-fi/fantasy reader. My primary reading is the mystery genre. I started reading Mr. Donaldson's work in the early 80s and have continued to read everything he's written. If I'd stumbled across these books before I knew who wrote them, I'd have been addicted years ago to this series. I began this series with this particular book approximately 6 months ago. It was so awesome that I searched out all the other books and was amazed I didn't know about it for over 20 years. While this series is quite different from any other Donaldson has written, you can still strongly see his signature in the characters. The language is far less complicated than in his other works and I vaguely missed the challenge of the strong vocabulary while at the same time, appreciating his vivid and evocative descriptions of persons, places and events. The characters, as in Donaldson's other series, are typically dark and wounded. It's always clear to the reader that if they would only talk openly to each other, they could move more lightly through the world. Alas, it's not meant to be and, as in real life, the characters hold their grief and guilt close and use it as an excuse to not communicate with those who are most important to them and to engage in self-indulgent behavior. Brew and Ginny are excellent examples of Donaldson's characters. I find them to be very believable and compelling. Mick lives in deep shame and guilt over his alcoholism, accidentally killing his brother while trying to stop a purse snatcher, believing it was his fault his partner lost her hand in a bombing. Yet even in his grief, guilt and self-pity there is a core of strength and loyalty that are compelling. An earlier reviewer referred to him as a wounded bear... I think that analogy is dead on. In this story, the pair of detectives work apart for the first time in their long history together and both are partially crippled by the distance between them. As in all the stories, the plot has a lot of unexpected twists and turns. The depth of his insights into Shotokan Karate inspired me to seek out a Shotokan class when my daughter was interested in learning a martial art. Like Mick, the more I learned, the more interested I became. Overall, I'd rate this book and the entire series 5 stars. The characters are compelling, the plots are captivating and the writing is superb.

I have to admit, I had an awfully hard time getting started with this book. I'm a big fan of Stephen R. Donaldson, and with his recent books I realise I have very high expectations and I'm always afraid that this is where he is going to lose his edge and start going downhill.It hasn't happened yet, though. This series of mysteries (The Man Who Killed His Brother, The Man Who Risked His Partner, The Man Who Tries to Get Away, and now The Man Who Fought Alone) is another great series, stylistically quite different from any of his other books. I find it a bit hard to describe: the previous books in the series have been almost-parodies of stock detective-book plots; stock plots that Donaldson has injected with his own unique (often dark) perspective, effectively combined with a frequently light attitude that can really be quite humorous. The Man Who Fought Alone is more straighforward and less humorous than previous books, although the overall feel of the book is a bit lighter as Axebrewder starts to bring his life under control. Donaldon has managed to work the martial arts theme quite well too, with a look inside the world or martial arts competition which is both interesting and manages to develop good characters. This is what always draws me to Stephen R. Donalson's books, the wonderfully textured and developed characters, each with their own strengths and foibles and, well, character that really stands out in a genre that is not know for such things.Now, the start of the book is a bit slow, and it's overall not quite as tight as previous entries in the series. The first few chapters will probably have a few long-time Donaldson fans rolling their eyes a bit as old Axebrewder goes on his lengthy "woe is me" bit. After this slightly rocky start, though, the book really does take off and it thoroghly engrossed me. It's not quite the best in the series, but the series is quite good and The Man Who Fought Alone is highly recommended. I'm glad that it looks like the whole series is being re-issued in hardback under Stephen R. Donaldson's real name (they were previously published under a pseudonym, Reed Stephens); they've been hard-to-get for some time and given his success, this is long overdue.

Over the weekend, I read Donaldson's new book, titled _The Man Who Fought Alone_. This is either the fourth or fifth Mick "Brew" Axbrewder mystery, but the first published under Donaldson's own name (the others were published under the pseudonym "Reed Stephens"--guess we know what the "R." stands for).This was an excellent book, though at first I wasn't sure I was going to like it. As the book opens, Brew and his partner, Ginny Fistoulari (there are some really memorable names in this book) have just relocated to the city of Carner, after a run-in with the criminal elements of their former hometown, Puerta del Sol, has left Brew with a bullet wound in the stomach. As he's recovering, and feeling sorry for himself, Ginny seeks out an old acquaintance and lands a job with his detective firm. Brew starts to look for a job and winds up at the same firm, which recommends him as extra security for a martial arts tournament that is coming up.This was where the book really hooked me. I didn't care for all the wishy-washy angst at the beginning, which reminded me a lot of Donaldson's Thomas Covenant fantasy series and why I finally had to stop reading it. Brew, a recovering alcoholic, has begun to feel like a burden to Ginny, and circumstances have forced them apart and he's wondering how he'll continue on without her, etc., etc. But once he's hired to watch over the tournament, this becomes a really interesting book.As Brew wanders around the convention center where the matches are being held, he talks to a number of people, trying to get some sort of a handle on the various martial arts and "artists." This allows Donaldson to provide explanations of the different styles, which can be loosely characterized as "hard" and "soft," as well as the various conflicts between different nations and their preferred styles. The reader learns an awful lot about the martial arts and it's never presented in a didactic fashion. Brew, at first, is very condescending in his attitude, but he gradually develops more and more respect and at the end of the book has become a student of Shotokan, under a Japanese master.The tournament is being put on under the auspices of an American karate master whose International Association of the Martial Arts is an attempt to bridge some of the gaps between the different styles, etc. At the tournament, a set of "chops" or ivory tablets with the stances of Wing Chun, a traditionally Chinese martial art, are being displayed. They are presently in the hands of the Japanese Shotokan master, which has lead to more bad blood between the various schools. When a murder occurs, Brew suspects that it has something to do with the chops, but he isn't sure just how or why.As I said, the martial arts stuff really drew me into the book. There's a lot of information in the book, but it's never presented in a way that makes it difficult to understand or follow. Once the action gets underway, there isn't as much focus on the wishy-washines

Life stinks if you ask former private detective Mick "Brew" Axbrewder. The accidental killing of his brother years ago will always haunt Brew, a recovering alcoholic. Brew's former partner his beloved Ginny Fistoulari has barely been civil to him since he killed his sibling. He understands why Ginny loathes him, but all Brew wants is another chance to redeem what is left of his life even if Ginny is never at his side again. While Ginny finds work with another sleuth, an apprehensive Brew accepts a security job at martial arts tournament. Surprising, at least to Brew ,is how deep two rival schools hate each other as both claim ownership of antique Chinese print blocks containing martial art poses. When someone is killed, Brew believes the murder is associated with the valuable blocks, but struggles to uncover whom committed murder. In the fourth "The Man Who" series, Stephen Donaldson provides quite an antihero battling his own demons in a seemingly futile attempt to salvage his scarred soul. The who-done-It of THE MAN WHO FOUGHT ALONE engages the audience though the culprit seems obvious relatively early into the plot. Still, readers will relish this tale because Brew's quest for redemption makes his efforts to solve the murder quite appealing to readers in this terse private investigator thriller.Harriet Klausner