Review of Emissary . . . Posted November 15 2007

Emissary by Fiona McIntosh Voyager, 2006 Reviewed by Jason Fischer Book reviews index

Fiona McIntosh is a gem and a credit to Australian speculative fiction. To date she has given readers two fantasy trilogies, the capable Trinity and the answer to and cause of mass insomnia, her page-turning Quickening trilogy. Her latest effort is called Percheron, a series that has a totally different feel to her previous work.

For an author who has publicly admitted to keeping world-building low on her sense of priorities, the setting for her latest series is simply brilliant. In what could be called a lateral arabesque (no pun intended), Fiona avoided vanilla medieval and chose an mid-eastern setting for these books. As a reader, you get the feeling of total immersion in an incredibly old city, a place of byzantine complexity and horrid tradition. But she has avoided massive info-dumping and just creeps this setting in occasionally to remind you of where you are.

Percheron is an unforgiving place, a port-city where the Zar rules in name while many bit-players pluck at his strings. A massive harem is central to the monarchy and this powerbase to the Zars is held in the fists of two enemies. The Grand Master Eunuch Salmeo, and the Valide, chief concubine of the old Zar and a nasty piece of work.

Spur Lazar, captain of the Percherese guard, is missing and presumed dead after a horrific punishment meted out by his hidden enemies in book one. Ana, the young Odalisque who he saved from a severe flogging by taking her place, is grief stricken and attempts to escape from the harem. Caught in mid-flight, her fate looks grim, but when she faces the most grisly of executions she is given a reprieve. As the only speaker of an enemy tongue, she must go as an emissary to Lazar's homeland. It seems that this foreigner was more important than anybody realised, and the Galinsea empire are determined to avenge this deadly insult with an all out war.

Behind the scenes, an ancient war between gods is being played out. Champions have been chosen, and soon they will continue their deadly game. The prize is Percheron itself...

Fans of her previous work will not be disappointed. Fiona is renown for her visceral writing and this continues in this setting. Admittedly book one was much higher in the violence stakes but the ramifications of this continue on into Emissary. It would be highly advised that these books are read in order, they are not standalone and book 1 (Odalisque) is a brilliant read and worth seeking anyway.

As per the Quickening books, Odalisque and Emissary are very character driven works. You will find someone in here to care about, whether it is the captive Ana, the sympathetic dwarf jester Pez, the Odysseus-like Lazar or even the fantastic villains she has crafted. Setting and plot really do take a backseat to these life-like individuals, and with good reason. Despite this, plenty is going on with this story and most readers will devour it voraciously, wanting to know what is going to happen to everyone.

While the first trilogy had a slightly ham-fisted approach to magic-use, Fiona McIntosh has clearly earned her stripes. The sorcery pervading the secret divine struggle for Percheron is subtle and magnificent, and by the end of Emissary you can see that all the loose ends will finally be tied, probably in a very bloodthirsty and unexpected way if her previous work is anything to go by.

With the upcoming release of book 3 in December (Goddess), now is as good a time as ever to pick up the first two books of Percheron. If you like fast-paced action and connivance, doublecrossing and nasty violence, then these are definitely the books for you.



Reviewed by Jason Fischer