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No Present Like Time by Steph Swainston
01/09/2005 . Source: Tomas L. Martin 
pub: Gollancz. 317 page hardback. Price: £ 9.99 (UK only). ISBN: 0-575-07006-4. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk
When a new writer brings out their second novel after a promising debut, it's often more of a test of their ability than their first. The promise of that first novel needs to be met with a little something extra, plus refinement of ability, to truly get the writer's career going.
When I reviewed Steph Swainson's first book, 'The Year Of Our War', I liked it but felt it was a little rough around the edges, especially plot wise. I was excited at this prospect in the new 'weird fiction' branch of fantasy but felt that her work wasn't truly great yet.
Happily, the sequel to Swainson's debut tightens up her writing in all the right places and continues her extravagant imagination and witty characters. 'No Present Like Time' picks up where the first book set in The Fourlands left off and ratchets up the quality a notch.
For two thousand years, the Emperor San has ruled over the Four Kingdoms of Swainson's world. The north of the continent is infested with giant vicious insects (not unlike the alien critters in 'Starship Troopers' and just as capable of chopping off limbs) and San has a novel way of dealing with them: his circle of chosen Eszai.
San has the ability to make himself and a small clutch of his best men and women immortal. So, for each important role in fighting the Insects and keeping the kingdom safe - Sailor, Swordsman, Messenger, Doctor and Archer, among others, the best in each position challenge for the rank of Eszai - and are immortal as long as they hold the position.
In the hundreds or occasionally thousands of years these champions live, they grow to be quite eccentric characters and this is what makes Swainson's writing so successful. The protagonist of the book, Jant, is a hybrid of two types of the world's winged men and as a result he can fly which, despite most having some sort of wings, no one else can do. However, the pressure of being the Emperor's Messenger and stressing out that his wife might be having an affair with another of the Eszai has driven him back to the drug he was addicted to growing up in the slums.
Following the victory over the Insects in the first book, the Swordsman Gio is challenged to a duel for his immortality and loses to a newcomer. The Emperor sends Jant, Lightning the Archer and the new young swordsman, Wrenn, to the newly discovered island of Tris. The Trisians, a Roman democratic type people, are reluctant to join San's Empire. The insect brought to impress the islanders escapes causing havoc all over Tris' capital.
Defeated in their attempts to win over the island, Jant and the others return to the mainland to find uproar. The deposed Swordsman Gio has started a rebellion against the Emperor and the Eszai have to fight to stop him. All the while, Jant struggles with his drug addiction.
All the interesting facets of Swainson's world that were hinted at in the first book are fully realised in this one. When Jant overdoses on his drugs, he is taken to another world, the Shift. In the first book, his trips to this world were curious asides but not too essential to the plot. Here, not only are his visits to the other world more intriguing but they are integral to the resolution of the story in the Fourlands world.
The caste system of the world is explored more thoroughly with Wrenn's challenge to the Swordsman and the repercussions that the transfer of immortality between Gio and Wrenn is nicely thought out. Jant's drug addiction is more believable given the stresses he undergoes and we see a lot more of the past that caused him to be this way.
Swainson has a quick wit for good dialogue and characters and enough imagination to create a very original fantasy world. As her talent for plot structure has improved no bounds with this effort, I hope this series will be very successful for a long time to come.
Tomas L. Martin
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