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Midshipwizard Halycon Blithe by James M. Ward
01/12/2006 . Source: Joules Taylor 
pub: TOR/Forge. 288 page hardback. Price: $24.95 (US), $33.95 (CAN). ISBN: 0-765-31253-0. Buy Midshipwizard Halycon Blithe in the USA - or Buy Midshipwizard Halycon Blithe in the UK  check out website: www.tor.com
'Combining elements of Hornblower with Harry Potter, and Robert Louis Stevenson with Robin Hobb, Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe is a nautical tale rich in magic and intrigue.' (from the blurb)
Hmmmm...Well, I know and like the Harry Potter books. I'm less fond of R.L. Stevenson. I actually bought and thoroughly enjoyed Hornblower and the Crisis to check the style for the purposes of this review, since I'd never read any C S Forester before, although like many people I've seen the TV adaptations. I don't remember reading any Robin Hobb, but the titles of her books look very familiar, so perhaps I have in the dim and distant past, back last century. At any rate, I decided three out of four wasn't too bad for a review.
'Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe' is set in a fantasy world where Arcania is at war with Maleen and, as can be surmised by the title, deals with the war at sea. It's a world where magic-users are marked by their pure white hair and honoured for their abilities, which usually relate to one of the four elements although some, such as Blithe, are proficient in two.
However, this isn't a world in which magic can be used with impunity. The author combines Newton's Third Law (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction) and the magical Law of Three (be careful what magic you work, because if it harms another you'll be repaid three times worse) to make the use of magic rather more tricky than that used in the Harry Potter continuum. Naval wizards are forbidden on pain of death to use High Magic at sea because of the dangers to the ships and crew.
The ships deserve a special mention. The largest warships are sea dragons, trained to go into battle: decking, crews' quarters and all the other accoutrements of a warship are attached to their living bodies. Blithe's dragonship, the Sanguine, is three hundred and ten feet long, two hundred of that the dragon itself and eighty-two feet wide, though of course it's still growing. Every two years the dragon sheds its skin, which is used for the hull and inner walls of the ship and is clamped to the animal's flesh so the blood-supply can keep it healthy. Which all sounds extremely cruel, but this particular dragon doesn't seem to mind, is in fact extremely well regarded and carefully tended by the crew and we may assume that all dragonships are treated the same way. It makes for a fearsome and highly effective navy.
Blithe himself is the seventh son of a seventh son and also has a touch of demon in his ancestry, making him both an exceptional wizard and a man to be reckoned with. The Sanguine is his first commission and he is keen to make a good impression, coming as he does from a long, long line of naval officers.
This sounds like the recipe for an exciting, swashbuckling adventure story and indeed, it does have some such elements. But...
I'm not sure what to make of the book. Every chapter has pages and pages of explanation, given by one character or another and made me think of gaming rulebooks made more palatable by presenting them as a story. Certainly there's enough detail here to be able to set up a very comprehensive role-playing game. The actual action is delivered in short, choppy sections and since it's been set up, either by the previous explanation or by the quoted Articles of War that head each chapter, doesn't come as much of a surprise.
I'm also not entirely sure who is the intended audience. Much of the book reads as though designed for children, with its simplistic style, repetitions and short sentences, 'There were few other reasons to clang the bell other than to mark the hour. One of them happened with sea burials. The other was the warning of heavy weather. When the bell clanged repeatedly, the entire ship's crew rigged for heavy weather. The tones of the bell warned the entire ship of the coming danger.'
At the same time I would have said some of the language and concepts are a little adult for younger readers. Then again, so is some of Harry Potter, so perhaps I'm not the best person to judge.
It's an unsatisfying read. The characters are so busy explaining how the world operates they have no time to develop any temperamental or emotional depth and come across as more than a little wooden. The last chapter stops in mid-air, as it were, obviously setting the story up for a sequel but in the most irritating fashion. The writing itself is competent, although I would have preferred not to read such Americanisms as pants for breeches and butt for arse when the nautical terms, as far as I can see, are all British, but the story-telling leaves a lot to be desired.
Addendum: After writing this I Googled the title and found that the author has in fact written RPG in the past, 'Metamorphosis Alpha', and Amazon cites young teens as the intended audience - it would have been useful to have been told that on the cover. As such, it may appeal to teen-agers, but readers used to the complexity and depth of J.K. Rowling's world might find it a little frustrating.
Joules Taylor
http://www.wavewrights.com
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