I was really pleased to see that Elizabeth Bear has a new series started, because I loved All the Windwrack'd Stars and the subsequent books in that world. This series is vastly different in setting, yet there are some striking similarities.
It has been several years since I last read All the Windwrack'd Stars, but when I first cracked the pages of Range of Ghosts I was greeted with the same sense of survivor's guilt and the desolation of the battle field that I had read before. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a rehash of a previous story, but the imagery was so striking that I knew this was the same author that had wowed me with Mecha Norse Mythology. Instead of Ragnarok, Bear is tackling the fractured nature of the early Eastern tribal culture.
The characters Bear creates are survivors; the tenuous control that had existed under the Khaganate has fallen and inter-fighting between the relatives of the Great Khan has forced whole families to exterminate each other. Without anyone to say the prayers for the dead, the roaming spirits of the Khan's family have been trapped and used to lay waste to neighboring villages. The heroes, Re Temur and Samarkar-La are on a journey to stop the bloodshed, rescue a young woman, and possibly a little bit of revenge for the slaughtered.
One of things that Bear does very well is to tell stories as if they are just things that have happened or will happen. As if they belong to this world and are facts. I think the best way that she does this is with how her characters deal with sex. This isn't a romance, the sex scenes don't really leave you hot under the collar. They are both sensual and bland at the same time. These characters aren't having sex to entertain you, the reader, they are having sex because they can, they are lost, alone, exiled, under attack, etc, and just need the human comfort they can provide each other. It is a real, tangible emotion she describes and not a fluffy bedroom scene designed to fulfill any sort of fantasy.
I was very impressed with this book, but felt that some parts of the story dragged and made the reading hard going. This is not a world, nor a history, that is very familiar to our Western culture and a lot of background is needed to make this world feel like a real place. This book is the first in a trilogy called the Eternal Sky, and I think the two other books will probably read more easily because so much back-story has been established, but there is still more to be revealed to keep the reader interested in pursuing the Temur and Samarkar's journey.
If you are looking for something different, that isn't a fantasy or scifi filled with vampires, werewolves, demon hunters, or fairies, then this is definitely something I'd recommend you to pick up. Elizabeth Bear has a talent for choosing subject matters that are unfamiliar to a lot of readers and yet presents them in a manner that is engaging, interesting and unique. She is definitely a writer that writes what she wants to write and doesn't need to follow along with pop culture to get readers.
