Reviews
I've reviewed quite a few books in my day--none have been harder to review than Cynnador. Let me make it clear from the outset that I love this book. I've been reading Patrick Welch for a long time, and have always enjoyed his work. Cynnador is, in my opinion, his best. Despite that, I'm afraid this review won't do the book justice as I can't find any sane way to summarize it.
For one thing, there's a prologue and twelve preludes before the novel proper begins. That means before you begin reading, you've already read twelve seemingly unrelated tales. I had little doubt these tales would soon intersect, but they do so late enough in the book where I'd have to give away major plot twists to provide a synopsis.
So I can't tell you about the dancer who weaves a spell with motion, or the master magician who tries to foil a gambler with magic and fails, or the catacombs beneath the great bazaar called Cynnador that no one has ever been able to explore, ostensibly because the demons who live there don't allow it. And I certainly can't tell you about the merchant who has a foolproof method of making sales that works everywhere but in Cynnador.
The characters are fascinating, neither good nor evil but somewhere in between. However, the real star of the book is Cynnador herself, an unlikely marketplace between two great countries, protected by mountain and desert. Indeed as I read the book, my sympathy lay with Cynnador, who somehow protects those who call her home from those who would subdue her.
I never knew, nor even suspected, where the story might lead. This, in and of itself, is an accomplishment. When I reached the entirely satisfactory ending, all I wanted to do was read the book again to see how it all came together.
There are so many characters, you'd think it would be easy to confuse them, but Mr. Welch is up to the task of making them unforgettable. And his writing style is such that I was never once confused, no matter how intricate the plot--and it is intricate. It's a tapestry woven of many threads that forms a story of peculiar beauty. Each thread by itself is almost meaningless, but how they intertwine is so fascinating, it doesn't matter. This is no meandering, purposeless tale, though the meaning doesn't unfold till near the end. To that point, I was so taken with the characters and happenings, I didn't care that I couldn't see an overall plot.
If you've never read a Patrick Welch book (and you really should), Cynnador is a fantastic place to start. Yet even if you're a Patrick Welch fan (as I am), nothing he's written before, with the possible exception of The Body Shop, will prepare you for Cynnador. With its unique structure, a brilliant cast of characters and several unique plotlines, Cynnador places Mr. Welch firmly in my pantheon of great speculative fiction writers. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Reviewed By Steve Lazarowitz © May 2005 for Novelspot.
Cynnador is a place with a presence.
It stretches across the vast Istaghian plain. Many have tried to conquer it and all have failed. As swordsmen approach, filled with thoughts of gore and glory, the city just seems to vanish, leaving the would-be attackers to die of thirst in the desert. A mirage? Maybe. Or maybe the city is able to hide.
The inhabitants are merchants, schemers and thieves. Yet, there is a source that dispenses justice in Cynnador: swiftly and without mercy. No one can plead his case, because no person sits in judgment. The arm of justice is both invisible and invincible.
Magicians and sorcerers are also present, but no magic spells can be cast in the city. The power that holds this place together is greater than anyone has ever known. Yet, there are those who will uncover the mystery of this city, and find the reality beyond their comprehension.
Author Patrick Welch takes readers to the puzzling and paradoxical city of Cynnador through his superb descriptions and dialogue. The book begins with a series of "preludes", graphically depicting life in this city through a variety of characters. Each prelude whets the appetite of the reader to know more. These vignettes are almost like "gates" leading into this strange world. As the reader passes each one, the lure of the city becomes stronger until there is no chance of escaping back to the real world.
The characters are diverse and often diabolical. Readers will find themselves repulsed, as well as nonplussed, by some of their actions. After the preludes lure the reader to the heart of this city, the author creatively ties the characters together in an unusual plot twist. A scavenger, master magician, merchant and barbarian swordsman team up to uncover a mystery that seems to threaten their existence. However, the answer lies in the catacombs, and no one has ever survived a trek through these caverns of twisting treachery. Or have they?
Let Patrick Welch take you on a journey to a place that you won't soon forget - no matter how hard you may try.
Reviewed by Joyce Handzo for In the Library Reviews.
Cynnador, Patrick Welch, www.twilighttimesbooks.com. With this book, Welch returns to the fantasy realm he first explored with his terrific The Thirteenth Magician and maintains the standards and quality of creation he set forth with that volume. He hasn’t let up in any of his other endeavors, but does truly seem to be at home in the environs of a fantasy landscape.
In Cynnador we meet an assorted group of magicians, sorcerers and barbarian swordsmen, many of whom would be at home in a novel by Robert E. Howard, but in my mind the inhabitants of Cynnador are but a step removed from the enchanted stories of ZOTHIQUE and HYBERBOREA by the magnificent and almost forgotten Clark Ashton Smith.
Welch has big shoes to fill with these criticisms, but he is able to pull it off with well-written stories and characterization that is seldom seen in a lot of books today. He is able to write a character and make you feel for them and with them as they make their decisions. Don’t ever let a book or story by Pat Welch pass you by, he’s one writer who always delivers on his promise, and his promise is a tale, well told.
Reviewed by Barry Hunter for Baryon.
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