I have had a hard time getting a lot of reading done lately. This is, I think, largely due to the amount of activity in my life lately (high), and my overall energy level for reading or other intellectual activity (low). I’m also still dealing with some (mostly) seasonal depression and sleep problems, and I have found it difficult to finish a book (or much of anything of substance).

I’ve recently finished “The Morgaine Saga” by C. J. Cherryh. Cherryh is a rather prolific sci-fi and fantasy author who I recall reading when I was probably about 12 or 13 (my mother bought me “Yorath the Wolf” when I was sick once, and I recall really enjoying the writing style and characterizations in that short book). Cherryh seems to be a “reader’s favorite” kind of author, judging from the volume of her writing in publication and the amount of shelf space at Borders given over to her books.

I wanted to find something engaging and diverting that I thought I could actually finish and not get bored with. Part of my problem has been that several of the books I’ve been reading just aren’t that good and by the second half I really am just “slogging through”. The central premise of this novel, which is really three short novels printed in a single paperback volume, is that humans, after entering space, find the existence of “Gates”, which connect far-flung worlds both in space and time. These gates were built, or at least controlled (it seems unclear), by a humanoid but alien race called qual or sometimes qhal, who have a rather “elvish” sensibility about them (long-lived, powerful, unconcerned with the affairs of humans, etc.) These Gates traverse time as well as space, and eventually the cumulative effects of tampering with the past causes the qual to be mostly wiped out[1]. Humans discover the Gates and eventually their legacy, and after many years of deliberation decide to try and close them.

These three novels focus on Morgaine, a woman sent as part of a team to close these Gates (and the only survivor apparently), and Vanye, an exiled man who comes into the protection and service of Morgaine. Despite the science-fictional premise of the series, the action occurs mostly in a traditional fantasy “sword and horse” context. The tone is rather anxious and dark, and both Morgan and Vanye are at the center (and sometimes the cause) of a lot of suffering and destruction as the consequences of the Gates and those who use them become revealed.

I was intrigued by the sci-fi context of the books, and was surprised by the departure from this vein after the introduction. Regardless, Cherry’s writing is tight and the pace is exciting and interesting (if a little dark). Putting these three short novels together yields for a bit of repetitious plotting (each book takes place on a different world, and there’s a repeated motif of Vanye’s separation from and reuniting with Morgaine). Vanye is an interesting character himself, although he is really the only fully-developed character in the series.

1

In the words of the immortal Captain Janeway, “I swore I’d never let myself get caught in one of these Godforsaken paradoxes. The past is the future, the future is the past, it all gives me a headache.”