Of Honor and Treason is the first book in a new series from Speculation Press, an independent press specializing in "imaginative tales for intelligent readers." The title of the book introduces the reader to its major themes. Honor: the book's two central figures both seek to lead upstanding lives while holding positions of authority within corrupt political systems. Treason: both also wish to overthrow the corrupt leaders they serve. Such themes, set in the context of a rivalry between two interstellar empires, might seem like a formula for a shoot-'em-up action adventure in deep space. The novel's prologue, in fact, appears to set such a plot in motion. But in a deftly handled symbolic shift, the novel quickly turns from battle to education. Fundamentally, Of Honor and Treason tells the story of the education of two beings, one human, one alien, as they come to understand their honor as unselfish love and as they struggle to uphold it in spite of corruption around them. The balanced interplay of the similarities and differences between the two characters and their cultures give the work poignancy and moral depth. Its characters are worth knowing.
The human protagonist, Eivaunee Dorlan, is a young warship captain and the head of the wealthiest family in the Klimar Empire, a collection of planets ruled by an emperor with the support of the sixteen Consenti families. Long ago, the Consenti founded the Empire after a civil war in which Earth was destroyed to free its colonies from the home planet's tyranny. Throughout his reign, Emperor Hazdel has been trying to destroy the Dorlan family in order to seize its wealth for himself. Eivaunee is the family's last heir. He strives to protect his family interests from the emperor's greed while still remaining a loyal subject. (Readers familiar with medieval English history may recognize some distinct parallels between that period and the Klimar Empire).
The alien protagonist, Zsar't'lac, is the hereditary leader of a warrior race, the Hsassan, who defend the interplanetary realm of their peoples, the Norda Homelands. The Homelands harbors several related races who have been bred over millennia for different purposes. Chief among these are the Yseret, the scientist-bureaucrats who rule the Homelands, and the Hsassan, who enforce the rule of the Yseret as well as protect the Homelands from outsiders. Over the centuries, however, the Yseret have come to govern in pursuit of their own interests, not those of the Norda as a whole. Under this corrupt leadership, the honorable Hsassan are beginning to chafe, but rebellion is hard for them to contemplate.
The Norda peoples are humanoid, and their society differs from human society in degree rather than kind. They build with biotechnology rather than metal-based technology, creating living computers and spaceships. They focus their most serious technology on themselves through genetic engineering and controlled breeding. Since the Norda are bred for their social roles, their society is traditional and largely static, as members perform the roles for which they were born and raised. In comparison to this system, even the hereditary government of the Klimar empire seems both free and chaotic. Having been bred to serve the Yseret, most Hsassan cannot conceive of rebelling against them. Zsar't'lac must discern how to change this deeply traditional culture to free it from the oppressive Yseret. He finds that he must start by leaving it and living among humans in the Klimar Empire.
Although the novel sets up major differences between the technology and social structures of the two races, it is neither hard science fiction nor social science fiction. The technical and social backgrounds are sketched out just enough to buttress the development of the characters. The plot moves forward in a steady but leisurely fashion, alternating between the stories of the two protagonists. On the human side, a fairly large number of characters are introduced, but few are developed in any depth except for Eivaunee himself. On the Norda side, only a few characters are introduced at all, but they are richly developed; through them, the reader discovers the culture of the Hsassan.
Even though their political situations are similar, the cultural differences between humans and Hsassan cause Eivaunee and Zsar't'lac to have sharply contrasting personal experiences as they explore honor and treason. Eivaunee's struggle with his emperor leads him into tragic paradox: to be an honorable and successful leader, he must care for those who serve him and inspire loyalty, but he cannot develop real ties of affection, because anyone close to him runs the risk of being used as a tool against him. Eivaunee's understanding of his predicament gives him an air of pessimism and essential loneliness. Zsar't'lac, in contrast, moves in a world imbued with love and trust. Bred to be leader of the Hsassan, he has always received their love and been invested with their hopes. Merle does a fine job of rendering the richness of his personal life among his people. His bond with his friend and lover Sing'm'li is especially beautifully developed. In the early parts of the book, the reader may find Zsar't'lac, and the Hsassan in general, rather stiff and unsympathetic, but as the relationships between the characters unfold and as the contrast between the Hsassan society and the human society become more sharply drawn, the reader may well come to see the Hsassan leader as a most interesting and admirable character.
It takes the novel's first half to develop fully these two central characters and the relationships that define their lives. Readers in search of a fast-paced plot may grow somewhat impatient in this section, though readers primarily interested in character will find it highly engaging. The plot picks up in the second half when Zsar't'lac's "defection" from the Norda Homelands brings the two protagonists together. The stakes become significantly higher when Zsar't'lac becomes caught up in the deadly rivalry of Eivaunee Dorlan and the despicable Emperor Hazdel. While I don't know how the next book will develop this situation, this novel is rich with possibilities for an exciting sequel.
I should conclude with a few words about the fact that this book comes from a small press. You probably won't be able to find Of Honor and Treason in your local bookstore, but you can find it on-line in the Strange Horizons bookstore. You can also find it on Amazon.com and on the Speculation Press Web site. The book has a few minor problems that come with its small press origins. The cover art, though it accurately depicts the appearance of the Hsassan, is not exciting. There are a few technical slips. For example, there are two chapters numbered eleven and no chapter numbered twenty-three. The book is printed on quality paper, however, and the typeface is very readable, better than what you find in many books from big presses these days. More serious are occasional stylistic lapses -- the prologue, unfortunately, is one of a few passages that are rather stilted. On the whole, the prose is not particularly elegant or sharp. It is good enough, however, to enable the novel to develop its strengths: depictions of character deepened by a careful balancing of two protagonists. I enjoyed reading Of Honor and Treason and look forward to the next book in the series. It's my pleasure to recommend to you a small-press book that deserves to be widely read.
Christopher Cobb is Senior Reviews Editor for Strange Horizons.