John M. Ford once wrote that “Every book is three books, after all; the one the writer intended, the one the reader expected, and the one that casts its shadow when the first two meet by moonlight.” (“Rules of Engagement,” in From the End of the Twentieth Century.)
Using that metaphor, the first time I read Jo Walton’s The Prize in the Game, the cast shadow was even stranger than Deformed Rabbit (everyone’s favorite).
The reason, I realized, was that I had one of the stranger possible sets of expectations going into the book—including the fact that the book is dedicated to me. So I re-read it with a clearer head, and I’m happy to say that it’s very good. However, in hopes of avoiding messing up other people’s expectations, I’m not going to talk about my weird expectations here, because it’s too hard to use spoiler protection in this format. Instead, you can read my spoiler comments in a post to rec.arts.sf.written (Google link; may take a few hours to show up). What follows is a semi-objective review that ought to suit people who haven’t yet read the book.
Prize is set in the same world as Walton’s first two novels, The King’s Peace and The King’s Name. It tells the backstory of the Isarnagan (Irish-equivalent) characters appearing in those books, as well as that of some who hadn’t appeared on-stage before. It ought to be possible to read Prize first, but my general rule is to read things in publication order. In this case, I think Prize would end rather abruptly to someone who didn’t know the eventual fates of the characters (there will be a sequel to Prize, called Breaking the Ward). It would certainly be a very different experience, anyway—a good analogy is reading A Deepness in the Sky before A Fire Upon the Deep. If anyone tries it, please report back to us.
Prize is told from four alternating points of view. Conal is one of the King of Oriel’s nephews. Elenn and Emer are the daughters of Connat’s rulers; Elenn is one of the most beautiful women in the world, and Emer aspires to be a charioteer. Ferdia is the heir to Lagin, third of the five kingdoms of Tir Isarnagiri; he is also close friends with Darag, Conal’s cousin and rival.
As the book opens, Elenn, Emer, and Ferdia are all fostering at Oriel for a year. The plot is grounded in Irish myth, and stems from the contention over the heirship to Oriel, the ambitions of the King of Connat, and a deity’s curse—you know, standard stuff. I find myself unable to come up with a more useful summary that doesn’t spoil the book, for which I apologize. In a way, this is a compliment to the book, which is very effectively and efficiently constructed: the story flows very smoothly, with every event leading toward the climax, either directly or through foreshadowing (which is used frequently and, I thought, to quite good effect).
The characterization and world-building are also portrayed thoroughly and economically, which I think is a pretty good trick. I doubt there’s a wasted word in the novel, though I wouldn’t call it an obscure or difficult book; it simply rewards careful reading. (There are one or two things that I’m not entirely clear on, which will appear in the spoiler section at the end of this post. However, they aren’t central to the book.) Obviously, a lot of thought has gone into building the world, but the book never stops and says, for instance, “Here now is an explication of different kinds of trees and the knowledge associated with them.” Instead, the third-person viewpoints mention the information that would naturally cross the minds of those characters—thus combining two of my favorite things, depth of world-building and internally consistent narrative voice.
Thanks to the quality of the narration and the characterization, I certainly did not lack for emotional involvement with the characters. This was almost a problem; as Dennis Leary said in No Cure for Cancer, “From the beginning of time all the way up to U2—there has never been a happy Irish song,” and I rather suspect that applies to Irish myth, too. You’ve been warned. I found also it interesting to meet the younger versions of Conal, Emer, and Elenn, since I could see pretty easily how they became the people we first met in The King’s Peace, and to see Darag and Ferdia, who are mentioned in Peace and Name but do not appear.
In summary: this was an excellent book, and I’m glad that I eventually liked it. Go read it and let me know what you thought.