Choosing The Chosen
by Trish
The Chosen by Ricardo Pinto
Tor Books, 2001
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U.S.
& U.K. editions of
The Chosen |
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PINTO LINKS
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In this book, the first in a proposed trilogy, Pinto sets out to tell a simple tale of one young man's journey to the capital of his homeland to attend an election.
Our protagonist, Carnelian, eldest son of Lord Suth, has never seen his homeland. He lives in isolated exile with his father and family, amongst an island community. But his existence is forever changed when ships arrive, bearing three Masters. The Masters bring the news that the God Emperor is dying, and they request that Lord Suth, return with them to oversee the upcoming election of a new ruler. Suth agrees and, taking Carnelian and selected members of their household, travels to the city of Okrasum.
And so the tale begins.
But while the storyline is simple enough, the world and society Pinto has created is dauntingly complex and violent.
At the top of the social strata are the Chosen, at the bottom are the servants and peasants, and in between are a myriad of varying and, often, strange, characters. Reigning over them all is the God Emperor.
The Chosen are set apart by their blood rank, and the purity of that blood determines their standing amongst the Great Houses that hold sway over the Commonwealth. They are the Masters of their realm, and are addressed as such. Their physical build is larger than that of the ordinary citizen, their bodies must be painted as protection against the elements, and they often wear garments, crowns and footwear that are more akin to constructions than clothing. Whenever they leave the privacy of their own chambers, the Masters must be masked. Only others of the Chosen, or select servants, are entitled to gaze upon the naked face of a Master. Anyone else catching a glimpse of a Master's face, either deliberately or inadvertently, is subject to blinding and death.
As befitting the Masters of their race, the Chosen are all possessed of great beauty. However, despite their outward appearance, there is little attractive about the Masters. The ones we meet are, on the whole, untrustworthy, power-hungry back-stabbers, with little in the way of compassion. While it's possible to understand how the Masters, raised in such a society, believe it to be their god-given right to mete out punishments to those they consider less than human, and that's pretty much anyone who isn't a Master, their lack of regard for the lives of those below them on the social scale, and the flippancy with which they deal out inhumane punishment, makes for gruesome reading. The cruelty and violence in this book is frequent, and often described in graphic detail.
We quickly get a feel for the importance the Masters place upon themselves, and their own needs, soon after they arrive on the island and Carnelian's home village is plundered to supply the ships for the return voyage.
Unfortunately, once that journey begins, things bog down. Quite obviously, Pinto not only wants his reader to share his vision, he wants us to see it exactly as he envisaged it. To that end, we are subjected to endless description, down to the most minute detail. Nothing, it seems, is to be trusted to the reader's imagination. Unfortunately, in his zeal for us to see things precisely as he wants us to, Pinto defeats his own purpose. I found myself skimming blocks of descriptive text to pick up the storyline and see what, if anything, was happening. Usually, nothing much was.
The party spends interminable chapters travelling by sea and land to reach the city of Osrakum. This allows the author to flesh out more of the social structure, but it doesn't make for exciting reading.
Once the party finally reaches its destination, Carnelian has had more than a taste of what it truly means to be a Master. He is also consumed by concern for his father, who has been wounded on the road, but who insists on carrying out his duties, despite their detrimental effect on his failing health.
Carnelian's existence is lifted from its increasingly depressive state when he goes exploring and stumbles across another young man skulking about in the darkness of the chambers of the Wise. The young man is Osidian, another of the Chosen. He and Carnelian begin to meet regularly, and soon form a close friendship based around Carnelian's desire to learn to read to beadcord, and Osidian's willingness to teach him. Before the election, they sneak away from the city and spend a couple of days in each other's company, during which time their relationship evolves and deepens. But it seems Carnelian is not destined to know happiness for long, and even before they head back to town, he becomes aware of a worrying change in Osidian's demeanour.
The book concludes with a cliff-hanger finish, but fortunately for those who want to know "what happens next?" the second part of the trilogy was due for release this October.
In summing up, I must say I felt overwhelmed and somewhat frustrated by the amount of detail and description in this book, and I would have preferred a faster pace in the storyline. I will buy the next book, and hope for less description and more action.
A final word of warning: If, like me, you cruise the Amazon.com
site looking for books of interest, be very careful about reading
the reviews for this novel. One of the reviewers gives away a
major plot twist. While it's likely that, in reading the tale,
you may see this particular twist coming, I think it's always
more satisfying to discover these things for yourself, rather
than already being aware of them even before you open the book.
About the Author:
Trish lives in Australia and is oringator of The
Wraeththu Companion, a comprehensive online guide to the Wraeththu universe.
You can reach her at trishaz79@hotmail.com.
