Loved Tekumel from my days playing Empire of the Petal Throne. For the time period it was written, Tekumel was wonderfully different. A lot of the resLoved Tekumel from my days playing Empire of the Petal Throne. For the time period it was written, Tekumel was wonderfully different. A lot of the rest of the novel though is flat. It has the whole "tell don't show" style that was more common then, the story arc is weak with a meandering middle and the characters are not very memorable. Also from a writing perspective all the allusions to the world which do not drive the plots/characters forward will probably drive many modern readers crazy. I try not to let deceased author's views affect me too much as at this point it is moot from my perspective, but, the author wrote a virulent anti-semitic novel (Serpent's Walk) under a pseudonym so if that influences your buying behavior, be warned ahead of time....more
I'd give it a five for world building and a two for writing. The world of Tekumel is worth a visit as one of the first non-Western fully fleshed fantaI'd give it a five for world building and a two for writing. The world of Tekumel is worth a visit as one of the first non-Western fully fleshed fantasy worlds out there. It was made into a RPG similar to D&D in the '70s so anybody who came from that time and played tabletop RPGs probably knows of it. Scattered throughout are a huge number of details that are not important for the story arc, but, add a richness to the world building that I usually don't see. If you are into world building for the sake of world building, you will love it. If you are mainly concerned about the plots/characters it will drive you crazy. There are parts that haven't aged well for 2020. The female characters are one dimensional. But, there are many different societies in the world and I give the author some credit for having some which were much better about their treatment of women than the main one so while I roll my eyes, I think it would be misplaced to judge solely based on that criteria. So, if you like either the world building or want an appreciation of how fantasy worlds evolved it is a must read. If you are not, then I would suggest you pass and find something else....more
Positives Great world idea. Interesting ideas on some of the culture. Fun read in a classic scifi corny sortRead this a long time ago when I was a teen.
Positives Great world idea. Interesting ideas on some of the culture. Fun read in a classic scifi corny sort of way. C'mon, you got skating cat-like beings with medieval technology...how can you not love that?
Negatives No real depth. Did not age well, sexist....more
A great start for a new fantasy author. The Beast of Maug Maurai is the first book of a trilogy set in a large well thought out low magic fantasy worlA great start for a new fantasy author. The Beast of Maug Maurai is the first book of a trilogy set in a large well thought out low magic fantasy world. We as readers only have a small window into this world as we follow 2 small groups and see mostly from their perspective (although the author does have historical snippets and commentaries ala Dune at the beginning of each chapter to provide additional color and insight for the story). The protagonists remind me a little bit of what you would find in a Bernard Cornwell novel - self made competent people of less than noble birth in a world where your position is mostly determined by your station. The world is gritty but the violence is not gratuitous and what little sex does happen is offstage. I really like that you have a less than perfect world with less than perfect people - no stupid good vs. stupid evil in a world of perfectly obvious choices where you secretly are rooting for everybody to die by the end of the book... The author has the first chapter online in case you want to read a bit before making a decision.
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