The Long Price

The Long Price
Daniel Abraham
Orbit Books


Daniel Abraham is an author who has been making waves within the speculative fiction genre for quite a while. His collaboration with George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois on Hunter's Run, a boldly innovative science fiction novel, was praised heavily, and enjoying the writing style of all three, I was eager for more.

And then I heard that Abraham's epic fantasy quartet, The Long Price, has received good reviews for the first two books, A Shadow In Summer, A Betrayal In Winter in the United States, and for the first time, they've been released in the UK in one large edition... perfect...

In a world where Poets can bind thoughts to shape, their creations, the andat, are essential to the protection of certain cities and the mighty nations themselves. From a young age, the youngest, most dispensable children of the Great Houses are trained in this art. Only a few will make it, and, for a while, it seems that Otah is one of them... Until he decides to flee, and seek his own life...

The ties of the past are inescapable, though, and years later, Otah will forced back into the intrigue and danger, living as he is in the city of Saraykeht, where the andat, Seedless, is entering into his own plans to be rid of his master, and the slavery that binds them. For when he was made, his master unwittingly created an andat who hated the Poet just as much as the Poet hated himself. And there spells great trouble.

The first time I picked this book up, I read quite far in, and then I put it down. The concepts were ambitious and brilliant, the characterisations and worldbuilding above par, but... a sluggish beginning to Winter made it, for the first time in the series, put-down-able. The book was in good company though: I'd done the same with, believe it or not, Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World and Tad Williams' The Dragonbone Chair, both of which are now two of my favourite fantasy books ever written.

So, was The Long Price going to be one of those types? Yes and no, but mostly yes.

After I gave the book a brief respite, and a friend, Robert at Fantasy Book Critic, expressed his profound shock at my initial dislike, I gave the book another go, starting from the beginning and not allowing any disturbance... The benefit of a re-read was all it took for me to realise just what I'd missed in the week I'd abandoned it, and though I still think Winter starts a bit slow, there were plenty of redeeming factors...

For me, Daniel Abraham's greatest strength is definitely his ability with creating strong, real, but not always likeable, characters. The worldbuiling was on a large scale, and very vividly realised, but it was Otah and Maati, and the andat who were best built of all. I loved the struggle between Poet and master, as Seedless did everything he could to thwart his master, but, at the same time, hated himself for doing it.

The ideas on which Abraham has built this series are original and thought-provoking, in a genre where cliche can be rife. The slowness of pace in some parts is something that I'm looking forward to seeing Daniel Abraham overcome, for he is surely one of the brightest stars to come into the genre for quite a while. 8.5/10.

For more info:

Over at A Dribble of Ink, Aidan has an interview with Daniel, so check that out! Robert also has one from a little while back, as well as the great review that made me pick this one up :)