A Shadow in Summer - SFBA Book Club

No cover — Daniel Abraham: A Shadow in Summer (2006, Tor)

English language

Published Jan. 4, 2006 by Tor.

(1 review)

The city-state of Saraykeht dominates the Summer Cities. Its wealth is beyond measure; its port is open to all the merchants of the world, and its ruler, the Khai Saraykeht, commands forces to rival the Gods. Commerce and trade fill the streets with a hundred languages, and the coffers of the wealthy with jewels and gold. Any desire, however exotic or base, can be satisfied in its soft quarter. Blissfully ignorant of the forces that fuel their prosperity, the people live and work secure in the knowledge that their city is a bastion of progress in a harsh world. It would be a tragedy if it fell.

Saraykeht is poised on the knife-edge of disaster.

At the heart of the city's influence are the poet-sorcerer Heshai and the captive spirit, Seedless, whom he controls. For all his power, Heshai is weak, haunted by memories of shame and humiliation. A man …

The city-state of Saraykeht dominates the Summer Cities. Its wealth is beyond measure; its port is open to all the merchants of the world, and its ruler, the Khai Saraykeht, commands forces to rival the Gods. Commerce and trade fill the streets with a hundred languages, and the coffers of the wealthy with jewels and gold. Any desire, however exotic or base, can be satisfied in its soft quarter. Blissfully ignorant of the forces that fuel their prosperity, the people live and work secure in the knowledge that their city is a bastion of progress in a harsh world. It would be a tragedy if it fell.

Saraykeht is poised on the knife-edge of disaster.

At the heart of the city's influence are the poet-sorcerer Heshai and the captive spirit, Seedless, whom he controls. For all his power, Heshai is weak, haunted by memories of shame and humiliation. A man faced with constant reminders of his responsibilities and his failures, he is the linchpin and the most vulnerable point in Saraykeht's greatness.

Far to the west, the armies of Galt have conquered many lands. To take Saraykeht, they must first destroy the trade upon which its prosperity is based. Marchat Wilsin, head of Galt's trading house in the city, is planning a terrible crime against Heshai and Seedless. If he succeeds, Saraykeht will fall.

Amat, House Wilsin's business manager, is a woman who rose from the slums to wield the power that Marchat Wilsin would use to destroy her city. Through accidents of fate and circumstance Amat, her apprentice Liat, and two young men from the farthest reaches of their society stand alone against the dangers that threaten the city.

1 edition

Kadomi@buecher.pnpde.social reviewed A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham (Long Price Quartet, #1)

Fascinating debut with niggling annoyances

3 stars

Content warning CW: forced abortion

This was not my first Abraham novel. I have read The Dagger and the Coin books a few years ago, and of course I read all of the Expanse novels that he wrote with Ty Franck. A Shadow in Summer reminded me a lot of the Dagger and the Coin. A female character who is a talented merchant, a city poised on the brink of destruction, but that's where the similarities end.

There's very little disposition here, so you have to gather the clues on your own that the Khai-ruled cities are the most powerful in the world because they have servant spirits called the Andat who are forced into slavery after being summoned by court poets. The Andat in the background city of Saraykeht is Seedless, and through his power the cotton balls are without seeds. But he can also deal with other seeds, for example unborn children, and so Seedless actively conspires to break his master, and thus, break the power of the Khai in Saraykeht.

I thought the concept of the Andat was fascinating, and Seedless was a very interesting character. However, I never fully understood how this one act would destroy commerce in Saraykeht. I also struggled a bit with the characters, or rather, the plot around them. The 17 year old Liat is involved in the whole proceedings, and I found her wholly unlikeable. So I found that the love triangle plot was really a giant waste of my time. I am looking forward to learning more about this fascinating setting in the next book.

Subjects

City and town life -- Fiction.