TITLE: The Novels of the Jaran (1-4 Omnibus)
AUTHOR: Kate Elliott
GENRE: Science fiction, fantasy
PUBLISHED: The omnibus edition was published 18/11/2013, but book one was originally published 02/06/1992.
RATING: ★★★★★
PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon
MOBILISM LINK: Mobilism
Review: The Jaran series is more or less a genre-bender; officially science-fiction, the majority of each book reads like a traditional fantasy novel. Set several centuries in the future, the protagonist of book one (and a vital character throughout all four currently published books in the series) Tess travels from planet Earth to planet Rhui. There are spaceships, holograms, advanced healing, and all kinds of incredible (but very believable) gadgets - not to mention aliens in the form of the Chapalli, the race who now rules over humanity (if not benevolently, then somewhat absent-mindedly - they don't seem very interested in humans on the whole). But the majority of the series takes place on Rhui, an interdicted planet with a technology level of Earth's medieval period. In that way, much of the story will be, on the surface at least, pretty comfortable ground for readers of secondary world fantasy, even if there is no magic.
In very, VERY simplified terms, the overall plot of the series is this: Tess, the sister to the only human duke in the Chapalli hierarchy, ends up on Rhui and becomes involved in the campaign of one Ilya Bhaktiian to lead the eponymous Jaran (a nomadic, tribal people) to conquer the known lands of Rhui. The series covers this campaign (or campaigns), while also showing the journeys of several characters away from Rhui, including those who leave Rhui and are introduced to the wider universe and modern technology. Tess' brother Charles, the duke, is leading a campaign of his own, one intended to free humanity from the Chapalli yoke, and several characters cross over from Ilya's campaign to Charles', and vice versa.
But that's an incredibly simplified look at these books. I really don't know how to write a review that could possibly encompass how amazing this series really is. The world-building is jaw-dropping - every culture, from Earth's humans to those of each culture encountered on Rhui, is exquisitely detailed, and Elliott uses each one to explore and play with ideas of sexuality, morality and religion, and the roles and differences between genders. The Jaran are the exception on Rhui for being strongly matriarchal, and yet the power held by each gender feels very balanced - unlike in other Rhui cultures, which will be more familiar to the reader as having women playing a far more submissive role. Among the Jaran, men and women each hold power and responsibilities, each have their own roles, but neither is inherently dominated; although at first glance it seems that women control everything, it's gradually revealed that the two genders are very equal. It's one of the most fascinating things about the books, seeing how Elliott takes ideas or tasks we would call feminine or masculine, and flipping them around (because of course, why would another world develop exactly the same way Earth did?) Embroidery is a man's task, for example, while women are the only ones to learn archery; women (officially) have no choice in marriage but may take lovers as they please. The concept of modesty is one that gets explored too; among the Jaran, men are modest, but not meek. And all of this is got across to the reader without info-dumping; gradually, beautifully, naturally, such as in this conversation Tess happens to overhear early in Book one;
“Not even Kirill would flaunt himself like that in front of a woman. Not even Kirill, by the gods, would put himself forward so, without any shame at all, and as a guest in this tribe. I expect my riders to behave as men… Never speak of women that way… Have you no shame? To throw yourself at her, there at the dance? What do you think Sakhalin must think of me, of our jahar? That we are so immodest that we make advances to women?”
Then there are the characters. I don't want to go into too much detail so as not to spoil anything, but even the most minor of characters are very fleshed-out and believable; no cardboard-cutouts in sight. No one is flawless; one of the scenes I most appreciated was one in which Tess grew bored, listening to a young woman wax on about her lover.
She also felt a little bored. Katya was no different in this respect from any other callow youth, transported by her first serious love affair. She could go on at length about her lover’s fine qualities and the stupid little endearments they had made up for each other…
Moments like that make the stories very believable; it's easy to identify with everyone, just because they're all so real. Elliott also gets mega points for including gay, lesbian and bisexual characters, which happens all too rarely in spec-fic; but as with most of the 'issues' that come up across the course of the series, Elliott never makes a big deal of it, including such things naturally in her stories so that it never feels forced, but nonetheless makes the reader think and consider. I particularly liked how the various questions and issues around rape were handled in book four; the difficulty of accepting that someone you personally like could do something so horrific.
Could it be that Janos loved Katerina? But how could a man both love and rape a woman? It was impossible. He must be either lover or rapist; he could not be both together.
So it was true. Janos, decent to him, had raped Katerina. How could one man contain two such faces?
One of the most enjoyable themes was seeing 'modern' philosophy and morality clash with the 'medieval' morals of the various people in Rhui, especially the Jaran - not only through Tess, but when a group of human actors arrives from Earth to perform on Rhui. These are humans from an Earth several centuries in our future, whose moral code has developed much further from our modern one, and who suddenly come face to face with the very brutal, Medieval morality of the Jaran.
"You know it’s wrong, how they act. Punishing someone for what’s only natural… Do you know what they’re going to do to him? They’re going to exile him. Ostracise him. You know what that means, don’t you? He’ll die."
It's a series that makes you think, and that anyone with a love or appreciation of good world-building will adore, but it's also an entertaining, addictive read. The omnibus edition is some 2200 pages, and I devoured it in a week: I found it impossible to put down. Contrasted to a book like Mercedes&Mallory's Crown of Vengeance, which also contained a very believable war campaign, Elliott manages to write a very long period of conquest - some 12 years - without ever making it dull. Crown of Vengeance was very realistic but so dry, at times, that it was a struggle to read: the Jaran books fly by, perhaps because the focus is more on the people involved than on describing field manoeuvres. That doesn't mean Elliott never writes battle scenes or that the reality of war is in any way hidden or glorified: it isn't, and Elliott makes it very clear that wars can only ever be morally grey at best. This is beautifully shown in book two when the actors, and other modern 'emissaries' come to Rhui to contact Tess and study the Jaran. Although they take care to hide their true origins, still their beliefs and point of view comes into sharp conflict with that of the Jaran. And that's yet another way in which Elliott shines: in thinking through how humanity is likely to have evolved and changed in 200 years. Everything from the technology to humanity's views on homosexuality and violence is just beautifully thought out; I adored getting glimpses of Earth, not just the Earth humans in other settings but Earth's own culture, which differs from our modern one in significant but believable ways.
I could go on for hours, but I should probably wrap it up. Suffice to say, Elliott is a writer on par with Bujold, and I can't wait to go out and grab everything else she's ever written!