Why Michelle West Does It Better
Or; Why The Sun Sword is pretty much the best thing to have happened to high fantasy since high fantasy became a genre.
1. She writes not just from inside the world, but inside the people.
Think back to when you read A Clockwork Orange for the first time. Now imagine that instead of slang you have to figure out yourself because the people you're getting the information from already know what it means, you've got magic systems, geography, and history. Granted, some may find this annoying. I love it. Especially because the characters are such wonderful people to be allowed right next to. And also because the world is every bit as full and complex as Tolkien's or our own, though we don't see all of it.
2. The relationships.
By the final book, the cast list is about 6 pages long (mind you, characters you see almost nothing of are included on that list). And yet, in the whole series, there is almost no romance. Because West chooses to explore deeply, amazingly, all the other types of relationships people can have. Especially familial relationships. Seriously, until you read something like this, you do not realize just how many opportunities are passed over in favor of romance. What about the bond several wives who hate their husband share in a polygamist society? What about people who have a hole in their life because they've lost a brother? What if they find someone who can, for a short time at least, be a brother for them? What about the bond between two very twisted and shattered people, who find that they are the only people around capable of understanding each other? So what if these two are a man and a woman, they're actually not romantically or even sexually attracted to each other!
This is not to say it's impossible to ship anyone (as certain people who know me irl are very aware), it just means that West realizes there are lots of relationships in people's lives that are as important, or even more important, than romantic ones.
3. The character development.
Many of the main characters grow, or at least change, in remarkable ways. And every character that West spends any time with is completely realized (in some cases leaving you really wishing there was more from them). But what's best about West's ability in this category is how she can establish someone as a certain type and then subvert it. There is one character who is cruel, vindictive, and arguably quite corrupt. For the first two books you loathe him. But then you begin to see that he really is a product of his country, he represents its best and worse, he is in fact, in many ways, a great man. He's still a terrible person, but you can't help but admire him. And there are things like the way you'll say, "this character is this type, this will end up happening to him." You're wrong. He may be that type, but he'll get a different ending.
4. The mixture of the inevitable and the jaw-dropping.
There is some high tragedy here, where you know it's coming but it's handled with such grace and depth that it affects you all the more. And there are those "Holy shit, I did not see that coming" moments. And you know what? West can mix these two things.
5. The politics.
I'm something of a political intrigue junkie. And there is sooo much to be had here~ But this is also listed for the realism of it. Many of these characters live and die by the political forces around them. And therefore they have to do things, like, say, give up the chance to marry the man they would like to marry because they know he would be committing political suicide by marrying them.
6. The female characters.
You thought Mercedes Lackey had a lot of kick-ass women? Think again. The number, range, strength, and depth of the female characters is something I have never seen anywhere else. Teresa pwns demons. Jewel pretty much owns the Warlord. Kiriel pwns anyone she can find. Diora pwns kingdoms. Margret just changed the world's geography. Alina is the reason the heir to the throne is alive and capable of getting the throne. Anya is friggin' crazy but she's also the most powerful mage existing. Ect.
7. The fights.
West uses most of the fight scenes as serious character exploration. In many of them, the fight itself is interspersed with flashbacks to defining moments in the character's life that influences this fight. Thus a character's fight scene can reveal a huge part of them. Also, if you think this switching back and forth would make the fight anything less than completely riveting, think again. Actually, I think the ones with flashbacks are more riveting.
8. The death scenes.
I'm not that morbid, really. Death scenes are, to me, often a great way of revealing a lot about both the author and the character. There are surprisingly few in this series, especially considering its length, but they are brilliant. Two in particular are utterly astounding (and examples of that high tragedy mentioned before) and very deeply moving, easily among the best I've read. But there are also scenes of carnage that are basically terrible death scenes and have the gravity of such. And there is a very subtle death scene that's actually quite tragic in its simplicity.
There are more reasons. I know there are. But that's probably enough for now.
1. She writes not just from inside the world, but inside the people.
Think back to when you read A Clockwork Orange for the first time. Now imagine that instead of slang you have to figure out yourself because the people you're getting the information from already know what it means, you've got magic systems, geography, and history. Granted, some may find this annoying. I love it. Especially because the characters are such wonderful people to be allowed right next to. And also because the world is every bit as full and complex as Tolkien's or our own, though we don't see all of it.
2. The relationships.
By the final book, the cast list is about 6 pages long (mind you, characters you see almost nothing of are included on that list). And yet, in the whole series, there is almost no romance. Because West chooses to explore deeply, amazingly, all the other types of relationships people can have. Especially familial relationships. Seriously, until you read something like this, you do not realize just how many opportunities are passed over in favor of romance. What about the bond several wives who hate their husband share in a polygamist society? What about people who have a hole in their life because they've lost a brother? What if they find someone who can, for a short time at least, be a brother for them? What about the bond between two very twisted and shattered people, who find that they are the only people around capable of understanding each other? So what if these two are a man and a woman, they're actually not romantically or even sexually attracted to each other!
This is not to say it's impossible to ship anyone (as certain people who know me irl are very aware), it just means that West realizes there are lots of relationships in people's lives that are as important, or even more important, than romantic ones.
3. The character development.
Many of the main characters grow, or at least change, in remarkable ways. And every character that West spends any time with is completely realized (in some cases leaving you really wishing there was more from them). But what's best about West's ability in this category is how she can establish someone as a certain type and then subvert it. There is one character who is cruel, vindictive, and arguably quite corrupt. For the first two books you loathe him. But then you begin to see that he really is a product of his country, he represents its best and worse, he is in fact, in many ways, a great man. He's still a terrible person, but you can't help but admire him. And there are things like the way you'll say, "this character is this type, this will end up happening to him." You're wrong. He may be that type, but he'll get a different ending.
4. The mixture of the inevitable and the jaw-dropping.
There is some high tragedy here, where you know it's coming but it's handled with such grace and depth that it affects you all the more. And there are those "Holy shit, I did not see that coming" moments. And you know what? West can mix these two things.
5. The politics.
I'm something of a political intrigue junkie. And there is sooo much to be had here~ But this is also listed for the realism of it. Many of these characters live and die by the political forces around them. And therefore they have to do things, like, say, give up the chance to marry the man they would like to marry because they know he would be committing political suicide by marrying them.
6. The female characters.
You thought Mercedes Lackey had a lot of kick-ass women? Think again. The number, range, strength, and depth of the female characters is something I have never seen anywhere else. Teresa pwns demons. Jewel pretty much owns the Warlord. Kiriel pwns anyone she can find. Diora pwns kingdoms. Margret just changed the world's geography. Alina is the reason the heir to the throne is alive and capable of getting the throne. Anya is friggin' crazy but she's also the most powerful mage existing. Ect.
7. The fights.
West uses most of the fight scenes as serious character exploration. In many of them, the fight itself is interspersed with flashbacks to defining moments in the character's life that influences this fight. Thus a character's fight scene can reveal a huge part of them. Also, if you think this switching back and forth would make the fight anything less than completely riveting, think again. Actually, I think the ones with flashbacks are more riveting.
8. The death scenes.
I'm not that morbid, really. Death scenes are, to me, often a great way of revealing a lot about both the author and the character. There are surprisingly few in this series, especially considering its length, but they are brilliant. Two in particular are utterly astounding (and examples of that high tragedy mentioned before) and very deeply moving, easily among the best I've read. But there are also scenes of carnage that are basically terrible death scenes and have the gravity of such. And there is a very subtle death scene that's actually quite tragic in its simplicity.
There are more reasons. I know there are. But that's probably enough for now.