2011 Book 47: The Worker Prince
Book 47: The Worker Prince (Book I in the Davi Rhii Saga) by Bryan Thomas Schmidt, isbn 9781453718988, 292 pages, Diminished Media Group, $18.99
The Premise: Davi Rhii has it all: he's graduated from the military academy with top honors, he's handsome, he's got loyal friends and women through themselves at him. And, oh yes, he's royalty: the son of the sister of the High Lord Councilor of the Borallian Alliance and next in line for what amounts to a kingship. He's also got a secret even he doesn't know about: he's adopted, the child of slave workers from the planet Vertullis who sent him off in a courier ship when the High Lord Councilor Xalivar ordered the execution of all first-born male children of the worker class. Davi also has enemies willing to exploit any potentiality to bring him down. When Davi's first military assigment as a Captain stationed on Vertullis, it doesn't take long for him to meet his real family and for his world to be turned upside down.
My Rating: 4 stars
My Thoughts: If the premise sounds familiar ... well, it should. Bryan Thomas Schmidt has taken the classic Moses story -- child of slaves adopted by royalty and raised in ignorance of his true heritage until adulthood brings the truth and a culture-shaking change -- and has given it revitalized life by setting it in our own future among the stars. He's also made the story his own. If you think you know exactly what's going to happen to Davi Rhii just because you know how it all turned out for Moses, Pharoah and the rest, you'll find yourself surprised. In this first of a trilogy, the early touchstones of Moses' life are recognizable in Davi's, but there are also surprises.
Many of those surprises come in the political machinations that move the characters and action. The Borallian Alliance is not Ancient Egypt, and while Lord High Chancelor Xalivar may resemble the Pharoahs in the Moses story, he is also very much his own character. Schmidt lays the groundwork of a very interesting set of world powers -- spread not over northern Africa and the middle eastern pennisula but rather across entire worlds.
Davi's emotional journey is believable, from protected (but not holier-than-thou) young royal to confused rebel leader. Who is he? What does he really believe in? Which family, royal or worker, is his real family? Davi experiences a spiritual journey as well that is a bit rockier than Moses': the Borallian Alliance is a polyglot of Old Earth religions, pretty much polytheistic while not being especially spiritual, while the Workers are descended from the Evangelical Christians who settled Vertullis after a crash-landing and who maintain, and deeply believe in, the faith of their fathers. Davi struggles with understanding the worship of One God who plays a role in his believers' daily lives, and that struggle is not completely resolved by the end of Book One.
If I have one complaint about the book (other than the fact that I need to wait for Schmidt to write the next one to see where the story goes), it is that the history of the Borallian Alliance and the Workers of Vertullis feels a little unclear. A conversation with the author clarified the issue for me, but while reading I was struggling with trying to figure out who from Old Earth colonized which planet and in what order. There are also races native to the system whose histories are not really explored but I assume will be in future books: how did these native races react to Human Colonization of nearby planets, what was first contact like, how were they assimilated into the Alliance, etc. It's background, but it's potentially fascinating background ... and background which could further enhance Davi Rhii's story by showing his effect on those native races.
In short, Bryan Thomas Schmidt has taken a classic story and made it feel fresh. Davi Rhii is a character worth watching grow, and I look forward to the remainder of the trilogy to see how he does so.
The Premise: Davi Rhii has it all: he's graduated from the military academy with top honors, he's handsome, he's got loyal friends and women through themselves at him. And, oh yes, he's royalty: the son of the sister of the High Lord Councilor of the Borallian Alliance and next in line for what amounts to a kingship. He's also got a secret even he doesn't know about: he's adopted, the child of slave workers from the planet Vertullis who sent him off in a courier ship when the High Lord Councilor Xalivar ordered the execution of all first-born male children of the worker class. Davi also has enemies willing to exploit any potentiality to bring him down. When Davi's first military assigment as a Captain stationed on Vertullis, it doesn't take long for him to meet his real family and for his world to be turned upside down.
My Rating: 4 stars
My Thoughts: If the premise sounds familiar ... well, it should. Bryan Thomas Schmidt has taken the classic Moses story -- child of slaves adopted by royalty and raised in ignorance of his true heritage until adulthood brings the truth and a culture-shaking change -- and has given it revitalized life by setting it in our own future among the stars. He's also made the story his own. If you think you know exactly what's going to happen to Davi Rhii just because you know how it all turned out for Moses, Pharoah and the rest, you'll find yourself surprised. In this first of a trilogy, the early touchstones of Moses' life are recognizable in Davi's, but there are also surprises.
Many of those surprises come in the political machinations that move the characters and action. The Borallian Alliance is not Ancient Egypt, and while Lord High Chancelor Xalivar may resemble the Pharoahs in the Moses story, he is also very much his own character. Schmidt lays the groundwork of a very interesting set of world powers -- spread not over northern Africa and the middle eastern pennisula but rather across entire worlds.
Davi's emotional journey is believable, from protected (but not holier-than-thou) young royal to confused rebel leader. Who is he? What does he really believe in? Which family, royal or worker, is his real family? Davi experiences a spiritual journey as well that is a bit rockier than Moses': the Borallian Alliance is a polyglot of Old Earth religions, pretty much polytheistic while not being especially spiritual, while the Workers are descended from the Evangelical Christians who settled Vertullis after a crash-landing and who maintain, and deeply believe in, the faith of their fathers. Davi struggles with understanding the worship of One God who plays a role in his believers' daily lives, and that struggle is not completely resolved by the end of Book One.
If I have one complaint about the book (other than the fact that I need to wait for Schmidt to write the next one to see where the story goes), it is that the history of the Borallian Alliance and the Workers of Vertullis feels a little unclear. A conversation with the author clarified the issue for me, but while reading I was struggling with trying to figure out who from Old Earth colonized which planet and in what order. There are also races native to the system whose histories are not really explored but I assume will be in future books: how did these native races react to Human Colonization of nearby planets, what was first contact like, how were they assimilated into the Alliance, etc. It's background, but it's potentially fascinating background ... and background which could further enhance Davi Rhii's story by showing his effect on those native races.
In short, Bryan Thomas Schmidt has taken a classic story and made it feel fresh. Davi Rhii is a character worth watching grow, and I look forward to the remainder of the trilogy to see how he does so.