ODALISQUE: Book One of The Percheron Saga
Fiona McIntosh
Eos/HarperCollins
Fantasy
ISBN-10: 0060899050
ISBN-13: 9780060899059

Let it never be said that Fiona McIntosh is not daring. Having established herself quite firmly with the solid work of the Quickening Trilogy, involving readers in more tried-and-true fantasy climes with castles and familiar settings, this time she takes a gamble. Rather than hold steady and go through the motions, she plots a new course and opens up an array of excitement and intrigue in Percheron, her fantastic take on a culture and community reminiscent of Constantinople.

Lazar, when we meet him, is a slave, brought for trade to the city. The law of the Zar dictates that a slave may fight for his freedom against a professional soldier. Zar Joreb is witness to the fight, amazed that this slave could best a dozen men, refusing to kill them as is customary. Joreb makes Lazar his Spur, protector of the Zar and of the city, from both without and within.

When Joreb dies, one of his many wives, Herezah, seeks to place her son, Boaz, upon the throne. To do so, she must eliminate the other children, for they could be potential assassins and enemies of the Zar. Her intentions are purely personal, seeking the power that comes with being the mother of the Zar and thus enabling her to bend the will of the world to her whims.

Lazar does not trust her and is bound to Boaz through more than just title. Boaz, only 15, trusts and respects Lazar. His only other friend is the mysterious and troublesome jester, a twisted dwarf by the name of Pez. They fear for the young Zar because those who would seek him the most harm are actually the ones who are the closest to him, and Lazar may not be capable of protecting him from all angles. It is more worrisome when Herezah sends Lazar away to seek odalisques for the new Zar, separating the young man from his protector and leaving only the mad dwarf to aid him.

Yet even more powerful machinations are at play, and powers greater than could have been imagined begin to awaken and put their pawns into play. All of Percheron hangs in the balance.

As in her previous works, McIntosh has a deft way with a story; she rushes you along, never slowing for you to become bored but never too fast for you to struggle to keep up. The details of the various plots and schemes web across one another, and intensity builds until the very end when you are left waiting for the follow-up title that will answer your questions and no doubt open up greater pitfalls.

The characters in ODALISQUE are exquisite and interesting. The beauty of them is their mystery, for they all seem to hold secrets that we never really know up front. It is as if you are meeting them and have to learn about them over time. Lazar is nearly superhuman in his warrior abilities, but something lies within him that needs to be learned. Pez, for all of his peculiarities, is far more than he appears. In fact, he may be more than even he realizes. Herezah and her minions are simply foul individuals but are so nicely drawn that they have their own allure.

Percheron itself is wonderful. With McIntosh's descriptions of the city and its surroundings, you get a deep sense of love that the author felt for the project. It is vibrant and beautiful, savage and deadly --- a backdrop not often utilized in the fantasy world. In this case it is a welcome and well-presented change of pace.

Fantasy fans should be so lucky as to find a larger palette of worlds to discover --- and luckier still if they were as astonishingly well-written as this. It is refreshing to see an author challenge herself and spread out into a new realm so vastly different, alluring and seductive as to capture the imagination instantly. Yes, Fiona McIntosh took a gamble.

It paid off very, very well.

   --- Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard

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