Legend 1996 paperback, £5.99

Serpent's Blood is the first in Stableford's Genesys trilogy, the others being Salamander's Fire and Chimera's Cradle. It introduces us at once to the main character, Andris Myrasol, a one-time prince, map-maker and martial arts practitioner. As the story opens he's out of place and down-at-heel, and while he's listening to a blind beggar relating something of the mythology of the strange, rotting planet where the action takes place, he finds himself unwillingly involved in a bar-brawl and ends up in prison.

Soon we meet a military officer, Jacom Cerri, whom we also follow through the story. But for the novel's beginning with Myrasol, we could be forgiven for thinking that Cerri was the main character. Then there's Princess Lucrezia, a young woman who seems to want to become a witch, such is her interest in seeds and potions.

These and other characters, along with the setting, might suggest that the novel, and presumably the trilogy as whole, is a fantasy. But Stableford's scientific rigour places Serpent's Blood firmly in the SF classification, despite the presence of medieval castles, royalty and horseback-riding. He describes Lucrezia's experiments with poisons in terms of the ever-corrupting biology of the planet, rather than as mystic spells.

The burgeoning civilisation's mythology, which Myrasol glimpses just before his incarceration, hints that the inhabitants are descendants of human colonists, and have long since lost touch with Mother Earth. So this is in fact an alien planet, and what would an alien planet be without aliens? Well, thereby hangs a tale -- one that could easily stretch across three volumes.

Serpent's Blood starts off very readable and profluent, with sparse but well-drawn characters. Half way through, though, I began to feel that there's no 'greater scope', no higher ideal involved. It's all rather parochial and confining (but maybe this was Stableford's intention).

The narrative, though stylish and literate, is very even in tone. When the pace of action quickens, it's like choreography, related in a matter-of-fact series of steps.

The last 40 pages, however, reveal some wider objectives, and at last some of the characters come out of themselves. With a sense of relief I witnessed the main protagonist's rebellion against his circumstances. If only we could have had some of this earlier on.

Despite this reservation the novel is worth it for Stableford's scholarly but sublimely readable style.

Copyright © 1998 Paul S. Jenkins

Note: This review originally appeared in the Usenet Newsgroup rec.arts.sf.reviews, and has been archived at: http://sf.www.lysator.liu.se/sf_archive/