A Mist of Grit and Splinters – Graydon Saunders

One of the best things about Saunders’s writing is that he does not pamper the reader. There are no expository lumps or stilted monologues in which characters review things that are supposed to be common knowledge. The motivated reader is expected to work at apprehending the rich background that peeps out from the story. Unlike the early books in the series, “A Mist of Grit and Splinters” cannot be read in isolation. Not enough information peeps out from the story.

The book differs from its predecessors in other ways too. It does not revolve around main characters. (There is reference to Slow’s memoirs, but Slow is mostly a background character. The character who gets the most focus time is Duckling, but Duckling functions as a point of view, not as a character who is central to the story.) Major sorcerers are almost absent. There isn’t much plot; the book seems to serve mostly to fill in background. The book is structured around the first major conflict with the invading Sea People, but if there is an overall story being told, this book advances it very little.

I read the book and enjoyed it (hence the four stars), but it lacked the brilliance I’ve come to expect from Saunders’s writing. There wasn’t enough story, and what story there was wasn’t seen through the eyes of characters central to the story.