Clan Daughter - Final Review

CLAN DAUGHTER lived up to the high expectations set by King's Property. I enjoyed it very much. In CLAN DAUGHTER, Dar has promised the orcs that she would take them home. Since they recognized her as a mother in King's Property, she becomes the authority figure. They set off to the north, and are in desperate straights because (1) the orcs must stay hidden and (2) they have no way of getting food.

The conflict between Dar and one of the other orcs continues to be her adversary. However, this situation unexpectedly resolves about 1/3 of the way through the book, leaving little conflict among the group. The novel never dragged, but the conflict made it a bit more exciting . . . for a while.

During their journeys, Dar meets an old man who was reborn as an orc, and the time she spends with him shapes the rest of the book. Eventually, her and Kovok-mah fall in love. This causes surprisingly little conflict with the rest of the group, but I could see it because the orcs regard her as an authority figure.

Eventually she meets other orcs and they make a journey from clan to clan. Here is where I encountered one of my few quibbles with the plot. Much is made of the fact that orcs cannot lie, and Kovok-mah cannot even seem to comprehend the meaning of a lie. However . . . few other orcs have this problem. I hate to say it, but it makes Kovok-mah seem simpleminded in comparison. Who knows . . . maybe he is supposed to be simpleminded. However, he has healing talents and he alone can speak fluent human, so that doesn't seem simpleminded to me.

Anyway, Dar keeps encountering deceit among the orcs and has a surprisingly hard time detecting it in orcs, even though they are supposed to be bad at it.

Eventually, her travels take her back to the king's army, where she reunites with both Koh and Sevren. Surprising things happen here; no longer are her visions plot spoilers at this point. During the final conflict, I did think that Dar did some foolish things, which seem all the more foolish because she behaved so wisely up to this point.

It was a good ending, where a conflict was resolved, where an unexpected death occurs, where Dar goes through a transformation, where Koh and the King's Mage get away, and where Sevren does something that I never expected. The final volume comes out in five days, and I imagine that a lot of people will be buying it. All in all, I think it was a good move on Del Rey's part to release the book in quick succession. Interest in the book will remain high because the first two books were so well-written.

It turns out that this series was only a quasi-debut -- the name is new but the author is not, since Morgan Howell is a pen name. The experience of the author probably explains its excellence. If this series holds up through book 3, then I think the name Morgan Howell will become quite well-known. Highly recommended.

Links
Clan Daughter (UK, Canada)
Morgan Howell's Website (forthcoming)

Morgan Howell Interview!

Morgan Howell, aka Will Hubbell (the secret is out!), got my interview questions back in record time. Here they are; enjoy!

Your author bio is mysteriously scanty. Could you tell us a little about yourself?

First of all, Morgan is not a woman. Betsy, my editor, initially thought so, and I took it as a compliment. I studied art in college, so upon graduation ended up in the army. I spent nearly five years under arms, both as an enlisted man and an officer. I mention this because my experiences have influenced my fantasy writing. Upon discharge, I earned an MFA in photography and worked in public television, graphic design, and advertising. I started writing because I wanted to create children’s picture books, and to have complete artistic control, I needed to write the stories. Although I started out as a visual artist, I’ve become enthralled by written word.

Your bio does mention that you write full-time. Do you write nonfiction in addition to fiction? Advertising copy? Magazine articles? Something else entirely?

As many people have figured out, Morgan Howell is a pen name. I’ve written and illustrated three picture books under my real name, Will Hubbell. They are Pumpkin Jack, Apples Here!, and Snow Day Dance. Also, Ace Books has published two science fiction novels, Cretaceous Sea and Sea of Time, under my name. You can see some of Dar in the heroine of those two books, especially the second one.

My fantasy writing is different from my children’s writing, which is not dark at all, so I thought a pen name would be appropriate.

Did you try to sell QUEEN OF THE ORCS as one volume, or did you always intend it to be a trilogy? And how did it come to be published one month after another?

Queen of the Orcs started out as a single, long book in two parts. Before submitting it, I got it down to 140 thousand words through severe cuts. My editor had the idea of publishing it as a trilogy, and I’m extremely glad she did. It allowed me to expand the original concept and write Royal Destiny, which is my favorite book of the three. The original volume, with additions and changes, became the first two books.

Publishing the trilogy within three months was Del Rey’s idea, and I think it was a good one. As a reader, I’d hate to wait long to find out Dar’s fate. One reason I think they did it was because the first two books were essentially already written.

Please share with us what inspired you to write QUEEN OF THE ORCS.

I’ve always been fascinated by J.R.R.Tolkien’s orcs, and I thought it would be challenge to make them sympathetic. My rationale for the orcs’ nasty image was that they were in a position similar to Native Americans in the nineteenth century—their conquerors sought to define them.

I was also interested in writing a story in which a powerless person rises to authority. Throughout most of history, women have been second-class citizens, with men assuming superiority as their birthright. In many places, it’s still true today. As a character, Dar had to be more resourceful than any man simply to survive.

Finally, much of the orcs’ culture was inspired by my interest in the Haudenosaune, better known as the Iroquois. The women of their tribe had real power.

What is your favorite scene in the first two volumes of THE QUEEN OF THE ORCS?

This is the hardest question of all! I can’t pick just one, so I’ll cheat. In the King’s Property—When Dar forces the orcs to recognize her as a mother (“Steal this food! I will not give it to you!”); Teeg and Kol’s cynical conversation about Dar; Twea’s take to Dar’s new dress; and the wrenching aftermath of the final battle. In Clan Daughter—Kovok-mah in the vandalized nursery; Dar’s encounter with Velasa-pah; Dar and Muth Mauk on the hilltop; and—of course—the scene by the pool.

What scene gave you the most trouble?

The final battle in King’s Property took a lot of rewriting because battles are chaotic and confusing by their nature. It was difficult to convey that confusion while giving the reader a sense of what was going on.

Also writing in Orcish, both in the original and translation, was tough.

Can you give us a small teaser about the final volume, ROYAL DESTINY?

In Royal Destiny, the conflicts of the earlier books assume epic proportions. Everything is more intense. The orcs and the humans have a showdown. There’s more magic. Kol rises to the pinnacle of power. When Dar becomes fully immersed in orcish culture, forces within it rear up to oppose her, and she must deal with them as an orc. Not only do her human foes grow stronger, an otherworldly one does too. Velasa-pah has warned Dar that the bones are the true enemy, and this book shows why.

Have you finished any other novels besides the three volumes in QUEEN OF THE ORCS and can we expect to see them in print?

This month, I’ll finish writing the first volume of my next trilogy for Del Rey, The Shadowed Path. The story is set two centuries after Queen of the Orcs. While there are no orcs in this tale, the two trilogies are connected. At the heart of The Shadowed Path is this dilemma: If evil thrives on violence, how can force overcome it?

Publication dates for the trilogy have yet to be set.

Are you planning on setting up a website? A blog? A forum? A MySpace page? All of the above? In other words, can we expect for you to set up a web presence any time soon? And can you tell that we really want you to have a website? :)

Well, I’ve registered MORGANHOWELL.COM. It’s a start. My problem is I’d rather write than do promotion. I had my fill of that during my advertising days. However, I really do plan to start a website. Just as soon I finish the first book of The Shadowed Path.

Please share your publishing story and any writing advice that you may have.

There’s a reason why all the dedications to Queen of the Orcs include my muthvashi (wife), Carol Hubbell. She supported me through difficult times in every sense of the word. Writing can often be discouraging, and it’s a crazy way to try to earn a living. There’s only one good justification for doing it—because you simply must. I wrote Queen of the Orcs without a publisher because I had to get Dar’s story down. There were times when I thought only a handful of people would ever read it.

I write for my characters. I care deeply for them, even to the point of weeping over some. Fortunately, my studio is isolated, so I don’t upset anyone. My characters feel like my children—except they tend to listen to me—and I get great pleasure from sharing them with others.

* * *

Thanks, Will! I enjoyed your responses!

I finished CLAN DAUGHTER and will put my final post up on it tomorrow.

Clan Daughter - A Guilty Admission

Ok, I admit it. CLAN DAUGHTER has been sharing reading time with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Yes, I'm finally reading it, a month after everyone else has read it. What can I say? I can hardly be expected to only read debuts!

Speaking of debuts, The Book of Joby will probably be my next featured debut. A review copy is on its way to me. Since I'll probably finish CLAN DAUGHTER before then, I'll try to get some first chapter reviews in. I haven't done any in a while.

Thanks to Harry Potter, I'm only about 1/4th of the way through CLAN DAUGHTER. However, Harry has gotten so infuriating that I do believe I will set it aside for a while.

The story -- CLAN DAUGHTER, that is -- continues to take twists and turns that cannot possibly be anticipated. Dar's ability to see visions make it difficult to tell what she is experiencing is real or a vision. There has been a change of mood for the better among herself and her orc companions; I'll not say any more than that since I don't want to give anything away for those who are interested in reading the first book.

I was thinking earlier about the other tightly character-focused stories that I have read and how Dar compares with them. In previous posts, I have mentioned Ayla from Clan of the Cave Bear and Paks from The Deed of Paksenarrion. To those I will add another, Lancelot from The Once and Future King. (In my opinion, T. H. White had Lancelot steal the show from Arthur. I quite fell in love with him, even though he had the face of a baboon. I'm making myself want to reread it -- it has been many, many years.) Each of these three displayed character strength and likability, but they also had something that I have not yet seen in Dar -- vulnerability. For those three characters, the vulnerability transformed the like into love.

For Ayla, she was just a girl. One's heart went out to her the first time she dared touch the Mog-Ur's face. Since she never fit in among the Clan; one could not help but to love her. For Paks, she did not seem particularly vulnerable until the second book, when she lost her courage. And at the beginning of book three, when she found herself back in Brewersbridge -- well, that part of the story always got me choked up. And for Lancelot, his vulnerability was his tendency for his emotions to quite literally drive him insane. I think he had two episodes of being a "wild man" in the woods. And when he is given his miracle, that's powerful stuff.

I have not read anything so far that compares to any of the above, but the fact that Howell has me making these comparisons means that I think the potential is there.

I won't promise no more Harry Potter until I finish CLAN DAUGHTER, but I'll try to finish by the end of the weekend.

CLAN DAUGHTER by Morgan Howell

In keeping with my plan of featuring the first two books in QUEEN OF THE ORCS as one, I am now moving on to CLAN DAUGHTER. I am now on chapter 3.

It begins right where it left off. The dead still litter the hillside where the battle took place in KING'S PROPERTY. Dar is on the run with five orcs. One is her friend, three think of her as some sort of mother-authority figure and one tried to kill her twice in the previous book. But they all still follow her -- for now.

I was pleased to see the return of a character that I thought was written out of the series at the end of the first book.

Dar has found herself the leader of her little band of orcs. She is in enemy territory, but she is no longer under the threat of beheading for being caught away from the army. So she's still in plenty of trouble.

I never commented on either covers, so I will do so now. I liked the cover of KING'S PROPERTY better. Her face was more indistinct and mysterious-seeming. With CLAN DAUGHTER, we can see her face clearly, and it is lacking the brand that should be on her forehead. I don't know if that was an omission on the artist's part of if it means that at some point in the future, her brand will somehow become healed.

KING'S PROPERTY - Final Review

Every once in a while, a novel comes along with a character that I absolutely love. Dar, in Morgan Howell's KING'S PROPERTY, is such a character. She is fierce, protective, passionate, scarred, loyal, and wise.

The characterization was the strongest point in KING'S PROPERTY. The plot is fairly linear and straightforward. It holds few surprises, with one or two exceptions. There is no suspense here, no surprising plot twists and no tangled-up intrigue. However, it is the characters that kept me reading and made me glad that I have a copy of the second book.

The ending was foreseen by Dar, which was why there were few surprises. The manner in which her visions came about, however, could not be predicted. I liked the way Howell mixes superstition and magic so you cannot tell the difference. In one scene, a number or orcs who survived a battle were convinced that they survived because of a blessing Dar gave them. In a later scene, she acts on this superstition to bless the orcs again.

The conflict between Dar and the Murdant Koh is unresolved by the end of the novel. A hint of what might be a romance has sprung up between Dar and a human man named Sevren. I say "might" because the one kiss that she does give him seems like a thank-you kiss more than anything else. The strongest-developed male is her orcish friend and protector, Kovok-mah. By the end of the book, it is clear that Kovok-mah will follow her anywhere.

The ending of KING'S PROPERTY marks a major turning point in the plot, but it is certainly not the end. If this were all in one volume, I would have expected to turn the page and see PART TWO at this point. I suspect that this will not bother many fantasy fans, who are accustomed to long-running series.

I truly loved KING'S PROPERTY and I highly recommend it.

Links
KING'S PROPERTY (Canada, UK)
First Chapter
My other posts on KING'S PROPERTY
My other posts on Morgan Howell

KING'S PROPERTY - Seriously Good

I'm going to gush about KING'S PROPERTY by Morgan Howell. It's that good. This novel is competing for my attention with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I finally got a copy of, and it is winning.

I'm about three quarters of the way through. Dar has proven herself to be smart, protective, self-sacrificing and savvy. I enjoy stories that focus tightly on one character. Like The Deed of Paksenarrion, KING'S PROPERTY only occasionally leaves Dar's point of view. There are many similarities with the Deed; I can see why Elizabeth Moon blurbed this novel. Moon was able to make me shed actual tears over Paks. We will see of Howell can do the same.

There is a nail-biting conflict between Dar and one of her commanders, the Murdant Koh, which reminds me of the main conflict in another character-focused story, Clan of the Cave Bear. Like Ayla's conflict with Broud, Koh lives to torture Dar. However, Broud was not inherently evil; Koh is. He is willing to hurt others, even the very innocent, to get to Dar.

Like many novels I've read of late, the fantasy element -- except for fantastic creatures -- is slight. Only now is Dar starting to experience the visions alluded to in the cover blurb.

The orc society is extremely well thought-out. Dar is learning the orcish language and the reader is learning it along with Dar. Yet the language doesn't overwhelm the plot. When two orcs speak together, their speech even feels alien.

For a while, I thought that I found a flaw in the book. It appeared to me that too many humans, especially male humans, were absolute scum. However, he rectified this and now I am once again hard-pressed to find any flaws.

KING'S PROPERTY - First Half

I'm halfway through KING'S PROPERTY and I am enjoying this book a lot. I have to admit that I cannot think of a single critique. The novel starts tightly behind Dar's eyes, and remains there except for very brief glimpses of the two males in her life, the Murdant (a title similar to sergeant) Kol and the orc warrior Kovok-mah.

It begins with strangers on horseback visiting Dar's village. Strangers on horseback always mean trouble in her experience, and this is no exception. Dar must leave with them, for she has been sold into a dismal slavery, where she must serve the orc army for the rest of her life.

Dar spends some time crying, but not much. She soon realizes that the human camp-followers who tag along with the orc are the very worst that humanity has to offer, and that she can gain some level of protection among the orcs. She also gains some tentative friendship among her fellow female slaves. However, she comes to terms with something that none of her fellow humans manage to figure out: she is stuck with the orcs for the rest of her life. The brand on her forehead means that it is death for her to try to escape. Therefore, she makes the best of it by trying to learn orc ways.

She wins my admiration in her treatment of her fellow slaves, especially a pregnant one. The Murdant Kol is a rather chilling character. Kovok-mah, who befriends Dar, is fascinating.

Article by Morgan Howell

There is an article by Morgan Howell in the current issue of the Del Rey Internet Newsletter. His article is the second one down. I found it fascinating because he based his orcs on native American matriarchal societies.

Now I really can't wait to read it!