Fortress in the Eye of Time: Different slant on an old story

Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh

I loved Fortress in the Eye of Time. To be honest, the first half of the book doesn’t move very fast, but you come to appreciate how C.J. Cherryh controls the flow of the story based on the progress of the main character. It’s a very interesting technique that takes a little patience to enjoy.

The story centers around a young man who is called back from a distant past and who’s soul has already lived a life. His challenges in adjusting to life with no real past are very well written and yet his native intelligence and personality begin to grow quickly.
The characters that surround the protagonist are fairly well written and far from perfect themselves. For me, the frailties of people are often neglected in most fiction unless it is overly depicted in the bad guy. In this case, Cherryh is very effective when describing the different supporting cast and creating reasons for them to be who they are.

The story follows the political manuevering of a Prince and various factions who either want him dead or simply out of the way. The culmination of the story, when the main character begins to experience the depth of who he will be, is very exciting.

On a final note, C.J. Cherryh does a good job of describing conditions that people live in without wasting too much time on trivia. It makes for a more believable read when life is a little rustic, even for the nobility.

I recommend Fortress in the Eye of Time! The next three in the series are a worthwhile reward.

The Tristan / Fortress Series — (1995-2006) Publisher: A ruined tower in a vast forest is the haunted home of the world’s last great wizard, Mauryl. Here in the storm drenched night, Mauryl performs a final act of the highest Old Magic, a Shaping, hoping that by this most wondrous of spells the wrongs of a long forgotten wizard war may be righted. In the tower, a boy is brought full grown to life. Named Tristen, he is neither golem nor man, and to Mauryl’s dismay he has none of the wisdom needed to ensure the success of his last gambit of the wizard’s long life. Presented with the precious book that contains the knowledge he needs, Tristen cannot understand a single word. Instead, Tristen loves his maker blindly, and loves the beauty of the world. Tristen walks alone and helpless from the last outpost of the Old Lands into a new age of holiness rife with treachery and war. A glamour protects him until, as the veils of unknowning are blown aside by events, Tristen’s power is manifest. Then Mauryl’s enemies become his. And though Mauryl’s book is with him always, still Tristen cannot read it.