Fortress in the Eye of Time, by C.J. Cherryh.
I have long been a fan of C.J. Cherryh, having devoured her Foreigner series, her standalones, her Chanur series etc. etc. as you can see from my reading list. I have spent most of my time on her science fiction, so I decided to explore her fantasy writing.
This book is the first in the Fortress series, and it begins with an old, tired wizard named Mauryl performing his last great work, Summoning a spirit from the fire to combat some kind of wind that keeps whispering and taunting at him.
I have to admit that I found this book exceedingly hard to get into. The book is written at arm’s length, and Tristen knocks around the tower getting scolded and chided to “mind his feet!” and spends hours staring at a crack under his hornpaned window. This goes on for quite some time. I found this exceedingly tiresome.
However, things happen and Tristen goes on a quest, to follow a road that Mauryl pointed out to him. From here the story picks up, and Tristen, a complete innocent, is thrown into political machinations, sorcery, wizardry etc. Tristen feels knowledge Unfold within himself, that makes him ask questions of the world around him. As a Shaping, he was never a child, he doesn’t know women, simple concepts cause him to become ill from trying to process all the sensory overload.
Through all of this, there are underlying questions. Who is Tristen? Why did Mauryl bring him back? Is he Barraketh? There are 3 more books in this series, so I am anxious to see if these questions are addressed.
I have to admit, I am a sucker for the disguised hero plot.