The Last Stormlord by Glenda Larke

I've been asked before why I read speculative fiction. It's not set in the real world, so it's not making a statement about real situations.

I'd argue that. Speculative fiction, I think, tells you a lot. It tells you what issues were important to the author and audience at the time. Even the most escapist of high fantasy can give you an idea of a culture's core values and sometimes in a less politically charged way than other forms of fiction.

It's why I like looking at Australian high fantasy, for insight on my own particular culture. Admittedly, that gives some books pretty messed up implications (we'll get to Sara Douglas' Axis trilogy in good time) but Glenda Larke's The Last Stormlord is a good example of world-building reflecting real-world issues.

In this world, the people live in desert cities and are utterly reliant on their aristocracy's power to provide water. Some of the aristocracy called Reeves are sensitive to where water is while others called Rainlords can actively manipulate it. The most powerful is the Stormlord, who can summon storms to provide rain to the whole desert. So you can see why they'd be so revered, and why revolution is nearly unheard of. This aristocracy is not just important to this culture, they're essential to its survival.

Unfortunately the current Stormlord is old and dying, and no successor has been born strong enough to take his place. To make matters worse there's been a number of accidental deaths among the next generation of Rainlords, so there's not nearly as many as there should be. Desperate, the Rainlords begin searching the lower classes for potentials they might have missed or overlooked.

What I love about this book is that it makes fantastical leaps in the right places, but also falls back on cold hard reality. The ability to manipulate water is fantastic and doesn't need justifying. It's magic; just accept that it works. However, the implications are worked out in precise, ruthless detail. The Stormlord might have saved their society, but it also allowed them to grow far beyond the numbers that could be sustained without him. To go back to the time of 'random rain' as the characters put it would mean only being able to support one in twenty people. Everyone else would either die or  have to go elsewhere.

It's also a fairly on-the-nose analogy for technology and links in to what I was saying about cultural values. Australia in its natural state simply cannot support the numbers it now holds. As a very dry continent, technology is what allows us to prosper, and while not so precariously dependent on a single person as in The Last Stormlord, if we did lose that technology we'd be facing the exact same problem of water shortage. You only need to look at the drought problems with farmers right now to know how serious it can get.

The characters themselves start off unimpressive, but quickly grow on you. There's several points of view, each one representing a different position. So we not only see the pressure on the upper classes to produce new Rainlords and to bring in water, we also see the effect of the shortages on the lower classes and the harsh decisions of the people who choose to live outside the cities. This widespread narrative viewpoint gives the novel more urgency than Dune, a work it's faintly reminiscent of. While Dune was also the story of a desert society and a boy's rise to greatness, The Last Stormlord is less about justice and more about survival.

Altogether this is a great novel with a gorgeously complex culture built on a relatively simple premise. The characters are well-rounded, their motives clear and realistic (or as realistic as they get in high fantasy). Relevant questions are introduced about class division and distribution of resources, and never offers platitudes as answers. I'd give it a four out of five stars and strongly recommend it.

It can be found electronically on Amazon.com (see the link above) and also on Booktopia in paperback. It's first of a trilogy, so I will be reviewing the second book soon.