An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham (Book #3 of The Long Price Quartet)
Introduction
An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham is the third book in the Long Price Quartet. The cities of Khaiem are protected by the magic of the beings called the andat. Their Empire and their magic have receded, so the non-magical Empire of Galt plots to overthrow them. Otah is the Khai Machi, the ruler of the city of Machi, one of the cities of Khaiem The best Galt general learns how to take away their andat. Will Otah win an autumn war against the Galts, or will they destroy him and all the cities of Khaiem?
Summary – Background
The cities of the Khaiem are connected by the use of sentient magical creatures called the andat. Each city has one andat controlled by a person called a poet who binds them with a series of words. They name andat by the special task they can perform. Seedless, the andat of the city Saraykeht can magically pick seeds from cotton functioning just like a magical cotton gin. The andat of the city of Machi called Stone-Made-Soft can help with the mining of ores. The andat also protect the cities by having the power to destroy enemies of the Khaiem. No one has defeated the cities since they obtained their andats. The Old Empire before them used the andat but was destroyed, serving as a warning to them of what could go wrong.
Summary – Characters
The Empire of Galt wants to defeat the Khaiem. Balasar Gice is their best general. He searched the ruins of the Old Empire to find the secret to release the andat. He wants to destroy the Khaiem, not just defeat them.
Maati Vaupathai is a scholar, an appentice poet who missed his chance to control the andat called Seedless. The Dai-kvo rules the poets and tells Maati to go see what is going on at the city of Machi and report back to him.
Otah Machi is the sixth son of the Khai Machi. He became the ruler of the city of Machi after his father died. He was appenticed to the poets, where he met Maati, and later Otah was exiled as a laborer. Maati is his old friend but they have a complicated relationship.
Cehmai holds the binding on the andat name Stone-Made-Soft. He wasn’t the originator of the binding, but he holds it now. He considers Maati a mentor.
Liat Chokavi is the former lover of Maati. Liat and Maati are separated but have told everyone that her son Nayiit is his. Nayiit is actuallty Otah’s older son and that makes the succession difficult because only one son can inherit and any others must die or become poets.
Kiyan is Otah’s wife and the mother of their daughter Eiah and their son Danat. Danat is Otah’s heir but he is sickly.
Sinja Ajutani is a mercanary captain from Machi. He is the former lover of Kiyan. He serves as a double agent by hiring his company to the Galtish general Balasar Gice and reporting back to Otah about his movements.
Recommendation
An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham is a great third book in this fantasy series. The fantasy elements in the series are subtle, focusing more on the political and business sphere. The plot is faster than the first two novels and there is more action due to the Galtish general’s purpose driving the plot. There is an Asian/formal feel through the characters use of poses and their choice of honorifics. Otah is the protagonist in this novel. The ending worked well. It was surprising, but inevitable, to set up the concluding novel.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2443516.An_Autumn_War
In A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham, The Khai Machi is dying, and his sons must fight to the death to follow him. They exiled his youngest son Otah and presumed him dead. Otah wants to remain hidden but he enters their conflict. If he doesn’t win, the Galts will sack his city.
In A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham, the poet-magician Heshai must keep control of the magical creature Seedless, or the Summer Cities will fall to the Empire of Galt.
This is the link to my review of Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey. (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck write together as James S. A. Corey in this Science Fiction series called The Expanse.)