Helm | ||||||||
Steven Gould | ||||||||
St. Martin's Press, 480 pages | ||||||||
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A review by Donna McMahon
Centuries later, only one glass helm remains, fiercely guarded by the ruler of the city-state of Laal. Dulan
is grooming his eldest son to wear the helm and eventually govern Laal, but his plans are wrecked when his
youngest son, 17-year-old Leland, breaks all the rules and dons the helmet instead. An avid scholar, Leland
longs for knowledge without understanding the dire consequences of wearing the helm, nor does he realize
that it is potentially the most dangerous weapon on his world.
Steven Gould wastes no time in getting Helm underway. By the end of chapter one Leland has worn
the imprinting device, consequences are rolling, and for the most part the pace does not lag right to the last
page. The main characters are strong and the setting -- a planet still in the process of being
terraformed -- is interesting and well drawn.
This book has lots of flaws. There are too many characters and it's tough to keep track of them, in part
because Gould switches viewpoints far too often. A number of the plot problems are never adequately resolved,
and characters are introduced and then dropped at the author's whim. Gould's personal interest in aikido adds
an extra dimension and lots of verisimilitude to the fight scenes, but sometimes it's too much detail.
Near the end when the pace should be picking up, the fights are simply too long.
Nonetheless, Gould's characters carry this book, especially young Leland and the ancient personality that is
sharing his head, thanks to the Helm.
Gould writes an entertaining and humorous story, making Helm a difficult book to put down.
Donna McMahon discovered science fiction in high school and fandom in 1977, and never recovered. Dance of Knives, her first novel, was published by Tor in May, 2001, and her book reviews won an Aurora Award the same month. She likes to review books first as a reader (Was this a Good Read? Did I get my money's worth?) and second as a writer (What makes this book succeed/fail as a genre novel?). You can visit her website at http://www.donna-mcmahon.com/. |
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