Robert Adams - Bili the Axe

The Horseclans novels are like olives -- you either acquire a taste for them or you don't. They're not great literature, which is why I gave this book a score of only 3, but if you get caught up in the saga, it won't matter. You'll want more, and there are a lot of them! The story is set in precataclysmic North America, approximately 600 years after nuclear war, man-induced plagues, and worldwide seismic disturbances have thrown humanity into a brutal pre-industrial age. Much of California and the East Coast have sunk into the sea. What remains of the eastern states, from Canada to Georgia, has been settled by waves of dark-skinned and dark-haired adventurers from Europe (Spaniards, Greeks, Armenians, etc.) called the Ehleenee. While these early settlers were rugged fighters in the mold of Athenians and Spartans, the current crop are little more than decadent dictators ruling over downtrodden peasant farmers. The first book in the series (see The Coming of the Horseclans) details the odyssey of the War Chief of the horseclans, Milo of Morai, a mutant immortal from the 20th century, as he leads the nomadic horseclans from the high plains of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. After 200 years of searching for other immortals, Milo has returned to the clans to fulfill an ancient prophecy and lead them to their destined homeland by the sea. Since, unbeknownst to the horseclans, earthquakes long ago sent their original home, Ehlai (Los Angeles), to the bottom of the ocean, Milo convinces them to travel east rather than west. In their way stands the armed might of the Ehleenee and the treacherous Witchmen -- pre-Holocaust scientists who have survived the centuries by repeatedly stealing new bodies to house their minds and who have their own designs for ruling existing civilization. Adams often revisits adventures from the point of view of different characters, which can create redundancy; it also means you have to read several books to get the whole picture. This volume has three plot threads running through it: The main story is a flashback to the youth of Bili the Axe, one of the horseclans most redoubable warriors. (For more on Bili and the Moon Maidens, read A Cat of Silvery Hue). The second plot concerns the 20th Century survivors known as Withcmen. And, finally, it introduces the remnants of 20th century organic farmers, now degenerate cannibals known as the Ganics. (For more on the Witchmen and the Ganics, read The Witch Goddess.) These books are primarily military science fiction and not for the faint of heart. There are lots of vivid descriptions of battles, torture and ghastly wounds. The prose is spare and very action-oriented. While not a fan of military fiction in general, I was sucked in by the animal component of the series. The clanspeople have the ability to communicate telepathically with their specially bred war horses and with a mutant wild cat, the "prairie cat," which sounds like a blend of puma, sabertooth, and cheetah. I'm also obssessed with translating the terminology of the time -- it becomes a kind of game -- figuring out what words like Ehlai (LA), Pitzburk (Pittsburg), Karaleenos (Carolinas), Neekohl (Nicole), Kuk (Cook), Hwallis (Wallace) all mean. If you like Larry Niven's Man-Kzinn Wars series, you might enjoy the horseclans saga.