(urth) Soldier of Sidon

[Nigel Price]

I'm still reading "Soldier of Sidon" having just reread "Mist" and "Arete".
I hope to review it for "Ultan's Library". I'm enjoying it very much but
tend to agree that it seems to lack the depth of the other two Soldier
novels and of Wolfe's work in general.

One obvious difference between "Sidon" and the other two Soldier novels is
the lack of a specific historical narrative. "Mist" and "Arete" are
remarkable in that they combine a story of gods and goddesses with a very
specific historical context, namely the aftermath of the Persian invasion.
These books do for ancient Greek history what the Greeks themselves did for
their pre-historical age of myth. I guess that Wolfe's approach is not
unprecedented, but it is unusual and makes the two novels a fascinating
hybrid of fantasy and historical novel.

While I'm sure that the depiction of life in Egypt and Nubia given in
"Soldier of Sidon" is well researched and historically accurate, the novel's
narrative does not depend on an understanding of any actual historical
events beyond a generalised knowledge of Egypt's gradual decline in power
and its domination by the Persian Empire.

This lack of a specific historical narrative is one obvious way in which
"Sidon" is simpler than its predecessors.

I need to think more about all this before I write my review...

At the moment, the question that is occupying me is, "What makes
Latro/Lucius different from other fantasy heroes?" Or, to put it another
way, "Is Latro a Lupine Conan the Barbarian?"

In many ways, Latro is a classic (as well as a Classical!) super hero. He
has super powers: he can see the gods, he's a superb warrior, and he's
pretty well irresistible to women. He has a crucial vulnerability: he
forgets everything. He swashbuckles his way round the ancient world,
fighting battles, getting into dangerous scrapes, tangling with the purposes
of the gods and bedding exotic women (Amazons, Egyptian dancing girls!) as
he goes.

On this last point, Wolfe has devised a wonderful strategem to surmount the
problem of how you have a basically good and morally upright hero who still
has lots of love affairs. He forgets, so of course he is not culpable even
though he serially unfaithful to his wife back in Italy!

I also like the way that Latro manages to be a wish-fulfilment figure for
his author in that he is both a super-soldier and, of necessity, a copious
writer, writing feverishly nearly every day, just like his creator...

More anon!

Nigel

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