Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell (Tor Fantasy)

I got this novel actually because the author announced on his blog that he had some review copies of Ragamuffin for the grabs and I emailed him asking if he coincidentally had one of Crystal Rain too, as I had not read his debut. I was lucky and I was supplied with one to read. When I received the book in package from the US, it was even signed, a hardcover edition with a really gorgeous cover up close! Can you imagine how pleased I was to be able to read this debut this way, thus I cleared some space in my reading pile and dived right in.
My first impression was that Crystal Rain combines an interesting mix of post-Apocalypse elements, old school adventures and Caribbean roots all in one, delightfully refreshing package. Tobias S Buckell could really be dubbed the (Caribbean) Jules Verne of our modern age!

The story is set in the world Nanagada, a planet somewhat similar to Earth, where humans of all different cultures have settled after migrating from our mother planet. Yet there the habitants are caught up in an ancient struggle of the two distinct powerful alien species, the Teotl and Loa – and are losing that struggle. In a last and final effort the wormhole used for intergalactic access to the planet is destroyed by the humans in order to prevent aliens from further infecting Nanagada. This is done by activating a weapon that in turn completely shut downs all the advanced technology on the planet. Civilization has too start all over. Little do they know that a few of the Teotl who have managed to survive, are thriving on the planet and breeding a race (the Azteca) meant to conquer the humans and the Loa in the process.
About two hundred years later, we catch up with John deBrun, resident of the peaceful village Brungstun, who has lost all memories of the life has lead before he washed up a shore twenty odd years before. Although he has made numerous adventurous efforts, travelling all the way to Capital City and up deep into the mysterious, icy North, to find out more about his past, the details elude him still. In the aftermath of the journey North he decides to settle in Brungstun, only separated by the Wicked Highs from the Azteca lands, and builds up a family life with his wife, Shanta and his son Jerome. Just when things are starting to look good for John, everything goes horribly awry like a bolt from the blue. Nanagada is faced with the invasion of hordes of Azteca warriors and priests looking for new blood and hearts to sacrifice to their blood lusting gods and the only mysterious artifact, the Ma Wi Jung, that might be able to save them is in frozen deep in the Northern regions. Only John deBrun knows its precise coordinates and has the keys to the artifact, even if he does not know why or how.

Like I said, Buckell combines an interesting mix of different elements blended in one novel, I should however also note the steampunk fantasy elements that are present, airships are the last echo of an advanced technological past. This all to give you impression of what to expect when picking up this novel. It provides us with an extraordinary fresh background that is exciting to explore and Buckell’s Caribbean roots really shine during our first few glances at this world. The worldbuilding was one of the things that I enjoyed the most by far; Nanagada is an original, fleshed out world covered by mostly jungle (so far as we know). Forget about deserts, endless plains or brooding swamps, the jungle that is where the real action is at! The Azteca, or should I say the Aztec, especially appealed to me. It was my first time encountering these Latin-American cultures in SFF, but it felt like an instant hit. Although we only got a few glimpses through the Azteca turned mongoose Oaxyctl of this strange culture on the other side of the Wicked Highs mountains, it still added to the worldbuilding and the skirmishes of the humans and Azteca in the past managed to contribute a real ’sense’ of a history on the planet.
The chapters were kept almost peculiar short, sometimes revolving around just one meaningful scene and but this in turn resulted in an action oriented plot. The prose was very distinct as well, Buckell is admirably able to say so much with so little words and that speaks for him as a storyteller. It took me a couple of pages to get used to the style of dialogue, the sort of dialect, but when I did it almost felt natural. The prose provides us in fact with just as much information as is needed and when needed, but there remains plenty of it left for our own imagination – something I love especially in a setting like this.
The characters John deBrun and Pepper, his mysterious companion who appears to know a lot about John’s past, were I felt the most done right in terms of characterization. I should mention John’s son Jerome as well ( although only present in a couple of chapters), because I really liked the way Buckell handled the (childish) perception of the world by that kid in the chapters from his perspective. Apart from that, most of the other characters were used sadly too much as plot devices or were not too much fleshed out to feel like real living personalities. It was not so much that I did or could not empathize with them; I just think that the two were far more superior in depth and personality. Especially John’s amnesia and his struggle to find out provide us that depth.
The thing that bothered me the most were the pacing problems, increasing towards the end. Especially the last thirty – forty odd pages felt somewhat rushed, just as if Tobias Buckell wanted to make sure his novel ended well within the four hundred pages mark. The journey North by ship was a bit dragged out for my liking, even more if you compare it to the action oriented pace in which John and Oaxyctl travel through the jungle to Capital City. I think in that area there is still some room for improvement, but one mustn’t forget that this is a debut novel – a good one at that.

So rounding things up, I can only conclude that this a very good effort of a promising writer, who well could supply us with some interesting, refreshing works in the near future. For all you guys who are looking for the more refreshing approach of SFF, look no further! Tobias S. Buckell is your man! Speaking of which, he has already released his second book in Juny 2007, Ragamuffin. I will certainly give it a go as well, as the story is picked up where it left off in Crystal Rain. This one is really hard to rate, I am somewhat thinking around a solid seven and a half mark up to the eight out of ten, so that is it going to be for now:

Seven and a half/Eight out of Ten