Riders
The book opens with three texts devoted, more or less, to the Riders of the Plains. The first of them – the shortest in the entire collection – is probably the most moving at the same time. Of course, it’s a personal thing, but because it’s quite short, and then there are references to it, it made the biggest impression on me. It is connected with the next two stories by the character of one of the heroes. In these three texts we can observe the development of the characters. You can see how a person changes in the successive stages of his life. This is a procedure that definitely deserves attention.
Sailors
The second part of the book contains two longer texts. The last one, Seven Mercenaries , could be published separately as a micronovel. As the title suggests, this track references Akira Kurosawa’s classic film and its western remake. Of course, the two “sailing” stories share a connection with the sea and the presence of one (not the main) character.
Fighting and violence
As in the previous installments of The Book of the Whole , there is also a lot of fighting and violence here. Nautical texts are fuller of it, or at least in their case it is more memorable. Some of the scenes contain a dose of terrible and completely unnecessary cruelty. The author uses them to build the character of selected characters. This is not the first time that such themes appear in the series, but they can disturb people with high sensitivity.
Aside from the sheer cruelty that can only be explained by the sociopathic nature of some of the characters, there is a lot of story-based combat. However, the author does not describe large-scale military operations here, as was the case in the Northern Border or Lady of the Good Sign . Instead, there are descriptions of skirmishes in which only units or relatively small units are involved.
Stepping stone
There is no denying that after the previous volumes, in which the fate of Szerer was at stake, Sailors and riders are a kind of springboard. On the one hand, short stories affect the reader differently than novels. On the other hand, the transition from the plot, in which it is definitely clear that the world will not be the way it used to be, to small, local events is also a powerful leap. It cannot be ruled out that some threads running through the stories will later be woven into the overall story, but for the reader it is a definite change of scale and a breath of fresh air.
Undoubtedly, the differences compared to the previous installment of the series work in favor of the book. It’s not as interesting as the ones that opened the series, but it’s a pleasure to read.
