Shaman's Crossing: Difference between revisions

Shaman's Crossing
	First UK edition cover by John Howe (www.john-howe.com)
Author	Robin Hobb
Cover artist	John Howe (UK)
Language	English
Series	Soldier Son Trilogy
Genre	Fantasy novel
Publisher	Voyager Books (UK) & EOS (US)
Publication date	4 July 2005 (UK) & September 2005 (US)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	400 pp (hardback edition) & 544 pp (paperback edition)
ISBN	0-00-719612-1 (UK hardback edition)
OCLC	62264166
Followed by	Forest Mage

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Shaman's Crossing is a book by Robin Hobb, the first in her Soldier Son Trilogy. It is written in first-person narrative from the viewpoint of Nevare Burvelle and follows his life through his first year in the King's Cavalla Academy.

Plot summary

Young Nevare Burvelle is the second son of a second son in the fantasy nation of Gernia. According to Gernian religious practice, firstborn noble sons are heir to the family fortunes, second sons bear swords as soldiers, and third sons are consecrated to the priesthood. Holy Writ specifies other roles as well for subsequent sons. Nevare will follow his father – newly made a lord by the King – into the Cavalla (cavalry); to the frontier and thence to an advantageous marriage to carry on the Burvelle name. It is a golden future, and Nevare looks forward to it with relish. From the age of eight, Nevare is schooled daily in math, physics, engineering, and of course combat and military strategy. With the help of Sergeant Duril, a man who once served under Nevare's father, he learns to live off the land and survive in the harsh plains environment.

For twenty years King Troven's cavalla have pushed the frontiers of Gernia out across the grasslands by building King's Road, Troven's vision of future trade with the east, and also subduing the fierce tribes of the plain on its way. Now they have driven the frontier as far as the Barrier Mountains, home to the enigmatic Speck people. The specks – a light sensitive, dapple-skinned, forest-dwelling folk – are said to retain vestiges of magic in a world which is becoming progressive and technologised. The 'civilised' peoples base their convictions on a rational philosophy founded on their belief in the good god, who displaced the older deities of their world. To them, the Specks are primeval savages, little better than beasts. Superstitions abound; it is said that they harbour strange diseases and worship trees. Sexual congress with them is regarded as both filthy and foolhardy, though not unheard of; the Speck plague, which has ravaged the frontier, has decimated entire regiments.

During Nevare's youth, his father hires a man named Dewara, a plainsman of the Kidona tribe and a former enemy of Lord Burvelle, to teach Nevare things he cannot learn from a friendly tutor. After a grueling set of lessons, Dewara offers Nevare the chance to "become a Kidona" by participating in a ritual and killing an enemy of the Kidona. During the ritual, Dewara places a dried poisonous toad in Nevare's mouth and Nevare experiences a vision. The vision involves Nevare crossing a strangely constructed series of bridges and culminates in a meeting with Tree Woman. Dewara urges Nevare to kill her, because she is the enemy. However, Nevare falls off the final bridge and only with Tree Woman's aid can he survive. He accepts her assistance and as payment, she claims him as her weapon to halt the destruction of her people.

Nevare awakens at his father's house, nearly dead from beating and exposure and missing a patch of hair and skin from his scalp.

Soon after his 18th birthday, Nevare heads to the King's Cavalla Academy to begin his formal training. His upbringing and tutors' lessons serve him well at the Academy, but his progress there is not as simple as he would wish. He experiences prejudice from the old aristocracy; as the son of a 'new noble' he is segregated into a patrol comprising other new nobles' sons, all of whom will encounter injustice, discrimination and foul play in that hostile and deeply competitive environment. In addition, his world view will be challenged by his unconventional girl-cousin Epiny; and by the bizarre dreams which visit him at night. And then, on Dark Evening, the carnival comes to Old Thares, bringing with it the first Specks Nevare has ever seen...

This first contact proves to be a dramatic one, as the other self of Nevare comes to the fore and instructs the Specks to do the "dust dance". This dance, which consists of the dancers showering the on-lookers with dust, results in a widespread Speck plague both in the Academy of the cavalla and in Old Thares. Seized by a fever, Nevare finds himself once again crossing the bridge sealed by his own sword during the ritual set up by Dewara. He is not alone however, as he finds himself with what appears to be ghostly forms of all the people dying from the plague, including notably Caulder, and Spink. He does not end his crossing, as he is expelled from that realm, as Tree woman still needs him in the physical world.

Joined by Epiny in the infirmary, Nevare finds Spink dying next to him. Aided by his cousin, he journeys once more to the bridge in what ends up to be a climactic battle between him, his other self and the Tree woman. Despite the odds stacked against him, he manages to turn the tide of the battle by retrieving his sword, the "iron magic of his people". The bridge disappears and Nevare manages to slash the Tree woman, allowing Epiny to save his friend, before being once more expelled.

Nevare eventually recovers and this part of the story ends as he finds himself returning to the Academy.

Characters in "Shaman's Crossing"

Nevare Burvelle – the main protagonist
King Troven – ruler of Gernia
Lord Keft Burvelle – Nevare's father
Corporal Parth – Nevare's soldiering tutor at the story's opening
Scout Halloran – scout for the army
Sil Halloran – Halloran's daughter, part Gernian, part Plainspeople born
Commander Hent – commander at Franner's Bend
Sergeant Duril – Nevare's riding tutor
Selethe Burvelle – Nevare's mother
Rosse Burvelle – Nevare's eldest brother
Vanze Burvelle – Nevare's younger brother
Yaril Burvelle – Nevare's younger sister
Elisi Burvelle – Nevare's elder sister
Carsina Grenalter – A Gernian noble's daughter, promised to wed Nevare when he graduates the Academy.
Master Rissle – Nevare's academic tutor
Dewara – A Kidona tribesman hired to teach Nevare
Lord Sefert Burvelle – Nevare's uncle, Keft Burvelle's older brother. Father of Epiny.
Epiny Burvelle – Nevare's younger cousin, an eccentric girl
Colonel Stiet – commandant of the King's Cavalla Academy
Caulder Stiet – Colonel Stiet's son, a ubiquitous presence at the academy, disliked by cadets
Spink (full name : Spinrek Kester) – a short, poor, but honest cadet at the academy; Nevare's friend, his mathematics skills are particularly weak.
Gord – a wealthy, obese, highly intelligent cadet at the academy; Nevare's friend, although most cadets dislike him.
Trist – a handsome, likeable academy cadet with a penchant for bending the rules
Tiber – a New Nobles son who is sent out of the academy to become a scout

Trivia

The book's dedication reads "To Caffeine and Sugar, my companions through many a long night of writing."

Release details

2005, UK, Voyager ISBN 0-00-719612-1, Pub date 4 July 2005, Hardback
2005, UK, Voyager ISBN 0-00-721468-5, Pub date 4 July 2005, Hardback (1000 copy limited and numbered edition)
2005, USA, EOS ISBN 0-06-075762-0, Pub date September 2005, Hardback
2006, UK, Voyager ISBN 0-00-719613-X, Pub date 6 February 2006, Trade Paperback
2006, UK, Voyager ISBN 0-00-719614-8, Pub date 3 July 2006, Paperback (with new cover)
2006, USA, EOS ISBN 0-06-075828-7, Pub date September 2006, Paperback

References

Hobb, Robin (4 July 2005). Shaman's Crossing. Voyager Press.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Infobox book  | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
-[[Image:Robin_Hobb_-_Shaman's_Crossing_Cover.jpg|thumb|200px|Image by [http://www.john-howe.com John Howe]]]
+| name           = Shaman's Crossing
-'''''Shaman's Crossing''''' is a book by [[Robin Hobb]], the first in her ''Soldier Son Trilogy''.
+| title_orig     =
+| translator     =
+| image          = Robin Hobb - Shaman's Crossing Cover.jpg
+|caption = First UK edition cover by John Howe ({{URL|www.john-howe.com}})
+| author         = [[Robin Hobb]]
+| cover_artist   = [[John Howe (illustrator)|John Howe]] (UK)
+| country        = United States
+| language       = English
+| series         = [[Soldier Son Trilogy]]
+| genre          = [[Fantasy novel]]
+| publisher      = [[Voyager Books]] (UK) & [[Eos (imprint)|EOS]] (US)
+| release_date   = 4 July 2005 (UK) & September 2005 (US)
+| media_type     = Print (hardback & paperback)
+| pages          = 400 pp (hardback edition) & 544 pp (paperback edition)
+| isbn = 0-00-719612-1
+| isbn_note = (UK hardback edition)
+| oclc= 62264166
+| preceded_by    =
+| followed_by    = [[Forest Mage]]
+}}
+'''''Shaman's Crossing''''' is a book by [[Robin Hobb]], the first in her ''[[Soldier Son Trilogy]]''.  It is written in [[first-person narrative]] from the viewpoint of Nevare Burvelle and follows his life through his first year in the King's Cavalla Academy.
-==Editions==
-* An [[American English]] edition is expected in September [[2005]]. Its cover will be illustrated by [[Christophe Vacher]].
-* A [[British English]] edition is expected on [[July 4]] [[2005]] with ISBN 0007196121. Its cover will be illustrated by [[John Howe]].
-==Plot==
+==Plot summary==
-{{spoiler}}
+Young Nevare Burvelle is the second son of a second son in the fantasy nation of Gernia. According to Gernian religious practice, firstborn noble sons are heir to the family fortunes, second sons bear swords as soldiers, and third sons are consecrated to the priesthood. Holy Writ specifies other roles as well for subsequent sons.  Nevare will follow his father – newly made a lord by the King – into the Cavalla (cavalry); to the frontier and thence to an advantageous marriage to carry on the Burvelle name. It is a golden future, and Nevare looks forward to it with relish.  From the age of eight, Nevare is schooled daily in math, physics, engineering, and of course combat and military strategy.  With the help of Sergeant Duril, a man who once served under Nevare's father, he learns to live off the land and survive in the harsh plains environment.
-<!-- This information is copied from the synopsis provided to Amazon by Voyager. It needs to be tidied up -->
-When the two-hundred year war between the kingdoms of ''Vania'' and ''Landsing'' ended the Landsingers were left in triumphant possession of Vania's rich coal and coast territories. When young ''King Troven'' assumed the throne of Vania thirty years later, he was determined to restore her greatness, not through waging another assault upon their traditional enemies, but by looking in the opposite direction and colonising the wild plains and steppes to their east.
+For twenty years King Troven's cavalla have pushed the frontiers of Gernia out across the grasslands by building King's Road, Troven's vision of future trade with the east, and also subduing the fierce tribes of the plain on its way. Now they have driven the frontier as far as the Barrier Mountains, home to the enigmatic Speck people. The specks – a light sensitive, dapple-skinned, forest-dwelling folk – are said to retain vestiges of magic in a world which is becoming progressive and technologised. The 'civilised' peoples base their convictions on a rational philosophy founded on their belief in the good god, who displaced the older deities of their world. To them, the Specks are primeval savages, little better than beasts. Superstitions abound; it is said that they harbour strange diseases and worship trees. Sexual congress with them is regarded as both filthy and foolhardy, though not unheard of; the Speck plague, which has ravaged the frontier, has decimated entire regiments.
-Over the next twenty years, cavalry forces manage to subdue the rolling plains formerly wasted on nomadic herders and tribesmen. Troven's campaign restores the pride of the Varnian military and to reward them, Troven creates a new nobility that is extremely loyal to their monarch. Beyond the grasslands lies the current frontier of Varnia, the heavily forested ''Barrier Mountains'', home to enigmatic ''Specks'': a dappled, forest dwelling people, unable to tolerate the heat and full sunlight of the plains.
+During Nevare's youth, his father hires a man named Dewara, a plainsman of the Kidona tribe and a former enemy of Lord Burvelle, to teach Nevare things he cannot learn from a friendly tutor. After a grueling set of lessons, Dewara offers Nevare the chance to "become a Kidona" by participating in a ritual and killing an enemy of the Kidona. During the ritual, Dewara places a dried poisonous toad in Nevare's mouth and Nevare experiences a vision.  The vision involves Nevare crossing a strangely constructed series of bridges and culminates in a meeting with Tree Woman.  Dewara urges Nevare to kill her, because she is the enemy.  However, Nevare falls off the final bridge and only with Tree Woman's aid can he survive.  He accepts her assistance and as payment, she claims him as her weapon to halt the destruction of her people.
-The new settlers find the Specks slightly dim-witted and overly placid, and yet strangely difficult to control. There are tales that they are 'blood-drinkers' and their nature worship of ancestral trees has presented difficulties for those who wish to harvest the forest's exotic timber. They also harbour strange diseases, ones that cause the Specks little more than a week or two of discomfort but which frequently kills those settlers and soldiers who fall victim to it. For that reason, prolonged contact, and especially intimate contact with the Specks is judged both fool-hardy and disgusting.
+Nevare awakens at his father's house, nearly dead from beating and exposure and missing a patch of hair and skin from his scalp.
-''Nevare Gerar'' is the second son of one of King Troven's new lords. Following in his father's footsteps, a commission as a cavalry officer at the frontier and an advantageous marriage await him, once he has completed his training at the ''King's Cavalry Academy''.
+Soon after his 18th birthday, Nevare heads to the King's Cavalla Academy to begin his formal training.  His upbringing and tutors' lessons serve him well at the Academy, but his progress there is not as simple as he would wish. He experiences prejudice from the old aristocracy; as the son of a 'new noble' he is segregated into a patrol comprising other new nobles' sons, all of whom will encounter injustice, discrimination and foul play in that hostile and deeply competitive environment. In addition, his world view will be challenged by his unconventional girl-cousin Epiny; and by the bizarre dreams which visit him at night. And then, on Dark Evening, the carnival comes to Old Thares, bringing with it the first Specks Nevare has ever seen...
+This first contact proves to be a dramatic one, as the other self of Nevare comes to the fore and instructs the Specks to do the "dust dance".  This dance, which consists of the dancers showering the on-lookers with dust, results in a widespread Speck plague both in the Academy of the cavalla and in Old Thares. Seized by a fever, Nevare finds himself once again crossing the bridge sealed by his own sword during the ritual set up by Dewara. He is not alone however, as he finds himself with what appears to be ghostly forms of all the people dying from the plague, including notably Caulder, and Spink. He does not end his crossing, as he is expelled from that realm, as Tree woman still needs him in the physical world.
-[[Category:2005 books]]
+Joined by Epiny in the infirmary, Nevare finds Spink dying next to him. Aided by his cousin, he journeys once more to the bridge in what ends up to be a climactic battle between him, his other self and the Tree woman. Despite the odds stacked against him, he manages to turn the tide of the battle by retrieving his sword, the "iron magic of his people". The bridge disappears and Nevare manages to slash the Tree woman, allowing Epiny to save his friend, before being once more expelled.
-{{book-stub}}
+Nevare eventually recovers and this part of the story ends as he finds himself returning to the Academy.
+==Characters in "Shaman's Crossing"==
+*Nevare Burvelle – the main protagonist
+*King Troven – ruler of Gernia
+*Lord Keft Burvelle – Nevare's father
+*Corporal Parth – Nevare's soldiering tutor at the story's opening
+*Scout Halloran – scout for the army
+*Sil Halloran – Halloran's daughter, part Gernian, part Plainspeople born
+*Commander Hent – commander at Franner's Bend
+*Sergeant Duril – Nevare's riding tutor
+*Selethe Burvelle – Nevare's mother
+*Rosse Burvelle – Nevare's eldest brother
+*Vanze Burvelle – Nevare's younger brother
+*Yaril Burvelle – Nevare's younger sister
+*Elisi Burvelle – Nevare's elder sister
+*Carsina Grenalter – A Gernian noble's daughter, promised to wed Nevare when he graduates the Academy.
+*Master Rissle – Nevare's academic tutor
+*Dewara – A Kidona tribesman hired to teach Nevare
+*Lord Sefert Burvelle – Nevare's uncle, Keft Burvelle's older brother. Father of Epiny.
+*Epiny Burvelle – Nevare's younger cousin, an eccentric girl
+*Colonel Stiet – commandant of the King's Cavalla Academy
+*Caulder Stiet – Colonel Stiet's son, a ubiquitous presence at the academy, disliked by cadets
+*Spink (full name : Spinrek Kester) – a short, poor, but honest cadet at the academy; Nevare's friend, his mathematics skills are particularly weak.
+*Gord – a wealthy, obese, highly intelligent cadet at the academy; Nevare's friend, although most cadets dislike him.
+*Trist – a handsome, likeable academy cadet with a penchant for bending the rules
+*Tiber – a New Nobles son who is sent out of the academy to become a scout
+==Trivia==
+*The book's dedication reads "To Caffeine and Sugar, my companions through many a long night of writing."
+==Release details==
+*2005, UK, Voyager {{ISBN|0-00-719612-1}}, Pub date 4 July 2005, Hardback
+*2005, UK, Voyager {{ISBN|0-00-721468-5}}, Pub date 4 July 2005, Hardback (1000 copy limited and numbered edition)
+*2005, USA, EOS {{ISBN|0-06-075762-0}}, Pub date September 2005, Hardback
+*2006, UK, Voyager {{ISBN|0-00-719613-X}}, Pub date 6 February 2006, Trade Paperback
+*2006, UK, Voyager {{ISBN|0-00-719614-8}}, Pub date 3 July 2006, Paperback (with new cover)
+*2006, USA, EOS {{ISBN|0-06-075828-7}}, Pub date September 2006, Paperback
+==References==
+*{{cite book | title=Shaman's Crossing | last=Hobb | first=Robin | authorlink=Robin Hobb | publisher=Voyager Press | date=4 July 2005}}
+{{Robin Hobb}}
+[[Category:2005 American novels]]
+[[Category:American fantasy novels]]
+[[Category:Novels by Robin Hobb]]
+[[Category:Voyager Books books]]
+[[Category:Soldier Son Trilogy]]
+[[Category:Eos Books books]]