As The Green Star Rises

As The Green Star Rises is the fourth book in the Green Star saga. Karn has lost his vision temporarily and is stranded, left to die, on the shores of a vast inland sea with his assassin friend Klygon. They were stranded there on an island by their treacherous companion and all appears lost... but lo, they are saved by a ship of pirates and pressed into servitude manning the oars. There they make the acquaintance of Andar of Komar, the prince of a kingdom recently taken by the pirates. They of course rebel against their barbarous masters and take the ship, planning to free the kingdom of Komar as well, but things intervene and Karn is separated again- thrown overboard in a storm. 

There's always a storm. 

Anyway while this is happening there are also adventures to be had by Niamh the Fair, the long lost lover of Karn's, as well as our assorted other cast. We have a string of tropical islands here- the book takes place almost entirely within the confines of the Komarian Sea- and there are, as I said, pirates, wizards, and all manner of perils. I love some of the chapter titles here too- we get gems like Isle of the Ancient Ones, Altar of the Serpent- God, and Castaways on an Unknown Sea. Such atmosphere. 

The coincidences get out of hand in this one though. And to be fair, highly improbable coincidences are a hallmark of these stories- the tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs, who inspired these tales by Lin Carter, were rife with them as well, but here it's taken to a whole new level. There's a particularly ridiculous sequence also where- spoiler alert- Karn is shipwrecked on an island with Niamh the Fair, but because he's blinded he doesn't realize that his fellow castaway is Niamh. It's complicated, but basically he's in a different body than she knows and she calls herself Shann of Kamadhong to protect her identity- so they are stranded on an island together, fall in love, even though they are already in love but don't realize each other are... each other. 

I know. Why am I still reading this? 

Nevertheless there is some charm here. The inland sea, all the flying devices, great serpent gods... there's stuff to like here! There are also some interesting discussion points. Several times we are told about how the chaste noblewomen of the treetop cities protect their virtue by ritual suicide if they are violated. I guess my question is- why do they have to die because they were assaulted? Thankfully, Niamh uses her dagger at several points to kill other people, so that's something. 

Here are a few more examples of the writing we get in these tales. 

"But it is ever the way of savages to pretend contempt for the arts of civilization, which they cannot comprehend. It is their way of asserting their own convictions of superiority, in the teeth of all evidence to the contrary. " 

"Yet neither of us felt free to give rein to the passions which clamored tumultuously in our hearts."