“The quickest way to a man’s heart,” said the instructor, “is proverbially through his stomach. But if you want to get into his brain, I recommend the eye-socket.”
So begins Devices and Desires, the first novel in K.J. Parker’s masterful Engineer Trilogy. (It also happens to be the opening lines of Evil for Evil, and The Escapement—books two and three respectively.) From the very beginning of this trilogy, Parker’s wit and grit are on full display. I highly recommend K.J. Parker to readers of all types. Though shelved under fantasy, I am confidant Parker’s work is accessible to a wider audience. Readers of historical fiction, literary fiction, dark humor, fantasy, and history will not be disappointed. I even recommended Parker to my dear, 74 year-old Grannie the other day, because Parker’s work is not only among the most entertaining fiction being written today, but (in this reader’s opinion) among the most important as well.
Devices and Desires is about a man willing to do anything to be reunited with his family. The man is Ziani Vaatzes, a respected engineer and citizen of the Mezentine Perpetual Republic. Ziani is sentenced to death when it is discovered that he improved upon guild design specifications for a doll made for his daughter. (Improvement, aka abomination, cannot be tolerated within the Mezentine guilds, because one does not perfect perfection.) Forced to leave his daughter and wife behind, Ziani escapes execution with some quick thinking and a disturbing willingness to commit extreme violence against his countrymen, and ends up as a defector to the neighboring (and old-fashioned) Duchy of Eremia. Ziani knows how his countrymen think. He knows that they will come for him, and that they will likely slaughter every Eremian for good measure… just in case the rogue engineer happened to pass along any state secrets while in exile. And so Ziani contracts with the Eremian Duke to build an arsenal of scorpions to defend against the certain oncoming tide of destruction.
Ziani’s choices and motives drive the plot forward, but Parker fills the pages with many different POV’s, each with their quirks and fears and shortcomings. The side characters of Devices and Desires were one of the novel’s highlights, in particular, Jarnac Ducas, a junior member of an important Eremian noble house. Readers are sure to love his arc through the end of the novel (no spoilers here).
It was stated above that K.J. Parker’s work is among the most important being written today. Parker has an extraordinary grasp on the human mind. More specifically, an understanding of what causes a person to do what they do. There are no villains in Devices and Desires… at least not in the traditional sense of “good guys” vs “bad guys.” The characters’ differing motives make perfect sense when seen from their own perspectives. Parker brings such varied palette shades to the term gray as to put the rest of the popular grimdark movement to shame. The characters in Devices and Desires are archetypal to be sure, but in a way that exaggerates expectations. The love-sick knight is going to rescue his damsel is distress. Even if he has to trample a thousand innocents under his warhorse to get to her. The loving husband and father sets two nations on a path of total destruction in order to be reunited with his family. The respected nobleman stands by his duke, despite knowing said duke is an idiot, and the worst disaster in their country’s recent history—all because of duty. Parker is a writer who fully understands the power of hyperbole, as well as tragedy in fiction, and uses the forms to great effect.
Yeah, I kind of liked Devices and Desires. I think you will too. To those of you new to K.J. Parker, I also recommend that you read The Folding Knife, or Sharps, two standalones of Parker’s that I read before Devices and Desires. All are excellent starting points for Parker’s work. As for me, I’m fifty pages into The Hammer, and I pre-ordered Parker’s limited edition short story collection from Subterranean Press, to be released at the end of July. It’s hard to pull away from Parker’s fiction once you’re sucked into it, though why one would want to escapes me.
Review by Jordan Ricks
Bio:
Jordan started reading genre fiction when Goosebumps hit the shelves during the third grade. He picked up a copy of Ender’s Game a few years later, and then read all six original Dune novels in quick succession. He’s been devouring all things speculative ever since. Thanks to all the reading, the writer bug caught him at a young age–now he just has to learn how to finish writing what he starts. Jordan attended Orson Scott Card’s Writing Class in 2007, and David Farland’s Death Camp in 2009. One day he will finish his college education, and then go on to rule the world. For the time being, he slaves away in a frame shop in Utah, gold-leafing picture frames for artists and designers around the world. When not working for the man, Jordan spends his time at home with his wife and two kids. He usually has an audiobook playing in his ear.
You can catch him on his blog every once in a while atwww.jordanricks.blogspot.com, on twitter @jrdnricks, and Facebook.
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