Seventh Decimate – Stephen R. Donaldson

his book is what we expect from Stephen Donaldson - the good, the excellent, and the annoying.

“The War Within” is the second book in “The Great God’s War”. The first book, “Seventh Decimate” takes place on a relatively-small stage: Belleger and Amika have been at war since time immemorial. (Actually, both sides remember the start of the war, but they remember it differently.) The war has all but ruined them, but neither side can imagine peace. Both countries are small and isolated, and barely aware of the rest of the world. Bifalt, prince of Belleger, and an Amikan officer travel to the Last Repository, a library whose contents can break the military stalemate. There are intimations of a much larger world. That world includes an enemy of the Last Repository who is coming to destroy it. Belleger and Amika have the misfortune to be in the way.

At the start of “The War Within”, Belleger and Amika have been at a fragile peace for two decades. Bifalt, now king of Belleger, has married Estie, now queen of Amika. In the intervening years both countries have started to recover - and both countries are putting what they can spare into preparation for an invasion that only Bifalt is certain is coming.

As the title suggests, “The War Within” still takes place on a small stage. With the enemy finally approaching, Bifalt and Estie must first clean house. A number of conspiracies emerge, apparently home-grown but with trails that lead abroad. There is also another war within. The royal marriage is unconsummated. Bifalt and Estie respect, and even love each other, but Bifalt keeps her at arm’s length. This is Donaldson at his most annoying. The protagonist is broken, and makes the reader want to grab him by the lapels and shake him until his self-centered rectitude comes loose.

Also typically, Donaldson doesn’t cut his readers any slack. The writing is beautiful and precise, but it makes the reader work to understand the characters and the situation. It is no shame to decide that you do not wish to put the work into the book that it requires. I’m very glad I read it (hence the rating), but it took over twice as long to read as most books of similar size.

By the end of the book, the outside world is at the door. Enemy raiders are scouting the passes. Enemy ships are scouting the coast. Missionaries of an apparently-hostile religion have come calling. The outward-facing war is about to begin.