The Charmed Sphere by Catherine Asaro

With The Charmed Sphere, award winning SF author, Catherine Asaro makes her first attempt at writing a fantasy novel. Uh, literally, it would seem.

This may be a case of where high expectations doom a book. Given Asaro’s reputation, I would have expected something more; something that didn’t read like My First Fantasy Novel.

It starts off well enough, with Chime Headwind, a farmer’s daughter, hiding from a royal entourage. She knows she has mage power and doesn’t want to be recruited into the king’s service. (I still don’t know why she hides from her magic [abilities]. It is explained, but doesn’t make much sense.) She is soon discovered by the Shape-mage mistress of Suncroft. Chime unhappily agrees to accompany the royal party back to Suncroft, where she will hone her magic abilities and…marry the prince. (It is the custom of this country to match the most powerful female mage in the land with the prince.) Along the way to Suncroft she runs away, only to unwittingly encounter her groom-to-be, Muller Dawnfield. (Ugh, these names.) Neither knows who the other is, and this could have made for the beginnings of a cute and sexy story.

Instead, Muller’s royal guards show up, and the story soon moves to Chime’s struggles with mastering shape magic and courtly manners. Muller and Chime’s relationship turns rather tepid in the face of the trite and tedious approach to sex that goes with this kind of fantasy. Especially irritating is the inevitable slut-shaming heaped on Chime, when she and Muller eventually do the nasty, pre-marriage. (To Chime’s credit, she at least isn’t terribly ashamed.)

But the real problem lies with the simplistic characterization of good and evil and…simplistic characterization. The side of good is represented by Chime, Muller, Muller’s cousin Jarid, and Chime’s rival, Iris. All are beautiful and good. And pure. Whatever that means. The kingdom is bright and sunny and cheerful. Mages in this land never use their power for anything harmful. (Except to turn the army into super-soldiers who can more easily slaughter the enemy.)

The main antagonist, Anvil the Forged, is an evil mage who uses his powers to harm others. Get it? “Harm others,” so you know he must be evil. He’s in league with a power-hungry king from a cold and dark country. Because shoveling snow would make anyone E.V.I.L.

Oy. Even modern day Disney is cranking out more complex stories and characterization.

So is Charmed Sphere really bad? As in, “Nothing, not even waterboarding, could make me read another book by this author?” (I.e., like Nicholas Spark’s, The Choice.) No. In fact, I’m giving one of Asaro’s SF novels a try soon.

But it’s not good.

Fans of old time, Disney-esque plot lines, with pure-as-snow protagonists and antagonists who are evil–just because, will enjoy this book. Those who like their stories a good deal edgier, should look elsewhere.