Hammerfall by Cherryh (please be careful to avoid spoilers)
Arcadia > January 1st, 2005, 01:26 PM
Hammerfall is about Marak, a man on a desert planet, and his travels across the desert to respond to a call that haunts him and others who are called "mad." The novel is about one being, called a god, who uses Marak to seek the source of the call.
The book has been accused of having almost no plot and also being as plodding as the treks are across the desert.
I became really tired of the times in the desert and was tempted to skim over some of the travelling. Yet, perhaps the story was in the travel even more than at the destinations.
I did find the continued interference with Marak's mind to be very annoying. On the other hand, so did Marak.
Usually I like Cherryh's books and happily reread them. I don't know if I would ever read Hammerfall again, but this could be because it is well-written by a talented author and that I'll remember it. Plodding, yes, but was the plodding pace suitable for the story? I am inclined to think that it was.
I am interested hearing other thoughts about the story. Please be very careful to not give away major information since it should come as a surprise to the reader, if you notice, I have been very vague about causes and reasons, since these should not be revealed until they are discovered by the characters.