The Poison Eater Is Science Fantasy That Never Loses Heart
Immersive: that’s the best word to describe Shanna Germain’s The Poison Eater.
The novel is set in a dystopian world that, at first seems more medieval fantasy than science fiction. Though there are hints of mechanized items, it’s unclear if they’re magical or technological. As the famous quote goes, sometimes they can be indistinguishable. But it’s not the mechanisms that interest me. It’s the characters, none more so than Talia, the poison eater of the title. The story is told through her eyes, a deep point of view that places us not just in the setting but inside her suppressed, intense emotions. The book opens with Talia’s dual nature: she can eat poison and survive, but her survival is essentially a lie.
Poison never lies. But Talia does. Every time she takes the poison, she lies. False words are the only weapons she has left, and she wields them with precision, but not with pride.
Numenera - The Poison Eater
Paperback $9.99
Numenera - The Poison Eater
Paperback $9.99
The poison eater is a necessary human sacrifice for the city of Enthait, as the visions that come because of the poison often warn the city of danger. What makes up the poisons is unclear, but Talia grows in stature among the city residents each time she survives. If she survives ten times, she will become the Orness, the leader of the city, and possessor of a mysterious but powerful weapon.
It’s not power that drives Talia to risk her death to become the Orness, but fear. She’s an escapee from the vordcha, a group of beings who enslaved and tortured her as a child, turning her into a half-mechanical weapon. She and her “dog” Khee are the lone survivors of a daring escape, and she knows, sooner or later, the vordcha will come for them and for all, even in Enthait.
So Talia lies after she endures the poison, warning of dangers by making up tales she believes are based on her imagination and from books. She’s desperate, and it’s easy to sympathize with her, despite her confessed lies. It helps that she’s kind to young Seild, the child who serves as her honor guard to escort her to each poisoning, and that she’s come to rely on Khee, who was as damaged by the vordcha as Talia was.
But it’s in Talia’s love for Isera, Seild’s mother, a member of the Enthait guards that are charged to follow up on the dangers Talia sees in the visions, that we see how much Talia longs for human contact and love. As she struggles with her deception, Talia also introduces us to Enthait, its myriad tunnel system, the bars where the guards gather, the markets, and the lair of the mysterious Orness. The setting is part medieval fantasy, but it’s also part steampunk. It reminds me of the world of the celebrated manga Full Metal Alchemist, one where magic and science tend to merge. It would make for a terrific splash page in a graphic novel (it’s already fertile ground for a popular RPG, Numenera).
The poison eater is a necessary human sacrifice for the city of Enthait, as the visions that come because of the poison often warn the city of danger. What makes up the poisons is unclear, but Talia grows in stature among the city residents each time she survives. If she survives ten times, she will become the Orness, the leader of the city, and possessor of a mysterious but powerful weapon.
It’s not power that drives Talia to risk her death to become the Orness, but fear. She’s an escapee from the vordcha, a group of beings who enslaved and tortured her as a child, turning her into a half-mechanical weapon. She and her “dog” Khee are the lone survivors of a daring escape, and she knows, sooner or later, the vordcha will come for them and for all, even in Enthait.
So Talia lies after she endures the poison, warning of dangers by making up tales she believes are based on her imagination and from books. She’s desperate, and it’s easy to sympathize with her, despite her confessed lies. It helps that she’s kind to young Seild, the child who serves as her honor guard to escort her to each poisoning, and that she’s come to rely on Khee, who was as damaged by the vordcha as Talia was.
But it’s in Talia’s love for Isera, Seild’s mother, a member of the Enthait guards that are charged to follow up on the dangers Talia sees in the visions, that we see how much Talia longs for human contact and love. As she struggles with her deception, Talia also introduces us to Enthait, its myriad tunnel system, the bars where the guards gather, the markets, and the lair of the mysterious Orness. The setting is part medieval fantasy, but it’s also part steampunk. It reminds me of the world of the celebrated manga Full Metal Alchemist, one where magic and science tend to merge. It would make for a terrific splash page in a graphic novel (it’s already fertile ground for a popular RPG, Numenera).
Torment Tides of Numenera: The Explorer
Hardcover $39.99
Torment Tides of Numenera: The Explorer
Hardcover $39.99
Most of the science fiction I’ve read in the last few years has been plot-based, and even those with an emphasis on character tend to be adventure stories, lacking the intimate point of view that is so immersive in The Poison Eater. A science fiction novel that leads with so much emotion is a rare find—emotion is what romance and YA tend to do well, and I usually miss it when I read sci-fi.
That isn’t to say plot is forgotten. This is a carefully woven tale that builds slowly, rewarding patient readers with revelation after revelation, building to a crescendo at the climax. Nothing is quite as it seems, not Isera, not Talia’s rival for the position of poison eater, not the Orness, and not even the city itself.
I’ve finished the book, but Talia haunts me. At the beginning, her heart and soul seem irreversibly broken. Step by step, they begin to mend as she finds untapped reserves of courage. In our terms, she’s suffering the effects of post-traumatic stress and years of slavery and torture, which makes her need to protect others all the more heroic, and all the more necessary.
The Poison Eater is available now.
Most of the science fiction I’ve read in the last few years has been plot-based, and even those with an emphasis on character tend to be adventure stories, lacking the intimate point of view that is so immersive in The Poison Eater. A science fiction novel that leads with so much emotion is a rare find—emotion is what romance and YA tend to do well, and I usually miss it when I read sci-fi.
That isn’t to say plot is forgotten. This is a carefully woven tale that builds slowly, rewarding patient readers with revelation after revelation, building to a crescendo at the climax. Nothing is quite as it seems, not Isera, not Talia’s rival for the position of poison eater, not the Orness, and not even the city itself.
I’ve finished the book, but Talia haunts me. At the beginning, her heart and soul seem irreversibly broken. Step by step, they begin to mend as she finds untapped reserves of courage. In our terms, she’s suffering the effects of post-traumatic stress and years of slavery and torture, which makes her need to protect others all the more heroic, and all the more necessary.
The Poison Eater is available now.