The Initiate

The first installment of a forgotten fantasy series that was initially published as a single book, but was then revised into a trilogy that apparently had many sequels within the same universe.

Cooper's main twist to the standard fantasy formula is a dichotomy between Chaos and Order in which neither can last without the other. What we find is a land that has been ruled by Order for so long that cracks in the masonry are starting to appear; corruption, decay, and spreading unrest are common despite the perceived moral superiority of the ruling class. I gather that this type of system is common in Michael Moorcock's works, so although this sort of thing was not completely new when it was written, it is nonetheless uncommon within the genre. I really enjoyed the commentary about religious orthodoxy and zealotry clouding the vision of those within its teachings.

Unfortunately, outside this twist I found The Initiate a little too... plain? Ordinary? Generic? Certainly it has favorable qualities. The prose may be simple, but is quite readable and straightforward. Approachable for a younger audience, which in the limited amount of dialogue that I've had with other people who have read Cooper's work, seems like when most end up reading her. Really though there's just not enough texture to this work. The narrative is predictable and almost laughably straightforward. There's far too much exposition that muddies the flow of the novel, and the characterization doesn't show us the qualities we are told the characters have. I comes off like a first novel, which it sort of is. I couldn't help but think that with a more seasoned writer this material could've really been something special. As it is, The Initiate is far too long and tedious for what it offers.

To top this all off, The Initiate has one of the most maddeningly unsatisfying endings that I've read in recent memory. I think it's best when thinking about the Time Master trilogy to think of all three books as just one long novel, because the way that they were split up doesn't make any sense at all. The Initiate leaves the reader on a cliffhanger that made me feel completely cheated. There's zero resolution, zero satisfaction, as if a regular novel simply stopped right at the crest of a narrative climax. A disappointing end to a disappointing work.