Shadowbridge
by Gregory Frost
Del Rey Trade Paperback $14.00

This is the first book of a duology, set on the world of Shadowbridge. Shadowbridge has no continents, or many landmasses at all. It is an ocean world; criss-crossed by huge bridges with cities built onto, into and through them. Most of the people live on them, with a few people ekeing out a living on the few small islands there are. Leodora is a young woman who has escaped from a dreary life on just such an island to follow in her father Bardsham's legendary footsteps as a puppeteer, traveling along the bridges and giving performances in the cities. These puppet shows are the means of transmitting myths and history, as well as being popular entertainments. Leodora travels with her troupe, a young musician mysteriously blessed by the gods, and her technician, who used to travel with her father, and taught her the craft. She must do so in disguise, however, as she is a woman; a very big cultural trespass, and extremely dangerous for her should she be caught in some cities. And now, the gods have gotten involved.

This book follows a recent trend in fantasy - using myths, legends and history from non-Western cultures for the background. A very welcome trend; t isn't that Western culture is uninteresting or unimportant, but it's nice to see some different stuff. Frost has used elements of Burmese and Sri Lankan folklore here to create the stories that Leodora tells so well. The descriptions of the cities, and the gods that interact with Leodora owe something to both cultures, while the puppets Leodora uses owe far more to Burmese traditions than it does to Western puppetry. More importantly, Frost uses this stuff well; it's woven in with more Western concepts, and he's blended everything in a seamless fashion.

Frost has always had well-drawn characters, and those in Shadowbridge are no exception. Leodora is funny, smart and her struggle to make a life for herself despite the handicaps of her gender and her upbringing really engages the reader. Diverus, the musician, while having a horrific early life, is never allowed to become just an object of pity for the reader. Finally, Soter, her technician and teacher, comes over as more than just a drunken caricature. We see his devotion to Leodora, and to the memories of her parents, and his determination to give her the opportunity to become even greater than her father. Finally, I really like the prose here. It's spare, rather than lush, but the descriptions of the world, the stories Leodora tells are evocative and lovely. Even though it's early in the year, I'm fairly sure that this will be on my Hugo ballot next year. - Nadine Armstrong