A Fading Sun Shows Wielding Power Is Harder Than Winning It

Stephen Leigh’s A Fading Sun is another powerful entry in the category of stories about the change wrought by empires—for better or worse. And since, let’s be honest, it’s usually for worse, it’s a tale that deals with the damage left in the aftermath.
Our story takes place in one small corner of the still-expanding Mundoan Empire, on the island of Albann. Albann Deas, the southern half of the island, was conquered three generations ago by the empire’s armies and remains firmly under its control. Imperial administration has been established, with select members of the local people, the Cateni, invited to join the lower ranks of the powerful—though they’re never allowed to forget they are still second-class citizens in their own country: their local customs, including their religion, are forbidden on pain of death.
Voada Paorach has been among the more fortunate, as she has become the Hand-wife—married to the second-in-command of a local town—and raised two children in a life in relative peace. However, she harbors a secret: she is descended from a long line of priests and witches with power to do magic through contact with the dead. She has inherited that power, and has hidden it all her life, only using it to help dead souls transition to the afterlife. When the Mundoan Empire decides to push the limits of the fragile stalemate on the island in an effort to take the northern nation of Albann Braghad, which has always resisted being invaded. In this jingoistic atmosphere, Voada’s ghosts are not content to lie quietly anymore. And when Voada experiences a life-changing tragedy, the conflict in the north becomes very much her business.

This all takes place in a very recognizable world, and the book is the better for it. The parallels to the British Isles and the invasion of the Romans are strongly present throughout, as are significant influences drawn from Celtic myth and the tragic history of Irish subjugation and exploitation under English rule. It’s all been romanticized and streamlined, but Leigh picks out the most striking elements to build his world, one that will resonate with anyone interested in the history of these time periods and places—or even just stories deeply steeped in them. Readers of the Celtic-influenced fantasy of Juliet Mariller, Katherine Kerr, Jack Whyte, and Morgan Llewelyn will find similar ingredients to enjoy.
Leigh focuses on the problems of social inequality, cultural imposition, and the devastation wrought by unthinking exercise of the kind of power no one should be able to wield in the first place. We do get an interesting exploration of the empire’s point of view via the general of the Mundoan army, among others, which prevents the book from falling into the trap of creating a one-dimensional villain, but this is no ode to colonization.
Of course, it helps that there are villains on both sides of the conflict. The damage suffered by those living under an oppressive power is a huge focus: we have a heroine (if she is one) who has been permanently changed by her brush with power, and not always in the most heroic of ways—her motivations may have become too suspect to trust, her focus perhaps not on the greater good. Is she in the wrong, when she believes what she does is right? Throughout history, leaders have risen to power who appeal to something strong and deep within, something people want to believe is true, despite evidence to the contrary—if only for a little while.

This means the book also does something else I appreciate: it allows a female anti-hero to have her day. She’s an imperfect woman, but one we can recognize. Leigh never falls into the trap of thinking readers revel in watching a woman behave badly (the same way we miss the point of Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train if we characterize them as stories about awful women). Instead, he makes the stronger choice—he makes sure we understand why Voada is the way she is, and she remains relatable, possibly even sympathetic, all the way through.
So many heroic journeys get caught up the path from powerlessness to powerful. Leigh’s story explores what happens when you get your wish, even if not in the way you imagined, or maybe, as it turns out, if you aren’t the sort of person who should have power at all. That’s a much more fascinating journey—if you really could shape the world in your image, what would happen? Would you really turn out to be an Aragorn, or would it all be just a little bit of history repeating? In A Fading Sun, obtaining power isn’t the endgame, but the beginning. The having is the hard part. Overthrowing a monstrous ruler is easy. Not becoming one yourself, that’s a challenge you must live every day. 
A Fading Sun is available now.