[The three titles Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance, and Oath of Gold appear together in the combined volume The Deed of Paksenarrion.]

On Tue, 25 Sep 2001 01:55:04 -0600 "D. Michael Martindale" 
<dmichael@wwno.com> writes:
> This got me thinking how often we run into this savior complex 
> thing. Frankly, it's all around us. People are always wanting to save 
> others from something, because they know best.

This reminded me of one of my other favorite sci fi/fantasy trilogies: The Deed of Paksennarion by Elizabeth Moon. Paks, the main character, runs away from home to 1.) avoid becoming a pig farmer's wife, 2.) to follow her dream of doing something heroic with her life, and 3.) to fight against evil by becoming a female mercenary in Duke Phelan's company. Paks' world is peopled by many gods who are much like Joseph Smith's teachings about ordinary righteous men who have become gods in their own right, while also being similar to the Catholic concept of what a Saint is. All the lesser gods worship the High Lord, I think is the way it's referred to. You'll have to pardon me, I'm going by memory on this one and might get a few details wrong, and I can't even begin to do justice to this trilogy. There are magicians and healers, Paladans and warrior priests. Each god honors his own followers and endows them with power to act in their various names. Evil abounds as well in Paks' world, including in the form of Orks, warped elves, and the Web Mistress's utterly depraved, hate-filled minions who work her dark magic to disrupt, torment and weave discord and destruction.

At first the lines of good and evil appear clearly drawn, but Moon doesn't leave it like that. Through the various events of Paks' first two years as a mercenary we are shown her own naive view of the world and the people she comes to know in the company, and her sometimes gradual, sometimes shocking awakening to the many faces of good and evil, and the fact that most of us are a mix of both to one degree or another. Along with this and through out all three volumes, we are also shown some of the characters' slippery slides into total evil, side by side with the refinement of goodness in Paks into the strength of true humility, integrity, and sanctification -- the ultimate form of purity we strive for as members of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Paks' innocent purity, in spite of her highly developed ability to kill in battle, saves her from sullying her own heart when her mercenary company is ordered to participate in less-than-honorable activities at the end of her first two years. After the current dispicable, evil bad guy is defeated and killed, Paks takes a leave of absence from the Duke Phelan's company to travel. My memory gets a little shaky here and I don't have the volumes handy. While Paks had casually honored her family's god, she had little understanding and no interest in any other gods. She just wanted to do what was right and good, while still having adventures. Several miracles had occurred -- a healing, and warning of danger, and a miraculous survival of an otherwise fatal attack -- to alert the different priests around her that she was unusual, and possibly marked by the gods for something greater than what she currently was. They encouraged her to attend the land's version of a seminary for the warrior god Gird. Eventually she did so.

There's an interesting parallel that comes up at the end of her training to become a Paladan of Gird. She had agreed to training and had worked hard. As a result of one of her adventures on her way to the "seminary", she was invited by the Gird priests to travel to an ancient Girdish stronghold. Normally this would never have been allowed due to her training -- she was in a very vulnerable state -- vulnerable to the wiles of evil. It's a kind of parallel on a couple of levels, this vulnerability. Her heart and mind are more open due to the training, and the Web Mistress can, if given the opportunity, get a deeper, more thorough hold on her than before. I was reminded of our tendency as members of the church to remind our children both after they turn their papers in or receive their mission call, or else are engaged and preparing to enter to temple for the first time about how Satan will work extra hard on them to stop them from reaching their goal. Same with those who state their desire to be baptized, but have several days or weeks before the event takes place. Then into my mind also comes the verse, "To whom much is given, much is required [or expected]". As we strive to develop spiritually, seeking to become true followers of Christ, Satan does indeed mass his forces against us, seeking out our most vulnerable spots, our weaknesses and natural man tendencies, and opposes us with all the cunning he possesses. Paks makes a very good target of this type, and the Web Mistress is watching and waiting.

Of course Paks is captured by the Web Mistress's minions and is deceived and drugged into doing evil. She makes a choice, though, at the beginning of her imprisonment that was flawed, allowing a seed of evil to be planted in her mind that grows and spreads like a cancer after she is freed. The Gird leaders realize that she has been tainted and convince her to allow them to magically cut out the cancerous evil. Unfortunately, there is damage to her psyche as a result of the "surgery", and Paks is left a quivering fearful mess, completely unable to defend herself against even a child. She is no longer fit to be a Paladan and leaves the school, becoming a homeless vagabond, abused and tormented and nearly raped as she travels from place to place, seeking a safe haven. She finds after about six months in an unexpected place -- our world's equivalent would be a member of the church finding truer, more complete healing with a Baptist priest.

But it doesn't end there. The best and worst is yet to come. In fact, the worst *is* in many ways the best, because Paks, having become purified, is chosen not by man, but by the gods themselves -- a rogue Paladan, answerable only to the gods. Such a calling comes with a high price, and once again the verse, "To whom much is given, much is required" comes to mind frequently in the final volume of the series. Paks, to save her Duke and at the behest of her gods, including the High Lord, gives her life in exchange for the Duke's for 5 nights to the devil himself, essentially. It is a horrendous chapter to read, yet I don't know how Moon could have written it any other way to say what she wanted to say. Paks becomes a living martyr during those four days and five nights in the hands of a sadistic devil-worshipping group. A lamb to the slaughter. She is tortured in as many ways as these animals can think of, all the while the evil priests harangue their watching followers regarding the greater power of their god. But Paks' purity protects her and opens the eyes of many who were there, much like the suffering of followers of Christ in all ages have led others to compassion and then the truth. For me, this is the most important part of the series, although there is still a quarter of the final volume to go before it's over. I absolutely love the miracle that terrifies the evil priests, scatters the followers that are left, and frees and heals Paks.

Like I said earlier, I can't do justice to this story. There are many levels regarding human nature, religion, the dynamics of religious prejudice, parallels to Christianity, and just plain old good v. evil that I'm sure other, more knowledgeable readers will find between the pages of this trilogy. I've only touched on the main points as I see them. I love that the hero is a woman, and a woman who can fight for truth and right, and even more important, sacrifice all for truth and right -- law of consecration, or perhaps the verse that talks about being "willing to submit to all that the Father seeth fit to inflict upon us". As a fictional character, Paks epitomizes that verse in our scriptures, demonstrating in the worst possible circumstances what it really means to keep the faith. I confess, I like Paks even better than Elizabeth Bennett!

Suffice it to say, The Deed of Paksenarrion is my favorite Messianic fantasy fiction.

Kathy Fowkes
kathy_f@juno.com