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From Servant of the Crown by Paul J Bennett, an action fantasy novel self-published in 2018.
Our point-of-view character is Gerald, a grizzled veteran. Multiple key moments in his history involve defending girls and women from violent men, including ( sexual abuse and military/police brutality )
when she says "I knew you was different from the others," that is interesting in a way that the next quote deepens.
Many years later (page 210 of the paperback), Gerald has just rescued a servant, Sophie, from sexual harassment. His friend, the young girl Anna, is shocked at what she saw. For context, by this point, Gerald and Anna are each other's closest friends, and he's her mentor and defense instructor.
I think this is where I stopped and checked the publication date (2018).
Did you know that English Wikipedia has a page for "Not All Men"? It helpfully tells me how widespread its usage was as of 2013.
(Here I got distracted by noticing that the Twilight Zone reboot has an episode entitled "Not All Men" and reading the other episode descriptions. "Replay" sounds utterly chilling.)
And this, combined with Marcy saying that Gerald seemed different from the others, implies that Gerald is special .... there's a real "empire in decay/decline" vibe in this kingdom, so maybe we're supposed to see this fact, that decency is rare in the King's soldiers, as part of that.
The rest of the conversation includes Anna asking whether Gerald has ever done this ("No, of course not! No man in his right mind would do such a thing." which, to me, feels like he agrees with Smith's self-assessment) and Anna asking "So how do you prevent this sort of thing from happening?"
Which I actually agree with! It's like that Australian army leader David Morrison said in his speech in 2013:
This is the first book in a multi-book series. I try not to look at spoilers, but I believe at least one of the later books is from Anna's point of view. And this is a book in which women are somewhat rare as fighters, and many men discriminate against them, but they are uniformly excellent fighters. So the ways Gerald's perspective rubs me the wrong way, regarding gender and sexual assault, may be part of a journey that the character and the book goes on. I want to be open to that. Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamourist series pulls some serious rugs from under the reader throughout (especially in the final book, Of Noble Family), demonstrating that the point-of-view character's perspective has been super wrong and showing her chagrin and growth. Some TV shows I've loved (Halt and Catch Fire and The Good Place, for example) have kind of bait-and-switched in this way -- the first season is a necessary prerequisite to the massive change, in Season 2 and onwards, in what and who the show is even about.
But it is an act of reader generosity to keep reading, open to the possibility that this kind of awesome switcheroo is on the horizon. I will probably finish this book but I'm unlikely to read the next.
Our point-of-view character is Gerald, a grizzled veteran. Multiple key moments in his history involve defending girls and women from violent men, including ( sexual abuse and military/police brutality )
when she says "I knew you was different from the others," that is interesting in a way that the next quote deepens.
Many years later (page 210 of the paperback), Gerald has just rescued a servant, Sophie, from sexual harassment. His friend, the young girl Anna, is shocked at what she saw. For context, by this point, Gerald and Anna are each other's closest friends, and he's her mentor and defense instructor.
[character] and his two friends left early the next morning without much fanfare. Anna and Gerald watched them ride away. He looked down at Anna who had a firm look upon her features. He could tell she was upset; [character] had laughed as his friends attempted to assault Sophie. He knew she would have questions, so he waited in silence for her to get her thoughts in order. The riders reached the gate and turned onto the road. He could see Anna's shoulders finally relax.
She kept staring towards the gate while asking, "Why are men that way?"
He had expected something of the sort, and so found himself prepared for once.
"Not all men, Anna. There are many men who would never treat a woman that way."
I think this is where I stopped and checked the publication date (2018).
Did you know that English Wikipedia has a page for "Not All Men"? It helpfully tells me how widespread its usage was as of 2013.
(Here I got distracted by noticing that the Twilight Zone reboot has an episode entitled "Not All Men" and reading the other episode descriptions. "Replay" sounds utterly chilling.)
And this, combined with Marcy saying that Gerald seemed different from the others, implies that Gerald is special .... there's a real "empire in decay/decline" vibe in this kingdom, so maybe we're supposed to see this fact, that decency is rare in the King's soldiers, as part of that.
The rest of the conversation includes Anna asking whether Gerald has ever done this ("No, of course not! No man in his right mind would do such a thing." which, to me, feels like he agrees with Smith's self-assessment) and Anna asking "So how do you prevent this sort of thing from happening?"
"Discipline, he responded. "You need to make people understand that it's not going to be tolerated, and that requires leadership."
Which I actually agree with! It's like that Australian army leader David Morrison said in his speech in 2013:
I will be ruthless in ridding the army of people who cannot live up to its values. And I need every one of you to support me in achieving this. The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. That goes for all of us, but especially those, who by their rank, have a leadership role.
This is the first book in a multi-book series. I try not to look at spoilers, but I believe at least one of the later books is from Anna's point of view. And this is a book in which women are somewhat rare as fighters, and many men discriminate against them, but they are uniformly excellent fighters. So the ways Gerald's perspective rubs me the wrong way, regarding gender and sexual assault, may be part of a journey that the character and the book goes on. I want to be open to that. Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamourist series pulls some serious rugs from under the reader throughout (especially in the final book, Of Noble Family), demonstrating that the point-of-view character's perspective has been super wrong and showing her chagrin and growth. Some TV shows I've loved (Halt and Catch Fire and The Good Place, for example) have kind of bait-and-switched in this way -- the first season is a necessary prerequisite to the massive change, in Season 2 and onwards, in what and who the show is even about.
But it is an act of reader generosity to keep reading, open to the possibility that this kind of awesome switcheroo is on the horizon. I will probably finish this book but I'm unlikely to read the next.
