BOOKS | The Fifth Season

I just finished reading N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season, and am working my way through the second book in the series, The Obelisk Gate. It's been a wild ride. Grand world-building, with a world built on people, known as orogene, or rogga, as they are also called by those with little reason to love them. It is difficult to explain how the orogenes' powers work, but in a nutshell, they are able to harness the energy in the physical universe, and part of it includes harnessing sesmic forces - they are able to cause and redirect earthquakes, air and wind currents, heat and other types of energy. They are born with their powers, and their race has been vilified for their potentially destructive powers. It's a story full of a lot of hate, and death, as it begins with a father's murder of his son, after he realised his son is a rogga, inherited from their mother. The mother returns to find the battered body of her son, and her husband and older daughter, gone. Oh, did I also mention it also begins with someone setting out a massive sesmic rift that brought forth a type of apocalypse? Yeah, there's a lot of death and destruction in just the first few pages.

The story unfolds with multiple point-of-views, and I was curious how these different plotlines and characters will converge later. The beauty is they do eventually fold unto each other seamlessly, like stacking up Russian dolls, until there is only one grand doll left. Jemisin patiently builds up the intrigue, in the nature of her world, and the characters. There is a grand mythology at work, and you are left with a nagging sense at the back of your mind that the history and lore in this world is never the truth, and there's always something that was forgotten, or lost and misinterpreted through time and memory, or manipulated by those who in power. From the beginning, you are told this:

This is what you must remember: the ending of one story is just the beginning of another. This has happened before, after all. People die. Old orders pass. New societies are born. When we say "the world has ended." it's usually a lie, because the planet is just fine.

The Fifth Season was one of the few books lately that made me stay up all night to try to finish reading it, because the story was so compelling. Not just in the world she creates, but also in the themes, and the social consciousness inherent in her stories. In the Foreword of The Fifth Season, it says:

For all those who have to fight for the respect that everyone else is given without question.

Which reminds me of the recent debacle of the Sad Puppies and the Hugo Awards, where some "aggrieved" people (I'm not sure if I want to call them "fans") are trying to manipulate the results of the Hugo Awards. Jemisin by the way, won this year's Best Novel Hugo Award with The Fifth Season. (The Atlantic spoke with Jemisin after she won, and she is both articulate and thoughtful about her books, and what drives her as a writer.)

For me, what's interesting about Jemisin's stories is her narrative on power - how we would seek to control those with power, because we fear them, and because we seek their power to serve us. In The Fifth Season, the orogenes are brought up to be trained in controlling their powers, and to serve the Fulcrum - the faceless authority in their world. However, those who are not able to control their powers are taken away. Brutal brain surgery were performed on them to reduce them to a zombie state, strapped to a wire chair, and sent to node stations across the country, so use their powers to repel earthquakes etc. It is one of the more disturbing part of the book, but so powerful as it set up the motivation for the characters later, as this is a cruel, unjust social system that needs to be broken, so that one might build something better.

I love her stories that dare says, we cannot look away from a cruel, unjust system, and we need to have the courage and the strength to change it, for something better. And I love that her universe is populated by people of different races, of various shades of colours, and sexual orientation. Her stories do not look away from differences, and prejudices - but acknowledges them as part of the world as it is. That, is something beautiful.

BOOKS | The Riddle-Master's Game (Possible Spoiler)

In the Riddle-Master trilogy, Patricia A. McKillip built a grand fantastic world, filled with engimatic characters that lived century-long lives with immense powers. Shape-shifters walked the land, knowledge comes from the learning of riddles.

There are no more wizards in the land since the city of Lungold – the centre of learning for wizards, was destroyed centuries ago. Yet the riddles of the land is filled with the tales of these wizards and magic from long ago.

The people reveres the High One – a mysterious, god-like figure that rules over the land through the land-law. The king of each country holds land-law. Through land-law the king is inextricably bonded to the land and its protection. He senses and awareness of his realm is heightened, almost on a psychic level.

The High One, from the beginning, had left men free to find their own destinies. His sole law was land-law, the law that passed like a breath of life from land-heir to land-heir; if the High One died, or withdrew his immense and intricate power, he could turn his realm into a wasteland.

The High One is never seen; his will is made known through his harpist – a similarly enigmatic figure named Deth, a man who had lived for centuries unaged. One day, Deth came to Morgon of Hed. He came to offer the High One's condolescences on Morgon's parents' death, and to find, on the bequest of the King of An, the one who solved the riddle of Peven. The King of An had sworn a long time ago, one who solves the riddle of Peven will win the hand of his daughter, Raederle – known as "the second most beautiful woman in An." (One is curious on how does one measure beauty? With a rule or a measuring jug?)

Morgon of Hed, the new King of Hed, has solved the riddle of Peven without telling anyone. He is a farmer-king, a true-hearted but very gifted young man born with three stars on his face. As he goes forth to answer the riddle of the three stars on his face, he suddenly finds himself pursued by unnameable shape-shifters who tried to kill him. There he learns the five riddles behind the three stars on his face, and a name given to him before he was born: Star-Bearer:

Who is the Star-Bearer and what will he loose that is bound?

What will one star call out of silence, one star out of darkness, and one star out of death?

Who will come in the time's ending and what will he bring?

Who will sound the earth's harp, silent since the Beginning?

Who will bear stars of fire and ice to the Ending of the Age?

A prophecy speaks of the coming of the Star-Bearer and of a harp and a sword both bearing three stars.

Morgon ends up acquiring great power – at great pain, and great cost. He also learns of the return of an ancient enemy of the land, and somehow their return – as well as the key to defeating them – is tied up with the three stars on his face.

McKillip wove Mogon's journey much like a riddle: with each riddle untangled, more riddles unfold – and one person can wear many masks.

***POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD***

But most of all, I love the theme of vengeance and love in the story. Morgon is saved by his gentleness, his love for the land and the people in it. His love saves him from being broken inspite of great suffering, and it saves him time and again from turning into a murderer.

Towards the end, one of the character said to Morgon:

'…When you broke free of Ghisteslwchlohm's power, why was it me you hunted, instead of him? He took the power of land-law from you. I took your trust, your love. You pursued what you valued most …'

'You and the Morgol kept my heart from turning into stone. I was forced to turn everything I had ever said to her into a lie. And you turned it back into truth. You were that generous with someone you hated.'

In a Revenger's Tale, there can only be two endings: Tragedy or Forgiveness. The answer to The Riddler-Master's Game is forgiveness – or perhaps something greater: love. It was the love Morgon carries in him, a farmer-king of a peaceful land, that made it possible to turn a lie into truth, betrayal into love.

To See a Unicorn

In The Last Unicorn, the fable written by Peter S. Beagle: a unicorn one day discovers she is the only unicorn left in a world that has stopped believing in fairies, fantasy and unicorns. Only someone who believes, can see the unicorn. Otherwise, you just see a horse – whatever your rational mind expect to see. The last unicorn goes on a journey to find out what happened to the rest of her kind. Along the way she finds out there are still some people who believes in unicorn – though not the way we expect:

But Molly pushed him aside and went up to the unicorn, scolding her as though she were a strayed milk cow. "Where have you been?" Before the whiteness and the shining horn, Molly shrank to a shrilling beetle, but this time it was the unicorn's old dark eyes that looked down.

"I am here now," she said at last.

Molly laughed with her lips flat. "And what good is it to me that you're here now? Where were you twenty years ago, ten years ago? How dare you, how are you come to me now, when I am this?" With a flap of her hand she summed herself up: barren face, desert eyes, and yellowing heart. "I wish you had never come. Why do you come now?" The tears began to slide down the sides of her nose.

The unicorn made no reply, and Schmendrick said, "She is the last. She is the last unicorn in the world."

"She would be." Molly sniffed. "It would be the last unicorn in the world that came to Molly Grue." She reached up then to lay her hand on the unicorn's cheek; but both of them flinched a little, and the touch came to rest on the swift, shivering place under the jaw. Molly said, "It's all right. I forgive you."

The Last Unicorn was adapted into an animated film that I watched when I was very young. One of my deepest memory from the film was the scene where Molly Grue first saw the last unicorn, recognise her for what she truly is – and her outcry of regret that the unicorn came so late.

Often we desires something so powerfully – but as the years passed these wishes seemed determined to remain unfulfilled. Then one day, when we least suspect it, our wishes finally arrives – but sadly we are no longer what we used to be. Perhaps what we wanted had come too late, and we are no longer able to appreciate it as we used to.

Molly Grue's outburst is understandable: why couldn't the unicorn have come earlier, when Molly was still young – when it might have still meant something? Now, the unicorn is just a reminder of Molly Grue as she used to be – a mockery almost, of how the years have been unkind. What was once our greatest desire has become a symbol of regret, of loss.

They say: the tragedy in a failed relationship isn't that love has ended, but that love still remains. What is poignant about Molly Grue is that she still believes in spite of the world. How sad it must be, to be alone in your faith.

But then again, it is incredible – and beautiful – that Molly Grue can still believe. Faith comes in unexpected packages, often in the most humble form.

We do not have the power to will the gifts that come to us. Perhaps the only thing we can do, is to do as Molly Grue: To accept the gift as it is; to forgive. There is a soft comfort in this.

I read The Last Unicorn novel last year for the first time. I compared my memory of this scene (from the film) with what was written in the book – and there appears to be some disparity between the two. It was as though I wasn't remembering the thing itself, but my interpretation of what I saw.

I first saw The Last Unicorn animated film when I was a child. At that age, the concept of age and loss should be irrelevant. So why did I choose to remember this scene (out of so many good ones) so dearly? What was going on in my head at that time, at that age?

How curious.

CHALLENGE | Once Upon a Time II Updated

It is here! Carl's breathlessly awaited Once Upon a Time reading challenge!

For this year, I'll just start easy by aiming for Quest the First:

Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time II criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

UPDATED 31 MARCH 2008:

Since I finished all 5 books of The Chronicles of Prydain, technically I am done with Quest the First. Heedless of the perils of over-commitment, I shall now move on to Quest the Second, which will be to read at least 1 book each from the 4 genres: fantasy, folklore, fairy tale, and mythology. As such, I had to reorganise and expand (slightly) my previous reading list.

Here goes, Dark Orpheus's Once Upon a Time II Aspirational List 2.0:

FANTASY

1. The Book of Three (Chronicles of Prydain, Book I) • Lloyd Alexander
2. The Black Cauldron (Chronicles of Prydain, Book II) • Lloyd Alexander
3. The Castle of Llyr (Chronicles of Prydain, Book III) • Lloyd Alexander
4. Taran Wanderer (Chronicles of Prydain, Book IV) • Lloyd Alexander
5. The High King (Chronicles of Prydain, Book V) • Lloyd Alexander
6. The Riddle-Master's Game • Patricia A. McKillip
7. Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book I) • Robin Hobb
8. Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy, Book II) • Robin Hobb
9. Assassin's Quest (The Farseer Trilogy, Book III) • Robin Hobb
10. The Little Prince • Antoine de Saint-Exupery
11. The Neverending Story • Michael Ende
12. Fledgling • Octavia E. Butler

FOLKLORE & FAIRYTALE

1. The Wood Wife • Terri Windling
2. The Stress of Her Regard • Tim Powers
3. Rusalka • C.J. Cherryh
4. Chernevog • C.J. Cherryh
5. Yvgenie • C.J. Cherryh
6. The Looking Glass Wars • Frank Beddor
7. The Tree of Swords and Jewels • C.J. Cherryh

MYTHOLOGY

1. The Once and Future King • T.H. White
2. Weight • Jeanette Winterson
3. Girl Meets Boy • Ali Smith
4. Medea • Euripides
5. The Drawing of the Three • Tim Powers

** Titles in purple indicates completed

BOOKS | The Wood Wife by Terri Windling

I believe in the power of serendipity. It often leads me to strange and curious discoveries.

Last weekend I was reading Carl's high praise for Terri Windling's The Wood Wife. I filed it away in my head as "Books to look out for." Imagine my surprise to actually find the book from the local library within the next day. (The local library pay little attention to Fantasy and Science Fiction, so it's something of a miracle, or fate.)

The story is set in contemporary times, with Maggie Black, a poet and writer arriving in the American Southwestern desert (more specifically, Tucson, Arizona). Before this, she had been corresponding through letters (not emails, but actual letters) with the poet Davis Cooper, who had been living a hermit's existence in the desert for decades. Davis Cooper and Maggie Black had never met, yet when he died – apparently drowned in the desert – he left his cabin and most of his possessions to Maggie Black.

Maggie Black arrived with little notion of what she was to find. Later she would discover the reason behind Davis Cooper's demise, as well as the unsolved riddle of a series of paintings done by Surrealist artist Anna Naverra (Davis Cooper's lover) when she was living in the desert. Something about the paintings and the desert land drove Anna Naverra mad. Davis Cooper never found out what it was. His only hint: The Night of the Dark Stone, April 16th – which was also the night Davis Cooper died.

Terri Windling weaved a very readable tale of magic and art intertwined. Only by learning the rules and lores of magic, can Maggie Black find her way to solving the mysteries of the desert land.

Terri Windling had one of the characters quote these lines from Katherine Paterson, the author of Bridge to Terabithia:

'If we marvel at the artist who has written a great book, we must marvel more at those people who lives are works of art and who don't even know it, who wouldn't believe it if they were told. However hard work good writing may be, it is easier than good living.'

This is perhaps the key to the theme of the story. As much as we marvel at art and artists, it is the greater art of living that we should honour and celebrate. The story comes full-circle towards the end, with Maggie Black reclaiming her voice as the poet, something she has forgotten along the way; she had been living another life not true to her voice. Only when she rediscovers her artistic self was she able to answer the question of who she is. And one believes her, when she says, "I want the life I have, not another."

Not many of us can say that about our own lives.

In her Author's Note Terri Windling provides the background for the conception of the tale. It was one of a series of novellas based on the magical artwork of British artist Brian Froud. Over time, the story shape-shifted to The Wood Wife as it is published here. This is the nature of magic and art – you rarely end up where you intended.

If you have time, drop by Stainless Steel Droppings for Carl's tribute to Brian Froud.

I don't know about you, but I'm suddenly seized with an urge to re-watch The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and Jim Henson's The Storyteller (Brian Froud was the conceptual designer on them.)

My favourite from The Dark Crystal is the gentle race known as the Mystics:

Final Three Books of The Chronicles of Prydain

I'm going to write about the final three books of The Prydain Chronicles in a single post, since I ran through all three books in the same weekend. It was a furious weekend, full of reading and sleeplessness.

The Castle of Llyr, Book III of The Chronicles of Prydain, opens with Princess Eilonwy, Daughter of Angharad, Daughter of Regat of the Royal House of Llyr, she of the red-gold hair and the too-sharp tongue, leaving Caer Dallben. Eilonwy is being sent to the Isle of Mona, where the King and Queen will teach her how to be a princess.

If you know what kind of girl of a girl Eilonwy is, you would snicker too.

Coll embraced Eilonwy. "When we see you again," he told her, "I doubt we shall recognize you. You shall be a fine Princess."

"I want to be recognized!" Eilonwy cried. "I want to be me!"

I smiled when I read this. It endears Eilonwy to me, because she wants nothing more than to be recognised for who she is.

Eilonwy is the last living successor to the magic of the House Of Llyr. The magic is available to Eilonwy on her reaching her womanhood. Achren desires the power for herself, and for this purpose, Eilonwy is kidnapped and brought to Caer Colur, the castle where the House of Llyr once stood.

Although her storyline is smaller than Taran, she too has to make a choice – and she chose well, proving she is capable of sacrifice. For one of the great themes of the Chronicles of Prydain is as Dallben said, "For each of us comes a time when we must be more than what we are." Though what this will be is often unknown to us until the time comes.

Taran Wanderer, Book IV continues the journey of Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper (can you tell how much I love saying this?) as he tries to find out more about himself. Specifically, he now knows he wishes to marry Eilonwy, and to do so, he needs to be worthy of a princess. He goes off to answer the question of his parentage – because a princess cannot marry a nobody, much less an Assistant Pig-Keeper.

Taran Wanderer is the dramatisation of something Taran said in The Castle of Llyr, about Prince Rhun: "For a man to be worthy of any rank, he must strive first to be a man." This is the tale of Taran striving to master himself, to learn to be a man.

This is actually my favourite book of the series. My earlier dissatisfaction with the stereotypical plot structure of the series has greatly dimished. Fantasy often works by means of metaphor, and Taran Wanderer works in a systematic structure of a Hero's Quest. Taran has several encounters. From each he learns something valuable. He then undergoes apprenticeship of various trades – from each he learns the wisdom of Life.

From the blacksmith – the life is a forge. "Metal's worthless till it's shaped and tempered!"

From the weaver – that we choose the pattern of our lives. If we do not like the pattern we have woven, we can either continue, or choose to start over. "Either finish a cloak you'll be ill-content to wear, or unravel it and start anew."

From the potter – he learns to put his heart into clay and gives shape to what lies within. "Craftsmanship isn't like water in an earthen pot, to be taken out by the dipperful until it's empty. No, the more drawn out the more remains. The heart renews itself, Wanderer, and skill grows all the better for it."

I appreciate wisdom that is pretty and lyrical – but just because a truth is delivered in a simple but familiar adage doesn't make it any less meaningful. Less glamorous, perhaps – but not necessarily less valuable.

By the end of Taran Wanderer, he returns to Caer Dallben – wiser and changed. He is now a man who can do anything he sets his mind to – and that is the truest mastery of self.

The High King, the final book in The Prydain Chronicles brings the battle against Arawn to the forth. There is betrayal, death, loss, sacrifice, grief – and courage. Finally, there is victory. The secret of Dallebn's Book of Three is also finally revealed, along with the secret of Taran's parentage.

But was the ending satisfying for me? There was closure, and it ended as one might suspect -- the fact is nothing was surprsing about the ending. I have enjoyed the reading of the series, but I know I wouldn't re-read it in any near future.

[The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer and The High King are readings for the Once Upon a Time II Challenge. Visit the Once Upon a Time II Review Site for more fantasy related review.]

The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander

The Black Cauldron, Book II of The Chronicles of Prydain.

Last we left Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, he is back in Caer Dallben, having brought home Eilonwy, the spirited if somewhat dreamy and sea-princess, and Hen Wen, the oracular pig.

When The Black Cauldron begins, Taran, our beloved and dauntless Assistant Pig-Keeper is on his way to give Hen Wen a bath. He is set upon by an arrogant prince, Ellidyr, who despises Taran just for being a "pig-boy". Ellidyr seems to have a major chip on his shoulder, even as he shows he is capable of courage. From the start one can tell he will be a tragic character, one that falls because of hubris.

Later, Gwydion himself appears in Caer Dallen, with other warriors of renown; a council has been called at Caer Dallben: It seems Arawn the Death Lord has grown bold and has started to build his army of the "Cauldron-Born" -- merciless undead warriors risen by the twisted magic of the Black Cauldron. Where previously Arawn has only robbed barrows and the graves for the Cauldron-Born, there are rumours now that living men are kidnapped and murdered to add to the ranks of the Cauldron-Born. The mission of the council is to go into the heart of Annuvin -- Arawn's stronghold -- and steal the Black Cauldron.

The story now takes a darker turn, and because of the kind of girl that I am, I like it better. There is more at stake now that Arawn is on the move, and Taran and his companions come to learn real loss.

Loss and sacrifice are the theme in The Black Cauldron. Lloyd Alexander himself wrote in the Author's Notes: "Even in a fantasy realm, growing up is accomplished not without cost." Maturity means understanding that with our actions there will be a consequence. Taran and his companions will learn that the quest for The Black Cauldron exacts a heavy toll. Arawn himself paid a heavy price to acquire the Black Cauldron -- though exactly what he paid is left to the imagination.

The book ends on a good note. Taran is coming to his own as a hero-in-the-making -- he has shown he is willing to sacrifice his selfish glories for recovering the Black Cauldron for what needs to be done. As part of growing up, he has also begun to realise that the world of men is "filled with sorrow, with cruelty and treachery, with those who would destroy all around them."

The story reminds us, that what defines a hero and a man, is his choices and what he is willing to sacrifice. And how lucky is Taran, to have friends who would give up all that they have for him.

I like The Black Cauldron, because of what it has to say about sacrifice, about growing up, and about reserving judgement. Onward to Book III of The Chronicles of Prydain, to The Castle of Llyr!

[The Black Cauldron is my second book for the Once Upon a Time II. Visit the Once Upon a Time II Review Site for more fantasy related review.]

Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

Today is Good Friday, and a public holiday. I've taken advantage of the day off to start on the first book of Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles: The Book of Three.

Lloyd Alexander wrote in his introduction to The Book of Three, that while some of the characters and plot lines may seem similar to Welsh mythology, it is only very loosely inspired by the Welsh tales.

As the story goes, we are introduced to Taran, a boy dubbed the "Assistant Pig-Keeper", who dreams of battles, honour and a life out of his home of Caer Dallben. He lives with Dallben, a three-hundred year old scholar and Coll -- both of whom are more than meets the eyes.

One day the bees and the chickens flown away. Recognising this as an ill omen, Dallen asks Taran to bring Hen Wen, the oracular pig to him. But Hen Wen runs away instead, and Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, runs after him. Here his adventures begin. Along the way he meets Prince Gwydion, a son of Don and War Leader of High King Math -- a sort of a Strider figure in the story.

As it turns out, Arawn, the Death-Lord of dark magic and darker ambitions, is after Hen Wen also. His champion and War Leader is the Horned King, a terrible warrior who wears a mask of skull and an antlered helmet; the Horned King is assembling an army towards Caer Cadarn.

The premise of the story is familiar -- it is a young hero's quest, with Taran being helped by companions he picked up along the way. He also earns unexpected allies through his random acts of compassion. There is little that seems extraordinary about Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, but he manages to come up as a hero at the end. As Dallben reminds him later, no great task is ever undertaken alone. The role Taran plays is not to be the sole hero of the mission, but the one who help hold it all together.

When asked what he wishes as his reward, all he asks for, is to be home at Caer Dallben. Yet when he is home, he finds his surroundings different, perhaps a little smaller, though he still loved his home. Dallben tells him then, that in fact, Taran has become larger after his experience.

I have to admit I'm not 100% taken with The Book of Three. I find the plot a little too abrupt -- things move too fast without sufficient build-up to the action. Taran stumbled upon Gwydion a little too conveniently -- even in The Lord of the Rings, there was a dramatic run-in with the Nazgûl before the hobbits are rescued by Strider.

It may be unfair to compare The Book of Three to Fellowship of the Ring -- but I am the kind of reader who would appreciate a richer fantasy world with deeper characters.

Recognising this, I am still going to continue with The Black Cauldron, the second book in The Chronicles of Prydain. Perhaps the tale will pick up as I progress down the series.

[The Book of Three is my first book for the Once Upon a Time II Challenge. Visit the Once Upon a Time II Review Site for more fantasy related review.]

Dirda on Crowley's Aegypt Sequence

Michael Dirda has to be one of the most well-read human on this planet. He will write a thoughtful, enlightened review of Terry Pratchett today, and tomorrow you are just as likely to find a sensitive analysis of the latest A.S. Byatt novel. I love the breadth of his essays, his expansive attitudes towards all literature. Unlike some stuffy, self-important reviewers, Dirda has no prejudice against fantasy. He understands fantasy is just another medium where the writer uses to tell their story.

In the American Scholar, Dirda discusses John Crowley's four-part Aegypt sequence -- a 1,700-page fantasy epic that Crowley had first conceived more than 30 years ago.

The overarching theme of both Little, Big and Aegypt is yearning, the desire to fill the emptiness within that nearly all of us experience, more or less, as we make our way through the life of this world. Why, in fact, do men and women feel so unhappy, dissatisfied, incomplete? Crowley’s general answer, if only in his fiction, is that we have lost something that we once possessed. Our souls hunger after meaning.

Do I dare add this onto my TBR pile?

Closing on Readers Imbibing Perils II Challenge 2007

R.I.P. II Challenge
1st September 1st ~ 31st October 2007

Original reading list posted here.

Completed reading list:

1. 30 Days of Night
   by Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith
2. Night Watch
   by Sergei Lukyanenko
   [Translated by Andrew Bromfield]
3. Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Other Stories
   by Mike Mignola, P. Craig Russell & Richard Corben
4. The Last Wish
   by Andrzej Sapkowski
   [translated by Danusia Stok]
5. Twilight Watch
   by Sergei Lukyanenko
   [translated by Andrew Bromfield]
6. Dracula by Bram Stoker

I have finally finished my last book for the R.I.P. II Challenge with Bram Stoker's Dracula. Once again I have deviated a little from my original reading list - which is proof that I can never follow a straight path. Heh.

I have managed to read a good mix of titles, even if the list is a little short. Among my readings I have managed to read two Russian novels, one Polish collection of short stories, two graphic novels and the father of all vampire novels - Dracula. I hope to do better next year (is there a next year, Carl?) - with a wider range of reading stuff. And maybe get around to writing more book reviews. (This year has been a year of over-commitment for me.)

[R.I.P.ing Yarns: The Official R.I.P. II Review Site]

OBITUARY | Robert Jordan Dies

Fantasy author Robert Jordan passed away on 16th September 2007. [Source]

Jordan was best known for his Wheel of Time series, which has so far spanned 11 volumes and 1 prequel. It was an epic fantasy tale where a world is threatened by the pending return of a Dark One, known as Shai'tan. Only the Dragon Reborn is said to have the power to turn back the pending evil. It's a good blend of cheesy sword-and-sorcery fantasy - one of the reason why some people despise the genre "fantasy" - but often, there's some interesting characterisation, politics and intrigue. Friends betray each other out of love - and because they believed they were trying to do good, to save the world. Robert Jordan understood the meaning of sacrifice, and how we often have to make choices for purposes greater than ourselves and all we care for.

I have a confession to make: there was a time when I was a big Wheel of Time fan. I would hang out at the newsgroup for all discussions on the series. One of my favourite character was Moiraine, who died in one of the books - although that was left ambiguous and we always suspected she would return. And Lanfear, the former lover of the Dragon Reborn in his past-life, and whom I suspect will be redeemed somehow at the end.

I first started reading the series when I was in the university - because a long epic fantasy series was more interesting reading than your textbook. My friend and I used to wonder - what if Robert Jordan was to die before he finished his series? We were concerned, and yet he continued to write, and the series continued even when I finally gave up waiting at Book 8: The Path of Daggers. I read how Robert Jordan promised he would finally end the series at Book 12. It was projected for release in 2009. But with his death, I guess time ran out.

Maybe someone will continue the series for him. But we know it's not going to be authentic Robert Jordan. He created an EPIC in the grand sense of the word. His imaginary world was rich and layered, with intricate social structures and characters that annoy you so much because they are so vividly written.

The only other contemporary author I can think of that can match Robert Jordan at his game (the sword-and-sorcery high fantasy) is George R. R. Martin. Okay, maybe Tad Williams with his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series, or Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry. You know what - feel free to disagree with me. Feel free to suggest authors who worked with that kind of expansive vision. I'm sure I'm missing out some worthy authors.

Say, somebody should go check on George. Make sure he's okay. I would like to be able to see a satisfying conclusion to A Song of Ice and Fire, thank you very much.

Oh wait, I just checked out G.R.R.M's blog, and he wrote something about Robert Jordan's passing:

The world of high fantasy is poorer today.

James Rigney, better known to fantasy readers as Robert Jordan, has passed away. Although he had been fighting amyloidosis for several years, the news of his death still came as a shock to many, including me. He was so optimistic and determined that you had to think that if anyone could beat the disease, it would be him.

Jim was a good and gracious man, a pleasure to share a platform or a pint with, and his contributions to modern fantasy were many. His huge, ambitious WHEEL OF TIME series helped to redefine the genre, and opened many doors for the writers who followed.

He was also unfailingly generous towards other fantasists, always ready to offer them support and encouragement. My own ICE & FIRE series might never have found its audience without the cover quote that Jim was so kind as to provide, back when A GAME OF THRONES was first published. I will always be grateful to him for that.

The last time I saw Jim was at an Archon in Collinsville, Illinois. It was before his final illness. He was the convention Guest of Honor and I was the Toastmaster, and I introduced him by telling the audience that actually we were the same person. It was a gag that Jim himself had suggested in the Green Room beforehand. While I was doing the intro, and claiming credit for all his books, he slowly entered, walked up silently behind me, and stood looming over me, glowering like Zeus. We got a great laugh.

I had some great dinners with Jim and his wife Harriet there in Collinsville as well. We talked about other writers, editors, publishers, all the stuff that writers always talk about... oh, and a little about our own series as well... and Jim and Harriet invited me to visit them if I ever made it down to Charleston. Sad to say, I never did.

RIP, Jim. You will be much missed.

You know what's so karmic about this? Robert Jordan was the reason I picked up A Game of Thrones - the reason I became a G.R.R.M. fan.

R.I.P. II | Nightwatch

Reading for The R.I.P. II Challenge:

The Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Translated by Andrew Bromfield
[28/08/2007 ~ 13/09/2007]

I picked up The Nightwatch because of the awesome film adaptation. Having watched the film will not spoil you for the novel, as film and book share only minor storylines. The plots in the book are far more complicated than the film. Not necessary better ― just more complicated.

The story is an urban dark fantasy, set in Post-Soviet Moscow. Night Watch spins the mythology of the Others ― a race of supernatural beings (shape-shifters, vampires, magicians) divided between the Light and the Darkness. Each side has a Watch that serves to keep the other party in check. The Night Watch represent the Light, and they operate in the night; the Day Watch are serves the Dark, they watch in the day.

Each violation of the treaty by one side allows the other to a similar infraction. So, because of the treaty, the Nightwatch and the Daywatch are forced to take their battle onto more subtle, more complicated levels. The heads of the two forces play complicated games, pawns are sacrificed, the agenda is never clear – and until the end, you don't really know what was at stake:

"A complex maneuver," I said, glancing at Boris Ignatievich. "From both sides. The Day Watch sacrifices its pawns, and the Night Watch does the same. For the great goal. … But there's an end that justifies the means. Two great magicians who have opposed each other for hundreds of year cook up another little war. Amd the Light Magician is in the toughest spot … he has to stake everything. And for him to lose is more than just an inconvenience; it's a step into the Twilight, into the Twilight forever. But still he stakes everyone's lives. His own side's and the other's…"

The novel is a collection of three loosely related stories, all held together by first-person narrator, Anton Gorodetsky, who is more fleshed out in the novel. He is an normal person who was put in an extraordinary position as an Other, and as a reluctant field agent of the Night Watch (thankfully without being annoying angsty). He just wants to do his best, but his neighbours are vampires, from the Dark. He wants to be friends with his vampire neighbours, but they are wary of him.

He is also the character who pieces the conspiracies together, through guesswork and blind chance (or destiny) — but here is where the novel is most ineffective. There is never convincing evidence of how Anton figures out the political maneuver between the heads of the two Watches. He reaches his conclusions almost out of thin-air. Sloppy.

We see things through his eyes, we hear him question the ambiguity of the Watches: "All of us have to struggle, not just against the Darkness, but against the Light. Because sometimes it blinds us"

Night Watch is an old-fashioned fantasy story about the struggle of Good and Evil, and how one has to make choices. In between are some humanist messages, about how intentions do not always justify the choices. In doing good, we might serve the path of the Dark. How can one make any kind of choice with this realisation?

How many of you there still are, girls and boys of various ages, raised by naïve parents in the sixties. How many of you there are, so unhappy, not knowing how to be happy. How I long to take pity on you, how I long to help you. To touch you through the Twilight—gently, with no force at all. To give you just a little confidence in yourself, just a tiny bit of optimism, a gram of willpower, a crumb of irony. To help you, so that you could help other.

But I can't.

Every action taken by Good grants permission for an active response by Evil. The Treaty! The Watches! The balance of peace in the world?

Truth is, The Night Watch is an absorbing read. There is enough intrigue and interesting stock characters to keep a reader turning the pages. Some of the cheesy plot devices can make a more demanding reader cringe, of course (the fate of the world hangs in the balance, on a piece of ... chalk?) ― but my advice is to just ignore the cringe-worthy moments and allow yourself to enjoy the ride.

It is amazing how familiar yet different an urban dark fantasy set in Moscow can feel. The Watches are structured within a rigid bureacracy, almost like the 19th century Russian civil service that readers of Dostoevsky, Bulgakov and Gogol will find familiar.

When was the last time we get to read popular fiction from Russia? Consider it a cultural experience that is also entertaining. After this, I'm dying to pick up Day Watch and Twilight Watch ― the later books in the series.

{Housekeeping: The Nightwatch is also included in The Armchair Traveler Challenge, as it is set in Moscow, Russia.}

COMICS | Fallen Angel: Back In Noire

I just finished Fallen Angel: Back In Noire by Peter David, J.K. Woodward & Kristian Donaldson. While reading it, I realise I missed volume 2 of the IDW run of the Fallen Angel series, so there were some minor plot details that I'm clueless about.

BACKGROUND TO THE SERIES:

Fallen Angel: Back In Noire is the third installment of the IDW run of Peter David's graphic novel series about Liandra "Lee", the Fallen Angel. She is a sort of superheroine in the city of Bete Noire, "the city that shapes the world". As the back story was revealed in Fallen Angel: To Serve In Heaven, she was a former guardian angel (of the heavenly sort, with wings and all) who fell from the grace of God and found herself as the Court of Last Resort for the desperate in Bete Noire. She has the power to enforce her will, but all who comes to her are subjected to her judgement. She may help you if she finds your cause worthy, but she will just as soon hasten your end if she deems it so.

According to Lee, God has no say over the city of Bete Noire. Instead, it is ruled over by The Hierachy, through the power of the Magistrate. The Magistrate has dominance over everything within Bete Noire. It is a position passed from father to first-born son, and a ritual is performed on or after the son's 18th birthday to seal the transfer of power. Bete Noire is later revealed to be the Biblical city of Enoch, and the Magistrates are direct descendants of the city's founder, Cain.

The Magistrate bears the mark of Cain and none may harm the Magistrate. All injuries attempt on the Magistrate shall rebound unto the perpetrators. While the position protects the Magistrate, it also bounds him to the city. One day of every year, The Magistrate is allowed a "day off" ― the only time he is allowed to leave the city, which possesses a sentience of its own. On top of that, the Magistrate is cursed with the constant voices of the city, which he cannot blockout and causes him unending suffering.

BACK IN NOIRE

Last we left off, Lee's son, Jude, had taken over as the Magistrate of Bete Noire. Jude is a priest and he still wears the collar. He is new to the city and he believes he can use his power for good, not realising the corrupting influence of his new position.

Back In Noire explores Jude's new role as Magistrate, and how it creates a conflict of interest with Lee when Jude arrests the local drug lord, Asia Minor, and placed him on trial. Lee on the other hand, needs Asia Minor's help to save a man's life. The story is resolved a little too conveniently, but it has Jude compromising his ethics for a way to end the incessant voices in his head. He has taken the first step to condemning himself, and it is hinted that darker factions are waiting on the sidelines. And they are patient.

Fallen Angel has a great backstory ― rivalries between agents of divine and mystical powers, as well as an interesting protagonist with perpetual PMS. The story opens with a vampire-like attack, and the Fallen Angel makes her entrance with these earth-shattering lines:

It's nearly sunrise.

I haven't slept in two days.

And I've got cramps.

I am so not in the mood for this shit.

Even when Jean Grey was the Dark Phoenix and threatening to destroy earth, you still wouldn't catch her admitting to cramps.

Lee is something of a reluctant heroine, as you can tell. Unfortunately, Fallen Angel still only has something of a cult following only, and I truly believe it deserves a wider readership. Perhaps not everyone has patience with a comic series that takes time to unfold little backstories and drop small hints of future things to come.

Fallen Angel even has a premise similar to Garth Ennis's Preacher on the subject of divinity. When Jude asks Lee why Evil exist, she replies that God wants to die. Humanity was intended to be God's crowning achievement, and God was prepared to move on after its creation. However, the constant prayers of people on Earth prevent him from being able to do this. For centuries, God has been sending disasters to Earth in the hope that people will stop believing in Him and let Him pass. It is an interesting concept ― not to mention daring. It is also one of the reasons why Peter David remains one of the more interesting writers around.

Finally, Back In Noire has a second story where Lee's predecessor ― a young girl named Lin ― returns to Bete Noire. It develops the idea further of the sentience of the city, as well as explore a story of the darker history of the city. A long time ago, the Magistrate one day decides to neglect his duties. This power vaccum led to the emergence of newer factions, and the Fallen Angel (Lin) arrived as a balancing force.

SUM UP

On the whole, the stories in Back In Noire are not as strong as the first volume, To Serve In Heaven, and I don't think there was much explored in the conflict of interest between Jude and Lee ― although there was some freaky incestuous stuff happening between Jude's half-brother, Jubal and Jubal's mother. The stories seem to serve only as fillers in the on-going power struggle for dominance of Bete Noire, but weak plot, and little forward movement in the storylines. And they probably will not make sense unless you are already a Fallen Angel fan.

CHALLENGE | Readers Imbibing Peril II

For the R.I.P. II Challenge, I'm going to go low-key. I will be undertaking Peril the First - which just requires me to read 4 books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.

So, the goal is to read at least 4 books from this list:

1. Baltimore,: Or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden

   Mike Mignola is one of my favourite artist/comic writer. I loved the moody starkness of his signature artwork, which just brings out his well-researched tales of monsters and supernatural terrors. I have the hardcover of this illustrated novel sitting at my desk right now. Come 1st September I will purchase it and read it.

2. Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Other Stories by Mike Mignola, P. Craig Russell & Richard Corben

   This is supposed to be published in October, but let's see if I can throw it in. Hellboy is my hero. A demonspawn, a Prince of Hell summoned by the Nazi to bring about the Apocalypse, he grew into his own man. The two round stumps on his forehead are the stumps from his broken hell-horns - horns that he broke off in declaration of his own Free Will, against his demonic destiny. I love my Hellboy.

3. The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers

   Had wanted to read this earlier this year, but just never got around to it. A historical fantasy starring the Romantic poets Keats, Byron and Shelley. Now, where did I put that book?

4. 30 Days of Night by Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith

   Vampires visit a far northern Alaskan town that experience 30 days of continuous nights. Blood. Murder. Mwhahaha!

5. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

   This is a new Polish author I picked up from the bookstore. I know very little about him but the synopsis at the back looks interesting:

   Geralt was always going to stand out, with his white hair and piercing eyes, his cynicism and lack of respect for authority ... but he is far more than a striking-looking man. He's a witcher; his sorcerous powers, enhanced by elixirs and long years of training, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. ...

   In his role as guardian of the innocent, Geralt, the witcher from Rivia, meets incestuous kings with undead daughters, vengeful djinns, rancorous maidens, shrieking harpies, love-lorn vampires and despondent ghouls. Many are pernicious, some are wicked, and none are quite as they seem.

6. Angelica by Arthur Phillips

   I've been eyeing this title for s while now. Since I managed to get my paws on a library copy this week, I think I shall add it to the list. From the New Yorker:

   Phillips’s third novel, set in Victorian London, starts as a ghost story. When Joseph instructs his wife, Constance, to have their four-year-old daughter, Angelica, moved from their bedroom into a room of her own, Constance becomes convinced that a seductive spectral force is preying on the child. The catastrophe that follows is relayed from the perspectives of Constance; of her supposed redeemer, an actress turned exorcist; and of Joseph—each view ultimately being rendered by the adult Angelica. What at first appears a rather glib ghost story predicated on Victorian clichés of sexual repression and patriarchal tyranny turns into a spectacular, ever-proliferating tale of mingled motives, psychological menace, and delicately told crises of appetite and loneliness. Phillips sustains a pastiche of Victorian writing and ideas with enticing playfulness, and without making his characters or their complex fears and desires laughable

As usual, I may add to this reading list when something interesting comes along. And if I can squeeze it in, I shall attempt Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Challenge is from 1st September 1st ~ 31st October 2007.

Also visit R.I.P.ing Yarns: The Official R.I.P. II Review Site.

Forthcoming Phillip Pullman's Book

Ooh. A book that's on my TBR pile even as it's being written: Philip Pullman's next installment of the Dark Materials series.

Called The Book of Dust, Pullman was reported as saying the book is his response to accusations that the previous three books portrayed organised religion as exclusively repressive. The book is also suppose to give better insight into his own atheistic belief. But what is it about, really? All I managed to dig out is this, according to The Times:

There has been much speculation about the contents of The Book of Dust. It was rumoured originally to be a reference book to guide readers around Lyra’s worlds, but it is now expected to be a novel. Pullman confirmed in 2003 that it would develop a storyline from Lyra and the Birds, set a few years after the end of The Amber Sypyglass and included in Lyra’s Oxford, a small companion volume to the original books.

Which still tells me nuts about the story.

Read about it here.

BOOKS | Done with Harry Potter 7

I'm finally done with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I was reading it while waiting for a movie (a low-key B-grade New Zealand film about blood-thirsty were-sheep. It wasn't as funny as I thought it might be.) It was embarrassing, as close to the last 100 pages or so, I started tearing in public.

[UPDATE] To prevent spoilers, my brief thoughts on The Deathly Hallows are below in INVISI-TEXT. (To read, just left-click, hold, and move your cursor over the blank space below.)

My favourite characters from the books are Luna Lovegood and Severus Snape. Luna held up pretty well, ending up as one of the three underground student leaders against Voldemort.

Neville Longbottom also has his day, which is beautiful. There is something about the heroics of the underdog that I love. The passage where Neville's Granny went on the run, not before she told him how proud she was of her grandson, telling him to keep up the fight against Voldemort ― I got a little emotional and teary.

But it's Snape's demise that saddens me. My suspicions that Snape was in love with Lily Potter was confirmed ― it all fits, and it's a bit of a downer that J.K. Rowling is a little predictable here.

I wish more could have been made of his heroism. It just seems with all the deaths, Snape's sacrifice was pushed to the side-line. His courage ― and how Dumbledore wondered if they sorted too quickly; with Snape's courage he should have been a Gryffindor instead ― can we do more with it? Why couldn't we have given him a grand hero's funeral? Or at least show me a portrait of Snape in the Hogwarts Headmaster's Office. That would have been fun. My Snape is dead.

It's a nice touch to kill off Hedwig and Dobby. People loved Hedwig and Dobby. Well, at least I do. It was nice because Dobby's death showed how much Harry actually cared for Dobby, and it also allowed Dobby to show his mettle. Hedwig, okay, she's collateral damage. The "reformation" of Kreacher was also a good touch. Perhaps it's Rowling's own (obvious but good-hearted) way of reminding us to be more compassionate to the down-trodden.

When Order of the Phoenix (the book) first came out, near the end, Dumbledore admits his love for Harry might have caused him some slips in judgement. A friend and I discussed this, and she was a little unhappy with this crack in Dumbledore's armour. But I disagreed with her then. I thought the fact that Dumbledore was capable of human weakness, because of love, is a good thing. It made him more human, I thought.

I guess my friend did not like her heroes quite so human. Perhaps that is why she was bothered by it.

But in The Deathly Hallows, we see a Dumbledore who is more complicated than he was in the previous books. He is a master manipulator here, ambitious, proud, ruthlesss ― especially the way he uses Snape's guilt and love for Lily Potter. Like Gandalf when he rejects the One Ring, Dumbledore recognises that he cannot be trusted with too much power, because he recognises the ambition within himself.

I find the more morally ambiguous Dumbledore a little disturbing. Perhaps now the table has been turned on me, and I did not like my heroes with their armour so tarnished. Even in books, our heroes are often less perfect than we would like them to be.

It's a great finale, especially the way Rowling manages to retrieve so many characters and minor details from the other 6 books and tie to the plot in a more significant manner. But the wand-lore bit was stretching it too much, I thought. Too much is made out of the "winning" of the wands, just to justify the plot necessity of Harry winning the Elder Wand.

No more Harry Potter, althought we will still have the films. No matter how much I enjoyed the books, I'm glad it's over. Please, no sequels. It ended well. Let it be.

Grumblings about Harry Potter Launch and Other Stuff

The world eagerly awaits Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Have you pre-ordered your copy yet?

The bookstore where I work will be launching the book on 21st July, at 7:01 am. I have been informed by my boss that I will have to report for work that Saturday at 6 am. They tell me everyone will be needed to help with the preparation (I have already done some heavy lifting for the HP promotional materials. Thankfully I possess some physical strength.)

I groan just thinking about this, because it screws up my daily schedule: On normal workdays I usually get up at 5 am for my morning yoga practice and to prepare lunch (the eating places around my office are not very vegetarian-friendly). If I have to be at the bookstore by 6 am, this will mean having to get up by 4 am if I wish to finish my routine. That means I need to be in bed by 8 pm the night before ― except I have yoga class that evening and can only be home by 9 pm.

I realised how I have organised my life around a rigid schedule, and when it is disrupted I get agitated. I need to breathe more, but I desperately need the rigid schedule to stay disciplined ― because I lose focus easily.

But most of all, I don't want to be a part of the Harry Potter launch. Too much hype tarnished the magic of the Harry Potter books for me.

I admit: I'm one of the millions of readers who will be picking up the seventh Harry Potter this July. Not because I love the series though ― I enjoyed the earlier books well enough, and I was enchanted by the first film adaptation ― but now I just feel obliged to finish the last book. I don't give a damn if Harry dies at the end. All that publicity to guess the ending of Harry Potter 7 just leaves me cold and cynical about the banal commercial side of the book industry; I hate this bitter side of me.

On unrelated threads, Deslily brought to my attention this new Dragonlance title, Dragons Of The Highlord Skies. It's part of the Lost Chronicles series, and Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman co-author the title. I read the Dragonlance series when I was a teenager and I was such a big fan. I wept when Sturm Brightblade died by the hands of his friend, Kitiara, a Dragon Highlord ― but I was furious when Kitiara died and Tanis did nothing to protect her from Lord Soth.

I'm tempted by this new Dragonlance title, because I liked the character of Kitiara (I have always been drawn to the morally ambiguous characters). Most of all, it will be my re-introduction to the Dragonlance series.

Over the years I read less from the sword-and-sorcery fantasy genre. In my younger days, I used to stalk out the bookstores for the latest titles by my favourite fantasy authors ― but now George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is the only fantasy series I still look forward to.

All is not lost though. Since signing up for Carl's Once Upon A Time Challenge, I have been thinking about how I would like to do more Fantasy and SF readings. The geek that I am, I have drawn up a list:

Dark Orpheus's Fantasy and SF Reading List (In Progress):

1. Octavia E. Butler's Bloodchild and Other Stories
   
2. Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles
3. T.H. White's The Once and Future King
4. James Tiptree, Jr.'s Her Smoke Rose Up Forever
5. C. J. Cherryh's Cyteen (re-read)
6. Roger Zelzany's Chronicles of Amber, re-read Lord of Light
7. Patricia McKillip's Riddlemaster Series
   
8. Walter M. Miller Jr.'s A Canticle for Liebowitz
9. Tim Powers's The Stress of Her Regard
10. Robin Hobb's The Farseer Trilogy

How does the list look? I'm open to any recommendations. Good fantasy and SF titles you've read and loved. I have a whole lifetime to read, so who cares if the TBR pile is already too high?

There was another title that caught my eye at work ― Natasha Mostert's Season of the Witch. I was prepared to let it go, unless I find it one day in the library, but Carl had to go post a review on it and pique my interest further. He also mentioned that it's the perfect book to read for this September's R.I.P. Challenge. So, you know what? I think I will.

CHALLENGE | Once Upon A Time 2007

CHALLENGE COMPLETED

[FAIRY TALE]

1. Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: Dream Country [Write-Up]
2. Stardust by Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess[Write-up]
3. Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham

[FOLKLORE]

4. Book of Ballads by Charles Vess with various contributors

[FANTASY]

5. Threshold by Caitlin R. Kiernan

[MYTHOLOGY]

6. The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell [Write-up]

[FINALE]

7. A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Thursday, March 22nd ~ Midsummer Night’s Eve, June 21st 2007

Visit Once Upon a Time Challenge Review Site

BOOKS | The Winter King

Once Upon A Time Challenge 2007

The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell

Once upon a time, in a land that was called Britain, these things happened. Bishop Sansum, whom God must bless above all the saints living and dead, says these memories should be cast into the bottomless pit with all the other filth of fallen mankind, for these are the tales of the last days before the great darkness descended on the light of our Lord Jesus Christ. These are the tales of the land we call Lloegyr, which means that Lost Lands, the country that was once ours but which our enemies now call England. These are the tales of Arthur, the Warlord, the King that Never Was, the Enemy of God and, may the living Christ and Bishop Sansum forgive me, the best man I ever knew. How I have wept for Arthur.

So begins The Winter King, narrated by Brother Derfel, a Christian monk who had once been one of Arthur's mightest warriors. Brother Derfel is now a maimed old monk in a monastery, bullied and sad. The time of Arthur has passed, but the legend of Camelot endures.

In the afterword, Cornwell explained how he was trying to imagine a historically more realistic Arthur: a great warlord who resisted the Saxons during the Dark Ages, after the fall of the Romans. So Cornwell's Britain is a savage land of internal strife and foreign invasions. He strives for raw realism in his retelling, and he portrays a time of lost knowledge, where magic seems more like trickery and superstitution, and the romantic characters as we know them: Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere ― are all fatally flawed in credibly human ways. There is some elements of Greek tragedy to the story: the way hubris contribute to the characters' downfall, of destiny and how the characters are but playthings of the Gods.

In The Winter King, in a bid for peace, to unite Britain against the Saxons, Arthur - bastard of Uther Pendragon - enters into a treaty with Powys. As part of the treaty, he was supposed to wed Ceinwyn, daughter of King Gorfyddyd of Powys. However, during the engagement ceremony, Guinevere enters the feasting hall and history as they say, is changed forever. As Derfel tells us of Guinevere:

I turned and saw a young woman who stood head and shoulders above the crowd and who carried a bold defiant look on her face. If you can master me, that look seemed to say, then you can master whatever else this wicked world might bring...

There have been many more beautiful women, and thousands who were better, but since the world was weaned I doubt there have been many so unforgettable as Guinevere, eldest daughter of Leodegan, the exiled King of Henis Wyren.

And it would have been better, Merlin always said, had she been drowned at birth.

Guinevere, the Helen of The Winter King - the woman whose beauty would bring down a mighty king - enters the narrative. So must the heroic Arthur fall in love with her - destiny and myth demands it.

Foolishly, Arthur abandons Ceinwyn and marries Guinevere, thereby earning Gorfyddyd's wrath and plunging Britain back into civil war.

Hubris, the character flaw of Greek Tragedy. Behind Arthur, the Warrior King, Bear Amongst Men, is a lonely child neglected by his mother, who is forever looking for the love denied him. Guinevere, as she is revealed, is no meek girlish child. She is a woman of steely will, with ambition and her own agenda. Her genuis is that "Guinevere saw the loneliness in Arthur's soul and promised to heal it." Arthur's marriage to Guinevere hurted many people down the years, but none more than Arthur himself.

And Lancelot - how different is the Lancelot in Cornwell's Winter King. In most versions of the Arthurian legends, Lancelot is the strongest and bravest of Arthur's knight. Cornwell deliberately reinvents Lancelot as a devious, handsome charmer, a man who knows how to stay away from the battlefields, but paid the bards lavishly to sing his praises, taking the exploits of other heroes as his own. Lancelot, as Cornwell tells it, knows good PR. All tales are retelling, so Cornwell reminds us time and again in The Winter King.

Derfel, or perhaps Cornwell through the lips of Derfel, reminds us of the shaping of tales:

I could have written that truth, of course, but the bards showed me how to shape a tale so that the listeners are kept waiting for the part they want to hear

We have all heard the stories of Arthur somewhere in our lives. What make us keep coming to the Arthurian stories? And how can any writer make the story of Arthur relevant and engaging to a modern audience?

Here lies the power of mythology in their retelling: With each retelling, the storyteller takes what he needs from the root-myth, and introduce something new into the narrative. So there is a constant process of renewal, the myth working like an organic entity that endures because it is capable of evolving through time.

As I read The Winter King, I realise slowly Cornwell has shifted the angle of the Arthurian story. It is still the story of Arthur and his heroes, yes, but it has also become the story of Derfel and all he loved. And he loved Arthur, as he loved his childhood friend - Nimue, the priestess of Merlin. And Merlin, the wiley trickster, the callous magician who used everyone in his single-minded search for the Treasures of Britain to restore the Old Gods to their powers.

Brother Derfel's sad knowledge frequently interrupts the narration of the Arthurian tale. In his knowledge of what was lost, the reader is always reminded of how greatness came to be lost. In stories like the Arthurian tales, where the ending is known, it is no longer about What Happens? Rather, about How? and Why? Bernard Cornwell's genius is how he manages to refresh the narrative by framing the story through Derfel's eyes, and by reinventing the characters so familiar to us, he gives the readers something new to keep them turning the page. By using Derfel's proximity to Arthur and the action, Cornwell brings a personal sense of loss in the Arthurian tragedy. I want to know the story as Derfel felt it, of what used to be, and what was lost.

BOOKS | Weekend Finishing Up

Ah, weekends. This weekend hopefully will see me finishing up the Once Upon A Time Challenge with The Winter King and A Midsummer Night's Dream (fingers crossed).

I've also just checked out a copy of Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall from the library. 1001 Nights of Snowfall is a sequel to the Bill Willingham comic series, Fables, where characters from fairy tales have been driven from their Homelands into our world because of some dark conquering power, known as the Adversary. 1001 Nights of Snowfall takes place in the early days of the Fables series, just after the fables (characters from the fairy tales and folklores) are exiled from their homes. Snow White has to travel to Arabia as ambassador to her Fables community. She is kidnapped by a sultan who of course wants to marry her, then kill her. In the process of trying to save herself, Snow White plays Scheherazade, telling stories to the sultan for 1001 Nights.

Maybe I will just add it into the list of books to read for the challenge. Well, why not? I still have time.

Then again, the Once Upon A Time Challenge is the very first challenge I might actually complete, so maybe I shouldn't try to jinx it by counting chickens before they hatch?