kw: book reviews, fantasy, magic
It is a very good thing there is no genuine magic. Human nature being what it is, there are rogues aplenty who would prey upon the "less magical" around them, and destroy any who complained. In the real world there are many "he who shall not be named" for every Harry Potter. The human race would soon be reduced to a handful of the luckiest and most powerful mages. With this in mind, I have yet to read a convincing story based on wizardry whatever it may be called. The continued survival of the majority of humanity, in all magical fantasy, is always based on an unusual level of altruism among the major characters.
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, well-written as it is, and well packed with clever ideas, is a case in point. Kvothe is a student of sundry magical arts at a University that bears a glancing reference to Hogwart's, but is run along different lines. This volume is subtitled "The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two", and the reader gradually understands that the book is presented as a transcription of a single day's narration by the aging Kvothe to a Chronicler (really, an amanuensis). That's a point to which I'll return anon.
The events cover about a year in the life of young Kvothe, as recalled in his late middle age: young enough that his hair remains red, old enough to have slowed down a bit. But Kvothe is the subject of stories and songs aplenty, and is now known by the name Kote, living among people who know little of the legend from which he has distanced himself.
For Rothfuss, magic is somewhat differently divided than the way other writers present it. Kvothe is a master of sympathetic magic, based on the similarity of things, but we also read of sygaldry, the embodiment of spells in runes inscribed on objects, and naming, whereby the greatest powers are unleashed by those who learn the true names of things. The "Day One" book, The Name of the Wind, is based largely on naming magic. Alchemy and magical medicine make their own showing in this book.
What do wise men fear? The sea in a storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man. The way I learned the proverb, it ended "the wrath of a patient man." I like that version better. Young Kvothe is hardly a man, being sixteen years of age throughout, perhaps attaining seventeen by the book's end. So the story is a coming of age tale, and interesting in its details, for the author has a good way of writing the feelings of an adolescent who hardly knows his own mind. The boy is a skilled musician, and for this I felt greater empathy, having been through it myself. But it's been decades since the last paying gig for me, and, it seems, for Kvothe/Kote the narrator.
Thus, unrealistic as it is (I really did have it hard suspending disbelief), I found the story charming, which made the reading a pleasure. I'd soon have lost patience with a 990-page book written with less skill. But here I couldn't help thinking about the "Day Two" matter. The book has half a million words, and we are to believe it was dictated to and handwritten by Chronicler in a single day, from breakfast-time to late evening, perhaps twelve hours. That comes to about seven hundred words per minute, and I don't know anybody who can write longhand faster than 25 wpm. Poor analytical mind that I have. The thought kept intruding and spoiled some of my enjoyment.
But do not take me wrong. It is an enjoyable book for all that. Considering that Kvothe is yet to be evicted from the University, though that was mentioned several times in the narrative, and a number of other amazing events were mentioned, but are pending, there is lots of room for the author to bring us book after book, presumably dictated day after day.
Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
Monday, October 03, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The godmaker
kw: book reviews, fantasy, magic, mythology
What if all the old myths were real? If magic were being held in abeyance for a time, but is poised for a resurgence? What if, among the mages, a few could still become gods, and a god be born who could make other gods? (Even as I write it, I realize that this last question is answered in Mormon theology by their concept of Jesus. Orson Scott Card started out a Mormon, and I suppose he still is.)
Reading Orson Scott Card's latest, The Lost Gate, has been a great way to get right out of myself. While I usually read fiction looking for interesting ideas, I read Card for his characterizations. His books are all morality plays, and in the past some of his "good" characters were, as I think of it, pathologically good. With experience, he's gained some balance.
Danny North grows up thinking he's a non-mage among mages, but turns into a late bloomer, and (could you guess?), the greatest mage of all. It is the ultimate Ugly Duckling story. Because of some senseless taboo held by the magical Families secretly living in the modern world, a powerful mage like Danny is supposed to be killed as soon as his powers become evident. Danny escapes.
The crux of the matter is this. The greatest mages are the Gatemages, and the greatest Gatemages are Gatefathers, those who can create a Great Gate to the planet Westil where the mages originated (along with all other non-mage humans). Once a Great Gate is produced, those who travel through it, both ways, multiply their powers. All Gates heal, but a Great Gate makes a mage into a super-mage, and makes the strongest mages into nearly immortal gods. All the Gates were destroyed thirteen centuries ago, and the former gods are in hiding, just itching to be re-deified.
Much of the narrative describes Danny's coming of age, and the somewhat parallel life of a powerful Gatemage on Westil whom Danny will one day need to confront. Along the way, Danny gains a few allies, and comes to this realization: as he gains godlike power, who else will he allow to benefit from it? Who can be trusted to resist the corrupting influence of great power? Of course, Danny himself must do so.
The book's Afterword makes it clear that Card intends to continue the series; Stonefather was an earlier book in this mage world. It will be interesting to follow the tug-of-war within the author as he explores Danny as a maturing Mage. Follow Card and his publishing schedule at Hatrack River.
What if all the old myths were real? If magic were being held in abeyance for a time, but is poised for a resurgence? What if, among the mages, a few could still become gods, and a god be born who could make other gods? (Even as I write it, I realize that this last question is answered in Mormon theology by their concept of Jesus. Orson Scott Card started out a Mormon, and I suppose he still is.)
Reading Orson Scott Card's latest, The Lost Gate, has been a great way to get right out of myself. While I usually read fiction looking for interesting ideas, I read Card for his characterizations. His books are all morality plays, and in the past some of his "good" characters were, as I think of it, pathologically good. With experience, he's gained some balance.
Danny North grows up thinking he's a non-mage among mages, but turns into a late bloomer, and (could you guess?), the greatest mage of all. It is the ultimate Ugly Duckling story. Because of some senseless taboo held by the magical Families secretly living in the modern world, a powerful mage like Danny is supposed to be killed as soon as his powers become evident. Danny escapes.
The crux of the matter is this. The greatest mages are the Gatemages, and the greatest Gatemages are Gatefathers, those who can create a Great Gate to the planet Westil where the mages originated (along with all other non-mage humans). Once a Great Gate is produced, those who travel through it, both ways, multiply their powers. All Gates heal, but a Great Gate makes a mage into a super-mage, and makes the strongest mages into nearly immortal gods. All the Gates were destroyed thirteen centuries ago, and the former gods are in hiding, just itching to be re-deified.
Much of the narrative describes Danny's coming of age, and the somewhat parallel life of a powerful Gatemage on Westil whom Danny will one day need to confront. Along the way, Danny gains a few allies, and comes to this realization: as he gains godlike power, who else will he allow to benefit from it? Who can be trusted to resist the corrupting influence of great power? Of course, Danny himself must do so.
The book's Afterword makes it clear that Card intends to continue the series; Stonefather was an earlier book in this mage world. It will be interesting to follow the tug-of-war within the author as he explores Danny as a maturing Mage. Follow Card and his publishing schedule at Hatrack River.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Fire - judging and cleansing
kw: book reviews, fiction, fantasy, magic
Coming of age can happen at any age. The term is mostly applied to the early teens. A later transitions is called "finding oneself" or a "midlife crisis". Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder is her third novel about Yelena, a Soulfinder, and all three have had such learning crises as their theme (I didn't read the first two, I located synopses).
I almost stopped in an early chapter. The book seemed to have a common Disney theme: horribly abused young person turns out to be someone really special who saves the day. I kept reading, though, and the novel soon left my expected formula behind. Ms Snyder is that rare writer who can animate more than one hero/heroine, and bring to life complex characters who are neither all good nor all bad. Yelena is the focal point of the book, but she is recipient of as much help as she lends to others.
As a Soulfinder, Yelena is feared, and expected to become a power-hungry magician. As the story unfolds, she gradually learns what she is actually good at, which isn't magic as it is typically known, other than an ability to heal very grave cases. But she can't start a fire, not even a little one, nor cause even a small object to move, by magical means.
Her soulfinding ability affords her a little protection from a powerful magician who wishes to destroy her; in a fight, she can attach the person's soul and, unless the magician disengages quickly, destroy it or drag it out of the body, killing her adversary. She is just a bit more ethical than the average bear, though, and doesn't resort to such killing until somewhat late in the story, when she learns that her primary skill is helping the soul of someone who has died find its way to the sky.
She also learns that the people's fear of Soulfinders is based on confusion with Soulstealers (I'd have used the word Soulthief), those who kill others to appropriate their magical powers. There is also an alternate way to steal magic that relies on a gruesome ritual, potentially making any person with magical gifts into a Soulstealer, effectively. Once Yelena knows the difference, she learns to liberate the souls enslaved by Soulstealers and send them to the sky, reducing the thieves' extraordinary powers.
She has four primary helpers: her lover Valek, her Story Weaver (kind of a magical psychiatrist) Moon Man, her horse Kiki, and an unnamed bat. Her adversaries are primarily two, the duplicitous Roze and an otherwise unnamed "Fire Weaver" who lives in the underworld. A gift Yelena learns, in a rather dramatic way, is how to pass through a fire into the underworld, and how to return.
But all these are metaphors. None of us matures without learning to confront our greatest fears. Living in denial means living a partial or crippled life. We may not be wise enough to choose the right helpers, but oftentimes our best helpers find us. We all have the opportunity to "entertain angels, all unawares". The best stories help us learn about ourselves.
Coming of age can happen at any age. The term is mostly applied to the early teens. A later transitions is called "finding oneself" or a "midlife crisis". Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder is her third novel about Yelena, a Soulfinder, and all three have had such learning crises as their theme (I didn't read the first two, I located synopses).
I almost stopped in an early chapter. The book seemed to have a common Disney theme: horribly abused young person turns out to be someone really special who saves the day. I kept reading, though, and the novel soon left my expected formula behind. Ms Snyder is that rare writer who can animate more than one hero/heroine, and bring to life complex characters who are neither all good nor all bad. Yelena is the focal point of the book, but she is recipient of as much help as she lends to others.
As a Soulfinder, Yelena is feared, and expected to become a power-hungry magician. As the story unfolds, she gradually learns what she is actually good at, which isn't magic as it is typically known, other than an ability to heal very grave cases. But she can't start a fire, not even a little one, nor cause even a small object to move, by magical means.
Her soulfinding ability affords her a little protection from a powerful magician who wishes to destroy her; in a fight, she can attach the person's soul and, unless the magician disengages quickly, destroy it or drag it out of the body, killing her adversary. She is just a bit more ethical than the average bear, though, and doesn't resort to such killing until somewhat late in the story, when she learns that her primary skill is helping the soul of someone who has died find its way to the sky.
She also learns that the people's fear of Soulfinders is based on confusion with Soulstealers (I'd have used the word Soulthief), those who kill others to appropriate their magical powers. There is also an alternate way to steal magic that relies on a gruesome ritual, potentially making any person with magical gifts into a Soulstealer, effectively. Once Yelena knows the difference, she learns to liberate the souls enslaved by Soulstealers and send them to the sky, reducing the thieves' extraordinary powers.
She has four primary helpers: her lover Valek, her Story Weaver (kind of a magical psychiatrist) Moon Man, her horse Kiki, and an unnamed bat. Her adversaries are primarily two, the duplicitous Roze and an otherwise unnamed "Fire Weaver" who lives in the underworld. A gift Yelena learns, in a rather dramatic way, is how to pass through a fire into the underworld, and how to return.
But all these are metaphors. None of us matures without learning to confront our greatest fears. Living in denial means living a partial or crippled life. We may not be wise enough to choose the right helpers, but oftentimes our best helpers find us. We all have the opportunity to "entertain angels, all unawares". The best stories help us learn about ourselves.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
English Regency Spelling
kw: book reviews, fantasy, magic, wizards
I had to look it up. The English Regency formally comprises 1811-1820, though colloquially "Regency" also refers to the cultural period between Georgian and Victorian (1800-1837).
Imagine the late Regency period, now nearly two centuries past. Travel by rail is just beginning, George IV has recently ascended the throne, Alexandrina Victoria is a child...and the Royal College of Magicians is about to discover just what holds jolly old England together.
Minnesota authors Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer have collaborated to produce The Mislaid Magician, or Ten Years After, writing as cousins Cecy and Kate, a pair of young duchesses, both magicians though of differing training and skill. Cecy, married to non-magical James, is quite adept, Kate less so...though she is formidable enough in her chosen spells! Kate's husband Thomas is a master wizard.
Their chosen style is letters between the women. "Ten Years After" harks back to an earlier pair of collaborations in the same style. There are a few exchanges between James and Thomas. Judging by writing styles, Patricia writes as Cece and Thomas, and Caroline as Kate and James. Both authors are quite adept at writing in a supposed young Duke's voice.
I have old letters between my grandmother and her sisters and cousins, from about 1900-1910. The newsy, burbling voice of women who thoroughly adore one another matches the writing voices found here.
So just who has been mislaid? At least in the milieu of the book, a magician has talent but little training compared to a wizard (no matching female word is used) who is extensively trained, licensed, and (this is a partial guess) accredited.
A German surveyor-magician has been hired by a newly-minted railway company to inspect is railbeds for geological and magical anomalies; there have been somewhat too many accidents. He has promptly gone missing, so Cece and James are commissioned to investigate, while their four children spend time with their second cousin at Kate and Thomas's manse.
Magical anomalies indeed abound, various people spend various amounts of "canine time" due to a gigantic spell going awry, and a plot to subvert English royalty is uncovered.
While I find too much "here's a new spell to solve this new dilemma" in most magical fantasy, these authors avoid such ad hocracy, write with a compelling consistency, and spin an enjoyable tale.
I had to look it up. The English Regency formally comprises 1811-1820, though colloquially "Regency" also refers to the cultural period between Georgian and Victorian (1800-1837).
Imagine the late Regency period, now nearly two centuries past. Travel by rail is just beginning, George IV has recently ascended the throne, Alexandrina Victoria is a child...and the Royal College of Magicians is about to discover just what holds jolly old England together.
Minnesota authors Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer have collaborated to produce The Mislaid Magician, or Ten Years After, writing as cousins Cecy and Kate, a pair of young duchesses, both magicians though of differing training and skill. Cecy, married to non-magical James, is quite adept, Kate less so...though she is formidable enough in her chosen spells! Kate's husband Thomas is a master wizard.
Their chosen style is letters between the women. "Ten Years After" harks back to an earlier pair of collaborations in the same style. There are a few exchanges between James and Thomas. Judging by writing styles, Patricia writes as Cece and Thomas, and Caroline as Kate and James. Both authors are quite adept at writing in a supposed young Duke's voice.
I have old letters between my grandmother and her sisters and cousins, from about 1900-1910. The newsy, burbling voice of women who thoroughly adore one another matches the writing voices found here.
So just who has been mislaid? At least in the milieu of the book, a magician has talent but little training compared to a wizard (no matching female word is used) who is extensively trained, licensed, and (this is a partial guess) accredited.
A German surveyor-magician has been hired by a newly-minted railway company to inspect is railbeds for geological and magical anomalies; there have been somewhat too many accidents. He has promptly gone missing, so Cece and James are commissioned to investigate, while their four children spend time with their second cousin at Kate and Thomas's manse.
Magical anomalies indeed abound, various people spend various amounts of "canine time" due to a gigantic spell going awry, and a plot to subvert English royalty is uncovered.
While I find too much "here's a new spell to solve this new dilemma" in most magical fantasy, these authors avoid such ad hocracy, write with a compelling consistency, and spin an enjoyable tale.
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