Spellwright by Blake Charlton

So this one is not quite a classic. I needed to take a break from the classic fantasy literature and get into some fresh work by someone new. Well, I may have decided that after hearing about this book. I came across it during the Amazon/Macmillan kerfuffle at the beginning of the year. As this book was set to release in March, it was used as an example of how Amazon was hurting the authors more than the publishers. Charlton is a new author so having Amazon pull his publishing house near the release date would really hurt his numbers if it wasn’t resolved quickly.

So I took a look at the book. The cover was intriguing, it had great blurbs from trusted sources and, and the title was a pun. Yes I love puns, deal with it. But the pun didn’t just end with the title, it extended throughout the book in a beautiful conceit. It was a high fantasy to boot, something that is losing steam in the publishing industry. This book was something I had to read. And a few months later, I checked it out of my local library. I can’t afford to go and buy hardcovers these days, and read it cover to cover blowing off the other things I should have been doing…

There aren’t just puns! There are also many fun linguistic twists that really tickled my love of language. The magic system is entirely based on language, so Charlton had many opportunities for word-play that he took advantage of.

I liked more than just the language of this cute, quick read of a book. The fantasy tropes were used in a fresh way. The main character, Nicodemus, is prophesied to save language but something wasn’t quite right. He has a language disability, what we’d call dyslexia, which affects his magical abilities in profound ways. Like I said in my last post, I really like when prophecies are used differently. “There was this prophecy, but it’s wrong and we can’t use it to guide our steps.” The notion brings a very realistic flair to the lives of our main characters and makes me appreciate their problems much more.

Much of the story is rooted more in the local and broad politics and religion of Nicodemus’ world. This is a complex and full world. On all levels, different powers have different magical languages and they all have their own political agendas. Charlton expertly weaves a complex political web, letting characters represent different factions and letting the conflicts center in one small place. The political, religious and academic factions cross paths seen from the front row inside a small wizard’s school. Yet this is no Harry Potter. Nicodemus must win a war to save language, but first he must overcome his own limitations.

Charlton also pulls from mythological traditions. As far as I could tell, Norse, Celtic and Greek. And then he pushes them around and alters them for his own uses. These gods are not just figureheads in stories, they are real beings and are seeking their own ends, but they must first get by the humans who oppose them. They are not all powerful and they have their own rules to live by. This makes them interesting and complex characters, and another layer of conflict.

Charlton’s style is smooth and I really didn’t have too many complaints about the story. If I have to put one in this post it would be about the pacing. It felt to me that he had the most tension built up for a turning point in the story as opposed to the final denouement, and the end didn’t wrap up nicely, but dragged out a little bit (hello sequel?).

I think I will buy the paperback when it comes out because I know I will want to re-read this book, and lend it out as well.

Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Magicians – Lev Grossman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy – Michael Moorcock
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Been Doing Some Reading :)

The Runelords by David Farland

I’ve really been trying to step up my reading. And hey, two books in a month, next I know it’ll be three! Also, I’ve been busy lately with a new project, which I’ll talk about another time, so this is going to be a fairly simple review.

Premise:(From the back of the book)
The very Earth is in pain. Its wounds must be healed. There must arise a new king: the Earth King must be reborn. Only then will humanity have a chance to survive.

The Runelords takes you for a fun. ride It offers a few things that most fantasies don’t–as far as I’ve read anyway. It has a very medival culture feel to it, but is not set in the landscape of Europe as we know it. So Farland definitely did his research for this one, and some creative work to boot. Tossed into this culture is a new concept, that of the Runelords themselves. These kings use a magical process using runes and branding (I love Scandinavian mythology so it’s almost automatic for me to like this idea) to take the best qualities donated from their loving or purchased from broke subjects theoretically to rule better but we know better than that, someone will twist this benign practice and we will get a story. 

In the runelords, old traditions have changed over time and when a war unlike anything these people have ever seen marches into Rofehaven the only answer is to go back to the old ways, to follow the Earth King for this war is much more than it seems.

3 Things I liked:
• An existing prophecy doesn’t happen the way it is supposed to–now the men don’t have their guide, their script to play out. Kind of refreshing. It makes you feel like the characters don’t know what they are doing they are shooting in the dark just like real people.
• Characters fail, and fail hard and then they feel the guilt for it and have to find other answers. They see that they could have done a million things differently but they didn’t and have to cope with that and go on with life.
• They beautiful princess loses all her physical beauty, the common peasant girl becomes beautiful. It’s interesting to see how this affects them.

3 Things I didn’t like:
• The endowments sound too much like stats in role playing games. Quantifying one’s strength, speed and brains as concretely as Farland does here seems so unnatural to me.
• If I could give David Farland one piece of advice about improving the writing of this book it would be R.U.E. Resist the Urge to Explain. Some explanations are necessary for world building and catching up on previous events, but he does a great job of showing many actions and conclusions but then clutters the pages with loads of telling.
• Sloppy proofreading–I could nitpick little things extensively. This bothers me the most, for two reasons. For the last ten years or so I’ve trained myself to pick up on continuity errors in my own writing and in workshops, and I know that as an unpublished writer, one mistake like that could get my entire manuscript rejected but it’s fine for him (or his editor?) to mar his work with imperfections because he’s a big name author. Second, letting those little things through feels like taking a sharpie and squiggling lines on, say a da Vinci painting or some other masterwork. Does he have no pride in his work?

anyway, I’ll get to reading the three remaining volumes of this series but I think I’ll let this review stand for them all. Like I said, I’m a bit busy working on a new project. More coming on that soon.

Currently Reading
Fantasy: Spellwright – Blake Charlton
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy – Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I’m slacking here)

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another one done

John Crowley-Little, Big

I have to preface this entry by saying I’m a little biased about this book. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about it: It’s so awesome, Oh my god you have to read it, If you want to start reading fantasy start with this one, this book is so great and so on. So I dove into the pages with high expectations. I thought, if they think it’s so great, I should also think it is so great.

I should have known better. What others like is not what I like. I know I like high fantasy and epic fantasy. I like other world fantasy, including futuristic. Urban and Contemporary rarely does it for me, though rural can work sometimes. I like clever and witty narrative and dialog.

I should have quizzed these people more on what they like before I thought I’d like this monumental work of fantasy literature. But I can respect Crowley for what he did in this book.

Going into it blind, I thought it would be about a peculiar family and the house or estate they live on. But in the end, not so much. It’s about what is done to them. So the whole book is getting us familiar with their tale, with them. Making us get attached to them and feeling for them when the standard bumps of life show up in their lives. This book is about 500 pages long, and covers about five generations. Every time he jumped into a new one I got bored and agitated with it. So there were many people to whom I was supposed to empathize and develop a relationship with.

Meanwhile there are hints dropped and heavy handed (I think) foreshadowing–I actually rolled my eyes at the most prominent instance. To be blunt, it’s dodging of the fantastic annoyed me. The questioning and uncertainty irked me. And the two most main characters never even entertained the possibility. That certainly adds tension, but one makes me feel left out and two makes me want to be in someone else’s head more. There are a few brief respites though, like Crowley wanted to give us some glue or something.

The thing I disliked the most was dialog. They spoke in a halting and staggered fashion. A word, a descriptive phrase, then the rest of the sentence. People do not speak like that. Sometimes they might, but not ALL THE TIME. So he was trying to pass these people off as eccentric, sure, but I think my blood pressure went up when certain characters were speaking.

But none of that really matters in the big picture. Roz Kaveney said in a review she wrote in 1982 for “Books and Bookmen” that this is one of the few stories that reconcile humans and fairy, which it does. And I couldn’t put my finger on why I didn’t like it until I read that. The characters in this book seemed so askew for “normal” people. They’d have to be to do that job. So they didn’t appeal to me on the front of normal people exposed to fairy, or occupants of a fairy land who happened to be in our world. To me they were awkward, with a very exclusive feel, but not pretentious (otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered).

So hearing Ms. Kaveney’s conclusion, and having read “From Homer to Harry Potter,” I can easily classify this story as literature of fairy. This fantasy pulls very strongly from traditional “this world” beliefs and doesn’t take it to another world. I’ve always held stories that deal with actual Faerie slightly apart from the other fantasy I read. Usually when I refer to fantasy, I’m thinking of epic or high, or even some urban and contemporary if the fantastical elements are strong enough.

So, maybe I read it wrong, or just missed something. I don’t feel the need to read the rest of Crowley’s work to see what is particular about this book or just him. But as I’ve said above, much of this story didn’t grab me.

Okay, so what did I like about this book? Why did I read all of it? There are a few reasons. I’m a little obsessive about finishing what I start. It’s a highly influential work. I hoped it would get better. And after I got about a quarter into it and didn’t like it, I wanted to at least be able to say why honestly.

On another note… hopefully I’ll have another story out for sub soon.

Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Runelords – David Farland
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy – Michael Moorcock
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The Mabinogi – Patrick K. Ford

I’ve just completed Patrick Ford’s The Mabinogi, a translation of medieval Welsh folk tales and mythological cycle. Reading this book lets me tick off one more on my list of reading to catch up on non-Greek mythology. I can say, with some embarrassment, that I have never heard of any element of these stories before, so when someone in my office glanced at the title of the book I was reading and commented, “obscure Welsh literature, great,” I felt a little absolved.

When I was just getting into the book, I was a little disappointed in the story telling. The story arcs rambled, and changed seemingly without explanation. Story lines ranged far beyond the interest point. And the laundry lists of heraldic titles and accomplishments; tasks and quests made for really dull reading. There was practically NO SHOWING. But that is what was recorded in the original manuscripts, which were written down by someone who heard someone else tell the oral story. Would the people back then simply “understand” all the tactile imagery that was possible when the characters go riding across the land? Had they done it all themselves, in an uneventful journey? The author of this book could only decipher what his modern day learnings let him to reach back and translate the Mabinogi.

The author, Patrick K. Ford is the Margaret Brooks Robinson Research Professor of Celtic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University. Needless to say he wrote this book with academic interests and not story telling in mind. Despite being very sparse, with little imagery and barely three dimensional characters the stories serve to give us 21st century denizens a peek into the ways of old cultures. However I can see how each of these 6 – 40 page stories could be turned into a rich novel, however dark.

These tales aren’t for the weak-of-stomach. From crushing skulls barehanded, stealing, rape, murder, torture to animal cruelty they show the worst of human nature. They show what people do to get what they want: woman, money, power, land, respect, honor and revenge. And sometimes people do terrible things to breach hindrances.

My favorite story was that of “Manawydan son of Llŷr.” Even though this story is rangy, and the events a little jerky we see magic, trouble, rescue, punishment by social decree and then the wrongs are righted. I just love happy endings; well I like it more when the jerks who were wrong get what’s coming. Mainly I like the story line where a group of people are displaced from their own land and must wander to find a new place, yet no matter how hard they work, they cannot find a place they fit in. And after some time they return home and break their curse. I like this because they didn’t give up. They didn’t sit idly waiting to find a way. Even when they weren’t trying to break the curse, they were working hard, trying to get by because they had to.

That’s it for now. Maybe someday I’ll come back to these tales for story fodder, or for further study.

Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big – John Crowley
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy – Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I’m slacking here)

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sticking to it

Even though I haven’t posted here, in my reading/writing blog for some time, I’m sticking to it. I’m coming back and journaling my most recently finished book, which I’ve had finished for a few weeks, but have not had the time to blog it.

Glen Cook
The Chronicles of the Black Company
Omnibus of the first three books in the Black Company series

I read this book in a strange circumstance. I read the second omnibus (last three books) before this one. So I already knew the characters, and what would happen to them in the future. Cook so dutifully referenced and explained many of the events of the first book in the second, I could say to myself, “ah yes, I remember this,” as I came across new scenes. This is a rather disappointing way to read a book. So I’m chalking up my less-than-thrilled reaction to that.

While not making for good reading, reading out of order made for good studying. I could see how he dips back to describe old events in the here-and-now later on–the amount of detail and action he needed to evoke the memory but not to go off on too much of a tangent.

Reading out of order also presented another odd reaction in me. I liked the characters more, and quicker upon starting the second book than the first. I also thought they were more fully introduced and described going into the second than the first. I would have thought this would be the other way around. But again, I got a lesson from this. Cook had probably gotten more into the characters’ heads after three books, and better knew how to introduce them later on. And also, he didn’t stop popping in insights and descriptions of them no matter how far into the story he got.

Another theory on my more intense character attachment later in the series is that they started different, more important roles in the beginning of the second book. One thing Cook is known for is telling stories from the point of view of the common man instead of kings, princes and heroes. In the first book, the characters are all no-ones in a mercenary outfit, however they are doing important things. Yet by the second book, they all of a sudden take on new, more important roles. I don’t want to put in spoilers here, so I won’t be specific. I’d almost argue that they aren’t “the common man” anymore. Yes they still have their roots in peasantdom, but they have considerable power over others via reputation, which draws them up in society. This seems just a little contrary to the “common man” motif Cook is known for.

So after reading the middle through the end, and then the beginning to the middle, I felt a little let down by the end of the first book. This was a major turning point in the series, and their world too. There was build up, and foreshadowing tension and suspense throughout the book, and I knew what was coming. But what I was interested in was how it would happen. And, I’ll say again, it didn’t seem like much. I think he could have written it “bigger.” What it boils down to is two, or three people fighting, be they gods or beggars, it still kinda looks the same. When you watch, or read about, an even match, it doesn’t look like much. What makes it impactful is the sense of importance the author imbues in it, which is directly related to the buildup of suspense/tension. What will happen if the good guys win? The bad? What are the implications? We knew what these were, but didn’t really see, at the end of the book, what the fallout was.

Recalling the beginning of the second book, that is where the fallout occurred. Cook structured his books, his six book series, to keep the readers buying. But for me, who read them out of order, it just made it fell flat.

Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big – John Crowley
Scholarly: The Mabinogi – Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I’m slacking here)

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The Books of the South, Glen Cook

When I read a book I tend to focus on an author’s craft, especially the elements in which I am weak. I’ve been trained to learn this way for the last decade or so. During this time, naturally, my weaknesses have changed. So when I read Glen Cook’s The Books of the South, my major foci were structure, characterization, setting and plot.

The Books of the South is the second collection in Cook’s Black Company series. The book is separated into three stories, telling what happened to a few of the people who fought in a mercenary outfit(the Black Company) after a major war.

The first and second books follow basically the same plot, and are told from two different POVs. Both of which were in the first story. So when I got to the third section and found no familiar characters I was a little confused and disappointed. But it makes sense. When I remembered this a follow up to the first book, in which Cook introduced all the characters from the first, second and third stories. The jump however, was quite large. Spending 2/3rds of a book on one set of characters then jumping to another set, who actually trace the first set of characters, and show what’s going on in their wake is a little disconcerting to me. I would have worked the third story into the rest of the book. However, I think my distaste lies in the fact that I read an omnibus, where all the novels are right in it together. When each story is considered as its own novel, with a separate cover and back, the distinction is clearer.

As far as story structure is concerned, Cook jumps around a lot. Using different POVs to show different angles of the story can help build suspense. We readers know stuff the characters don’t. We know what they’re walking into, or what their enemies are throwing against them. Interestingly, Cook spends large chunks of story on the protagonists, and only very small sections on the antagonists. We do get glimpses of them, but not too much. This is necessary, I think, because the first person is so limited. Were this story written in third omniscient, the jumping around would be unneeded. An example of Form Following Function.

A great deal of the characterization comes from the POV of these stories. Cook tells the stories of the Black Company in first person from the POV of soldiers in very plain, soldiery language with lots of individual flair. It’s not just they way they speak though, each character is very ordinary, could be anyone you walk by on the street, with no delusions of grandeur (except some of the antagonists). One of the characters for instance, Lady, used to be an empress of unsurpassed power. That’s not all that easy to relate to for most people. However, when we follow her, she has lost all her power, doesn’t know anything about where she is, has few friends and has just lost her lover. Now that kind of thing we know about. There is more. The first two books, I thought were great. However, in the last story, The Silver Spike I had a few issues. One problem with telling the story from the POV of the soldiers is that it is easy to have too many similar characters. This story falls prey to that condition. The not-so-great, I’m just a normal guy character that Cook is famous for become a little hard to distinguish between. So I got a little confused on a couple of occasions as to which character was going through the “tough” situation with their less than super hero capabilities.

I can’t help but say a few words about the setting. There are many references to a lot of cultural landmarks from Our World and its history. I could tell what parts of the world influenced Cook’s settings at most junctures. Another thing Cook employed to connect to readers was the use of many modern descriptives and objects. However nice it is to see familiar things in a strange place (a fantasy novel) anachronisms just jerk me right out of the story. I wonder, “how does someone there know about that?” It doesn’t fit and to me, it denotes sloppy world-building or at least sloppy disclosure of the world an author built. But here, it is done so much, I think it must have been intentional… but why I don’t know.

Plot will be difficult to discuss as this “book” that I read is comprised of three different books. So I’ll just touch on a few generalities. Cook has plot down pat. Even while traveling, all events are tied into the unfolding of the end, or in building important characterizations that are necessary later. I wonder if he layers those in as I do, or if he puts them in as he goes, laughing at what will come. Either way, he uses all the track of the STORY to thicken it. In this way, he keeps the pace up. Something is always happening, and when it’s not, characters are drawing connections between events.

Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Chronicles of The Black Company – Glen Cook
Scholarly: The Mabinogi – Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I’m slacking here)

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