Fantasy Rec
I've not been reading a lot of fantasy lately, but I was prodded into reading The Old Kingdom Trilogy by Garth Nix by my sis, and I'm enthralled. Anyone who enjoyed HP for the universe will love this. Sabriel, the first of the three was originally written as a stand alone novel, and I was impressed that when Nix came to write the other two books (which are really one very large book split in two) he didn't just think of something else to have happen to the Sabriel character, but moved the story on a generation so that while Sabriel is still in it, she is no longer the protagonist. Sabriel has a fairly standard coming of age/hero's journey plot, while Lirael & Abhorsen, the other two, deal more with two characters who are misfits.
But it’s the world building that grabbed my attention. Two lands face each other, separated by a wall. One, the Old Kingdom, once a land of powerful, but ordered magic, is now a wasteland of anarchy, while the other, Alcestierre, is a land of modernity and technology, where magic doesn’t work, and is only believed in on the borders with the Old Kingdom. The two are separated by a wall imbued with powerful magic, which made me think at one level of Hadrian’s Wall, separating the order of the Roman province of Britannia from the anarchy of Celtic Caledonia. (and I see from an interview with Nix that this was indeed one of the original inspirations for the wall) The army of Alcestierre guard the wall with First World War level technology. They have trenches and barbed wire and primitive tanks, but because at times of greatest danger their technology stops working they also have swords and mail armour and some of them are trained mages. Needless to say they also have idiotic generals in the rear who don't believe in magic and cause all sorts of problems because of this. I like that Nix didn't choose to make Alcestierre completely modern, but at the same time recognisable.
The power that holds the Old Kingdom together is imbued in three bloodlines and I've read at least one review where the writer felt this was a very conservative message, but I don't know that this is necessarily the case. There is nothing in the books to suggest that with perseverance and diligence, anyone can't become a powerful magic user. All they say is that to do certain things, you have to have inherited the talent, which seems par for the course to me.
Anyway, check these out if you can - they're well worth it.
But it’s the world building that grabbed my attention. Two lands face each other, separated by a wall. One, the Old Kingdom, once a land of powerful, but ordered magic, is now a wasteland of anarchy, while the other, Alcestierre, is a land of modernity and technology, where magic doesn’t work, and is only believed in on the borders with the Old Kingdom. The two are separated by a wall imbued with powerful magic, which made me think at one level of Hadrian’s Wall, separating the order of the Roman province of Britannia from the anarchy of Celtic Caledonia. (and I see from an interview with Nix that this was indeed one of the original inspirations for the wall) The army of Alcestierre guard the wall with First World War level technology. They have trenches and barbed wire and primitive tanks, but because at times of greatest danger their technology stops working they also have swords and mail armour and some of them are trained mages. Needless to say they also have idiotic generals in the rear who don't believe in magic and cause all sorts of problems because of this. I like that Nix didn't choose to make Alcestierre completely modern, but at the same time recognisable.
The power that holds the Old Kingdom together is imbued in three bloodlines and I've read at least one review where the writer felt this was a very conservative message, but I don't know that this is necessarily the case. There is nothing in the books to suggest that with perseverance and diligence, anyone can't become a powerful magic user. All they say is that to do certain things, you have to have inherited the talent, which seems par for the course to me.
Anyway, check these out if you can - they're well worth it.