Big Bang Fic: To Every Thing There Is a Season, part 3

[narniabb_mod]

Title: To Every Thing There Is a Season
Author: Elizabeth Culmer (edenfalling)
Rating: PG-13ish?
Characters: Ilgamuth Tarkaan, Prince Rabadash, many OCs, several named canon characters who might as well be OCs, and various horses
Disclaimer: The Chronicles of Narnia is the intellectual property of C. S. Lewis and his estate. No money is being made from this

Comments

[rthstewart]

Oh Liz, this is so wonderful. the politics and the intrigue and it was fabulous to see Shezan and Axartha from Ilgamuth's point of view. The subtlety between them and everyone else is just terrific. The whole scene of the parlay is also great. This is a men's story, about men and war and the decision Ilgamuth makes to be Rabadash's man while still holding some small part for himself and his as yet unidentified god. But the brief appearances of Shezan and then Zubidah and her father's head, Zubidah divorcing her husband and announcing her intent to marry her uncle -- there are hardly any women but their presence is felt profoundly and strongly. Both women are terrifically memorable here

[edenfalling]

Thank you very much!

It was fun writing Shezan from Ilgamuth's point of view -- for one thing, it's a lot easier to describe what she looks like and how she moves. And I'm glad that Zubidah came across vividly. I wish I'd been able to do more with her and her family, though. There's a whole story there that Ilgamuth only sees glimpses of. I think I must bring her back in the post-HHB story, if only because I think I made an offhand reference in "Out of Season" to Rachegra and Drinachlala still arguing over taxes with the Tisroc twelve years after this rebellion and it would be tidy to go full circle and force Ilgamuth and Rabadash to resolve that issue again. (Hopefully Rabadash' inability to go to war, plus Shezan's input, will make it stick better the second time around

[hungrytiger11]

This is amazing. It is a story that gives such complexity-both in terms of characters and in world building-to the story. I love that in so many respects Ilgamuth is just riding the wave of what is happening and yet you see the depth that is starting form. Truly all the boys seem like such accurate pictures of teens figuring themselves out. I also enjoyed Rabadash in this. You can see why Susan and why Ilgamuth would have liked him yet you capture that ridiculous side too .

Love all the different provinces and gods.I was sad too when kin odor died!

[edenfalling]

Thank you! Yeah, Ilgamuth is definitely at the mercy of circumstance -- he makes important choices, but his situation and upbringing limit what choices he has (and what choices he sees). I'm glad both sides of Rabadash came through!

Kinboor (poor doomed boy) needed to die because I had to kill somebody with a noticeable speaking role or the story wouldn't have the right weight. :-(

[marici]

This was an excellent read, thank you. I'm particularly impressed with Illgamuth's poetry quoting -- it really gives him a bookish, introspective air. It fits in very naturally, too -- if I didn't read your writing notes, I'd never have though about what an effort it must be to fake scraps of an enormous body of work.

I feel that Illgamuth could have made a very different choice here if he'd had anyone, ever to tell him that expectations from others don't have to be your goals. It's surely a good thing for Rabadash and Calormene that he's here, mind, but it looks like a dangerous choice for Illgamuth personally. I'm looking forward to re-reading your other Caloremene fic with this in mind.

[edenfalling]

Writing fragments of an imaginary culture is always something of a high wire act, but especially so with poetry, because it needs to actually be poetry. And while I am not the worst poet in the world, I am far from what I would consider professional level. *wry* Fortunately Calormene poetry is short and unrhymed!

Yeah, it's lucky for Calormen that Ilgamuth took the culturally accepted path and agreed to be Rabadash's sworn companion, but aside from his new friends (particularly Corradin, Ilvari, and Chlamash) and his introduction to Shezan (whom he admires from afar for a long time), I think he would have been much happier as a young man if he'd gone home to Calavar instead.

[cofax7]

Oh, how excellent this is. Rich and absorbing, with great world-building again--it really expands the empire. I particularly like the complicated situation Ilgamuth is caught in, between his social/familial expectations and his growing political and ethical sophistication. This isn't what he wants, but what else can he do? What else is there available?

Now I want to go read the sequel again, but it shall have to wait for tomorrow, I fear.

Marvelous job!

[edenfalling]

Thank you!

I confess that I completely and utterly cribbed the climate and topography of Rachegra and Drinachlala from parts of the southwestern USA, but it was FUN to get some obviously non-European regions into the Narnian world. :-) Also, I'm glad Ilgamuth's conflict worked for you. That hung me up for a long time while I was writing, trying to find the right balance between the options Ilgamuth can see and the ones he is willing to consider, and also the right balance in Rabadash's character to make swearing loyalty to him seem like a choice that was risky but not inherently self-defeating.

[animus_wyrmis]

ASDLJASDKJHALKJDHASD OMG I DO NOT THINK YOU UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH I HAVE WANTED THIS STORY.

Especially because, uh, I did not know how much I wanted it.

I love love love your Ilgamuth. I love the way he quotes poetry and I love his uncertainty! And also I liked that he had reasons to follow Rabadash beyond just "It's expected"--it's clear from your writing that Rabadash is unstable, but also that he *does* have qualities of a good leader, and with his coversation with Kinboor it's also clear that Ilgamuth is starting to see that his actions have wider repercussions.

And I loved the ladies in this piece. I know you were worried about that, but honestly, the ones who do show--the priestess, Zubidah (and her sisters), and Shezan--are really strong and really full of agency in ways I love. And I loved too how much Ilgamuth's mother was part of his thinking--something we don't see much of in HHB.

[edenfalling]

Thank you!

Well, I did not know I needed to write this story at first -- I was all set to jump right into a sequel to "Out of Season" -- but as it turned out, that story wouldn't make sense without a more solid characterization of Ilgamuth and his relationship to Rabadash and Calormene politics. Thank goodness for rthstewart, who asked for backstory on Shezan and Ilgamuth when I was stalled on other stories and asked for prompts, and then didn't mind when her request turned into a monster that didn't see the light of day for nearly six months!

I am still not sure where Ilgamuth's love of poetry came from. Then again, I'm not sure where a lot of his character came from -- he just kind of appeared in "Out of Season" and was calm and thoughtful and generally a good person and kept reading poetry. I suppose his story role was to be a contrast to Rabadash, and maybe to play up how hard it is to tell the crown prince 'no' when he wants something (no matter how dangerous and counterproductive his desires might be), but mostly he was a pleasant