Fiction: have I got some books for you
I loved these beyond reason. Carey’s French/fantasy/pain-slave thing never appealed to me, but these two books were awesome - and take note, Carey finished her story in two books because that’s the story she had; she didn’t stretch it needlessly into a trilogy. There’s an Amazon review suggesting the story owes too much to LoTR, and, though I don’t generally believe in misreading, that reviewer seriously missed the point. This is a critique of LoTR, written from the bad guys’ perspective, making you root for them without ever disavowing their status as bad guys. They kill people because it’s easier than leaving them alive; one of their main allies, the Sorceress, warps her servants’ wills for her own pleasure; they resist the will of the gods. And yet - and yet - they stand for free will (setting the Sorceress aside, which you really can’t, which is part of why they’re still the bad guys), while the good guys soldier on in smug certainty that they are merely tools of a greater prophecy.
The books are specifically a revisioning of LoTR: There are shining elves whose numbers are waning as humankind waxes; there are orcs; there is a small mixed-race party assembled by a great sorceror to take the (Ring)Water-bearer deep into the Enemy’s lands where only he can destroy the source of the Enemy’s power. There are few female characters of note - an elven princess promised to a human man to fulfill prophecy, an unusual warrior, and the Sorceress, who’s the only one who notices the sexism behind the good guys’ social structure. Though she is never presented as a moral person, Carey writes her skillfully enough that her perspective - including her anguish at the casual condescension with which the good guys treat her - is always fascinating and painful to share. Main POV characters include the elven princess, the Water-bearer, and Faux-Sauron’s chief military commander, who has reasons of his own for being on the bad guys’ side but whose wounded heart is stirred to life by the princess.
The basic question throughout is whether the prophecy telling of the events that will precede Faux-Sauron’s destruction will come true. By lodging us so firmly in the hearts of the bad guys, Carey creates incredible tension, making the old tropes new again. Each line of prophecy, each step towards destruction, is like the tolling of a great clock. Each time, there is a partial loss, but maybe the next thing won’t come true; maybe the last bell won’t toll. This structure creates incredible pressure on the ending, and I can see how some readers wouldn’t find the resolution satisfying. Though it’s a bit of a let-down, it’s hard to see how it couldn’t be after 800 pages of blood pressure-raising screw-tightening. I myself found the ending perfectly acceptable - but the point here is the journey. Come see Mordor, from the spiders’ side this time. Consider again how you know which side is in the right - the side brimming with golden certainty and godly mandate, or the side that people had to choose to be on?
The books are specifically a revisioning of LoTR: There are shining elves whose numbers are waning as humankind waxes; there are orcs; there is a small mixed-race party assembled by a great sorceror to take the (Ring)Water-bearer deep into the Enemy’s lands where only he can destroy the source of the Enemy’s power. There are few female characters of note - an elven princess promised to a human man to fulfill prophecy, an unusual warrior, and the Sorceress, who’s the only one who notices the sexism behind the good guys’ social structure. Though she is never presented as a moral person, Carey writes her skillfully enough that her perspective - including her anguish at the casual condescension with which the good guys treat her - is always fascinating and painful to share. Main POV characters include the elven princess, the Water-bearer, and Faux-Sauron’s chief military commander, who has reasons of his own for being on the bad guys’ side but whose wounded heart is stirred to life by the princess.
The basic question throughout is whether the prophecy telling of the events that will precede Faux-Sauron’s destruction will come true. By lodging us so firmly in the hearts of the bad guys, Carey creates incredible tension, making the old tropes new again. Each line of prophecy, each step towards destruction, is like the tolling of a great clock. Each time, there is a partial loss, but maybe the next thing won’t come true; maybe the last bell won’t toll. This structure creates incredible pressure on the ending, and I can see how some readers wouldn’t find the resolution satisfying. Though it’s a bit of a let-down, it’s hard to see how it couldn’t be after 800 pages of blood pressure-raising screw-tightening. I myself found the ending perfectly acceptable - but the point here is the journey. Come see Mordor, from the spiders’ side this time. Consider again how you know which side is in the right - the side brimming with golden certainty and godly mandate, or the side that people had to choose to be on?