The Art of Forgetting - Book One: Review
The Art of Forgetting - Book One: Rider , Joanne Hall, Kristall Ink, 2014, e-pub 409 pages
Most epic fiction that I read emphasises story: daring deeds, dastardly acts and brave knights risking life and limb to defend or reclaim their country or to protect their king or queen. While The Art of Forgetting - Book One: Rider has plenty of that, what makes this book so delightfully different is that it is resolutely character driven. The young men here somersault out of the pages, the way they do their horses, into your imaginations.
Nominally a classic soldiers fighting for king and country fantasy epic, the book quickly drew me into caring for the characters and their progress or failure to achieve meaningful lives. I read a lot of fantasy fiction - surprise, surprise - and in so many of these, the characters retain a predictable flatness. Each has a role in advancing the plot, but precious little in the way of genuinely individual characteristics. This is not the case with The Art of Forgetting - Book One: Rider. Here each of the young men struggling toward maturity has a distinct voice and personality. For a change, the people are as important as the plot. Ms Hall has the gift of making me care deeply about these young men. There are very few women - so far - but those who do appear are critically important.
Must stick in an aside here. Advancement of the plot depends on a number of surprises, so it has been tricky to give enough information with out sticking in too many spoilers. Please forgive me if occasionally my sentences seem unreasonably vague.
The protagonist Rhodri of Pencarith, found abandoned in the forest and raised by Dallow and his wife Mae, has always appeared ‘strange’ to the others in his village. He believes himself to be the son of the murdered Lord Valery of Northpoint but has no memory of his mother.
At the start of Riders, he is rescued by from a beating Captain Garrod, and is able to talk his way into a place in the Horse Cadets of the King’s Third Cavalry, despite being only 14 years old. The King’s Third and their cadet training centre is based in the city of Northpoint which is by the sea. Rhodri’s first ever glimpse of the sea fills him with wonder and awe. Less pleasing is the mysterious off-shore island which everyone believes to be haunted. He is certain he has memories of time spent on that island with his father.
Once inside the safety of the garrison walls, Rhodri begins his training and makes some new friends: Astan, a fair-haired plump boy with a hauntingly familiar accent, Niklaus of Whitewood, from the Estmarch, and at least one enemy, Drusain (Drus) of Austover, a vain, arrogant bully. Every story about growing up needs one of these.
With his willingness to work hard and excellent memory, he is accepted, perhaps even liked, by the teaching staff. “If a mountain had a voice, it would have sounded like Master Skyne.”, teacher of history, languages and navigation often uses Rhodri’s excellent memory to embarrass other boys who must struggle to learn as quickly.
Keir, a civilian is the Horsemaster. Because of their shared love of horses, they become close friends and in time much more. These are soldiers in training and like soldiers everywhere much of their thought concerns itself with getting laid. As the boys become men, exploring their sexual natures, Rhodri discovers that his sexual feelings are very mixed. Can he really be in love with Keir, while also enjoying his evenings with the whore Bianca? When Drus sees him kissing the Horsemaster, he uses this to blackmail Rhodri into helping him pass his exams. When Keir learns this, he insists that they acknowledge their relationship. This puts an end to Drus’ blackmail but not his bullying and nasty jokes.
Astan, who has become Rhodri’s best friend, hides a secret as devastating as Rhodri’s. When this is discovered it forces both boys to take painful actions that neither will ever forget.
So they grow, and grow up. Shortly after graduating, both the old Queen Lydia and her King have died and the King’s Third are ordered to leave Northpoint and travel to the capital Heirath. There Rhodri believes he will uncover the truth about his father and why he was abandoned. What he learns is far more complicated and challenging than he had ever imagined.
In an act of foolish bravery, trying to prove himself a better man than Valéry, Rhodri makes a choice that changes the course of his life forever. How that plays out, however is the subject of the next book.
While not specifically aimed at a YA audience, this is a book that many would enjoy. Almost all young people today struggle with the need to identify and define their sexual identities . The authentic way in which the author presents a wide variety of sexual choices, makes for engaging reading for all ages. As an adult reader and a teacher, I was charmed by the antics of boisterous young men growing up and by the sympathetic presentation of their trainers.
The Art of Forgetting - Book One: Rider is the start of a trilogy, set in a land that closely resembles Medieval Wales. The author Joanne Hall, lives in Bristol, not far from the Welsh border, so has had plenty of experience of that mystical country to help her in getting the details correct. As well as an enviable (by me, anyway) publication list, for the last four years, Joanne has also has been the Chair of BristolCon, Bristol's premier (and only!) science fiction and fantasy convention, and was the co-editor with Roz Clarke of the Bristol Con Anthology, Airship Shaped and Bristol Fashion, reviewed here earlier.
The Art of Forgetting - Book One: Rider is great fun and well worth reading. I’m already looking forward to the next installment.