Breaking News: Vorlons and Shadows Duke It Out on Pages of Twentieth-Century Fantasy Novel

[sunnyskywalker]

Having found myself in possession of more free time than I'm likely to have again for a good while, I am endeavoring to reduce my pile of books to read before it gets too overwhelming. It's such a luxury to have hours stretching on in which to do this, and to have the energy and focus to want to. That's one thing about school: as much as I enjoyed

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[sunnyskywalker]

So, so creepy!

I think your flist must be in my head, because I'm pretty divided about it. I like the overall setup - old city, the once-fashionable part now taken over by the criminal underclass while the fashionable people move up the hill, official swordsmen who fight the nobles' duels and have reputations that swing from dashing hero to thug (reminds me of pirates, a bit). There's political scheming, a mysterious guy with a noble accent who says he used to be a scholar, won't say anything else, and is now living with the number one swordsman. There was a very cool scene where some characters went to a Shakespeare-style play. And there's some lovely imagery, like the shady neighborhood covered in snow and looking like a fairy-tale village while somewhere a drop of blood falls on snow.

On the other hand, it took me a really long time to get into the book - that line is one of the things that kept me reading, because it was so intertextually funny. I didn't really care about most of the political scheming, because all that really seemed to be at stake were the reputations of some cold, smug, overdressed nobles or the swordsman and his bloodthirsty lover. It's not that I expect every character to be a nice person, but when they all seem to care nothing about anything but their own power and ability to treat people like chess pieces, I don't care if their feelings get hurt when a duchess doesn't flirt back, you know? The swordsman and scholar-guy did care about each other, but partly because they were dangerous and a "challenge" to each other, and after a while the unrelenting nature of 99% of all human interaction in the book being about power and status and revenge got tiring. It picked up for me when things finally got personal - the scholar-guy got abducted, the swordsman cared, a noble's murder threatened to upset the balance of power in the city - but it was a little late for me to really care what happened to them all.

I liked The Riddle-Master of Hed better, even though you could argue that it's a lot slighter on characterization (well, it's a lot shorter too). I was on the fence after the first chapter, which is mostly about the domestic life of the prince of Hed. His sister is trying to turn from a wild little girl to the lady of the house after their parents' deaths, and he and his brother and sister argue about various things. Then it comes out that he secretly won a famed riddle-contest and brought home a crown, and then the High One's harpist tells him that means he also won the hand of a princess. Fortunately, he knows the princess (her brother was his friend at school) and they liked each other, and the end of the chapter has him resolved to go marry her. I thought it was a nicely-drawn portrait of the family (had problems, but loved each other, etc), but wasn't too excited about a quest to go marry a princess or a quest to convince the princess to marry him.

Fortunately, that didn't happen - various supernatural things got in the way, and the character got dragged into a war between Ancient and Mysterious Powers instead. I really loved the magic in this book - it was suitable mysterious and awe-inspiring, and didn't come with a handbook dictating how to level up the character. I also liked how the characters and the narrator never stopped to infodump about what "land-rulership" and "the Great Shout" are, but left enough clues to piece it together. And the section where he makes it up north, with all the descriptions of blizzards and mountains and tall pines, were just lovely. And there's so much color in the book. I am still a little wary of the whole Chosen One With Destiny thing, because it's so overdone, but I liked it enough that I'm going to get the sequel.

[baleanoptera]

Re: Swordspoint.

Interesting. The trouble wit caring about the characters is a point I've heard mentioned before. But I've also heard the novel praised - but then mostly because it has a male/male relationship.

I've noticed a trend recently that many female fantasy authors - like Ellen Kushner, Lynn Flewelling and Sarah Monette - write fantasy with slashy qualities. I wonder if they have been inspired?
(ahh yes, this is me forever pondering about how, if at all, fandom has affected the world of non-fandom.;D)

re: Riddle-master

oooh, this sounds like my type of book. I love old, scary magic - especially when its done well.

I also liked how the characters and the narrator never stopped to infodump about what "land-rulership" and "the Great Shout" are, but left enough clues to piece it together.

This is definitely a positive sign. I hate info-dumps with the fire of...um..a thousand suns? A couple of suns? At any rate I'm not too fond of them. But reading your write-up has convinced me that I must try to find this book at the library.

[sunnyskywalker]

The m/m aspects were some of the more interesting parts - mostly (for me) in trying to figure out the fictional society's attitudes toward the idea. There's also mentions of a few aristocrats who have male lovers, usually but not always pretty young men. I think the aristocrats considered it a slightly shocking indulgence that rich people could get away with. I don't know a lot about the history of sexuality, but this might not be too far away from Elizabethan attitudes, and the city has a vaguely Elizabethan feel (and once again I have to say that the theater scene was pretty cool). The impoverished criminals and aristocrats alike don't seem to have anything to say about the main pairing, but that could just be because St. Vier will stab you if you bump into him at the market.

The compactness of TRMOH was SO refreshing. My paperback copy is only 220-ish pages - so short compared to the doorstops which are popular now! The whole trilogy is probably the same length as one doorstop, or even half a doorstop. This is not to knock doorstops; it can be really fun to lose yourself in detailed worldbuilding and character. But it's a nice change of pace.

[baleanoptera]

but that could just be because St. Vier will stab you if you bump into him at the market.

Always an incentive to keep quiet. ;) But I think you are right about the Elizabethan attitudes.

And TRMOH is on my to-read-list. The fact that is short I take as plus.

Speaking of short books have you read "The Winter Prince" by Elizabeth Wein? I think I've talked about it on my LJ at some time, but it deserves all the mention it can get. It's a retelling of Mordred from the Arthur saga, and it is mixed with all these wonderful details about folklore and myths. It is also very well written.

[sunnyskywalker]

I have since heard that the huge cliffhangar does not get picked up again in the next books, but since I haven't read the next books yet, I can't say whether this will be annoying yet.

No, I haven't! I'll have to add that to my list, because I'd love to read a good Arthurian retelling.

[sunnyskywalker]

But anyway, on the fandom question... I definitely wondered about fandom influence while reading SP. I got the feeling I was "supposed" to think of the main couple as cold-blooded, murderous woobies, if that makes sense. Aren't they cuddly when they aren't killing people! (Okay, they were sometimes, but by that point I didn't care.) Feel their inner pain! On the other hand, I have no idea whether EK was ever involved in any fandom, or what fandom was like in the eighties. And I'm sure a lot of the tropes of fandom were around long ago, but have now been distilled in the fandom... distillery, I guess, and then re-presented in concentrated form in original fiction. Or maybe the authors went, "Hey, suddenly the stuff I've always liked is hot! I'll try selling more!" Or maybe I'm just more sensitive to certain tropes because of fandom? Hmm. I'll have to think on this more.

[baleanoptera]

I was "supposed" to think of the main couple as cold-blooded, murderous woobies, if that makes sense

yes it does. I also think, but this is just a vague recollection, that EK was involved in fandom - or at least early slash fandom. But even so "Swordspoint" has become a slash fantasy classic in some way hasn't it?

Or maybe I'm just more sensitive to certain tropes because of fandom?

See, this is a thing I've pondered as well. I remember when I first found internet fandom through B5 and later LJ through Harry Potter, and my reading of the canon material was definitely changed by the experience. I would say especially the HP experience because so much meta and speculation was written about HP that it in many ways enriched the books for me and taught me new ways to read.*

I will also say that after fandom and being introduced to the term "slash goggles" and learning to "see" the slash so to speak watching films and series have become a new experience. For instance a friend of mine lent me Stargate:Atlantis this fall, and I've watched a few seasons - and I cannot watch that series without looking at it through the fandom goggles!** So I think that being in fandom makes you view canon material in a certain way. For my part I think the change has been for the better.

* Though the downside is that reading all the HP meta in many ways tarred my reading experience of HP. I started out reading the books with a certain innocence and after fandom that innocence was gone.
** That said the series in itself is a bit so-so. It has it highs and lows - but the fandom and some of the fanfiction is wonderful! Though I don't think that was what my friend had in mind. ;)

[sunnyskywalker]

I just watched an entire movie (the new Beowulf) only to realize at the end that I'd most likely been watching the entire thing through what I guess you could call gender-role subversion goggles. The movie made a point of undermining the heroicness of the warriors (they lied about their exploits, for starters), so I thought surely it was also underminging the whole patriarchal system it portrayed, and the trope of the woman as the ultimate seductive danger. But the end made me wonder if I'd actually been reading it against the grain the whole time, writing a subversive fanon version in my head, when they'd actually been playing it straight the whole time. It was so weird.

[baleanoptera]

Yes! That's it exactly! (only way more eloquent than my feeble ramblings).

But the end made me wonder if I'd actually been reading it against the grain the whole time, writing a subversive fanon version in my head, when they'd actually been playing it straight the whole time.

fandom - its not just a hobby, it's a way of life. ;) But seriously I think fandom teaches you to read in a certain way - or more specifically the female-dominated net fandom shows you several interesting ways to read.

With Stargate: Atlantis for instance a lot of the fans have studied literature and feminist theory and they use this when writing meta about the show. (and sometimes I suspect I find the meta more interesting than the show, just as I ended up finding the plot speculation more interesting than the reading of the HP books) It's a bit like Hermeneutics gone fannish if you will. What you see influence how you read it, and then how you read and discuss it influence how you view.

But it is interesting what you say about fanon and rewriting while you are watching the first time. I've caught myself doing that as well and I suspect it says something about how we as fans approach a media product. Even our initial approach is invested with the idea of rewriting.

Oh, and how was Beowulf? Good? Y/N?

[sunnyskywalker]

It's definitely changed the way I read things. I find myself coming up with alternate interpretations while reading pretty frequently, or writing meta in my head about "what this might be saying about X," or comparing the text to other texts. I know what you mean about finding the meta more interesting that the show sometimes, too!

Hmm, Beowulf. Well, my version was quite good, full of subtle satire. But without that, I think I'd have been pretty disgusted. There's a lot of, "Grendel's mother is Angelina! She is sexy, sexy danger, with high heels even! Teh mens cannot resist her sexy danger! All the corruption at Heorot is ultimately her fault!" The undermining of heroism isn't especially subtly done, though I found it an interesting interpretation - for instance, the Danes in their mead-hall pretty much act like the worst stereotypes of frat boys. And when Beowulf tells about fighting the sea monsters, Wiglaf mutters that the number of monsters keeps going up. And the flashback shows one of the "monsters" as a sexy mermaid that Beowful doesn't look interested in fighting at all. The animation was also weird. It would be excellent for a video game, but when I'm watching a movie, I don't want to be expecting an NPC to show up and deliver my quest, or to wonder how many XP Beowulf got for killing Grendel.