"The Great Hunt" Readthrough - Rand in Portal-Stone-Land

There is a moment in The Fellowship of the Ring when a fox pauses next to the four hobbits alone in the woods and thinks to itself how odd a sight that is. The narrator comments that “It was, but he would never know how true that was”. In the style and substance of this passage, Tolkien is clearly writing a sequel to his earlier children’s tale. Later, in Rivendell, the rhyming elves of The Hobbit have been replaced by Elrond the Loremaster, one of the chief enemies of Sauron. Somewhere along the way, in fits and starts, The Lord of the Rings changes from children’s tale to epic fantasy, and moves out of the little story Tolkien began one summer while grading papers and into the massive web of storytelling he created throughout his life. Along the way, some of those early elements (chiefly the fox spying the hobbits) stop making sense; The Lord of the Rings is not entirely consistent in terms of tone and world, and it is not possible to neatly fit it together.
Having come to Chapter 11 in The Great Hunt (Glimmers of the Pattern), I’m forced to wonder whether there is a similar dichotomy in The Wheel of Time, or rather how much the author was aware of the dichotomy he created, and how much was intentional.

As I’ve commented before, dreams and prophecies in The Eye of the World don’t always fit with the later role of prophecies in the series. Similarly, Rand’s duel with the Forsaken at the Eye of the World, understood in terms of flowing cords, and with a brief interlude in Tarwin’s Gap, probably shouldn’t be read in the context of the series as it developed later. By the time we get to Rand’s travels and visions in Rhuidean, however, I think that the “modern” Wheel of Time can be said to have taken shape. A Wheel of Time where the weaving of saidin and saidar is well understood and explained in terms of flows and names of weaves, with great captains commanding soldiers in battles intended to be taken seriously and not as set-pieces for other story elements, and a series in which even the influence of ta’veren or the Dark One on the pattern can be understood in “bubbles of evil”, impossible deals with the Sea Folk, or random walks to enemy encampments.

So where, in between a Fade casually watching Rand al’Thor and Callandor unlocking the knowledge of ancient weavings to eradicate every shadowspawn in the Stone of Tear, should we locate this transition? What of the battle of Falme, where Rand’s battle with Ishamael mirrors the dead heroes’ struggle with the Seanchan? And, for our purposes, what of Rand’s venture with Loial and Hurin into an alternate landscape via a travelling stone in order to meet Lanfear? How much should we assume Jordan knew of the series to come when he wrote this section? Should we try to explain this section in the context of the later series? Or take it as part of The Wheel of Time, but not necessarily a part internally consistent with what is to come?

Certainly, it makes sense that Lanfear would steal Rand away into an alternate reality where she could meet (and attempt to seduce) him privately. But I’m less willing to accept Rand accidentally triggering the stone in his sleep through some as-yet uncontrolled use of the power (it’s a real stretch given what we know of channeling particularly saidin from later books). Certainly I’m not OK with both premises (Rand accidentally using the travelling stone to end up wherever it is that Lanfear is occupying herself), and it seems pretty clear that Jordan is trying to suggest that Rand, not Lanfear caused this. “An exhausted sleep finally came, and with sleep, unbidden, the void surrounded him, flickering with an uneasy glow that disturbed his dreams.” Throughout The Great Hunt, saidin and the void are inextricably linked, and tied to Rand’s uneasy control (or lack thereof) of the power.

Later in the series, we know how saidin and saidar work. The wielder consciously weaves them in particular patterns to achieve desired results, but I believe that at this point, Jordan still has only the vaguest idea of how the One Power actually functions. For now, it’s still mostly “magic”, without specific rules. Rand’s trip via the Portal Stone, I believe, fits well with the story (helps develops Rand’s relationship with the one power and introduces Lanfear), but does not fit within the world that Jordan establishes later in the series.

Fascinating, Disturbing, and Amazing - China Mieville's Perdido Street Station

China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station is one of the best and most disturbing fantasy stories I have ever read. Set in the city of New Crobuzon, in the world of Bas Lag, Mieville follows the scientist Isaac, his Khepri lover Lin, and the bird-man Yagharek who hires Isaac to help him fly. Mieville’s introduction to the Khepri is representative of his treatment of Xenians (non-human inhabitants of Bas Lag), and indeed of the entire novel:

Isaac watched the huge iridescent scarab that was his lover’s head devour her breakfast.
He watched her swallow, saw her throat bob where the pale insectile underbelly segued smoothly into her human neck.
(Perdido Street Station, between locations 177-185 in the Kindle Edition)

Lin is an artist, and a character we easily grow to love, but Mieville does not romanticize her differences. Instead, throughout Perdido Street Station, the reader is confronted with The Other in all its ugliness, just as much as in all its beauty. Inevitably, Perdido Street Station is populated by monsters. The vampires of Bas Lag do not sparkle, nor are they the brooding, romantic figures seen in so many novels today. Instead, they are hungry, inhuman creatures who drain their prey’s soul, leaving behind a comatose invalid to haunt friends and family.

Perdido Street Station falls somewhere in between the genres of horror, fantasy, and mystery. (I've been told it's a defining novel of the New Wierd movement, but I don't know any more about the genre than that.) The plot seems simple enough, but twists and turns throughout the novel, including a couple of particularly horrifying revelations near the end of the book. However in many ways the plot serves as a vessel for revealing the city of New Crobuzon, and through it the world of Bas Lag. New Crobuzon is a particularly vile reflection of unchecked capitalism in a city who’s laws put it somewhere between an effective capital and a frontier town. Insect-headed Khepri and appropriately-named Cactacae walk the streets, while Wyrmen and Garuda fly through the skies and the Vodyanoi swim in the rivers running through New Crobuzon. But perhaps the most horrible and fascinating inhabitants of Perdido Street Station are the Remade. Criminals in Bas Lag are not just sentenced to prison or death, they may also be remade through mechanical and biological thaumaturgy into some twisted reflection of their crime.
As one of the characters, an art critic, says:

Remaking’s art, you know. Sick art. The imagination it takes! I’ve seen Remade crawling under the weight of huge spiral iron shells they retreat into at night. Snail-women. I’ve seen them with big squid tentacles where their arms were, standing in river mud, plunging their suckers underwater to pull out fish. And as the for ones made for the gladiatorial shows . . . ! Not that they admit that’s what they’re for . . .
Remaking’s creativity gone bad. Gone rotten. Gone rancid.
(Perdido Street Station, locations 1497-1504)

And eventually, reading Perdido Street Station is not about the plot, or even the world that Mieville creates. It is instead about the language and imagery that he invokes. Bas Lag is a twisted, horrible, reflection of our own world, but it is a recognizable reflection. Mieville’s language is compelling, whether expressing lyrical beauty or stark ugliness. And the images he creates are as fascinating as they are disturbing.

While trying to avoid spoilers, I will say that Perdido Street Station is a fascinating and fast-moving novel, and Mieville’s use of language is brilliant. Perdido Street Station is available as a free download for Amazon Kindle and in other electronic formats. (Thanks to Aidan among others for pointing this out) Check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Review - Steven Erikson's Toll the Hounds

Every long epic fantasy series has its up and downs. Even most fans of The Wheel of Time will admit that there are a few books that you slog through because that’s what it takes to finish the series, and the series itself is just that good. For me, the low points of Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen have come in the books focused on the clash between the Letherii Empire and the Tiste Edur. I kept reading because there were flashes of brilliance even in Midnight Tides and Reaper’s Gale, but mostly I was slogging through the series because of the promise of books one and two (Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates). Toll the Hounds lived up to that promise and then some. Erikson’s return to the city of Darujistan is one of the best books in the series. The entire book is filled with intense action, the characters are compelling (and take quite a beating), the ascendants are unveiled in all their glory, and Erikson’s stunning conclusion left me eagerly awaiting Dust of Dreams.

Simply by returning to Darujistan, Erikson gives us the opportunity to revisit old friends: Kruppe and his gang are still hanging out at the Phoenix inn, while Antsy, Picker, Blend, and the rest of the retired Bridgeburners are trying to make a living in K’Rul’s bar. Gruntle and Stonny Meckanis have also moved to Darujistan along with Stonny’s son Harrlo, an abused child being raised by two of Stonny’s friends. Toll the Hounds also looks in on Anomander Rake, the son of darkness and perhaps the most imposing figure in the entire series, currently trying to fashion a life for the remnants of the Tiste Andii in Black Coral. Outside Black Coral, a cult has built up around Itkovian “The Redeemer”, turning this former Shield Anvil of the Grey Swords into a minor godling. Shadowthrone and Cotillion make an appearance, of course, and Karsa Orlong and the one called the Traveller are also converging on Darujistan. Erikson’s books never lack in scope, yet Toll the Hounds is ambitious even by the standards of the Malazan series.

One of Erikson’s strengths as a writer is maintaining the essential humanity of his characters. By the end of Toll the Hounds, we’ve seen the hounds of shadow go on a murderous rampage, watched Anomander Rake unleash Dragnipur and viewed Hood summoning the dead to him, but this same book follows the young Harrlo through his personal travails, focuses on Berathol Mekhar in his efforts to establish a smithy in Darujistan despite the opposition of the local guild, and narrates the return of Crokus Younghand, now known as Cutter, to the city of his birth. Erikson unleashes powers which could shatter large portions of the continent of Genabackis, but these do not overshadow the lesser, but no less compelling, characters in the book. Everyone in Erikson’s novel battles their own demons, and those demons are equally interesting, whether they are gods or bullies.

I want to close the review by making two points: first, the action scenes in Toll the Hounds are amazing, and second, the underlying theme of confronting evil is actually even better. The fights are great. Remember those retired Bridgeburners? I’m sure you can guess just how long they remain retired, and Antsy, Mallet, Picker, Bluepearl and Blend still have it in them to take on whatever gets in their way. Similarly, I’m still in shock having finally seen the Hounds of Shadow really unleashed, and there are at least 6 or 7 other battles I could bring up that forced me to just keep reading to find out what happened next. (Without giving away too much, I will mention as an aside that Toll the Hounds is pretty brutal – Martin has nothing on Erikson when it comes to killing off his characters). But really, even these fights take a backseat to the overall theme of Toll the Hounds: how to respond to evil and destruction. Again and again, characters are confronted with evil, from the petty to the world-altering. Their responses to this evil drive the novel forward and in doing so, challenge the reader to consider our own reactions to the world around us.

Eye of the World - The (dreaded) middle

Well, I think I see the value to this whole blogging/tweeting along as I read through The Wheel of Time again. I never noticed how dull The Eye of the World is between the time the companions are separated near the river at Aridhol and when they are later reunited in the gleaming city. (I’m sorry, are the allusions to Tolkien too forced? I’d argue no, at least for this book).

The chapters are relatively disconnected, and not all that much happens. Mat and Rand get a little education in the ways of the world, but really, Mat’s sole contribution to the story between Shadar Logoth and Caemlyn is to get successively more paranoid so that there can be some urgency to Moiraine’s meeting with them at the inn. (Plus so that rand can go meet Elayne by himself, because can you imagine Mat in front of Elaida or Morgase?).

Egwene, meanwhile, gets to bully Perrin and flirt with Aram. I really enjoy the male-female dynamics in The Wheel of Time (which I realize probably both puts me in the minority and demonstrates questionable taste – I won’t say it’s good writing and I agree it’s a bit cookie-cutter, but I actually enjoy reading the dynamics, which is not true of too many authors these days – end aside). But really, that’s her contribution. That and wanting to channel.

So we’ve dispensed with two of the characters, and Thom “dies” in Whitebridge, so that is three of the seven playing essentially supporting roles. And really, Moiraine doesn’t do much besides swooping in when necessary and educating Nynaeve, and Lan is their because Aes Sedai have warders and to fall in love with Nynaeve, so over half of our group doesn’t develop much at all. (Although, I’m willing to give Jordan at least half credit for planting the seeds of Lan falling for Nynaeve, because even if it does seem to come on a bit suddenly, I really like how their storyline develops). However, I’m only going to give half credit for any development of Nynaeve’s character because basically, she learns she can channel, and decides she’s meant for better things than being a Wisdom so that she can take Moiraine down a peg.

So that means that chapters 20 through 41 are given over to Perrin learning that he’s a Wolfbrother and giving hints that Rand can channel and is the Dragon Reborn. And neither of those stories is particularly compelling. I like the characters, I like the setting (although we get less of it in this section), and I like some of the vignettes (particularly the chapter in Four Kings), but really the middle of The Eye of the World limps along without much direction. Formless travels across the country to get to a place that will get you to another place that might mean safety are pretty difficult to make compelling. Jordan’s writing and the early part of the book are good enough that I didn’t really notice this, but there’s a whole lot of nothing in the middle. Somewhat like the series as a whole.

EOTW, Chap 9 - Rand's Dream

The Eye of The World: Chapter 9: Tellings of the Wheel

This chapter opens with Rand’s dream, which I’ve always felt was a bit silly and so skimmed over it. But this time I finally made myself read it somewhat carefully, and the immediate question the dream provokes for me is: “How much of what was to come did Robert Jordan know when he wrote this dream? And how much is the dream intended to interact with the series as a whole?” Clearly, by the time we get to Egwene and the Aiel dreamwalkers, dreams are prophetic, and even Min’s visions in Baerlon foreshadow events to come (more about that when we get there), but Rand’s dream is a bit more problematic. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that Rand's dream in Emond's Field can't really be understood in the context of the world of the Wheel of Time.

It begins with Rand in “not just a place where spring was late in coming; spring had never come here, and never would come.” He runs under a sun that “was a swollen, blood-red ball, more fiery than on the hottest day of summer and bright enough to sear his eyes”, but the air is cold and dead. He’s being pursued by unseen Trollocs and ends up on a cliff overlooking a shrouded valley where

“a mountain thrust upward . . . a mountain taller than any he had ever seen in the Mountains of Mist, a mountain as black as the loss of all hope. That bleak stone spire, a dagger stabbing at the heavens, was the source of his desolation. He had never seen it before but he knew it. The memory of it flashed away like quicksilver when he tried to touch it, but the memory was there. He knew it was there.”

OK, so thus far we’ve got Rand viewing Shayol Ghul, and the description matches pretty closely with what Demandred sees in the prologue to Lord of Chaos, but there’s also this notion of the mountain attacking hope, and Rand having some fleeting memory of it. The first matches very well with the many lives Rand lives while using the travelling stone, again and again confronting a banner that destroys hope. This could be a reference to Ishamael the Betrayer of Hope, or just generically the theme for the battle between the Dragon and the Dark One. We’ll deal with Rand’s almost-memory of this when we get to Tar Valon.

After hearing a voice urging him to “Serve me” and defying the Dark One, Rand escapes the land around Shayol Ghul and goes to Tar Valon “In the distance reared a single mountain, it’s peak broken and split . . . A broad river flowed by the mountain, and on an island in the middle of that river was a city such as might live in a gleeman’s tale.” Rand enters the city, which represents safety from some danger that is following him (no longer Trollocs, but now just an unseen follower), and he makes it to Tar Valon. The people encourage him to enter the White Tower, although he’d rather wander in the city first, but he eventually goes to the tower, which is now somewhat menacing as well as promising safety. When he enters, a Fade is waiting and he wakes.

Here, the question has to be, what is Rand seeing? It can’t be Lews Therin’s memories (since Tar Valon with Dragonmount in the background by definition didn’t exist until Lews Therin’s death), and Jordan makes a pretty big deal about how when Rand and the others seem Baerlon, Shadar Logoth, and Caemlyn, they’re blown away by the size of those cities. So it seems unlikely that Rand is seeing the actual Tar Valon here, but a city on an island with a mountain in the background can only be Tar Valon.

There are, I think, three possible explanations for Rand’s dream:

1 – It’s a sending from Ishamael, like Rand’s later dreams. I don’t like this explanation because the dream itself is so different from the later dreams, and it doesn’t appear that Mat or Perrin has the dream.

2 – The dream comes from Rand’s own exhaustion and fears (he’s pretty traumatized at this point), possibly with some connection to past memories of other lives. I’ve already alluded to why I don’t like the explanation of this coming from Lews Therin’s memory (since Tar Valon didn’t exist), and I don’t think that the dragon has been reborn between Lews Therin and Rand (although I don’t think I could rule it out), so I’m not sure where Rand’s flashbacks are coming from. Plus, this would imply that somehow Rand knows about Shayol Ghul, which has only existed since Lews Therin's time. This leads to my third explanation:

3 – Robert Jordan knew that dreams would be important and occasionally prophetic in the series and wanted to set up such a dream. He also wanted to plant the notions of an eternal struggle between Dark and Light, set up a pattern of terror and sanctuary (incidentally, following Tolkien, as I alluded to in a recent Twitter), and introduce the idea that either Tar Valon specifically or areas of sanctuary generally are not safe for Rand. The dream isn’t so much a plot point (and doesn’t actually fit in the world of The Wheel of Time) as it is a way for the author to introduce ideas to the reader.

When we get to Min’s swirling lights and Rand’s slaying of Aginor at the Eye of the World, I’ll make a few similar arguments. Basically, I think that Jordan knew a lot of what was coming, but discarded some of his early ideas, and trying to fit Rand’s dream into the overall structure of the story just isn’t feasible.

It’s still a nice dream sequence, though. (Although, as I twittered, the thing I really love about this chapter is Moiraine’s narration of the fall of Manetheren).

I'm back! And on Twitter!

After nearly a year, I've finally decided to return to this blogging thing. Life & work started getting hectic last year, which made consistent posting difficult (at best), and I don't really want to be an occassional blogger. So instead, I set the blog aside until I fel that I could return to it. Finally, that time has come.
In preparation for the upcoming Wheel of Time novel: The Gathering Storm, I'm re-reading the entire series, and I'll be tweeting (twitter-er-ing?) the process, as well as blogging larger chunks. I realize this isn't the most original idea, and there's already a re-read going on a tor.com, but I'm going to plow ahead anyway. I've finished The Eye of the World, so I'm going back to tweet those chapters while I start working on The Great Hunt. I'm hoping to have the posting catch up to the reading somewhere in this book.
For now, please follow me on twitter or check out my posts on the blog sidebar. There will be posts on subjects other than The Wheel of Time - I've got a review of Steven Erikson's Toll the Hounds almost finished, and a few other projects in the works. The plan is a few posts a week, plus book reviews on Sundays, so stop back to see what's new!

A real page turner – Scott Lynch’s “The Lies of Locke Lamora”

I have a test I should be studying for. I also had three other books ahead of this one on the to-read list. Including one (John C. Wright's The Golden Age, which I have since returned to and am enjoying), that was loaned to me by a co-worker. So what made me start Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora? I'm unsure. I honestly wasn't all that impressed by the cover or the synopses that I've read, and I have had a hit-or-miss experience picking up books that seem to be generating a buzz around the blogosphere, but for whatever reason I picked up Lies and started it. After that, there was no putting it down. I brought it to work with me. The co-worker who loaned me his book knows that I started reading another fantasy novel instead. However, I didn't really care, because this book is that good. It's been a while since I read a page-turner that I actually had trouble putting down, but The Lies of Locke Lamora fits the bill. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I hope that anyone who hasn't yet gotten the chance to read it does so soon.

The book is set in the city of Camorr, which bears a striking resemblance to Venice, if perhaps slightly more brutal than that storied city. Locke Lamora is one of any number of unwanted children in Camorr, scooped up early for a life of crime. Our hero, however, is a bit cleverer and certainly more daring than many of his compatriots, so he quickly rises to the rank of garrista, leading his band of criminals, the Gentlemen Bastards, and answerable only to the Capa of Camorr, Vencarlo Barsavi. Of course, not all is as it seems in this twisting tale, and by the end of the novel, questions have been asked, seemingly answered, and then asked again about Locke's role as a thief, his loyalty to the Capa, and to the Capa's daughter Nazca, as well as the identity of the mysterious stranger who is out killing Barsavi's garristas, and the stability of the secret peace between the criminals and nobility which preserves the city of Camorr. Locke Lamora dances through these intricate plots, always just one step ahead of one or another of the revelations that should trip him up and send the whole grand scheme tumbling down.

Lynch's storytelling is masterful, and his writing is good enough to keep the story moving, if rarely extraordinary. The first sections of the book flit back and forth between Locke the six-year-old just learning his trade and Locke the confident garrista planning his next confidence game. Lynch does an excellent job of dropping just enough worldbuilding into Locke's "lessons" to make sure that his readers can keep up, without just throwing out an infodump that would lead someone to put the book down. After you're far enough in to be able to keep up with the crosses and double-crosses, plus have something invested in the characters, Lynch lets the reader have it. Camorr is a brutal town, and the Right People, as the thieves are known, are not very nice either, particularly when someone is sneaking through their territory and killing their leaders. Where Robert Jordan generally backed away from scenes of questioning, letting the reader's (or questioned's) imagination do much of the work for him, Lynch occasionally shows the underside of the glorious city of Camorr. The thieves of Camorr play for keeps, and Locke and his band are some of the best in the business.

The Lies of Locke Lamora may not have been the best book I've read this year (though I'm hard pressed to think of a better), but it is certainly one of the best fantasy novels I have ever encountered. I think the closest comparison to another recent author I've read would be Patrick Rothfuss, whose Name of the Wind I reviewed a while ago. As I mentioned last week, both Rothfuss and Lynch are happy writing fantasy with a more urban bent and an unbelievably intelligent protagonist, but where Rothfuss is clearly a part of the epic fantasy tradition, Lynch writes on a smaller scale but with a faster pace. Do yourself a favor and read The Lies of Locke Lamora. Just make sure you have some time set aside, since your other priorities are likely to shift until you can finish it.