Friday Five: Feeble Fumblings from Tired Minds

1) I don't know how many of us spend too many brain cells on what Fantasy Actually Is. I try not to, but I had a tiny epiphany thanks to doing some academic reading and wanted to share it.

Fantasy is both the silliest and most serious of fiction genres. It is the silliest because it is unabashedly throwing aspects of reality out of the window, holding on hard to childhood passions and games, embracing the bizarre and surreal. It the most serious because it is a direct descendant of our most important stories, our sacred texts, our ancestral memory on how humans should act, updated time and time again. At this point, this dichotomy is so embedded that there's no shifting it.

And how do you define a genre that has those two tentpoles so far apart? You can't really. It's just an open invitation for some clever swine to go "Well actually" once you think you've got something. There'll always be a traditional view but the tradition will merely by the tip of the iceberg (and I'd also point out the traditional view will be informed by all media, not just the literature).

I'd love to sum this thought up in a clever and poetic way, but it's Friday. Maybe something cleverer and fuller will come along another day.

2) Malinda Lo's craft series is continuing and is well worth checking out with these posts on vision and mystery. The latter particularly appeals to me as someone who wants options other than conflict, and who frequently sees people talking about the lure of the unanswered question.

3) The finalists for the British Fantasy Society Awards have been announced. I can tell you virtually fuck all about the choices because I'm about as up to date as bleeding people as a medical cure but I know that it'll be remarkable if Jen Williams wins again, making it a win for every book in her trilogy, that RJ Barker and Tade Thompson are fantastic twitter follows, and that there's no shortage of very talented authors, creatives, and creative enablers on that list. Congratulations to everyone!

4) Hoo boy. I am really struggling to hit five this week. I do indeed plead guilty to the charge of not being particularly engaged with the community recently. As such, item four will be me sharing all the books I got ARCs of through NetGalley (please don't ask when I'm finding time to read all of them)

Look at that list! Assuming your eyes are good enough for that small image. Aha, made it bigger. I'm so fucking smart. Anyway, a lot of excitement there. So far Fallen Queen is winning my attention most, but we'll see how Mr Goldfish Brain here gets on.

5) Okay, I've run out of fantasy things, so lets talk Sci-Fi. I know, I know, spaceships are boring, but there are occasionally good things in the twin genre. One of them is the Sci-Fi Month event on twitter, hosted by DearGeekPlace and OneMore. Everyone looking to engage with others into their Sci-Fi-ish ways should check it out.

6) I lie! But I just saw this and had to include. Go. Look. Much cute. It's a lovely short about a witch and her cat.

https://twitter.com/FancySmudges/status/1321943379819810816

The approach of NaNoWriMo and why to write

Here it comes again. Worldwide lots of people talk about writing month. Some do a lot and feel good, some do a little and feel bad, and others have other outcomes. I've seen a few people wonder whether to do it, mainly due to the fear of feeling bad.

Me, I will be doing it, as an extension of the writing I'm already doing and will continue to be doing after. No special project. No special participation other than talking about word counts and some projects in places that NaNo that I'm already part of. Why?

Let's go to wondering whether to do NaNo, which for me, is just wondering whether to write. There's a lot said about it, sometimes in negative tones that affect people's perceptions. For me, it boils down to the simple question of "Is your life better or worse with writing in it?" Some people find it better because they enjoy writing. Some people find it better in the same way others might find their lives better for running long distances - they don't particularly enjoy the process but really enjoy having done the process. For others it is less about enjoyment of any part and more the need to do it, and feeling bad if they don't do it. This camp is the most likely to say things like "people who can live without writing should do so" and while that's pretty negative, it's their truth. Hell, it's a bit my truth. This is the camp I'm mostly in. 

Whatever camp people are in, it has to be one where it makes life better. There's zero reason to do it if it doesn't make life better. 

That doesn't necessarily help anyone on the sideline deciding to jump in. Help clarify the question maybe, but not answer it. Of course, I can't. I do however have a few other questions that I ask myself regularly:

"Am I worried that I'll have some bad days or lose enthusiasm and stop doing this and regret wasting my time?"

Every writer will have those moments. To a certain extent being a writer is defined by coming back when others stop. However! Coming back is easy. You've just got to shrug off the bad days and want to come back, and write when you do. It works, as can be seen from the excellent Melissa Caruso's twitter thread on this. Don't let fear of the bad days rule you. Also, who says we have to regret time spent on pastimes that aren't forever? 

"Do I really have anything to say? Any stories that are different enough to the rest to be worth writing?"

The great inconvenient truth about writing is you never really know until it's written and people are looking at it. Which also equals a big opportunity to find something worth saying through the process. You don't have to have everything at the start.

Well... okay. Two. But I think they cover most of it.

Look. If you can look at NaNo and say "I'll write and talk about it as long as it's fun, and if it stops being fun I'll just drop it with no dramas, and maybe I'll come back but no regrets if I don't", then I think you're all set to go. If that's not your mindset and you've got one that works, then top bombing.

For everyone still thinking about writing who's not sure they can be easy on themselves - maybe find other ways to do it. I know one person who'll be doing NaNo, but by spacing the days out so not all fall in the month but all fall when he's ready to write. Sounds clever to me. I also know another who might be joining in to do their thesis, which is where I am with my continuation. Starting something new wouldn't make my life better, not like finishing something would. 

There's short stories for people who aren't sure about novels, flash pieces for those unsure about short stories. People could set up a chain story with their friends. Ways to write seem ever proliferating. 

And if people think their life would be better with a bit of writing in them, then hopefully they'll find a way to do so.

The Red Wyvern by Katherine Kerr

Let me start this review, 9th of its name in the Deverry Cycle, with an admission of bias. There is a cut-off point for me where rambling, branching stories usually cease to interest. For me, it generally tends to happen when the focus shifts to Main Characters who did not emerge directly from the original Main Characters' plot arcs. Main Characters with two or more degrees of separation, you might say.

As such, when The Red Wyvern opens up with a slew of scenes and characters with two or more degrees of separation, I know I'm not the ideal reader for this book.

I shall presume at this point that all readers are familiar with Deverry from reading/previous reviews - the pseudo-Celtic setting and speech, the intricate web of reincarnations and time-shifted plot arcs, close adherence to an alien and bloody set of ethics, the blunt and ruthless politics mixed with ethereal mysticism. We get a very full dose of that in this book as most of it takes place in Deverry's civil wars, many years before The Red Wyvern's notional present day.

The main thrust of that is the tale of Lilli (short for Lillorigga, a horrendous name to call anyone), a nascent sorcerous talent and scared daughter of the nefarious Boar clan. Her journey will bring her close to Nevyn, the irascible sorcerer currently advising the True King Maryn as he seeks to actually become king. The result is a lot of focus on dweomer rituals and their effects on the world, and a lot of politics. The politics are of a rather dismal kind too, a dampener on some of the glory filled exploits that brought them to their current situation that feels deliberate. Adrenaline soaked rides to seize power can be frightening, traumatic, a cause of a bad case of the deads, but they're adrenaline soaked (I know), glorious, and clean. All's fair in love and war. The business of working out how much influence and power to give to self-serving but competent men, when you've got very few competent types, is none of those things. It feels a rather deliberate move from Kerr, who has repeatedly made a point of showing the ugliness that accompanies the glamour.

In many ways, this is the darkest Deverry book in spirit. I've seen a few people suggest newer readers read this as a starting point. I don't think I'd agree but I think it'd be possible, and maybe this would appeal more to readers who came into the genre with Abercrombie or Jemisin, rather than Gemmell and Jordan. If anyone can find me some guinea pigs, that'd be great.

And I can certainly see how someone reading it alone might enjoy the savage mix of statescraft and sorcery more than someone thinking "yes, yes, this is all very well, but can we please get back to Rhodry's onwards trip to locoland". We do get some Rhodry and Dalla in the last quarter or so of the book, but it feels very much like a transition for the next book. Which isn't a huge amount of fun. (Also might be confusing for anyone who does start here). I don't know at what point in their career authors can start winning battles with editors, but I would love to know what the editor said here. Maybe they assumed people were that invested in the series.

The Red Wyvern is a more than passable piece of entertainment and I don't regret reading it twice, but there are too many things to be frustrated by here to call it actively great. And when it comes to my bias? The Red Wyvern doesn't half confirm it. This isn't the same story as that of Rhodry and Jill, not to me, and it isn't as fun.

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

By way of introductory remarks, I'd like to provide a dictionary definition (Cambridge English for those who care) that should give some pointer as to where my mind is going with this review.

Perfect (adj): Complete and correct in every way, of the best possible type, or without fault.

Now, one of the things I like about the first definition is it means there can be no perfect fantasy books, for the list of things expected in a fantasy book is so large and at points mutually exclusive that no book can be complete and correct in every way. But there can be perfect examples of particular types of fantasy books, and books that are perfect by our own internal demands.

The Curse of Chalion is not a particularly standard fantasy book. It has many standard conceits; the pseudo-Medieval world (here vaguely-Spain), the intervention of the magical/supernatural/divine into a world seemingly following the same rules as our own, kings and queens, knights and knaves, and so on. The foundational conceits are used to tell a different type of story though. This is no coming of age, or discovery of an incredible hidden world, of tale of a great war.

This is, first and foremost, the story of Lupe dy Cazaril, a noble and soldier who has been hurt in body and spirit by a spell as a galley slave. He returns to Valenda, where he once served as a page, seeking some minor role or charity from its ruler. Cazaril is somewhat alarmed when the Dowager Provincara instead makes him Secretary-Tutor to her granddaughter, Iselle dy Chalion, a quick-witted and headstrong teenager who is half-sister to Chalion's current Roya of Chalion. He laments that he'd rather be under siege again. But he accepts and gives himself whole-heartedly to the service of the Princess.

This is a story of healing, of guidance and friendship, of ethics and resilience. There is also court intrigue, swordsmanship, and magic, but they are garnishes and sauces upon the dish. The greatest use of the fantastic here is in examining the relationship between the divine and man, and of the idea of sainthood. In that respect, The Curse of Chalion lies in similar company as Discworld thematically, and perhaps claim ties of kinship with Kushiel's Dart and The Golem and the Jinni; The Goblin Emperor might be it's closest relation in the genre in a lot of ways, but lacks that trace of providence and faith in its make-up that so distinguishes Bujold's work here. The Curse of Chalion isn't particularly standard, but it's not wildly different; the scion of a minor but well-famed family.

A very, very distinguished scion. This is perfect by the standards of the internal demands of Peat Long, a complete and correct blueprint of what fantasy novels of healing should look like. It is a virtuoso display of writing, for Bujold excels at everything she sets her mind to here. The prose is the first thing to be noticed here; very lucid, evocative without getting bogged down in detail, full of Cazaril's narrative voice and at its best when describing his emotions:

"He was laughing. And crying. Teetering on the ragged edge of . . . something that frightened him more than the outraged bath man."

Through that voice, and the keenness of Cazaril's eye, we meet the characters of Chalion and a compelling cast they are indeed. The Dowager Provincara is Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey without the cattiness; Iselle's brother Teidez an interesting study in manhood blooming frustrated and without direction. Perhaps the most compelling of the characters (other than Cazaril himself) is Martou dy Jironal, the austere and ruthless villain of the piece. This is a cast of stock types but all given little touches of humanity that makes them jump off the page and into the imagination. What allows that to happen is the strength of Bujold's observational powers, her ability to notice the details of how we interact and place it in her characters.

The plot here is a slow burning one, ceding the limelight as it must to Cazaril's regenerating sense of self, humanity, and place, and his friendship with Iselle and her companion Betriz dy Ferrej. However, I think that is only to its betterment as there is no need to rush, no need to fill it with extraneous details. We simply get to enjoy the slow probing and dissection of Chalion's corruption through Cazaril and his brilliant, passionate charges. Make no mistake - this book could have been written very well from Iselle's or Betriz's PoV, for they are intelligent and sympathetic heroines in their own right, and Bujold frequently has them pushing the action with Cazaril scrambling after them. As it should be, really. 

Is there anything I consider less than perfect here? The worldbuilding doesn't spark the same joy as everything else here, leaving a sense of leading actors delivering career performances on a painted stage. Nothing wrong with it, and the pivotal points in the history and theology are well-drawn, but I don't think Bujold gives the minor details the love needed to make them shine. Cazaril's romance is sweet, but I'd have vaguely preferred it to be with someone nearer his age. The ending invites charges of being too neat (although, ultimately, I only consider this charge). And I wouldn't have objected to this book having another two hundred odd pages so I could have spent more time with it.

Then again, I was up until three in the morning in the need to finish this, so perhaps better not. I also struggle to see how one could have added those pages without making this a worse story, given how compact and neatly put together. There is nothing wasted in The Curse of Chalion. It is part of what makes me love it so much. Ultimately though, the perfection of The Curse of Chalion lies in the power of its journey, the joy of its victories over the petty and evil. I can't imagine enjoying a book more than The Curse of Chalion and that's what makes it perfect to me.

If Fantasy Characters Had Football Chants

G'day and welcome to the latest run-off from the more dysfunctional parts of my brain-meats.

This one was inspired by people talking about V.E. Schwaab's The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

"Hmm, Addie LaRue would scan well in a number of football chants," says some part of my subconscious. "Shame the automatic rhyme I can think of is doing a poo."

Yes, that is how my brain works, thanks for asking.

Now, football chants are one of the great underappreciated art forms of our times. I presume most people are familiar with the idea that football fans like to sing songs as a form of support, tribal belonging, and sometimes boredom relief. I would submit that nowhere in the world is this artform practised better than in the UK, where each club has an ever revolving repertoire of chants, tunes pulled from pop music and words pulled from a hive mind of wit and cruelty. The best are born mid-game, a sort of primitive one-sided rap battle with the poor sods on the pitch.

Now, an example of how this works. Let me dig out a very old classic -

There's only one Dougie Freedman

There's only one Dougie Freedman

Walking along

Singing a song

Walking in a Freedman wonder land

Which goes decently enough as 

There's only one Frodo Baggins,
There's only one Frodo Baggins
Walking along
Singing a song
Walking in a Mordor nightmare land

I asked for some help and inspiration from the Fantasy Inn Discord (where the spark for this came from) and got the following from Hiu there

Ooooooooh 
Old Gandalf is magic, he wears a magic hat,
He could have left poor Bilbo, but he said "no, fuck that".
He fought that fucking balrog,
Was grey but now he's white,
But never say "good morning", or he'll start talking shite!

Grade A effort there. Middle Earth is fertile ground for this sort of thing - here's one for everyone's favourite sidekick/real hero

Sam Gamgee, Gamgee

Likes a tater or three

He might even cook one for thee

Sam Gamgee, Gamgee

In similar vein I adopted a pair of Palace favourites (although I'm sure every team has their own variations on this) for the more general milieu very handily

Oh Middle Earth (oh Middle Earth)

Is Wonderful (is wonderful)

Oh Middle Earth is Wonderful

It's full of Ents, Wizards, and Hobbits,

Oh Middle Earth is Wonderful

Oh Mordor (Oh Mordor)

Is Full of Shit (full of shit)

It's full of shit, shit, and more shit,

Oh Mordor is full of shit

Rumours that the Rohirrim were actually singing the latter one at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields are completely true. At least in my head.

We can't let Middle Earth have all the fun though. I did get one request when I mentioned that idea, and that was a chant for Nyneave Al'Meara, so to Randland we go for this classic

Al'Meara-ra-ra, pulls her braid looks snooty
Al'Meara-ra-ra, pulls her braid smacks booty

To the left to the right, and her braid hangs down to her knees

Tugs on it every time she's feeling kinda pissy

I stand by everything I wrote here. I have to, I looked up Agadoo lyrics for this. And since we're in Randland, got to go for a tribute to the main man (and also a certain Scottish goalie of long ago)

Two Dragon Reborns,

There's only two Dragon Reborns,

Two Dragon Reborns

Cruel, somewhat inaccurate, and right to the soft spot - perfect football chant material.

In a similar vein, I wanted to celebrate Liverpool's tribute to Djimi Traore, cult hero of yore. I had to go with a book I didn't know too well to find a good-ish rhyme and lack of control, but I think this works. If it does, I blame it on the people who told me it does. From NK Jemisin's The Fifth Season:

Don't blame it on the commless,

Don't blame it on the strongbacks,

Don't blame it on the breeders

Blame the oregone

They just can't, they just can't, they just can't control their fear

Keeping things mean spirited and personal (I make no bones about that being my favourite type of football chant)

Jaime, where ever you may be,

Your sister's had your babies,

But it could be worse, you could be Ned,

Married to her until he's dead

Let's try a few nice supportive ones now.

Singing Ai Yi Yippie Nanny Ogg

Singing Ai Yi Yippie Nanny Ogg

She likes a drop of brandy

She'll beat you using candy

Singing Ai Yi Yippie Nanny Ogg

Or

When the Don's get rich scheme

Has become a bad dream

That's Lamora

Of course, you can reuse tunes more or less endlessly i.e.

Oh El-Sha’arawi's magic, she wears a magic suit

And when she finds a dead djinn, she knows just where to scoot

She solves crimes with her left hand

She solves them with her right

And when there's fucking angels, she solves all fucking night

Or

Oh Thuan, Thuan,

He has the gift of the gab

His husband likes to stab

Oh Thuan, Thuan

However, on this at least, I'd like to end on a negative note

You're just a Greyjoy, a dirty Greyjoy

You're only happy on raiding day

Your dad's out thieving, your sister's appealing

Please don't take my brothers away

If you made it this far, I'm impressed and horrified. Any further requests, please leave in the comments.

If I ran an imprint

I saw a thing on Twitter t'other day asking what your own personal imprint would look like. I like that idea so here's my in detail take on this - and it even fits a Writing Thursday post, as a lot of these ideas are me being very specific about what I want to write. In the unlikely event anyone out there sees this and would be interested in giving me the financial backing to make it happen, then please do.

With no further ado

The It's All Gone Peat Long Imprint Manifesto

I would like to start with authors from groups that have not traditionally gotten the fairest shake of things. I'd want to be able to say I at least gave them a fair shake. One book a year from that group minimum, minimum rising depending on how many the imprint can do. That's not a particularly radical goal. It's not meant to be. It's simply a fair place to start and see how it goes.

While I'm very much of the "bring me your ideas and wow me" school, there are a few things this imprint would look for (because this is what I want to read)

1) Tales of joy. You've all heard the criticisms of how the publishing industry is much more more interested in terms of X pain because that's what sells. Well, I prefer tales of happiness and joy. Sometimes happiness comes through being put through the wringer but I don't want all wringer. That's the first thing to look at.

2) Urban Fantasy Set in London. Yes, I know there's a ton of stuff set in London. But not a whole bunch that really digs into London identities and belonging. To me, a Londoner, believing I belong to one of the most diverse and magical and historically significant cities in the world

3) Joint Authored Projects from Different Backgrounds. This is just a logical extension to me of the joint push for authenticity and diversity. Very few authors can give that 100% authentic feel for multiple backgrounds, and if there's no multiple backgrounds you just get strands of "this is our thing" side by side with no overlap, so why not seek to have authors teaming up to give both authenticity and diversity? 

4) Translations. Translations is the tricky one because they really do cost. But it is my solemn belief that, without belittling any of the obstacles like race or class or gender or ethnicity, there is no bigger obstacle in the Anglosphere than language. Point in case - how many fantasy authors have sold more than Jin Yong? How many are better known? The difference between those two numbers is considerable. There's so many opportunities to let very talented authors shine there.

5) Tales that have absolutely nothing to do with the author's identity. Don't get me wrong here. I love stories full of people's love for their heritage and that have little details I'd otherwise know. I'm all about them. I just think fairness also involves giving authors from marginalised identities a chance to write whatever the hell they want rather than having to tick an own voice quota too.

Beyond this, here's the other things I think are pretty darn cool

1) Good People in Shitty Worlds. I'm not deadset against antiheroes, or very shiny worlds like Valdemar, but my favourite is where mostly Good People band together against worlds that have a lot of issues. I love a good noble king who genuinely does care but even when you do get that, they are steering a course through opposing storms and you can't always rely on them. And there's plenty of non-noble leaders too. So many.

2) The mix of violence and non-violence. Look, I love reading about violence. It's fun to read about. I also do not think it's necessity as the last gasp deterrence is going away anytime soon. I especially don't think the transcendent high of primitive dominance is going away anytime soon. This combination only increases the need for stories that emphasise the power of non-violent solutions, of making peace and finding understanding. Which are also fun. I sometimes think the ideal story is somewhere between Pratchett and Gemmell on this (admittedly there's a lot of space there).

3) Resonance with the past. My favourite form of fantasy is that which builds on our heritages. It's what I took away most from Tolkien. It's what I want most from fantasy. That riffing on the genre itself, and off video games, it's cool (and hell can be combined with the above), but it's not my love.

4) While I am busy celebrating old school things, let me add that I miss touches of omniscient author voice. I miss big panoramic sweeps and the sense that I'm in a story. I think there's been some great things done with the increased prominence of close voice in modern fantasy, but I'd like to see it combined with what came before, and think that is a path to some great storytelling experiences.

5) Fantasy that borrows liberally from other genres. I love the various takes of fantasy-crime around. I'd love to see that continue. I think there's a lot of room for borrowing from thrillers and spy novels in particular. Conspiracies and mysteries are particularly great.

6) It's way too late so the rest of these points will come out quick. Acknowledge sex. Acknowledge sexiness. Be positive about it. Don't support those who seem to think it's a borderline crime (unless they're having it). Life isn't all sex, but when it is, by gods it's about sex.

7) I am very down for more soft magic, and also magic that borrows liberally from the real world, which isn't always the same thing. 

8) I'd like to see fantasy move away from being alt-history with the serial numbers filed off. Part of that's on readers to stop assuming X is Y the whole time, but parts of that's on creators too. Get a bit nuts. Very obviously make it clear this can't be X culture all the way down.

There we go. Now someone give me lots of money so this can happen.

Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson

Friends, fantasists, comrades. I am here to talk about what is probably one of the most influential books in the genre.

A big claim but consider this brief synopsis. During WW2, an engineer named Holger Carlsen joins the Danish Resistance. He is wounded while covering the escape of Niels Bohr, and awakes in a strange world where the arms and horse of a knight await him. He discovers in this world, much like that of Charlemagne's paladins, that the forces of Law and Chaos are at war. With the aid of a dwarf with a Scottish accent and the swan-maiden Alianora, Holger must discover his own role in this war, for his enemies are many and cunning.

Law and Chaos. Paladins. Scottish dwarves. These are very generic concepts today, particularly among fantasy gamers, but they weren't in 1961. It is here that these ideas, if not originated (although I suspect they did), gained prominence. They had a big influence on D&D, which in turn has influenced huge amounts of modern fantasy literature. And that's just the obvious. I wish I had the knowledge of the genre needed to make the following claim with confidence, but I think there's a case that in terms of the "vaguely historical/mythological adventures of might and magic" trad fantasy genre, this might be the most influential book not penned by Tolkien*. Bold words but I stand by them until something changes my mind.

Influential and of historic importance doesn't mean fun to read though. You don't see me recommending The Worm Ouroboros (I should probably do a review of that). Am I going to recommend 3H&3L?

Yes. This isn't a raving "you must read it" recommendation but it's good at what it does. It's a well-paced adventure with fun fight-scenes and some good glimmerings of humour. Watching Holger apply scientific explanations to the marvels he meets is strangely enjoyable - not my usual cup of tea - and there's a poignancy to his ponderings over what the rat is happening to him. I could wish the world felt more cohesive, but how was Poul Anderson meant to know there's be 50 years of willy-nilly rule of cool western European legend mash up after him?

My biggest criticism and reason I only liked, rather than loved - other than not quite gelling with the prose - this book is that none of the character dynamics really popped at me. Anderson played for that knightly romance feeling and, well, it's not a field that really serves character dynamics in this one's humble opinion. It's too fixated on the knight and the knight's experience of the unknown. Which is what happens here very well. The dynamics between Holger and Alianora, between Holger and the dwarf Hugi, they're fine, there's some fun moments, but it's not stand out. There's no sense of anything wonderful, there's only one truly memorable line (and that's a mild spoiler so I'm not repeating it). Not that there's anything uncommon to that with adventure-action fantasy.

And that's what this is. A fairly common adventure-action fantasy, for better and for worse. Anderson's ideas won't seem as wowing or fresh as they once were, and the prose has aged a little, but this is still gets the job done.