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The World, by Robin Wildt Hansen: A Review

The World describes the metaphysical journey of Arkin from initiation to Magus through the structure of the four suits and the twenty-two major arcana of the Tarot deck. Arkin, the protagonist, may be schizophrenic; the voices he hears and the obsessions he has may be related to his emerging schizophrenia, or, they may be the manifestations of power that he is too frightened to embrace.

The World can be read allegorically, or it can be read as straight-forward fantasy, although my preference is for the former interpretation. Drawing on Norse, Christian, classical and Yoruba mythologies (those were the ones I recognized, at least), Arkin’s journey through the labyrinth of his neurology, or through the labyrinth of initiation and testing, to his ultimate goal, is written in a mix of prose poetry, stream of consciousness, and straight-forward prose, not always the easiest read but one worth pursuing.

Just before I read The World I had – coincidentally – been reading about the religious experiences of subjects using mescaline or peyote in Aldous Huxley’s Doors of Perception. There are strong similarities to parts of Arkin’s journey, although I do not think the book is an indictment or an endorsement of the use of mind-altering drugs. Instead, I read The World as an alternative interpretation of differences in perception that the Western world sees as mental illness. I kept thinking of the classic (but very different) work of the 1960’s, Joanne Greenberg’s I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, which also delved into the mind of a young schizophrenic patient, and how she also communicated with gods and angels.

The World will not be a book for everyone. It isn’t, as I said, an easy read, and a knowledge of at least the basic symbolism of western – and other – religions is likely necessary to appreciate Arkin’s journey. I suspect I missed a fair bit, but understood enough to appreciate the roles that most of the beings that appear to Arkin played. The use of the Tarot deck to frame and structure the story is interesting. Many years ago I read – somewhere – that the purpose of a Tarot deck was to help the person for whom the reading was being done to break out of their automatic ways of thinking and search for new interpretations of what was happening in their life – in very simplistic terms, to help them see that what they thought of as a barrier might actually be a door. That interpretation of Tarot and Arkin’s initiatory journey through the card’s symbols resonated for me.

I’m giving The World four stars: there were a few production errors, some awkward sentences, a few run-on paragraphs that I felt detracted somewhat from the narrative. They were not serious, though, and did not prevent me from reading The World in one day, which is a testament to its strength.

Paper Crowns, by Mike Cyr: A Review

I really liked the premise of Paper Crowns, a debut novel by author Mike Cyr. Three late-teenage female cousins, Amy, Carrie and Renee, and two male friends (Mitch and Dean) find their way to another world via a magic mirror. Alice, however, would have nothing in common with these teens; neither are they the noble and polite children of Narnia. These are modern teens from a small town, teens with drinking problems, issues with sexuality, self-esteem problems, and, in Amy’s case, a mother who wrote stories about the world they find themselves in, before self-destructing, leaving Amy in the care of an aunt and obsessed with her mother’s writings.

The talking animals of Ezrantia are also not the talking animals of Narnia. Amy and company soon learn that the crumbling politics and rivalries of Ezrantia are largely due to her mother’s influence: the stories, were, after all, real. And it will be up to Amy and her friends – if they can survive their own dysfunctions – to save the land and its inhabitants.

At times Cyr writes with real skill. Descriptions can border on lyrical, and some of the action scenes are very effective. Characters develop over the book, especially Amy and Carrie, and to a lesser extent Dean. The plot moves quickly – almost too quickly, sometimes: there are multiple Ezrantian characters and multiple side plots which feed the larger one – but at times I found this confusing. I needed more background to fully understand allegiances and motives of the Ezrantian characters. In other places, the writing is awkward: ‘Its surface, rough and flecked with imperfections, quickly melted nice and smooth…” or ungrammatical: ‘..that between the spells he used to stabilize the portal and their eased minds would make this easier.’

One character – Shiraz – is referred to consistently as ‘they’, without explanation. Having only one character using a gender-neutral pronoun seemed odd to me, especially since at one point Shiraz is referred to by another Ezrantian character as ‘she’. This may be more of my problem as a reader than that of the writer, but because only Shiraz was ‘they’, I felt an explanation was needed.

The e-pub version I read was marred by multiple production errors. In a sample of 120 pages I recorded errors on thirty-one of them. Errors mostly resulted from poor editing: ‘Otkwo leaped into action, Yanking Kadesh back..’ and included the misspelling of characters’ names. Unfortunately, this number of errors significantly distracted from my reading pleasure: I found myself looking for errors instead of simply getting lost in the story. A final, critical proof-reading would have improved the reading quality of Paper Crowns greatly.

I would summarize Paper Crowns as a novel with a good premise, a complex world, and interesting, original characters, but also one that would have benefited from more thorough editing. There’s some good creation here: it will be interesting to see what the author produces as he matures as a writer. Three stars.

The author supplied me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Citizen Magus, by Rob Steiner: A Review

citizen magusWritten with a deft, sure, and light hand, this is the story of Remington Blakes, a.k.a. Natta Magus, a twenty-first century magus who has been transported against his will back to the Rome of 6 B.C. by his magical mentor. Steiner blends action, ethical dilemma, romance, humour and an accurate geographical and physical portrayal of ancient Rome to create a magical romp, that, while mostly light-hearted, also addresses some serious ethical questions.

The self-effacing hero of Citizen Magus has managed to set himself up as an artisan magus, providing finding services (his specialty) for the citizens of Rome. But he has not given up on searching for his mentor, William Pingree Ford, both to stop him meddling with history and to perhaps get home. When an evil, vampire-like creature murders a young woman and kidnaps another, Remington is swept up into a battle to defeat the creatures, which are part of Ford’s plot.

I particularly liked two things about Citizen Magus: the magic, and the setting. Remington’s magic is neither particularly arcane, nor is it matter-of-fact. Almost all people of this alternative Earth of the 21st century have magic. It’s a subject to be studied in university, which Remington has been doing back home in Detroit. There’s a believable explanation of how it works and what energies it uses, and of the laws and vows that govern it. The fact that Remington’s magical regalia includes a Detroit Wolverines baseball cap worn backwards reflects the overall light-hearted tone of the book.

As a writer whose own work is set in an analogue of the post-Roman world of northern Europe, I’ve spent a lot of time reading about, and taking courses on, the Roman Empire. Steiner’s portrayal of the geography, politics, and ways of life (and smells) of ancient Rome and its people added to my appreciation of the book: magic is more convincing when it’s inserted into a world that is otherwise realistic. But having set the book in a well-described Roman Empire, Steiner does not attempt to make the spoken language a direct translation of Latin, or archaic English. People speak fairly standard English, with a few Latin words that are easy to understand thrown in, effectively reminding the reader of the setting without adding difficulties to the dialogue that might detract from the flow of the narrative.

At this point in a review, I usually discuss my ‘niggles’: things that weren’t quite right. With the exception of one error missed in the copy-editing (an ‘it’s’ used when ‘its’ should have been) I found no errors of grammar, spelling or production in the e-pub version I read, for which the author and his editor should be commended.

I’m giving a solid 5 stars to Citizen Magus. I’m looking forward to the further adventures of Remington Blakes, as well as to reading Steiner’s earlier Codex Antonius series: if they are as good as this book, they’ll be well worth reading.

The author kindly provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Firequeen (The First Covenant), by J.S Malpas: A Review

This is one of the hardest book reviews I’ve ever written. On the surface J.S. Malpas’s Firequeen is a fantasy novel with many of the familiar characters and elements of that genre: evil witches influencing young kings; a simple rural lad caught up in an adventure larger than himself, an old woman who is not what she seems; and a queen running from betrayal and gathering power and followers.

But I think the author may have been attempting something more. There is an odd feel to this book that I have encountered only once before. About a year ago, and for a different site, I wrote a review of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant. It was a book I really wanted to like, and couldn’t. I couldn’t get past the almost emotionless prose, the sometimes unnatural dialogue, and the sense that the whole thing was an allegory I couldn’t quite fathom. I found the prose in Firequeen almost equally emotionless, and the dialogue flat and frequently unrealistic, but in the way some translations of medieval works such as Gawain and the Green Knight or some of Lord Dunsany’s fantasies are – mannered, almost banal – although without the archaic language of Dunsany.

Many, if not most, of the characters are not fully-realized people, but are archetypes, and again it is my sense that the author expects us to recognize them as such and know how they fit into the world of the story. Even a monstrous animal that appears towards the end of the book appeared to be a version of the Questing Beast. Pulling themes and archetypes from a variety of mythologies and traditions, my feeling is that Malpas attempted to create a complex saga where much detail in world-building is unnecessary because it is already known to the audience and where the familiar characters’ roles and meanings are also known. Where Firequeen differs is in its multi-faceted nature: there are several stories here, all of which contain archetypal characters and set-piece situations, and which will, it is assumed, intersect at some point in the series.

I had one niggle that remains a niggle, regardless of the author’s intent in writing this book, and that is his unconventional use of punctuation in dialogue. Instead of the conventional ‘“I think the day will be rainy,” Bob said.’, Malpas consistently uses ‘“I think the day will be rainy.” Bob said.’ I found the replacement of the conventional comma with a period annoying and distracting.

As my regular readers know I use a rubric to evaluate and rate books. On the basis of this rubric, Firequeen rated poorly, coming out at 2 stars. But I have to say I’m not entirely sure that’s fair to this book, although I read it more with an analytical and sometimes puzzled eye than in enjoyment. If the author’s intent was simply to write a high-fantasy story, then I think the rating is fair. If the intent was to create something different, a retelling and amalgamation of tales of magic and mystery (in the sense of a mystery play, not a who-done-it) from a variety of traditions…well, it’s a valiant but (in my opinion) overall unsuccessful attempt.

The Best Present for a Writer

The best present for a published writer is simple:  buy their book. Either for yourself, or to give to someone else.

The best present for an unpublished writer?  Encouragement.  If you’re looking for something more tangible, consider any of the following: the gift of time – maybe you’ll do their grocery shopping or run their kids to soccer to give them an hour or two of writing time.  Or a financial contribution to any of the services of an editor or the cover art, or that creative writing course they’d love to take.  Almost anything that tells them you take their writing seriously and want to help make publication (if that’s their goal) possible.

What, fellow writers, would you add to this list at this time of gift-giving?

I wish you all Blessed Yule, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwaanza, and best wishes for any and all of our celebrations against the dark and for the burgeoning light.

 

 

 

 

Perfect World, by Shari Sakurai: a Review

In twenty-second century London, Eric Rawlins has been genetically Perfect Worldengineered as a hero, a man with strength and speed and healing powers well beyond those of typical humans. Working for the London Security Agency (the LSA), Eric’s work is to keep London, and England, safe, isolated as it now is from Europe and the rest of the world by the aftermath of the Great Tsunamis of the twenty-first century and the political collapse and reorganization of the world’s powers.

The arch-enemy of the LSA is Adam Larimore, terrorist supreme and gorgeous bad boy. As Eric and Adam face off, Eric is drawn into Adam’s world, only to learn that perhaps Adam – and the LSA – are not all they seem. Is Adam telling Eric the truth, or is Eric developing Stockholm Syndrome?

I can’t fault Perfect World for being fast-paced or action-packed: it’s both, although there are times the plot machinations seem a bit engineered. The writing is adequate: there are a few awkward sentences and some minor usage errors (e.g., lie vs. lay), and, especially in the early chapters, the voice is too frequently passive. The reader is told, more than shown, what is happening. But where Perfect World fell apart for me was in the world-building. In what is essentially Fortress London, in a world where almost all resources appear to be directed to defense, a world devastated by climate change, people happily sit down to breakfast with coffee and orange juice.

But that wasn’t the biggest problem I had with Perfect World’s 22nd century London. By about three chapter in, I had a question: why was everyone, apparently, white? Why were their last names Matheson, Drake, Beasley, Rawlins, Larimore? Where were the Mbutus and the Patels, the Wus and the Chavezes and the Hussains and the Parks and the Walenskis, all of whom live in the 21st century London I know and love? For a city as multicultural as London to suddenly become purely Anglo-Saxon with no explanation was asking too much of my ability to suspend disbelief, which in turn affected my ability to believe in some of the twists and turns of the plot.

I rate Perfect World  as a bare 3/5, with low scores for world-building and plot contortions contributing to the overall score. As a young writer Shari Sakurai has promise, but needs to more fully realize and develop her world and its characters to reach her potential.

The author provided me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.