Category Archives: Fantasy

Dying of the Light Book Review

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George R.R. Martin is well-known today as the mega-successful author of the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels. With the appearance of these stories on the small screen as Game of Thrones, Martin has become a household name, not just as one of the foremost fantasy authors of America, but as one of its preeminent authors, period.

Before he became the architect of Westeros, Martin was the editor of the Wild Cards series. If you have been reading fantasy and science fiction long enough, you would have seen these popular anthologies on the shelves of your local bookstore for many years prior to the arrival of A Game of Thrones in 1996. Before that, Martin was the author of other works, one of which was Dying of the Light in 1977, recently reprinted in a new edition by Bantam Books.

Dying of the Light is a far shorter work than we have become used to with the Ice and Fire novel series. But it shows the same seriousmindedness and attention to detail that we have come to expect in Martin’s later work. Indeed, comprehensive worldbuilding is Martin’s forte, and he creates a rich and deep far future background in which to place his troubled characters.

The story begins with the arrival of a “whisperjewel” in Dirk t’Larien’s possession, sent by Gwen Delvano, his former lover. He inteprets the jewel as a cry for help, a call for rescue, and sets off to find Gwen. Gwen, unfortunately, is trapped in a relationship with a stern but noble man, Jaan Vikary, who is not quite her husband, and she is not quite his wife. The resulting love triangle (actually something of a love quadrangle, as Jaan Vikary has a male hunting and fighting companion, Janacek, whom he places above all others people) is a complete mess, and bodes no happy ending for anyone involved.

Martin shows adroitness in developing “alien” cultures without the need for non-human aliens. The cultural stance of Jaan Vikary of High Kavalaan, with its immensely strong bonds between males, but relatively weak ones between men and women, is markedly and almost unbridgeably different from that of Dirk and Gwen, who hail from a culture nearer to our own. High Kavalaan is well-developed as an alien culture, with a seemingly plausible reason given for its development as a world where men form closer relationships with one another than with women.

The setting of Dying of the Light is the fading planet Worlorn, awash in melancholy and regret. It is a world colonized by the peoples of several other planets for the short time that it drifts through space in the vicinity of a grouping of life-giving stars. That fifty-year era is now coming to an end, and Worlorn is now nearly empty of inhabitants, much like a grand old building just before its demolition.

Dying of the Light is a love story, a planetary romance, an adventure, and an examination of how cultural preconceptions make it difficult, if not impossible, for people of radically different cultures to comprehend each other. It is worth a read.

 

Marc DeSantis

Mark of Calth Review Part One

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Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K) is a science fantasy universe with a heavy emphasis on the fantasy. Heroic Space Marines (think knights in power armor) battle against every threat, alien, human, and demonic, that the galaxy can throw at them. It is a dystopian setting in every sense of the word. The Imperium claims to rule all humanity in the name of an immortal but very much physically-dead emperor. Progress of any kind has halted, and people live lives of drudgery, superstition, and fear.

There is also an epic backstory. Some ten thousand years before the “present” of the WH40K era, or about 30,000 AD, there was massive insurrection by nine legions of Space Marines that cast their lot with the foul gods of Chaos. This has become known as the Horus Heresy, after the previously honorable and beloved Warmaster who first raised the banner of rebellion in the name of Chaos. The bright and glorious future promised by the then-living Emperor of Mankind came to a halt in a civil war of fire, iron, and blood.

One of these Traitor legions, the fanatical Word Bearers, attacked the noble and loyal Ultramarines as they mustered unsuspectingly at the world of Calth. Though the Ultramarines blunted the Word Bearer attack, Calth was left in ruins. The survivors of the battle sought shelter from triggered solar storms, along with their enemies, deep underground. The story of the invasion of Calth is told in the excellent novel by Dan Abnett, Know No Fear.

This began the so-called Underworld War, and the unabridged audiobook anthology Mark of Calth refers to the clock that the Ultramarines left running ever since the surprise attack against them. The Ultramarines know how to hold a grudge. The clock still ticks, some ten thousand years later. It also refers to the way that the radiation burns of their poisoned sun has marked the loyalist warriors still fighting for their survival on wrecked Calth.

Mark of Calth features short stories by Black Library’s best writers, and in a brilliant move, each has also been released as an audiobook of about one hour or  more in length. The readers employ their rich tones and voice changes well, and the effect is fantastic. This is such a winning combination that I can’t help but implore other SF and fantasy publishing houses to do the same with their own shorter works. It would certainly help breathe some life into the often-overlooked but vibrant world of SF/F short fiction, which deserves to be better known outside of a handful of yearly anthologies.

Publisher Black Library has an advantage, in that the success of the WH40K miniatures game, as well as several videogames, has created an eager market for such stories. This is military fiction with a strong dose of fantasy and Lovecraftian horror, and the stories in Mark of Calth deliver action and chills in equal measure.

The Traveller, by David Annandale and read by Jonathan Keeble, is a morbid, Cthulhuesque tale of a loyal subject of the Emperor of Mankind who kills heretics wherever he finds them. But has he gone too far in his pogrom against those he deems traitors? And what is the actual source of the voices that he hears?

The Shards of Erebus, by Guy Haley and read by Jonathan Keeble, follows one of the most sinister of all figures in the WH40K universe, the Dark Apostle Erebus of the Word Bearers, and the ultimate instigator of the treason that would swallow the previously loyal Horus and nine entire legions of marines. He is ever-plotting, and The Shards of Erebus follows him as he grasps for ever more power and knowledge of Chaos.

Dark Heart, by Anthony Reynolds and read by David Timson, stars Reynolds’ infamous Word Bearer Dark Apostle Marduk, who is a menace to humanity in the current timeline of WH40K. In the Horus Heresy, he is a scheming would-be apprentice of the Dark Gods. He slays his own teacher of the dark art, but can he somehow survive the retribution of both his own high command and the vengeful Ultramarines too?

Athame, by John French and read by David Timson, tells the story of a blade of Chaos, an athame, created to take life, as it winds its way through human history. In a smart turn, the story of the blade is being told to the blade itself.

So far, Mark of Calth has been extremely good, and I look forward to the remaining stories.  I would recommend it on the basis of just the stories mentioned above.  Several remain on my to-do list, however.  My consideration of Mark of Calth will continue in Part Two of this review.

Marc DeSantis

Blood Like Wine – Now 100% Free For A Limited Time Only

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I have set up my Kindle fantasy novel, Blood Like Wine, as part of a five-day-long free promotion over at Amazon.  You can click on the cover of the novel to the right and it will take you there immediately.  My inspiration for the Kindle novel was Tolkien, my favorite author since I was ten.  I have also put a great deal of effort into getting the battles right.  I am a student of ancient warfare, and I have modeled the combat on real battles, sorcery not included.  The novel is set in a fantasy version of the Roman Empire.  It is not called the Roman Empire, of course, but it is very much like it, just as Tolkien made Middle-earth a fantasy version of early Medieval Europe, but did not call it that.

Download it now, while the price is right!  It will make a great holiday stocking stuffer too!

Marc De Santis

Tolkien and Technology

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J.R.R. Tolkien was no fan of the modern world.  Technology was more often employed by the bad guys than by the good guys in Middle earth.  Here is an interesting take on Tolkien’s feelings toward technology.  I especially find intriguing the notion that technology and magic were once twins, and that one, magic, died out.

This article is a must for Tolkien fans.

Marc De Santis

 

John Carter Rides Again!

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If you have been reading this blog for the last few months (which is as long as it has been going) you will recall that I was very enthusiastic about Disney’s John Carter.   You may also be aware that John Carter cost a sizable portion of Disney’s movie division their jobs.

John Carter has been maligned as a bomb – but is that a fair assessment?  My best movie buddy and I watched the DVD this weekend, and we agreed that the movie was (1) awesome; and (2) flew by.  It is over two hours long but feels like a much shorter film.  This is due in large part to the fast pace.  The action never lets up.  The film’s worldwide take was an impressive $282 million.   That is not pocket change.

Here is the rub:  John Carter cost $250 million to make.  It cost another $100 million to advertise – not that this advertising was apparent in even the slightest degree to me, and I was looking forward to the film.

I can’t believe that John Carter can be called a bomb with a straight face.  A box office bomb makes little money.  John Carter made lots of it, but Disney forgot to control costs.  Any product launch (and that is exactly what a movie is) will fail if expenses spiral out of sight.

I thought that John Carter was much better than Prometheus, which I also enjoyed.  Prometheus has not bombed, but it cost only half of what John Carter did.  That is a big factor.

If you would like to help Disney recoup some its money, the DVD is available at Amazon here.

MGD

Battle of Blackwater

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Yes, it was a spectacular episode.  Game of Thrones spent an entire hour on the crucial Battle of Blackwater, in which the soldiers of Stannis Baratheon are repulsed by those loyal to Joffrey Lannister.

Tyrion, my favorite character, proves himself to be the real leader of men in King’s Landing.   Read Scott Meslow’s take on the episode in The Atlantic here.

Game of Thrones – Garden of Bones

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On the Legitimacy of Kings

Robb Stark continues to prove his mettle by defeating the Lannisters (again) in battle.  His sister Sansa Stark, engaged to be married to King Joffrey, but as much or more of a hostage in his court, is whipped on account of her brother’s success.  She is rescued from further harm, however, by Tyrion, a man who claims to have no honor but is proving to be the most honorable of all, perhaps in spite of himself.  He asks her quietly is she wishes to put an end to the engagement.  When she demures, and says with consummate tact, that Joffrey is her lord, Tyrion recognizes a kindred diplomat in Sansa.

Littlefinger’s visit to Renly Baratheon’s court is filled with ambivalence.  He offers to open the gates of King’s Landing to Renly.  He also returns Ned Stark’s remains to Catelyn Stark, and says that they – Littlefinger and Catelyn –  can at last be together.  But this is an unrequited love.  Catelyn does not want Littlefinger, and he has allowed himself to fall in love with a woman far above his station.  I am not certain if I can feel any sympathy for Littlefinger.  He betrayed Ned, which was a terrible thing, and he was perhaps motivated to do so by his desire for Catelyn, whom he has loved for so long, without hope.

Catelyn tries to make peace between Stannis Baratheon and Renly, without success.  Stannis by all rights – for what those are worth in Westeros – is the legitimate king, and one would expect that the eldest brother of the prior king would simply accede to the throne without much fuss.  However, at least some do still believe that Joffrey is Robert’s own son, and thus the true king of the realm.  Also, this raises the question of why so many follow Renly instead of Stannis.  Renly is more outgoing, and Stannis is humorless and dour.  Perhaps though it is also a question of legitimacy.  It should be borne in mind that the Baratheon “dynasty” is less than a generation old at the time of the death of Robert Baratheon.  Robert himself deposed the old Targaryen king, and you can make your own decision as to whether he is thereby legitimate.

I admire Martin for creating a political situation in which there are plausible reasons for men to support any one of the contenders vying for the throne, or at least a throne, since Robb Stark at this juncture simply wishes to be King in the North,

Speaking of Targaryens, Dany finally gets to be in a scene with some real dialogue, and not simply be thirsty.  Her Dothraki have arrived at the gates of Qarth, at the edge of the Red Waste, and her entrance is denied by the city’s rulers, the Thirteen.  Their spokesman wishes to see her dragons, but Dany is reluctant to allow them a view.  I am not sure why she would not show them. Could it be that they are so small that they would not impress?  Or does she hear that the Qartheen would try and steal them?

She is at last granted entry when Xaro speaks on her behalf.  The gates open to reveal a vista of a wondrous city within, akin to Babylon in its days of greatness.  But what are Xaro’s motives?

Arya and Gendry are in deep trouble.  The prisoners of the almost comically cruel Lannister soldiers are being tortured by the application of a rat, shoved in a bucket applied to the prisoners chest, which is then heated by fire.  Gendry is saved from this horrible death by the arrival of Lord Tywin Lannister, who puts a stop to this sordid affair.  Lord Tywin, he is the real deal.  One wonders whether the situation in Westeros would be different if he could be everywhere.  He is by no means a good guy.  He is simply a more effective man than the brutes he has working for him.  There was no real point to the torture and murder of the prisoners before Gendry.  The Lannister men were just bored.

MGD

Game of Thrones: What is Dead May Never Die

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What is Dead May Never Die – Season 2, Episode Three

Game of Thrones’ second season continues to build.  The more that I watch it (and entertain the heretical notion that the HBO series is more fun than the novels) the more apparent it becomes that GoT is really a political opera more than it is a fantasy series.  Oh sure, it has all the trappings of traditional fantasy – the swords, the strange names, murky, make-believe, ancient history – but it is in actuality an alternate-world War of the Roses with the complexity cranked to eleven.

Tyrion Lannister naturally gets the best parts.  He craftily tells three different men, the brothel owner Littlefinger, the eunuch Varys, and Maester P:ycelle, that he plans to wed Cersei’s daughter Myrcella to three different aristocrats, telling each that Cersei must not know.  When Cersei angrily confronts Tyrion afterwards, he realizes that the leak is Maester Pycelle, who claims to be an informant for the Lannisters, which of course seems plausible.

Brienne of Tarth at last makes her appearance.  She defeats Ser Loras in tournament combat and is made a member of King Renly Baratheon’s Kingsguard.  Brienne is one of the most engaging of all of the characters of Martin’s otherwise unappealing cast.  She is tall, gawky, and unlovely, but she is true, honorable,  and utterly loyal to her hero, Renly.  She is one of the few characters that displays real loyalty to anyone.  In some sense she is, in her almost complete outsiderness, a stand-in for us, the readers, in her struggle to comprehend and fit into the hostile world around her.

Brienne also seems to one of the few who might measure up in the difficult times ahead.  Catelyn Stark arrives in Renly’s domain, but warns that his men are “knights of summer and winter is coming.”  For many in Westeros, the War of the Five Kings is still a sport.  It will not be for long.

Theon Greyjoy is still being disrespected by his Ironborn father, Balon, who maliciously plans to give just one raiding ship to Theon while his sister Asha is to receive thirty.  Theon wisely points out that the could get more from an alliance with Robb Stark, the King of the North, instead of raiding his lands.  The Ironborn seem unconvincing to me.  They are meant to be Norman/Vikings, living on the edge of Westeros and not fully integrated into their culture.  However, their insistence, as exemplified by Balon, in taking things by force, the “iron price,” while interesting from a sociological standpoint, does not hold up when compared to real history.  The Vikings took what they could get and never insisted on doing things the hard way.

MGD

Game of Thrones – The Night Lands

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So Sunday evening has turned out to be television festival night.  Between Game of Thrones and Mad Men, this is the best small screen twosome right now.  Game of Thrones keeps getting better.   Martin’s novels are long and complex, but they pay off hugely in the end.  Last Sunday’s episode, The Night Lands, was a tour de force of the genre.  A lot happened, and the table is still be set, so to speak, for events later in the season.

A handful of things should be noted.  Gendry knows that Ary is really Arya.  King Joffrey’s men are also looking for him, and this puts them both in danger.  But it is a good thing to be part of the Night’s Watch.  They don’t take guff from anyone.

Tyrion – has there ever been a cooler character? – has laid off Janos Slynt from command of the Kingsguard.  He betrayed the previous Hand of the King and Tyrion doesn’t trust him not to do the same to him.  But could Tyrion also be displaying some moral qualms about a man who murdered an infant?  Tyrion is a good guy in spite of himself, a darker version of Han Solo, perhaps more appropriate for the modern age.  We have also discovered that Cersei was unaware of Joffrey’s order to murder the bastards of the last king, Robert.

In the Iron Islands, Theon Greyjoy, after nine years as a hostage with the Starks in Winterfell, receives a cold welcome from his father, Balon.  The Ironborn are a different kind of people from the ordinary Westerosi.  They are from elsewhere, their historical analogue being Vikings in medieval England, and their code is strict  and alien.   They are very old-fashioned, and scorn anything that they have not taken by force.  That is the iron price of things.  The salt price is what is obtained with money.  That is not valued.

Elsewhere, Stannis Baratheon, to  my mind, the one  man with the best claim to the throne, is busily recruiting ships to take on his rivals.  Danaerys is still stuck in the midst of the Red Waste, and poor Rakharo has come back with his head stuffed in his own saddlebag.  The Dothraki are dying of thirst.  Dany does not know what to do.  She has not had much to do lately.  Given the explosive nature of the first season finale – Dany emerged from her husband’s funeral pyre with three dragons in tow – her activities so far have been anti-climactic.   That won’t last forever.

MGD