Fri 15 August 2008

For the longest time imaginable, I have been fascinated by fantasy - whether it be the science-fiction staples of Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Asimov and Philip K Dick or the lands of elves, dragons, and gods as laid down by writers like JRR Tolkien, Anne McCaffrey, Neil Gaiman and so many others. As a person who spent most of his classroom hours staring out the window daydreaming, its obvious on hindsight that stories of alternate realities and worlds would have a special hold on me.

The reason for writing this post now is that as my collection of fantasy books has grown, I find that I'm less and less enamored by the stories I read. A certain kind of fatigue has crept in, an allergic reaction if you will to the same hackneyed portrayal of squat dwarves, lithe & androgynous elves, certain mystical objects which tie the whole tale together etc etc. If you have read any decent amount of fantasy, you would know what I'm talking about. My bile has especially been raised by the fact that I was unfortunate enough to read the latest Christopher Paolini book, Brisingr.

Now, I do not hold any great opinion about his earlier books titled Eragon and Inheritance. It's just that I have this unfortunate affliction of not being able to resist buying the remaining books in the series once I have started the first one. Let me tell you, it results in severe economic and logistical challenges if you have this affliction and you have to shift. Back to the topic, I bought Brisingr despite my earnest attempts to avoid doing so. And what awaited me when I opened the book? The news that Paoloni has decided to expand the "Inheritance Trilogy" to an "Inheritance Cycle", which means I still have to buy one more book!

I remember jokingly posting in a forum that there should be a Fantasy Regulatory Commission which would ensure that the interests of the readers are looked after, and that fantasy series are capped at a maximum of 3 books unless extraordinary talent has been exhibited. After all, not anyone can write like a Robert Jordan (I have all 12 of his books, and looking forward to the 13th which will sadly not be entirely his) or George RR Martin (all four of his from the "Ice & Fire" series).

Therefore, what I have been assiduously doing for the past two odd months is to get my hands on as many different types of fantasy as I can, steadfastly avoiding the usual cliched staples. Think of it as taking as a running jump into the deep end of the fantasy pool with no lifeguard in sight. To what end you might ask. Simple, to understand what makes me tick as a reader and to expand my horizon beyond the usually read and recommended. Thanks to the efforts of friends and some nice bookstores, my tally stands as follows (in no particular order):

1. Orphans of Chaos - John Wright
2. Fugitives of Chaos - John Wright
3. Titans of Chaos - John Wright
4. Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
5. His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik
6. Throne of Jade - Naomi Novik
7. Black Powder War - Naomi Novik
8. Empire of Ivory - Naomi Novik
9. Victory of Eagles - Naomi Novik
10. The Sword of Shannara - Terry Brooks
11. The Elfstones of Shannara - Terry Brooks
12. The Wishsong of Shannara - Terry Brooks
13. Nine Princes in Amber - Roger Zelazny
14. Guns of Avalon - Roger Zelazny
15. Sign of the Unicorn - Roger Zelazny
16. Hand of Oberon - Roger Zelazny
17. The Courts of Chaos - Roger Zelazny
18. River of Gods - Ian McDonald
19. Anathem - Neal Stephenson
20. Brisingr - Christopher Paolini
21. Nightside of the Long Sun - Gene Wolfe
22. Lake of the Long Sun - Gene Wolfe
23. Calde of the Long Sun - Gene Wolfe
24. Exodus from the Long Sun - Gene Wolfe
25. The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
26. The Claw of the Conciliator - Gene Wolfe
27. The Sword of the Lictor - Gene Wolfe
28. The Urth of the New Sun - Gene Wolfe
29. On Blue's Waters - Gene Wolfe
30. The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar
31. Pavane - Keith Roberts
32. The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
33. Before They Are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie
34. Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie

Another good resource for free ebooks (of the legal kind) is Tor.com which for the past six odd months has been generously giving out two ebooks every fortnight as a promotion for the launch of their new website. Through Tor and again in no particular order, I was able to read the following books:

1. The Outstretched Shadow - Mercedes Lackey, James Mallory
2. Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
3. Farthing - Jo Walton
4. Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
5. Crystal Rain - Tobias Buckell
6. Lord of the Isles - David Drake
7. Through Wolf's Eyes - Jane Lindskold
8. The Disunited States of America - Harry Turtledove
9. Reffein's Choice - S.C. Butler
10. Sun of Suns - Karl Schroeder
11. Four and Twenty Blackbirds - Cherie Priest
12. Spirit Gate - Kate Elliott
13. Starfish - Peter Watts
14. A Shadow in Summer - Daniel Abraham
15. Touch of Evil - C.T. Adams, Cathy Clamp
16. In The Garden of Iden - Kage Barker
17. Flash - L.E. Modesitt
18. In the Midnight Hour - Patti O'Shea
19. Soul - Tobsha Learner
20. Darkness of the Light - Peter David
21. Butcher Bird - Richard Kadrey

What lessons have I learnt other than the simple fact that I have a lot of free time on my hands? The first is that yes, fantasy as a genre is heavily weighted by the usual cliches of dwarves, elves, trolls and their numerous other anthropomorphic equivalents. And this is definitely something that excludes a lot of potential readers because of the juvenile connotations that it arouses in their minds. The result of this is that a lot of radically different, well-written works of fantasy get left by the roadside except in the minds of enthusiasts.

Secondly, my own tastes I see have changed from a liking for Tolkien-ish worlds with their focus on languages, cultures and creatures rather than on the story, to novels where the story has to be heading somewhere by the second chapter if it does not want to face the risk of summary dismissal. I think this is because as a reader and as an employed person (instead of as a student, where most of my fantasy reading happened), I need a quick fix. I just cannot be bothered now to learn the lingua franca of the fantasy world, its theology and cultural evolution just to be able to appreciate the novel.

Thirdly, I find that books based on alternative realities keep me quite engrossed. Novels like Naomi Novik's Temeraire series with its dragons set in a realistic Napoleonic era are engrossing because of the heavy element of realism that they imbue. As a reader, the mind does not have to stretch its imagination beyond accepting that there are dragons in that era to enjoy the novel. It's because the characters in the novels, whether human or dragon are fleshed out so well that all the reader has to do is just read along with the author and enjoy the story.

Alternative fiction would also include novels like Farthing by Jo Walton which is a story about the successful rise of fascism in England during World War 2, or Harry Turtledove's The Disunited States of America which is a part science fiction, part alternative reality tale of the failure of the federal structure of the United States of America and how each state becomes a country in its own right with a separate military, currency and patois. I would also recommend Pavane by Keith Roberts which is a novel based on the English being defeated by the Spanish Armada and the entrenchment of Catholicism in 20th century England.

Finally, I think my taste has shifted towards characters who are painted with shades of grey rather than the usual monochromatic cast of characters we find in fantasy novels. Some works which have characters that fit this bill exactly are Joe Abercrombie's series, Daniel Abraham's first novel from his Long Price Quartet and Gene Wolfe's "Tales of the New Sun" series. What makes these novels so attractive is that the characters are real human beings, with fears and desires, circumspect and wavering. If there are heroes, they are anti-heroes or very reluctant at donning the mantle of the hero. All these combine to make a narrative which is easy for the reader to get subsumed into.

There definitely is a lot of good fantasy out there for readers to lose themselves in. The problem I think most face is finding it and appreciating it. As mentioned above, Tor.com is a good resource that people can look at for recommendations though its obviously limited to Tor authors. Browsing through Librarything I have found is a good way to find new recommendations as is Amazon. In the end, the best recommendation I can give is that if it has elves and dwarves in it, just push it away. You will end up reading a lot more good fantasy if you follow that simple maxim.

Category: Reading

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