May you shelter in the palm of the Creator’s hand, and may the Mother’s last embrace welcome you home.”For over 15 years I have been reading, rereading or anticipating the next release date of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. The universe he created was so intricately detailed that it seemed encumbered by the pages (and pages) of words describing it. The series is a great example of the the world building potential inherant in the fantasy genre but it also employs the much overused bildungsroman style that many fantasy authors seem to enjoy. When the protagonist is young and niave from a sleepy, backwater village, it's useful for the author to describe the sights and sounds as experienced by our wide-eyed soon to be actualized hero.
That being said, Robert Jordan has created a universe, full and robust, that will always hold a portal in my imagination.
While waiting for someone to finish A Memory of Light , we do have other fine examples of the fantasy genre to keep us occupied. The Malazan Book of the Fallen series, by Steven Erikson, is a gritty military story arc occupied by grizzled veteran soldiers, many of whom are missing various limbs, ethically dubious "good guys," and gods disguised as fools possessing a refreshingly dry wit. The Bonehunters, Book six of an anticipated 10 books was just released yesterday.
Another hefty series I've come to enjoy is George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice. A Dance with Dragons, the fifth of seven books, is currently in the works. Martin's universe is modeled after medieval Europe, with knights in armor bearing coats of arms, small kingdoms with ruling families sharing complex genealogies warring with each other, and a good deal of political intrigue. There's not a lot of magic, but there are dragons. Martin also indiscriminately kills off his protagonists, while the "bad guys" are not always punished for their crimes.
1 comment:
Buzzkill. I hope he left copious notes. If I don't get resolution to this series, I may go Trolloc on someone. This albatross has been around my neck since 1991, and quite frankly, I'm getting sick of more and more Aes Sedai characters being introduced and the fact that Forsaken can't stay dead or keep their original names.
Post a Comment