"The Raven" by John Lawson

Title: "The Raven"
Author: John Lawson
Pages: 618
Series: Witch Ember Series, Book Two
Genre: Heroic Fantasy
Publisher: Publish America

Blurb:

Guiromelans is a knight, a sacred paladin, seeking nothing more than to obey the
commandments of God. But when God betrays him and allows a hells- condemned
witch to defeat him in battle, he is forced to reexamine his faith. What did he
do to merit such disgrace? What can he do to atone for his sins?

Facing
challenges both of the flesh and of the soul, Guiromelans begins a pilgrimage
across the known world. In search of redemption and forgiveness, he discovers
the true meaning of God's will.

The Raven is the sequel to John Lawson's
first novel, Witch Ember.

Verdict: Perhaps one of the most long listed book in my slush pile, "The Raven" also scored the award for longest read book ever. If it wasn't for John's good natured web-stalking and hinting, I wouldn't be even considering picking the novel any time soon. The playful overture now passed let's get down to business. "The Raven" is a thick book in nature and has a lot to offer and yet the longer a book is, the more chances there are for some slight malfunctions to mess up with a generally good experience. As a reader I am completely aware of what I like and what I don’t the minute I see it, but very rarely I find myself in a position, where my indecisiveness shows through. This is such a case.

“The Raven” follows the months after the war, which ended “Witchember” [my review is here], and is told through the eyes of Sir Guiromelans, who takes to the road on a soul-searching pilgrimage to not only reevaluate his faith and beliefs in his God, but to also understand what God’s will and his path as a paladin will dictate in the future. He starts out a pirate captain, whose ship’s sails catch on ill winds, and then finds himself committed to a war, which far from being his own.

Since it's always easier to list all the stones in the shoe than dress the praise in words, I will start with what drove me to great deal of annoyance. The biggest offender right from the start is the use of foreign, made-up words, which compared to the first book written by Lawson, has grown exponentially. There were some chapters during which I had to list back and forth losing a great deal of time to translate what the author wanted to say. This wouldn't have bothered me as much, if the glossary didn't skip words or had them spread chaotically under one letter and not perfectly alphabetical. My salvation came with one of the fictional languages being based heavily on German to get by without the glossary. I think that the use of made-up words would have not hindered the book as much, if the words were listed as footnotes. I do think fictional languages add authentic flavor and create their own variety of magic, but something technical can ruin it.

The composition of the novel itself brings out some mixed feelings for me. “The Raven” has this cyclic rhythm: fight evil, destroy heresy, expect God to forgive your sins, contemplate, get drunk, almost die and repeat again. When Sir Guiromelans had to rid the world from yet another menace, I was reminded about the tales of Sinbad in 1001 Nights, mainly for the excessive violence and gore and also unapologetic deaths of characters the reader thought would stick for the happy ending. Life expectancy in this world is not very high and throughout I always kept guessing, who would get killed most of the time. However this kind of rhythm started to sound a bit repetitive for me and during the natural lows after a battle left for contemplation and the scenes that show the changes in Guiromelans’ inner world, reading was tedious. Only, when the build-up for the culmination came around the 300-page mark made me invest more in the book as whole.

Lawson's writing style presents reality in stark brutality that makes an impact and even if it doesn't move the readers gives them enough to wrap their minds around. What Lawson did in his first novel was to show us a very harsh world environment torn in wars. However, he is not the typical one trick pony. What he does with his main character is traveling around the areas unrevelaved in book one and presenting an even darker aspect of his universe, which is full with grotesque details and interesting concepts that are downright creepy, if not nauseating at times. Even though "The Raven" plays a lot with elements of the horror genre, it isn't built like a horror-fantasy hybrid, but presents the adrenaline rush from a very good hack and slash video game in the vein of Diablo.

What I positively loved about the novel was the underlying theme of the traveling man, the holy pilgrimage and reevaluation of faith. These are universal themes, which circulate through literature since Ancient Greece and I think at least that most readers would be able to identify with the inner struggles and states of emotional distress Guiromelans experiences like I did. This type of story is as close as the definition of life humanity has come up with. It transcends language and cultural restrictions. It focuses on the ebbs and twists and turns of the road that break or make the man and the goal, for all alterations on the path covered alter change you and isn't that the magic of life.

As a conclusion “The Raven” is good, interesting, but there are obstacles that make it a bit harder to enjoy than it should be. Nevertheless, you won't be disappointing by giving it a chance.

Other Opinions:

ParaNormalRomance

Odyssey Reviews

Infinity Plus

Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

Once Upon a Time ІІІ

It’s that time of the year, where spring affects you in immeasurable ways, so here I am making a commitment to a three month reading challenge, but considering the fact that I am reading precisely what this challenge is about, I won’t have a problem. So with no further ado, here is the Once Upon a Time ІІІ Challenge:

fan-ta-sy: a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting

fairy tale: a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and talking animals, and usually enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events.

folk-lore: the traditional beliefs, legends, customs, etc., of a people, lore of a people; The traditional beliefs, myths, tales and practices of a people, transmitted orally.

my-thol-o-gy: a body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person; a set of stories, traditions or beliefs associated with a particular group of an event, arising naturally or deliberately fostered.

Those are genres allowed and there are 5 Quests with special demands on how many and what books to read. From all five I am aiming to manage three Quests.

Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time III criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

Fulfill the requirements for Quest the First or Quest the Second AND top it off with a June reading of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream OR a viewing of one of the many theatrical versions of the play. Love the story, love the films, love the idea of that magical night of the year and so this is my chance to promote the reading of this farcical love story.

Read two non-fiction books, essay collections, etc. that treat any one or more of the four genres covered in this challenge.

“Quondam” by Jayel Gibson

Title: “Quondam”
Author: Jayel Gibson
Series: Book 4, Ancient Mirror Tales series
Genre: Heroic Fantasy
Pages: 328
Publisher: Synergy Books

Summary: A murderous queen:
Bound in mortal flesh by an angry god, a once ethereal nymph murders Quondam’s king and seizes the throne. All who do not bow before her die in the agony that is dragons’ breath. But, there is threat of a challenger to this brutal reign, a legend’s promised savior. Fearful, Queen Karid has the suspect captured, condemned and sentenced to an eternity alone.

A condemned dragonspawn:
Born of man and magick, cursed at birth by his terrified mother, a young
Dragonspawn is branded a demon, a threat to Quondam’s queen, and sentenced to a millennium of solitude. His only freedom now found in dreams, he searches among a universe of sleepers for a woman born beneath the sign of the dragon, a woman believed to hold the key to his release.

And the woman thrust between them:
Her family and homeland destroyed by an otherworldly assassin’s fire, Cwen of Aaradan, niece of the Dragon Queen, escapes through a mysterious portal into Quondam. There, Cwen discovers her fate and an imprisoned dragonspawn’s are intertwined in ways that will drag her, heartbroken and vengeful, into the midst of a devastating war.

United:
With the help of an elder wizard, and the sorceresses B’rma and N’dia, the dragonspawn and Cwen of Aaradan embark on an epic journey to undo the folly of a god, stop the mad nymph queen, and return peace and magick to a war torn world.

Classification & Literary Class: I never imagined I would read a novel from this subgenre of fantasy and it not be published before the transition towards urban fiction. Heroic Fantasy is simple enough, uses elements from High Fantasy and Sword & Sorcery genres, but within its simplicity lays the greatest trap. Have a protagonist of royal blood on a quest to save his land from an evil usurper sounds like easy enough to get right, but not few have managed to screw it up. My greatest concern was whether this would pull through or sink into cliché.

Thankfully it didn’t. But first there a couple of things I would like to mention. Even though “Quondam” is already a number four in this series, there is no cause for concern. It is self contained and can be read as a standalone. I find Heroic fantasy, because it translates direct life into a story. Fighting battle, purging evil, suffering defeats and then earning victories until you take the throne. It’s all an allusion of our life path until you find your own spot under the sun and come into your own right.

However it all works well in theory and can hardly be achieved these days. Again I say, thankfully Gibson manages to avoid the obvious tropes and clichés. The quest for justice is refreshed with slight moderations here and there, but keeping the spirit of the genre, so that fans can find the good old thrills as well as something new. Gibson pays attention to the ups and downs, shows euphoria at the victory over small foes and the crisis of heart, when nothing is certain as well as asking all those fundamental questions beneath the magic, magic creatures and battles with swords. The plot’s driving force instead of being the legends and prophecies falls on the characters, which lead to some interesting turns. The prose isn’t the best in the world, but it stays true to the tone of the genre and conveys the medieval feel. The strength here is that “Quondam” tells an adventurous story and the same time speaks to the reader through his/her own experiences.

Characters & Depth: I won’t get in great detail about characters here. I found all to my fancy. Some play greater part in the happening, some do not, but when you look at them, you can’t say that they are two dimensional. They interact between each other; they have their own goals and questions of their own to answer, prove something to themselves and set doubts to rest. There is diversity in tempers and worldviews, which also enhances the story and raises interest. Best of all like real people they make mistakes; they lie and do things before thinking driven by deep emotions. Of course each character stands for an idea and a human archetype. The protagonist D’raekn portrays the man on a crossroad, while Cwen is the woman with hollow heart, devastated by life. What’s not to like. Plus the authenticity is spot on. The line that stuck with me goes like this: “Why am I surrounded by the dimwitted?” You know the modern expression and you see how smoothly it is translated into the time and spirit of the novel.

Now I know that people are already fed up with love and romance being thrown everywhere, so to the people, who are already irritated not a single relationship in a novel these days looks real, I say “Here it is done decent.” Gibson does it the way it naturally happens. Two people meet and interact, become friends, then friends with benefits and before they know it and can admit to themselves they are in deep love. There is not a love at first sight or manic possessive behavior that leads to bickering. Love is a bumpy ride with no road map to show you the short cuts to happiness. I think “Quondam” does this idea justice.

Worldbuilding & Believability: Since this is a Heroic fantasy you will get a lot from the same tropes. I am talking about enchanted weapons, cryptic artifacts left with no apparent purpose, special gifts that must be gathered on a typical quest. You can’t escape from these things, even if you want to. But a lot more can be expected. Quondam as a world offers different magical races that play a vital part in the legend to free the land from evil. There are omens, curses and blessings that have set the turmoil in motion, which also tie every element to another. The world is organic and it interacts with the story, both remaining flexible. With one word, it’s not that bad.

The Verdict: The greatest compliment that can be said for “Quondam” is that it’s not predictable the way most books are. And I am not talking about the ending itself, I am talking about the way the characters will reach the ending. For there were some interesting turns and that is a good enough reason to recommend it. Other than this the pacing was right. It built steadily to the climax and the story had me totally oblivious to the technicalities and if there were small details that I didn’t like they faded in the bigger picture. The novel is worth the shot.