Saturday 5 February 2005

Pic of the day: The book. Not the Good Book by any means, but passable.

OSC "Seventh Son"

I stopped by Outland, the local geek & otaku one stop shop & hangout. There I chanced on a small novel by Orson Scott Card. I knew his name, but not very favorably. Oh, I've heard good thing about him, but as a Science Fiction writer. And I don't like SF much, especially good SF – it tends to take itself too seriously these days. I already buy Scientific American regularly, so I really don't appreciate people writing fiction that looks like Scientific American mixed with "true grit". Meh.

Luckily it was evident at a glance that this was not that kind of book at all. It is a fantasy book, the first in a series about Alvin Maker, detailing his birth and childhood. It is set in a fantasy world where history diverged from ours some few centuries ago. The story itself is set in the years right after the life of Benjamin Franklin. The east coast of North America has been settled and people are swarming into the forest from the coast. And in these early settlements, the superstitions that people believed in are all true. Hexes and wards work like a charm, so to speak. And there is no difference between a knack and a magic talent. Some people have a strong affinity for one element such as earth or fire, while the Red Indians have their own nature magic.

North America is physically the same, but politically a bit different. To the south are feudal fiefdoms, while a tiny United States is huddled in the North-East. The names of rivers tend to give name to territories, but they are spelled slightly differently from our maps, as are the name of Indian tribes. Not really different name, just different attempts to transcribe them into English writing. Oh, and liquor is always and without exception spelled "likker", even by the narrator. Bad grammar abounds.

It is a charming place. Every bit as dangerous as our own world, of course. Probably closer to what it really felt like for the first settlers in the "wild lands", surrounded by magic and unknown dangers. And into this world is born a seventh son of a seventh son, destined to have magic beyond most people's imagination. (And that's quite a bit.) A mysterious power working through the element of water is dead set at eliminating the boy at any cost, but is narrowly thwarted again and again by fate and the element of fire working with a girl around five years older than him.

Alvin (whose name, incidentally, comes from an old word meaning "elf- friend", though I have seen no elves so far) seems to be some kind of alternate Savior archetype, come to remake the world for the better. Whether this comes to pass I have no idea about. I have later bought the next two books, but reading takes its time since I don't read books at home. I have little enough time for sleep as it is.

This is a fascinating and well-written book. Unlike the next book in the series, it is probably accessible even for underage readers, but its target audience is clearly grown-ups. Not that there is anything in it that is not fit for reading out loud, but the language and the plot all seem like one grown-up speaking to another, straight and without sugar- coating, even though the subject is a child. For now.

Conclusion: Read this if you think you may want to read the entire series. Don't expect it to stand on its own, it doesn't really. Things don't really pick up speed until a bit into book 2. (Oh, and I just have to discount his irrational hatred of Christianity. It's not exactly the first time I see that in fantasy fiction.)