The Wandering Fire
February 15th 2008 22:41
'The Wandering Fire' is the second and shortest novel in Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry, and is the fifth book I've read this year. This review will most likely be fairly short (but who can tell these things) as a lot of what I have to say about Kay's writing I've probably already said in my review of the first book in the trilogy, The Summer Tree. Mild spoilers ahead.
Picking up where the first novel left off, our five intrepid Earth heroes are back in Canada and unable to return to Fionavar. The book jumps right in regards to Jennifer's fate after her traumatic ordeal in The Summer Tree's last chapters and allows for some exciting developments early on. Obviously, our heroes don't remain on Earth for too long as this would be a fairly dull book if they did, and with the help of the group's seer, Kim, they travel to England and use the ancient power of Stonehenge to transport back to Fionavar. But not before Kim reawakens a hero from Earth's own past to bring back to fight the terrible war that is shaping up between the forces of light and dark.
It's hard to write a summation of the second book of a series for two reasons... 1) you don't really want to give anything away to anyone who hasn't read the first book but it's hard to say anything interesting without doing so (hence the mild spoilers warning - I've tried to avoid anything that really spoils it), and 2) it sounds crap and uninspiring because it requires a working knowledge of what has gone on before it in the first book. Hmmm... maybe that's just one big reason. Anyway, I'm unenthusiastic about this review and that's why. So from here on in I'll just kinda list what this entry in the trilogy seems to be about...
As the novel progresses it starts to become clear that this is more about each of the five Earth heroes finding their place in this new world they have been thrust upon. The previous novel tied up the fates of Kim as a seer and Paul as some kind of Jesus-like walking legend, whereas this novel delves more into the other three and what part they will play in the fate of the war, as well as their own fate and fate as a general idea in itself. Frequently we'll hear about what is meant to happen and then we'll see events scrambling forth in an attempt to adhere to some kind of structure of destiny, but it never really pans out the way it's foretold. Which is just as well, as it would be a boring book otherwise. The only major thing that seems to grate with me is how important all five of our heroes have become... perhaps some kind of prophecy at the beginning of the first book might have prepared me for this, but having five barely-capable students become God-shagging titans of myth seems to stretch credibility a bit. Yes, even in a fantasy novel. Another minor gripe is that Kay kills off a character at the book's climax only to drammatically bring him back to life. This would have been fine if he hadn't already done the same trick in the first book.
On the up side, 'The Wandering Fire' opens out the world of Fionavar a bit more. We learn further details of Cathal, a middle eastern-like garden kingdom to the south, and more is revealed of the twilight world of the various Gods who walk amongst the people of Fionavar - powerful beings who are (mostly) unable to interact with events. The only major group still left unexplored is the kingdom of Eridu in the far north, which I'm hoping will feature in the third novel. Kay also manages to keep things cracking along at a fair pace and things are never predictable, though the climactic battle between the forces of light and dark comes across as an almost unforgiveable pastiche of the two major battles from The Lord of the Rings... Kay rips off the dramatic arrival of the elves at Helm's Deep and the calling of the spirits from big battle in 'The Return of the King'. I just needed to say that as it was unbearably obvious to me when I read it.
Anyhow, this book was a nice read but I have to admit that I'm starting to tire of Fionavar a little. I'm about to wade into the third and final novel tomorrow so a review of that and the series as a whole should be soon pending.
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