Genre: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
Story Form: Novel; 302 pp
First Published: 2014; Revised 2018 — DAW Books
I hesitated over the genre for Seanan McGuire’s Sparrow Hill Road because primarily it’s a ghost story—or a series of linked ghost stories, in fact, tied together into novel form. Yet the story of restless ghost, Rose Marshall, is definitely set in the contemporary urban America—albeit from the 1950s to the present—of highways, truck stops, and diners. So in that sense it’s Urban Fantasy.
But in the end, with so many folklore elements weaving in and out, such as the power of crossroads, and with references to myths such as Persephone as well, the safe call is just to say it’s Fantasy—and very enjoyable Fantasy at that.
So what did I enjoy about it? Well, I really liked the character and “voice” of Rose Marshall, dead at sweet sixteen on the way to the prom, and thereafter a “hitcher ghost” and psychopomp—i.e. a conductor of (other) souls to the afterworld. The essence of Rose’s character is her humanity, which she manages to hang onto despite being not only dead but a ghost with a mission, which is to sort the person who murdered her by forcing her car off the road (on Sparrow Hill Road, the title of the book.)
And then there’s that person who murdered her: Bobby Cross, one-time heartthrob of the silver screen who has made a crossroads bargain for eternal youth, which is fueled by feeding the souls of his victims to his soul-sucking car. In short, he’s a satisfying antagonist in the context of a ghost story.
Probably the best “character” in the book, though, is the world itself, which is one of highways and truck stops woven into the supernatural realms of the dead, from the Twilight down to the Midnight and back again. The other great element is the many flavours of ghost, from “hitchers” like Rose to the “crossroads ghosts”—and the crossroads itself, but to find out more you’ll have to read the book!
As you can probably tell, I really liked the worldbuilding in Sparrow Hill Road. Another thing that struck me, as a non US-ian, was how the story was a celebration of Americana in the context of road culture and associated folklore. However, since I am not only a non US-ian but have never touched down in the Americas, north or south, I stand to be corrected by those who are and have. But from the outside looking in, that’s how it seems… 🙂
If you’ve enjoyed novels like Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and/or The Graveyard Book, Charles de Lint’s Newford novels, Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse books, Melissa Marr’s Graveminder, or Tim Powers’ Fault Line series, then you may well enjoy Sparrow Hill Road, too.
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Disclosure: I purchased my reading copy of Sparrow Hill Road from a local independent book shop, Scorpio Books. And like All Systems Red two weeks ago, yes, it’s also a keeper. 🙂
The “mentor” or “wise guide” is a time-honored aspect of epic tales so it was unquestionably remiss of me to contemplate a post series on tropes that did not include it. 🙂
Other examples include the centaur, Charon, who raised Jason (of the Argonauts and Golden Fleece fame), and of course, Merlin, who guides the young Arthur. Later in the Arthurian cycle, the wise counselor role is sometimes assumed by Vivian, the Lady of the Lake, and the enchantress Nimue.
In fairytale and folklore, the mentor and wise counselor may also take the form of an animal companion, such as the horse Falada in The Goose Girl fairytale or the cat in Puss and Boots.
Although less powerful, Keyoke and Nacoya (Mara’s nurse turned First Counselor) in Janny Wurts and Raymond E Feist’s Daughter of the Empire also represent the tradition. Other famous examples include Belgarath the Sorcerer in the Belgariad, Moiraine in the early Wheel Of Time novels, and Count Brass in Michael Moorcock’s Chronicles of the Runestaff.
I can’t overlook Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, but I would also cite Luthe in Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown, Deth in Patricia McKillip’s The Riddlemaster of Hed, and Aidris’s hidden grandmother in A Princess Of The Chameln.
Jasnar Kholin is clearly a mentor and preceptress to Shallan in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series. Yet Shoka, in CJ Cherryh’s The Paladin, may qualify in his role as swordmaster to Taizu, but his motivations are so murky otherwise that I feel he’s a suspect candidate overall.
Sometimes, too, the mentor may turn out to be undertaking that role for reasons that entirely benefit him or herself as opposed to the mentee. A classic example of this is Mr Wednesday in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.
Merlin was far more human and less magical in Mary Stewart’s Arthurian series than in the legends, but he still fulfilled the traditional mentor role to Arthur in The Hollow Hills. When it comes to fairy or otherworldly mentors, however, Felicity Fortune in Elizabeth Ann Scarborough’s Godmother series is a quintessential example.
Another valid contender, imho, is the immortal, River, in Cate Tiernan’s Immortal Beloved, as is the witch, Maelga, in McKillip’s The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld also gives readers a magical animal mentor in the character of the talking boar, Cyrin. In Tolkien’s The Hobbit, a thrush tells Bard where to aim his arrow so it will find the only weak spot on the armoured body of Smaug the Dragon.
Thornspell, which is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the prince, has several mentor characters. The primary one is Balisan, the prince’s swordmaster and protector. Syrica, the fae who transformed the death spell into the hundred-years’ sleep, also plays a mentor’s part in the story, as does Auld Hazel, the witch of the wood, although to a lesser degree.
Genre: Science Fiction
Yes, it is! Albeit at the end of the month, but hey—best to be prepared right?! (Correct answer: Cor
I’m also lingering a little over jack o’ lanterns and one or too spooky, eerie, or downright supernatural reads I haz known, aka Books That Go Bump In The Night… (Yes, there are a few reading suggestions: who’d’ve guessed?)
