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Last year, I resumed my “About the Characters” post series that focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist's Interview, 2013

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood simultaneously — in alphabetical order, of course!

(The quotes, together with the covers, indicate whether the character appears in both or only one of the books — and we’re back to a single entry today. 😉 )

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Gervon: a priest of Serrut and teacher — or “maister” — at Normarch, on Emer’s northern march

“The only cloud on the surface of his Normarch life was Maister Gervon, whose initial distance had quickly become outright hostility. Carick tried to stay out of the man’s way, but their paths kept crossing. He would turn a corner and find Gervon there, the man’s pale blue stare turning to ice when he recognized Carick—although the maister only spoke if there was no one else present to hear his sneers or acid-etched derision.”

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 14 — Maister Gervon

Rebecca Fisher

You all remember Rebecca, right? Well, some of you may not if you’re new round here, but Rebecca did a Big Worlds On Small Screens column here for three and a half years, looking at SFF TV shows.

And even though studies and career intervened in terms of posting here, Rebecca has maintained her own They’re All Fictional blog throughout where she still checks out TV shows and books, and keeps her finger on the pulse of the wild, wacky, and sometimes even obscure weird of fictional fandom.

There’s lots of fun and thoughtful stuff here, including this relatively recent post on Defying The Fridge — sparked by Catherynne M Valente’s The Refrigerator Monologues.

And if books are specifically your thing, remember that Rebecca is a reviewer on Fantasy Literature.com as well.

Rebecca on Fantasy Literature.com

So if you’ve been missing your Rebecca time, then you know now where to get your regular fix. 🙂

And if you haven’t met Rebecca yet, then here’s your opportunity: go on over, have a read, and maybe even say hello. 😉

The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick

A Geography of Haarth is a post series traversing the full range of gazetted locales and places from The Wall Of Night world of Haarth.

From January 25, 2013 to November 25, 2014, the series explored locations encountered in The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost.

Now it’s back to traverse the geography of Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three.)  The new series comprises updates of previous entries as well as new listings.

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River:  the lands along the Ijir river system, mainly comprising city states such as Ij, Terebanth, and Ar. Also known as the River lands.
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He, at least, seemed prepared for trouble, with the multiple braids of his hair clubbed into a knot and a pair of short, curved swords strapped to his back.  Asantir’s brows had risen again when she saw them, for swallow-tail swords were a weapon of Ishnapur. “And Jhaine,” Tarathan had answered, when she said as much, “but they are popular now in the cities of the River.”

~ from © The Heir Of Night, The Wall of Night Book One: Chapter 10 — In The Old Keep
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“Spring came to the River in a flurry of blustering winds and driving rain that turned the local roads into quagmires and hurled the first fragile blossoms to the ground. Two heralds were blown out of the city of Terebanth with the weather and turned east toward Ij, following the great Main Road that had endured since the days of the Old Empire. At any other season a river passage would have been faster, but the combination of contrary winds and spring floods, fed by snowmelt in the headwaters of the Ijir and the Wildenrush, would keep the merchant galleys in port for at least another month.”

~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 1 — The Road To Ij

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…the heralds had taken him to the great harborside market in Port Farewell. The market was famous for its trade in armor and weapons sourced from every corner of Haarth, which Tarathan had assured him would include Derai equipment. Kalan had found the herald was right, although most of what he examined had been the generic armament the Derai Alliance traded with the River and Southern Realms of Haarth. But because more Derai had been traveling south in recent years, mainly to the River, but a handful into Emer and Lathayra as well, he was able to find a scabbard with the House of Blood’s hydra stamp and a cuirass in the distinctive deep-red steel particular to the warrior House.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 5 — Blood Warrior

As it was in ‘The Two Towers’

One of the most striking sets/locales in the three The Lord Of The Rings movies was Edoras, the Golden Hall of the Rohirrim. I’ve always loved that first, wonderful view, with Eowyn of Rohan standing before the Hall and the pennant blowing away in the wind.

Although the set was removed after filming, the location is a few hours drive from where I live and accessible by road (although it’s unsealed gravel road for a reasonable distance), except for the last half hour or so when one has to get out and walk to get up close and personal with the hill. And very definitely climb to reach the summit!

Getting there

I did exactly that a few weeks ago, taking the road via Mt Somers and the Ashburton Lakes and then onward along the road that ends at Erewhon Station—which is a story in itself, so more on that later.

Always more fun with good company! (Note the gravel road 😉 )

First up, Edoras, which is in fact not officially designated a “hill” as I said above, but is named Mt Sunday. According to the the legend (OK, the interpretation board en route) it’s called Mt Sunday because in earlier days the boundary riders from the surrounding stations (think “ranches” if you’re not from NZ/Aus) used to meet up there on a Sunday.

And there it is!

The climb to the summit is worthwhile, not only to imagine the Golden Hall but for the fabulous views to the Main Divide one way and across to the Rangitata River the other. And that wind—suffice it to say that it was an entirely foregone conclusion that pennant would get blown away.

From the summit: vista 1

As for Erewhon, the story goes like this: it’s the title of a novel written by the English writer, Samuel Butler, published in 1872 after a period of four years living in the NZ high country not far from Edoras and the current Erewhon station—although the station he worked on, which still exists, was and is called Mesopotamia.

From the Edoras (Mt Sunday) summit: vista 2

Erewhon is regarded as a satire on Victorian society, which involves the discovery of a fictional country, Erewhon (which is an anagram of Nowhere, not quite reversed), i.e. it’s a satire in a similar style to Gulliver’s Travels, with speculative fiction overtones.

From the Edoras (Mt Sunday) summit: vista 3

So I think it’s kind of cool that the setting for Edoras is on the road to both Nowhere and Erewhon. 🙂

High lonesome…

And I hope you’ve enjoyed the photos. 🙂

Mt Somers

Last year, I resumed my “About the Characters” post series that focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist's Interview, 2013

Although as noted in the original Garan entry, I do think it’s questionable whether he really qualifies as a “minor character” anymore. He is, after all, in all the books and a point of view character in The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood.

However, for now I shall continue as we started with an updated entry in this series.

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Garan: an honor guard, serving the House of Night

“…the two priests retained their cautious station down the hall. Their faces had remained expressionless throughout, but the young woman was flying two spots of color high in her cheeks. Teron’s belligerent stare shifted back to them. “I still say they shouldn’t be here,” he said loudly.

Garan’s amused expression did not change, but there was a warning note in his voice. “Captain’s orders, young Teron, which means yours too. So pipe down like a good lad, else I’ll have to send you packing.”

~ from © The Heir Of Night: The Wall of Night Book One, Chapter 7 — The Tower of the Rose
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“Just what we need,” said Garan. “A coterie of Stone priests.” He had led his company out of the Barren Hills just on dusk, intending to camp overnight by the Border Mark, only to find another group of travelers already settled in by the standing stone. And not just any travelers, Garan thought with an inward groan. Stone priests were the nearest thing to a warrior class within the three priestly Houses, and as rigid as the House of Blood in their adherence to the divisions that had arisen out of the civil war.

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 28 — Border Crossing
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Entering as bidden, Kalan saw Garan and Nerys salute crisply despite their dirt. They were both worn to leanness and shadowed eyes, but nodded in courtesy to Kalan as they left.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 28 — Field of Play

Fresh from the oven

On 1 October, I resumed my quest for the Holy Grail of orange cakes, i.e. an orange cake so good that it becomes my “go to” recipe thereafter.

In embarking on this quest, my yardstick is the orange cakes that were standard fare in Brisbane (Australia) eateries in the early to mid ’90s, when I used to visit there a lot.

Whatever their provenance, I can tell you it’s not one shared by NZ cafes and purveyors of cake goodness, hence the quest.

In the 1 October post I mentioned that I had seen an interesting looking recipe for Orange and Poppy Seed Cake in a recent edition of NZ House & Garden (September 2018), so I felt honour bound to make it next.

The feature is called “Happy Days” but the recipes therein are not attributed to anyone (which is unusual.) Nonetheless, the Orange and Poppy Seed Cake is very good—even better on the second day, I think, than the first.

It came out with a lovely golden crust, too, that had a very nice, ‘crunchible’ texture when eating.

Check out those poppy seeds…

I should note, too, that the magazine recipe has the cake split in two and both iced and sandwiched together with an orange and cream cheese frosting. While that would probably qualify as both decadent and delicious, I eschewed the frosting in favour of a plain, unsplit cake–which was still delectable.

Ready to eat!

Was it the grail? Although very nice, I don’t think so. It inclined toward a more buttery character rather than the citrus zing I’m looking for.

Would I make it again, though? Yep, sure would.

The Taste Test Team say they would definitely eat it again, too. 😀

The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick

A Geography of Haarth is a post series traversing the full range of gazetted locales and places from The Wall Of Night world of Haarth.

From January 25, 2013 to November 25, 2014, the series explored locations encountered in The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost.

Now it’s back to traverse the geography of Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three.)  The new series comprises updates of previous entries as well as new listings.

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Rindle:  a river in the Northern March of Emer
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“The night grew cold as the stars changed position above them and the track alternately climbed and plunged down. Carick stumbled more than once when he had to lead Mallow, and tried not to think of Malisande and Alianor, or the other damosels, lost somewhere in the moonless hills—or already lying dead in the deep channels or shingle wash of the Rindle. He stumbled again and wished he was a cat, or one of the Patrol, since River legend claimed they could see in the dark. Yet despite his poor night vision, he was still not sure how he and Mallow came to be at the end of the line after their next stop, the path behind them lost in darkness.”

~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 19 — Dark Of The Moon

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She studied the wild terrain for some time while the late autumn sun climbed to its zenith. When she had held still long enough, she began to hear the deep, wordless song of Haarth, which she had first encountered on Emer’s Northern March. That first time, it had manifested as the call of a hidden path beside the river known as the Rindle. Later, Malian had heard it again through the singing green of Maraval forest, and the quiet of southern Aralorn with its chestnut woods and sleepy villages. The voice of this land, bordering wilderness, was more somber. The song of the wildfire and the flood, she thought.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 35 — Dissonance

BBC TV Series

Remember, Remember, the 5th Of November
Gunpowder, treason, and plot…

These are the opening lines of the famous gunpowder rhyme that commemorates the attempt to blow up Britain’s Houses of Parliament in 1605, an act of violence that we would term “domestic terrorism” in this day and age.

I am sure most of you know the basic story as well as I do, which was that the plot was conceived by a group of English citizens who professed the Roman Catholic religion and wished to restore it as the country’s main faith—rather than the Protestantism that had become firmly established under Elizabeth 1 and was being continued by King James.

“Gunpowder” TV series (2017)

The plotters resolved to blow up parliament when the King was opening it, pretty much disposing of him and the rest of the government. The person designated to actually light the gunpowder fuse was a man called Guido or Guy Fawkes who had been a mercenary fighting for the Spanish crown in the Low Countries (what we now call Belgium and the Netherlands.)

The plot was discovered at the eleventh hour and Guy Fawkes, who was waiting to light the gunpowder, was caught on the scene. He was then tortured, reputedly for around two days, until he revealed the names of his fellow conspirators. He was subsequently executed, together with the other conspirators that survived discovery of the plot.

Although only a “rank and file” plotter, the fact Guy Fawkes was discovered with the gunpowder and was also the first conspirator captured may be why he has subsequently become the figure most closely associated with the plot in the public mind. November 5 is now called Guy Fawkes Day and he has also given his name to the ritual burning of the “guy” on the bonfires that are lit in commemoration. Fireworks are a later addition to the burning-in-effigy ritual, possibly because they explode, emulating the sound the gunpowder explosion would have made.

Halloween

The Gunpowder Plot and its aftermath were undoubtedly real events but the timing, driven by the opening of parliament, just happened to overlap the religious festivals of All Saints and All Souls Days on 31 October and 1 November. Another name for All Saints is All Hallows Eve, more commonly known as Halloween. These Christian festivals, in their turn—as I discussed in a recent Supernatural Underground post, Halloween Is Coming—overlie the traditional Celtic festival of Samhein, which falls over the same days.

Samhain was a harvest’s end festival but also a “day of the dead” and celebrations traditionally included bonfires and activities such as divination and mumming, as well as feasting. In some cultures, too, fire crackers are used to scare away unwanted spirits. So overall, I am fascinated at the way in which commemoration of the Gunpowder Plot has shaped itself to the older traditions associated with the time of year when the events occurred.

I was also fascinated, when watching the V for Vendetta film, to see how the Gunpowder Plot was reshaped into a far more anarchic concept, one I suspect bears very little resemblance to the conspirators’ historical motivations. However, quite some years ago now an historian told me that history is always being retold to fit the times, so perhaps I should not be surprised if storytelling follows suit. 🙂

UK/AU/NZ

Last year, I resumed my “About the Characters” post series that focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist's Interview, 2013 

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood simultaneously — in alphabetical order, of course!

(The quotes, together with the covers, indicate whether the character appears in both or only one of the books — and we’re back to a single entry today. 😉 )

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USA

Fray: lord of the House of Blood’s Bane Hold

So much spectacle, Myr reflected, as she had the previous night—although at least the speeches held the warriors still enough to survey their faces over the rim of her goblet. The servers remained active, refilling cups and sweetmeat platters, but Myr finally located Taly and Dab at the far end of the hall. The Storm Spear was seated close by, and all three had their eyes lowered as Lord Fray recounted highlights from the past two days, emphasizing the prowess of his Bane Hold warriors.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 22 — Honor Contest

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. 🙂