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. 🙂

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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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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. 🙂

The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick

The A Geography of Haarth post series traverses the full range of 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 returned to gazette 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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Red Keep: the principal stronghold of the Derai House of Blood

Yawning, Myr settled deeper into the bed. Even the Red Keep, filled to capacity with contestants and those gathered to watch them compete, grew quiet in the late watches, so she heard the hound when it howled. She shivered beneath the warm covers, but despite waiting, wide-eyed in the darkness, the howl did not come again. Later, though, her dreams were full of blood-eyed hounds pursuing a milk-white hind that twisted and turned and doubled back, but could not escape.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 21 — The Field Of Blood

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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. 🙂

The origin of the term stems from Homer’s The Odyssey, in which the goddess Athena assumes the guise of Mentor, to counsel and guide Odysseus’s son, the youth Telemachus.

Yet although this may be where the name originated, the role of the counselor and wise guide is popular in myth and folklore.

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.

In some cases, too, the mentor figure is drawn from the fairy realm. Although this includes Merlin, Vivian, and Nimue, another famous example is the fairy godmother in Cinderella—and godmothers plural in Sleeping Beauty, although its the final one that counts in changing the death spell into the hundred years’ sleep.

Gandalf the Grey in The Lord of the Rings film

Given its all-pervasive nature, therefore, its unsurprising the “mentor” figure is often present in epic fantasy as well. 😉

In terms of classic mentor figures, Gandalf the Grey in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and Brom in Christopher Paolini’s Eragon, both fit the bill.

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.

In many ways, Nahadoth in NK Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms occupies a similarly uneasy role: he is both the sworn enemy of Yeine’s Arameri family, but must teach her the secrets of both her personal and family’s power.

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.

And one of my favourite animal mentors is Nisana, the AEldra of the cat kin, who trains the exiled Princess Ylia in Ru Emerson’s To The Haunted Mountains (and Nedao trilogy.)

You Know What Follows Next: Mentors In My Own Books 😉

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.

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The Wall Of Night series has plenty of mentor and wise guide roles, too, particularly in the first book, The Heir of Night, when both Malian and Kalan, the principal characters, are very young. The primary mentors for Malian are the minstrel, Haimyr, the Honor Captain, Asantir, and the dead hero, Yorindesarinen. In Kalan’s case it’s the Huntmaster (who appears with a Wild Hunt), but Yorindesarinen also provides some guidance to him as well.

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Yorindesarinen reprises her mentor role to Malian in The Gathering of the Lost, but only in a minor way. The story’s primary mentor characters are Lord Falk of Normarch, Manan the Innkeeper, and the hedge knight, Raven—all of whom are encountered on the wild northern march of the Duchy of Emer.

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In Daughter of Blood, Malian largely stands on her own feet–as does Kalan, while himself becoming a mentor figure for the street urchin called Faro. Myr, the Daughter of Blood of the title, has a former governess-turned-duenna called Mistress Ise, to whom she has always looked for moral guidance. She also obtains support from Asantir and also Nimor, the Sea House envoy, at different times in the story.

So there you are, plenty of honoring of the mentor tradition here. 🙂

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Previous Entries In The ‘Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes” Series:

Introduction: Having Fun With Epic Fantasy—Meet the Tropes

Instalment 1: Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes: A Farm Boy/Gal Goes On A Journey…

Instalment  2: A Prince/Princess Finds A Destiny

Instalment 3: Dreams and Portents, Prophecy and Destiny

Instalment 4: “Apocalypse Now”

Instalment 5: Meet The Big Bad

Instalment 6: The Sweep Of Time & Its Twin, War Without End

Instalment 7: Fortunately There was A Portal

Instalment 8: We’re All Going On A MacGuffin Hunt

Instalment 9: Artefacts of Power—And Doom—And Where To Find Them

Instalment 10: The Alchemy Of Numbers

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On SF Signal: The “Having Fun With Epic Fantasy” Series

1. “Making the Grand Tour” (aka the Road Journey);

2. .”The “Band of Brothers”; and the

3. . “Soul-Sucking Sword.”

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© Helen Lowe

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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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Falath: hound belonging to Rowan Birchmoon, of the Winter People

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The landscape surrounding the road was drear, with a thin, unhappy wind whistling across a stony plain and prying at Malian’s clothes. The cairn she had seen through the mist stood directly in front of her now, with the same hound lying before it. The beast lifted its head as she drew near—as though it, too, is in the dream, Malian thought, or can see me through it.

“Falath,” she said, and the hound whined, deep in his throat. “You must be an old hound now.” In the dream, she rubbed his head as she had when they were both younger and dwelt in the Keep of Winds. Falath thumped his feathery tail.

~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 32 — Cockcrow

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They halted in another dip, several hundred yards out from the rockpile, before he and Nerys took their bows and proceeded on foot, circling wide to find a vantage point that overlooked both cairn and rockpile. The hound, Falath, was a pale glimmer beside the tomb, with no sign of anyone else present. But the fugitive could easily lie concealed among the rocks, even if Falath would not allow entry into the cairn.
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~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 39 — Traitor

Hill Tower, Jaransor; art by Peter Fitzpatrick

Not too many, though! 😉

And if you’re not too keen on the idea of more posts yourself, blame Robert, Mandy, Kahu, Chris and Mohindar who all emailed me to say that they would love to read posts about the “sidekick” and the “lovable rogue”, either singly or together.

All because I was foolish enough—in what I optimistically believed to be my wrap-up post of  September 17 for the Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes series—to admit that these often linked characters were a trope I had not yet addressed…

So yes indeed, now I shall. 😀

However, by way of either reward or punishment (depending on the reader’s perspective), I feel that if I’m going to do sidekicks and lovable rogues, I had better do the “mentor” as well.

Alec Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars (IV: A New Hope) by Lucas Films

And yes, just as Han Solo is the sidekick-cum-lovable rogue writ large, Obi Wan Kenobi (as he appeared in the original Star Wars movie) is an archetypal mentor figure.

As I mentioned in the September 17 post, the “ ‘lovable rogue’ and the ‘sidekick’…are sometimes one and the same person.” Or even often one and the same person. So like “The Sweep Of Time & Its Twin, War Without End” they may have to be addressed in the one post, rather than two separate entries.

I have yet to make a final decision on this point, but either way, I hope the additional posts will prove something to look forward to. 🙂

“The Heir Of Night” map: artist, Peter Fitzpatrick

The A Geography of Haarth post series traverses the full range of 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 returned to gazette 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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Port Farewell:  a major Southern Realms trading port and the capital of Aralorn
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Kalan paused, glancing toward the upstairs voices. “If I leave tonight I should catch up with the heralds. I can ride with them to Port Farewell and take ship for Grayharbor, then find another there to reach the Sea Keep. But I need to say good-bye to the others first, and see Jarn.” He took the gauntlets from his belt, but did not put them on. “I will meet you back here afterward and we can settle any other plans before I leave.”

~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 51 — Reports From The Wall
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The nearest shipping office was little different from the one in Port Farewell, a small room just inside the wide double doors of a ship chandler’s warehouse. The names of ships were chalked onto a blackboard beside the office door, but the clerk pursed his lips, assessing Kalan much as the Halcyon’s bosun had done. He looked like he might have been a sailor himself once, with a silver ring in one ear and callused hands that reached for a leather-bound ledger. “You’ll be wanting a Derai ship, then? I take it you’re going north?”

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

Genre: Science Fiction

Story Type: Novella

First Published:  2017 by  TOR.com

Awards: Nebula Award 2017 for Best Novella; Hugo Award 2018 for Best Novella

Science Fiction covers a broad spectrum and Martha Wells’ novella, All Systems Red, lies at the “Space Opera” end, with an overlap to Military SciFi.

Just so you know what I mean by “space opera”, to me it means adventurous (or even swashbuckling) stories set in futuristic or “alternative universe” space settings, where the emphasis is more on the adventure, fun science, and character interactions, rather than the more rigorous scientific realism of “Hard SciFi.” Devices such as faster than light (FTL) travel and wormholes/space gates are important devices that help make space opera work.

I believe All Systems Red ticks all the space opera boxes, in that it’s adventurous, set in “far space” within a space-based, future human culture, and the central character is definitely fun—but I’ll come to that in a minute. In addition to having overlaps to military SciFi (also to be explained shortly) it’s also what I would call “Corporate Culture” SciFi, i.e. in this version of the space future an awful lot of stuff is run by corporations.

So-o, what’s it about? Firstly, All Systems Red is a novella, which means that the story is single-focus—which works well with a First Person Singular (FPS) narrator—and relatively straightforward. The FPS narrator, aka “I”, is a self-aware security (“SecUnit”) robot of combined biological and mechanical construction, which refers to itself as Murderbot. The alleged overlap to Military SciFi (in my mind) is because Murderbot is a security specialist and gets to fight things and fire big weapons when the chips are down.

And of course the chips are down within the course of the story, because did I not say that space opera is all about adventure?! (I did say so: yes, indeed!) The basic story goes like this: Murderbot is the SecUnit assigned to a scientific mission surveying an uninhabited planet. Early in the story the mission gets attacked by endemic fauna and Murderbot and the team discover gaps in their maps and information. Shortly after that, they realize that someone or something (beyond the endemic fauna) is trying to kill them: cue the adventure, complete with alarms, excursions, and Murderbot action.

In this sense, the story is (as I said earlier) very straightforward space opera. The aspect that makes the story so enjoyable is the character of Murderbot, whose really not that murderous and likes to watch TV serials (soap opera style) during any available downtime.  An important part of Murderbot’s story arc is his developing realtionship with the human characters, particularly the mission leader, Dr Mensah.

I’m not going to say any more about the plot, because being only novella length it would be easy to spoil the story for you. Suffice it to say that I really enjoyed it: All Systems Red is a fun, light read with a genuinely engaging main character and interesting supporting cast.

If you’ve enjoyed novels such as CJ Cherryh’s The Pride of Chanur, John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War, Ann Leckie’s  Ancillary Justice, or Peter F Hamilton’s Fallen Dragon, I’m “pretty sure” you’ll enjoy All Systems Red.

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Disclosure: I purchased my reading copy of All Systems Red from a local independent book shop, Scorpio Books. And yes, it “is” a keeper. 🙂

Yes, it is! Albeit at the end of the month, but hey—best to be prepared right?! (Correct answer: Correct! 😉 )

At any rate, I’m already in the swing of things over on the Supernatural Underground, talking up the origins of Halloween (Samhain anyone? Not to mention All Souls’ Day…)

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?)

And if books that go bump in the night is your Thing, then you can’t go past our very own Supernatural Undergound authors in the right-hand side bar of the SU blog.

To check out the goodness and start getting into the Halloween mode, not to mention mood, rock on over to:

Halloween Is Coming!

Yes, the phrasing is deliberately like A Game Of Thrones—only with more jack o lanterns and trick-or-treating, and less Iron Throne. I mean, we are talking Halloween, after all.

If you have a favourite Halloween-ish read, I’d love the recommendation, so do let me know, either in the comments here, or o’er thar.

The spectre of SU giveaways past… 😉