Readercon notes and book review: Lud-in-the-Mist

[rax]

Probably most of you who would want to read Lud-In-The-Mist already have and are like "Wait what, Rachel just read Lud-In-The-Mist for the first time? Seriously?" But just in case, here's a review. Before I start, though:

• Readercon is July 9-12 in Burlington, MA; you should totally come if you're into speculative fiction or talking about books. (I actually read speculative fiction because of Readercon, rather than vice versa.)
• I'll be giving a talk called "When The World Ends, And Nobody Notices" that will focus on nineweaving 's Cloud & Ashes and Chris Adrian's The Children's Hospital. You should all come! Also, if you have any suggestions for other books that might fit the theme, let me know. My pre-Readercon reading list is only like four books right now, I can handle more? Maybe?
• I may also be doing other things; I'll keep you all posted.
• I read two other books over the weekend and hope to get to at least short reviews over the next week or two.

Anyway, Lud-In-The-Mist, by Hope Mirlees, first published in 1926. The edition I bought off of Amazon was terrible; titles of books were marked like _this_ as if the whole thing were a printout of a Usenet conversation, there was no front or back matter at all, the image on the front was pixellated, the font was bad, and I couldn't even find the name of a publisher. And by page twenty or so, I didn't care. All of my experience in the fantasy genre has been post-Tolkien and generally derivative; I found that most fantasies I read (this was way back in high school) offered me less than Lord of the Rings without offering me much that was new. Reading Cloud & Ashes, I felt that some of the things there had just sprung up out of whole cloth, that Greer had woven them out of nothing and created an entirely new mythscape. Well, she has, but she had some guiding lights I didn't know about. :) One of them must have been Hope Mirrlees.

A brief plot synopsis: Lud-in-the-Mist is a city in the fictional nation of Dorimare, which has a rich history but is currently very wrapped up in Law and Order after disposing of a despotic Duke a couple centuries ago. Over a series of hills is Fairyland, which may be the land of the dead and may be a fairy kingdom and may just be another country. However, Fairyland and all things fairy are considered taboo, and unspoken in law or polite company. There's a lot of focus on law and bureaucratic process for a fantasy; it fits perfectly, though, as the main character is the Mayor of Lud-In-The-Mist and enjoys spending time with the old boys' club drinking wines and talking about legal precedent. I'm used to fantasies having Kings and Queens and Lords and Ladies; this novel has an upper class, for sure, but the society is decidedly modern in a number of ways. It's refreshing.

Over the course of the book, an increasing number of children start to become delirious, accusedly under the influence of Fairyand and its nefarious fruit. The Mayor takes it upon himself to ferret out the source of this corruption, and his task becomes increasingly urgent as the victims grow in number and intensity. Here, the book turns almost into a detective story, wrapped around attempting to re-prosecute a court case that was tried many years ago and find the facts in order to bring a fair trial. I think this is awesome --- I'm not a big mystery reader either but I do like puzzles, and watching the Mayor work through the puzzles was enjoyable. The puzzles themselves vary between the fantastic and the dry investigative; the world and the people in it feel real and feel, for the most part, like bit players rather than The Mighty Protagonists. This is excellent, and what is called for here.

Near the end of the book, things slip way into the fantastic, and Mirrlees handles the writing with aplomb. I almost understood what was going on, which was exactly right; I almost had a visual picture but it kept slipping and sliding like a series of overlaid tiles and putting one thing in another's place. A whole book written in this way would, honestly, probably drive me insane. (I'm sure some people would love it.) But after so much matter-of-fact, it was a refreshing if frightening contrast, and worthy of the Fairyland hype that the people of Dorimare had been building up for centuries. I don't want to spoil too much about this book; it's a relatively easy read and well worth the investment. If you'd been sort of missing the disreality of fantasy but couldn't get into the things that people handed you when you asked for fantasy, give this a shot. Then sit back for a bit and wonder what the world would be like if everyone and their dog had emulated Mirrlees instead of Tolkien... 

Someone really needs to do a nice reprinting of this book, if they haven't already.

Comments

[anacoluthon.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of that book, but it sounds like something I'd enjoy. I need to hunt down a copy.

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

I have a digital copy of that sitting around I keep meaning to read.

There's Not-Tolkien fantasy out there, you just have to look for it. Have you ever read Lord Dunsanay? If not, I will force my copy of The Lord of Elfland's Daughter into your hands the next time I see you; his work is gorgeous.

[rax.livejournal.com]

I have not! I take well to having books forced on me, though my queue at the moment is pretty long. :)

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

It's only 240 pages so it's not going to eat your life the way the average Tolkien wannabe would! He's a big influence on the fantasy genre; most of the authors who work outside of JRRT's shadow will mention him when they're asked who inspired them. Well, at least most of the good ones. And some of the mediocre ones, too.

There is this compulsion that fantasy writers have, once they've discovered Dunsanay: they have to try and write like him. Very few people can manage; it's easy to fall into a pit of purple prose by mimicking his wonderful rolling rhythms instead of really seeing the sense of magic beneath it - and the sense of loss and regret, as well.

I could suggest some contemporary fantasy authors that I find worthwhile, as well - but really, if you like the idea of fantasy but loathe all the plodding Quests through a Well-Loved Map of a World with Lots Of History that followed in the wake of JRRT's three-volume bedtime story about a Noble War, start with Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, the 18th Baron of Dunsanay, because each of his slim books has more magic and wonder in it than any sprawling tale of someone's AD&D campaign...

[sovay]

Someone really needs to do a nice reprinting of this book, if they haven't already.

It was reprinted at some point by Orion as part of the Fantasy Masterworks series, but this was only in the U.K. and I suspect the edition is now out of print. I have the old Ballantine paperback with the really silly cover. At least it knows about italics.

I am so glad you liked it!

[rax.livejournal.com]

I think eredien has a nicer copy lent out to someone, I don't know which edition it is though.

It does make me wonder what else I have been missing out on!

[ab3nd.livejournal.com]

The image on the cover of yours is a blown-up cropped portion of the cover of the Ballantine edition.

That, plus the bad underlining makes me suspect that it's some sort of print-on-demand edition of a digital copy, very possibly one from Usenet as you speculated.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Try E.R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros. I'm pretty sure Greer loves it, too. He does for Jacobean what Greer does for small-o old English.

It opens with a somewhat irrelevant prologue. Keep going.

[rivenwanderer.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine recently had nice things to say about the collection Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy (http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Before-Tolkien-Modern-Fantasy/dp/0345458559)...

I might want to go to Readercon, I'll be around and probably bored that weekend. I think I'd be out of my depth and OK with it, but I'm worried it'll make me *more* angsty about reading (http://rivenwanderer.livejournal.com/108669.html) rather than less. I'm hoping I can be decisive one way or the other by the end of the month :)

[rax.livejournal.com]

I occasionally felt out of my depth even after going for a few years; the trick is to just go and learn stuff and enjoy it. I can't speak for how it will affect you, but if it weren't for Readercon, I would be reading less and a smaller percentage of what I read would be speculative in nature.

Also it's a super fun social activity and you could meet some awesome people! :)

[jessiehl.livejournal.com]

I'm not a big fan of Tolkien-esque fantasy, so I tend to avoid it. I think the Abhorsen trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen), by Garth Nix, is pretty good, and not Tolkien-esque. I also like a lot of Neil Gaiman's fantasy, especially Neverwhere.

[rax.livejournal.com]

THe Garth Nix books are even on the shelf (eredien likes them), so I'll keep them in mind, thanks! :)

Gaiman is a good writer but nothing of his that I've read (other than Sandman) grabbed me at all.

[baniszew.livejournal.com]

You might try Fragile Things. Despite still clearly being speculative, I felt it was more centered on down-to-earth human dilemmas than much of Gaiman's work. I also found that some of his plot/pacing problems go away in his shorter work. My favorite story from that collection was "How to Talk to Girls at Parties."

[oxytocin-junkie.livejournal.com]

Also good was "Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire."

[baniszew.livejournal.com]

I thought that one was a nice concept executed with too heavy a hand. "Other People" was a nice elegant concept piece, though.

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

The only stuff Gaiman's written that I've enjoyed are his comic book scripts, which ride on the backs of the artists. Every single one of his novels feels kinda empty at the core. Clever ideas but there's just something lacking there; he's competent but I have never understood the rampant fannishness over his work.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

I love that Hope Mirrlees. She is indeed a guiding light.

That edition just sounds sad. I am sorry they've treated her so shabbily.

Then sit back for a bit and wonder what the world would be like if everyone and their dog had emulated Mirrlees instead of Tolkien...

Readercon panel!

Nine

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Hi! ::waves:: I was just saying you'd approve Eddison -- you do, don't you? I seem to remember talking happily about him with you and Elizabeth, these many years gone.