The Knight - Gene Wolfe
I put off starting this book for several weeks after I bought it. I love Wolfe, but something about the look of it perhaps - Knights in armour, high fantasy - it just looked a bit lame. Anyway, I'm pleased to report it's one of the most enjoyable books by Wolfe I've ever read.
It's interesting to note the themes which Wolfe has used repeatedly, and which are employed here once again. In no particular order, we have:
- a multi-leveled world with different orders of beings inhabiting each level. In this case a Norse-based middle world (Mythgarthr) with a world of Faerie below (and further worlds below that), and above, the worlds of the gods. Interestingly, Wolfe has the world of the Norse Gods immediately above Mythgarthr, then above that are seemingly Christian angels (and unmentioned above that is, presumably, God). It's not hard to think of the Whorl, with its Gods in Mainframe, and beyond them the Outsider. Or Severian's Briah and Yesod.
- a protagonist who doesn't know what he's supposed to do, but who has been equipped for his mission before he began it. In this case, Sir Able of the High Heart begins as a young teenager in our world, but is rapidly transformed into a powerful, fully grown man in the world of Mythgarthr. It's apparent from the text that his background has been interfered with by the faeries of Aelfrice - he knows things that he doesn't remember learning for instance. Other variations on this theme are seen in Silk who has both a genetic inheritance and a special enlightenment by the Outsider. Or Latro, whose memory is hidden from him by the gods. Severian also has been pre-selected for his role by the Hierogrammates.
- Something that was noticeable in the Long and Short Sun books, is the "fantasy of integrity". Able is a particularly well developed example of this - he starts of with a particular mission (to win the sword Eterne so that he can see his elf-mistress Disiri again). He won't carry any other sword. As the tale progresses his goal is continually transformed by his circumstances: he has to take ship to serve Lord Marder against the giants. The ship is attacked and he finds himself in Aelfrice, where he promises to kill a monster. Later he has to defend a caravan travelling to Jotunheim, then rescue his servants from the giants there. Able develops an almost dizzying stack of interlocking obligations which have to be unwound to get back to what he originally set out to do. His refusal to compromise makes him fun to identify with: we'd all love to think that we should stand up for ourselves more, always do the right thing, always tell the truth. To be fair, doing these things doesn't always get Able what he wants, in fact it often gets him into trouble. However, it does ultimately get him to his goal, rather than just getting him his ass kicked, which is what would happen to the rest of us.
- this ties into the theme of people being of different quality. This appears in a number of Wolfe's books, but it's very explicit in this one that knights are just better than regular folks.
- a minor one: talking animals. Since Oreb was such a hit, this time we have both a talking dog and a cat. Echos of G Gordon Kitty from Castleview perhaps. The Arthurian themes are certainly common to both.
There are also stylistic elements that have been used repeatedly:
- jumps forward in time with no cues. This is one of Wolfe's stocks in trade to keep the readers on their toes. New chapters or even paragraphs can begin a whole new medias res, with the intervening time filled in briefly by dialogue as the story progresses. You have to try to remember what was happening before, work out where you are now, and also how everyone got from here to there.
- slightly folksy speech mannerisms rendered into the text. Like the talking animals, this seems to be something Wolfe has become very fond of. Funny accents are the new funny hats, although Wolfe doesn't carry it to the annoying extremes seen in Long Sun.
I enjoyed the lighter tone of this book compared to the Short and Long Sun books. I don't mean the material isn't quite dark in places, or that the book has no substance. It's just that Wolfe seems to be having more fun with the material, and the characters show it. The pace is fast too, and Wolfe obviously enjoys taking fantasy cliches - wicked giants, bold knights, sexy elves and showing us his own perspective on them. The finale (I won't spoil it) is so over the top that I think few writers would be able to bring it off in a way that wouldn't seem ridiculous. Wolfe manages (just about). Now I really want to read The Wizard.
Posted by MFreestone at November 20, 2005 08:10 PM