BxH8?!

I'm glad to report that the chess jokes aren't thick on the ground here which I didn't expect while writing about a novel titled The Rook? While the conceit works for the novel - ranks in a fictional organization based upon chess pieces is a quick and clear way to set out your hierarchy, it is not without a downside, and policing the use of puns is of deathly import.

Daniel O'Malley tackles the problem of establishing a secret world behind the real world by introducing his protagonist (Myfanwy Thomas, pronounced Miffany in the novel) after an even has burned away her memory.

Now for a brief tangent. Why when you lose the memory of who you are and what you do can you continue to recall part of things. I accept for the sake of the story that somethings remain, but some rhyme or reason would be nice. You can't recall your PIN, but the concept of a cash point (ATM) isn't an issue, neither is money. I'd be more intellectually accepting of a scenario where everything after the age of X is lost, or you keep a lot of basic information, but some things are stripped away (I know what a car is, but how do you use the steering wheel?) Anyway, as a plot device I think it's a hard sell, and far to often overlooks basic dissonances that can build up in the narrative.

Back to the main thread. Myfanwy has lost her memory, and more importantly for the plot, her entire sense of self. She finds a note in her pocket from her old self with some instructions and help. It appears that she knew that this was coming, and planned to make sure that new Myfanwy would have options. The first set is to get a new identity and go on the run or to stick around and find out what is going on. Like a sane person she chooses to run, until events intervene to prevent her from doing so. I appreciate the humanizing element that this creates, if I suddenly woke up in a field of corpses and didn't know why, I'd want to get away too. 

Myfanwy ultimately can't run away, to the great benefit of the plot. So we get to learn who Myfanwy version 1 (dubbed "Thomas") was, what she did, and all the extended information that comes with it along with the protagonist. There is a magical world, there is a semi-governmental organization that handles the threats it faces (and they're mainly threats) and also recruits children in England who are born "special" and trains them to use their abilities. These special people become the pawns in the organization, from which the ruling council (Rooks, Chevaliers, Bishops, the Lord, the Lady) are chosen. Myfanwy is the titular Rook, who works maintaining domestic security in the UK. 

I'll leave the plot alone from this point forward, if you read the book, the puzzles and the plot are worth discovering for yourself. The only real problem with the book is if the memory loss frame (and the associated prophetic foreshadowing) is a deal breaker. I was not convinced at the start that it would be handled adroitly enough to keep me in the novel. By the end I was happy to find that the treatment of new Myfanwy and old Thomas let me absorb large elements of world building, and make both characters more interesting without creating a massive disruption to the plot.

There's a sequel, we'll see how well it goes.

Hoist upon my own Petard

Several years ago I said I found the Naomi Novik Temeraire series fluff and a lighthearted romp. Mea Culpa.

If you read Dante you get to a point in Purgatorio in the Earthly Paradise where Dante drops a multi leveled allegory which can be read as a wish for political unified Italy, a religious reinterpretation of the book of Revelation, and a personal cleansing of his sin. Keep this in mind.

To start at the end, they are now a complete series. So they can be binged, although there are nine books, so stay hydrated.

Some general things:

Dragons exist in the world, impress upon first feeding/harnessing (thanks Pern!), and come in sizes ranging from flying pony to flying manor home. They're harnessed by riders in the aerial corps of the country which they live in, and feral dragons, the bane of the dark ages (St. George, not fake) have been confined and are fed in return for turning over eggs. The problem is that since they eat meat and are more useful if bigger... France has an aerial advantage!

His Majesties Dragon 

In the beginning the noble born captain of a frigate captures a French ship at sea. He's strict, reasonably well educated, and politically sound. In the hold of the captured ship is a dragon egg!

So when this egg hatches it must be tamed. For England!

Oh, but because riders have to live near the dragons, which sort of terrify everyone else. So they don't get to be in society, are pariahs, and no self respecting lady would marry the captain of one. Still, duty drives, so lots are drawn, and when the egg hatches everyone tries in order. Then the captain tames Temeraire, sees his social world go up in flames, and goes about doing everything out of step with how things are done. Then this causes ripples, disrupts chickens, and leads to all sorts of shifts of world view. Adventure spools out ahead of them....

It looks like a Hornblower-esque cracking good yarn, but let's look at some of the allegorical levels bouncing around...

It contains two discussions of slavery - both as the historical political issue in England , and more subtly in the ongoing discoveries brought on by Lawrence not knowing anything about dragons. This  being free of assumptions about dragons lets Temeraire grow into his own person. Having been raised an abolitionist, and attached to an intelligent dragon (more on that in a second) Lawrence treats Temeraire like a good friend (with an admittedly out of control Id) and not a talkative beast.

There's also a subtle mockery of national character and gender going on - the British dragon known as the Longwing will only allow women to tame it, has a huge reach and spits acid. The best of the British dragon "fleet" is a giant red bulldog like dragon that suns itself. Prussian dragons are meticulous but not always... quick. If there is a subtle national characteristic floating out there, it's made into an amusing side joke and shown to be ridiculous with solid character building and real humanity. Chinese dragons, it should be mentioned are known for being intelligent, but we'll get more on them in book two....

Which will be coming up.