the tale of a spear wielder

The Spearwielder's Tale by R.A. Salvatore

(In this review I explain some major plot points… so if you don’t want to be spoiled turn away, otherwise proceed with caution, one does not merely walk into a review of a fantasy novel.)

 

The day I started this book I tweeted

the tweeter machine

Please excuse that glaring grammar/spelling mistake. But I was right. It was uniquely enjoyable. It’s been quite some time since I’ve read some straight fantasy with giants and elves and leprechauns and all of that. Fantasy, as a genre, was heavily influential in my early years of reading. We’ve already talked about the influence C.S. Lewis was on me as a reader. And I went through The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in high school around the time the movies were coming out. And of course the Harry Potter series. But I consider that a little more on the magical realism side. This Spearwielder’s Tale (which I manage to spell incorrectly every time) was straight fantasy. One of those ripped from the real world into Faerie types of things.

I liked some of the “reveals” that resulted from the main character, Gary, being taken into Faerie. In the first book he’s taken there as a disillusioned recent college grad merely because he fits the specific size of a legendary suit of armor. A scheming leprechaun and an elf on his life quest convince Gary that he has to tag along and the land of Faerie is very much real. Lovers of Tolkien will enjoy that throughout the first book Mickey McMickey (the leprechaun) reads Gary’s copy of The Hobbit, even translating it into his own language. (This artifact given back to him at the end of the first book helps him realize that he hasn’t actually gone crazy).

The Elf (Kelsey), Mickey McMickey, and Gary add a dwarf and a giant to their gang (somewhat begrudgingly) and best not only a conniving witch bent on interrupting their quest but also stand down a very tricky dragon (who can walk around in human form). And they do it all by walking everywhere. No horses. Gary ends up banishing the witch to her castle for 100 years and accidentally freeing the dragon from his castle (though he’d been banished by the elf defeating him in swordplay). This upsets the balance of power in Faerie and creates the plot for the second book.

Five years later in the real world, and only a couple of weeks in Faerie, Gary is brought back to replace a dagger he accidently stole from the dragon. Again Mickey McMickey has an ulterior motive. His pot of gold is situated in the dragon’s pile of wealth, too, and he needs it back.

The witch is still banished, but she convinces Gary to let her out early. He agrees to reduce her banishment from 100 years to 3 months, mainly so she’ll stay out of their hair while they try to handle the dragon. And she does. Also some gnomes show up in this book and they build crazy contraptions. The situation progressively gets worse and worse and Gary ends up having to kill the dragon (in dragon form) with the aid of the spear (which can talk to him) and a contraption built by the dwarf and gnome. I don’t know if I skipped over the specifics somehow but I don’t think how they did it was ever actually explained. Oh yeah, and there are a ton of horses in this one with some kind of fear inducing bells attached to them.

In the second book Salvatore throws out his nod to Fleetwood Mac implying that members of the band had crossed over into Faerie when Gary starts singing one of their songs and Mickey makes a comment about that bard knowing of what he sings. Gary is overwhelmingly excited by the possibility that his favorite author and members of his favorite band have made their way into Faerie for some reason or another. (Mickey had earlier confirmed that Tolkien had to have seen a dragon in real life because he described them perfectly, but he was a little off on the trolls).

The third book was my least favorite. But there were some slightly interesting things that happened. Gary, recently married and having lost his father is desperate to get back into Faerie. So he traipses all over England and Scotland in an effort to find another passage into Faerie. His wife sort of believes the stories he’s told her about his adventures in Faerie but is annoyed all the same at Gary’s strange persistence. Mickey finally relents and allows Gary and his wife to come back to Faerie, mainly because they are in such dire straits. All of Faerie is at war… the men vs. the magical creatures (elves, dwarves, and gnomes). So Gary jumps in and starts his work. The witch is still banished in her castle for this book, but her machinations have crept out. Apparently sometime during his reign the witch had replaced the King with some very strange mountain creature called the Wild Hairy Haggis.

Gary, Kelsey, Mickey, Gary’s wife, and the prince go on a quest to find the real king as the rest of Faerie squares off for war lead by the impostor king. It all ends with Gary fighting a demon in the witch’s castle. And more than a few men die. So thanks to Gary, Kelsey, and Mickey Faerie is set to experience a long time of peace. The king offers to set Gary up as a Duke to watch over a section of his kingdom and be given some reward for all his efforts in Faerie and though Gary and his wife seriously consider it they decide to go back to the real world.

Mickey’s final piece of advice to Gary is that Faerie will always be in his mind. On the plane from England back to the States Gary realizes that he can’t tell people about Faerie an expect to be taken seriously… he’d just end up in some tabloid. He comes to the conclusion that he’ll write a novel and like Tolkien did for him maybe his story will prepare some future hero for the realities of Faerie.

 

I did enjoy the books, though I’ll admit I skipped over a lot of the fighting scenes. They’re just not really my thing. And I was completely annoyed by the overuse of the word “maw”. I realize that it’s sort of a catch-22 to use a thesaurus in this case. Because these are the kinds of options you’re given:

thesaurus for maw

So yeah, not very enticing options. But goodness I was so over reading the word “maw” that when I recently saw it in another book I almost reflexively chucked it across the room.

I’d say that if you enjoy fantasy and some sillier moments in fiction than this set of novels would be great for you to peruse. And Salvatore is apparently a prolific fantasy/sci-fi writer. So, if that’s your thing I’m sure you’ll find something that tickles your fancy.

These were books 2-4 in my last 15 of 2011 if you’re keeping track.

ill fitting cardigan

  Names are a funny thing. Some people put them on and take them off easy as a cardigan. For some they are a root system that connect them to ages past. There’s a line in the Avett Brothers’  Murder in the City

Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that lets us share our name.

 It’s a great little line, so full of sentimental feeling. This morning it was, for me, food for thought. See there’s a story behind each of my names. One name became mine by biological default and the past few years I’ve spent growing into it. Another of my names served as a hyphen for a few years and was a name chosen. But those are just the surnames I have.

  There are also my first and middle names. When I was a small child I really wondered how my name would sound when I was a grown up. Now two weeks shy of turning 25 I still catch myself wondering that and then I realize it’s not very different. It’s strange how names can do that. If you meet a boy of 4 or 5 named Alfred his name may seem to big for him and a woman of 65 named Dee seems barely contained by her name. I think I lucked out though. Noel works for my whole life. Plus, upon meeting me the ice is instantly broken since most people sing The First Noel to me. (I’m still holding out for an original person that will sing Deck the Halls or some other Christmas carol and then ask me if I hear that all the time.)

  Last year some close friends of mine caught a glimpse of my driver’s license and subsequently freaked out! One even claimed that she felt she didn’t really know me… that I had been an imposter this whole time. It’s the curse of “going by” your middle name, everyone feels so betrayed when they realize you have a first name they’ve never known. (As an aside: no one feels this sense of betrayal when middle names are revealed, more a sense of camaraderie over the embarrassment of whatever that name is.) Other close friends admitted that they thought my twitter handle (@snoelr) was just a quirky thing I made up and didn’t realize it was my first initial, middle name, and last initial. I defended myself by saying I’d never kept it a secret, they’d just never asked. That defense didn’t fly very well.

  Maybe it’s because even still I feel like my name is a cardigan that’s too big for me made up of a sort of hodge-podge of fabrics. I’ve been trying to grow into it. Seana Noel still sounds elusive to me, but maybe  it will make a great name for an authoress.

the elegance of the hedgehog

It seems to me that in recent months the hedgehog has become the hipster pet of choice. I’ve seen this picture on almost every website I frequently visit:

baby hedgehog

I’ll admit that a baby hedgehog is fairly cute. I’m not sure how much I’d thought of hedgehogs until recently with their rise as popular pets and of course this book entering my world -

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

I can admit, without reservation, and despite the year not having fully drawn to a close, that this is my favourite book of 2011. According to goodreads.com I’ve read about 51 books so far this year, or 13,750 pages. A lot of them were read for classes but since May they’ve all been for pleasure or curiosity. This one drew my attention out of sheer curiosity.

I’ll admit that I am a cover judger. That’s all a book really has to recommend itself if you are not familiar with the author. While I understand the lesson of the adage I do think that choosing books based upon their covers (and subsequently the summary either on the dust jacket or back) are perfectly acceptable ways to choose books. This book did not let me down. The cover reminded me a bit of this cover of The Westing Game

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

which I greatly enjoyed.

The two stories don’t have too much in common, other than being about a group of people who live in a certain building together. In TEOTH we have two narrators – first, Renee, a woman in her 50s who serves as the building’s concierge (the story is set in Paris). Second, Paloma, a pre-teen resident of the building. Both are burdened with higher than average intelligence and the desire to keep their intelligence hidden. Renee records her thoughts and the happenings of the day out of a sort of loneliness after losing her husband. Paloma records events and thoughts that help her decipher a reason for continuing to live in a world full of so much disappointment. It sounds rather dreary, I know, but God, the characters are so quirky and lovable you just find yourself attaching to them and waiting to see what they’ll say next.

This book a tough read due to the verbiage and content. Both narrators reference things that made me constantly grateful the internet existed. I Google’d so many things during this read… I even had to bust out the Dictionary app on my phone a few times because context was not enough to help me determine the meaning of some of the words. Here, just take a gander at this quote in the “Praise” section before the novel -

“A richly suggestive novel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog traces a wide arc as it pursues the peccadilloes of contemporary society and portrays our pitiable primate preoccupations (sex, territory, hierarchy) with humor and erudition… But the invincible appeal of this book is in its formidably charming characters and in the multitude of intelligent reflections on pets, burnt out cars, learning and scholarship, and much more.” – Nouvel Observateur (France)

I’ll wait a few moments for your head to stop spinning.

Ready?

Ok, really. That’s just in the praise section. On several occasions I was tempted to abort the project of reading this book because it took me so long. But I am so glad that I stuck it out. I copied out a couple passages (that I would have just underlined if the book belonged to me) and I’ll share this one with you. It’s from an observation Paloma makes near the end of the book. I ended up liking Renee’s narratives a bit better due to their lack of melodrama… but Paloma definitely hits some deep stuff. See for yourself -

So here is my profound thought for the day: this is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people and who sees beyond… We never look beyond our assumptions and, what’s worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves. We don’t recognize each other because other poeple have become our permanent mirrors.

Talk about a slap in the face to narcissism. I read that passage on September 21st. On the same day TWLOHA tweeted a quote by Lord Chesterfield that was surprisingly fitting -

TWLOHA tweet

That’s just one little nugget. There are so many other beautiful comments about philosophy, and the desire to learn, the beauty of movement, and the responsibility of the educated to defend Truth and Beauty and Language, and fear.

I finally finished the book late one evening at home in bed. As I read the final pages I felt, stronger than I ever have before, the sadness of finishing a book. I was truly sorry that I would not have the experience of reading this book for the first time ever again. And I wondered who would read it so that I could discuss it with them. I want to own it and read it annually. I want to write something like it one day that so captures a reader. It really is inspiring and heartbreaking and wonderful. It’s hopeful. Two people that feel completely isolated and so peculiar discover community. I felt a sense of belonging. I connected so strongly to this book and the ideas expressed by it.

Favourite of 2011. Now, go find a copy. Take your time and absorb it. Then we can talk about what makes a hedgehog truly elegant and why it matters. I can’t wait.