Tolkien Reading Day

Naturally here on Stars Uncounted we celebrate Tolkien Reading Day, an annual event launched by The Tolkien Society, the date of March 25 being chosen for the simple reason that that is when the One Ring was cast into the Cracks of Doom and Sauron fell. Traditionally one celebrates by posting a quote The Lord of the Rings:

“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of The King.

I have just started Crossroads of Twilight

The great journey continues. The Wheel turns.

I have just started Crossroads of Twilight, Volume #10 of The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.
"And it shall come to pass, in the days when the Dark Hunt rides, when the right hand falters and the left hand strays, that mankind shall come to the Crossroads of Twilight, and all that is, all that was, and all that will be shall balance on the point of a sword, while the winds of the Shadow grow." So states the Prophecies of the Dragon and, as the world enters a new era, the many Thrones of the Westlands struggle against the Crystal from across the Aryth Ocean even as the fates of those and other thrones and forces hang in the balance. A balance between words and swords, between the White Tower both true and false with the Dragon Reborn, between Asha'man and Aes Sedai, and, ultimately, between the Shadow and the Light – as is the definition of twilight.

Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

I have just finished Winter's Heart

The great journey continues. The Wheel turns.

I have just finished Winter's Heart, Volume #9 of The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.
It was said that during the Age of Legends the greatest feats of the One Power were accomplished by women and men working together, Saidar and Saidin united, hence the ancient symbol of Aes Sedai. Until that unity of Power was broken by the Dark One's counterstroke that ended the Dragon and broke the world after he saved it. Now that damage is undone by men and women working together even as, far away, the Daughter of the Nine Moons is revealed and taken by the gambler per the prophesy from beyond the doorway. Even as the Red Wolf searches for his beloved Falcon, Asha'man betray their name as others confirm it. Yet the Shadow lingers, dark knives and worse hearts threatening the Daughter-Heir and even the Dragon Reborn himself. Only one thing is certain: the Time of Illusions has come to an end.

Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

Art of Magic: the Gathering

The Temple of Serra at Epityr. Art by Christine Choi.

The illustrator Ted Nasmith once described the wonder and power of Fantasy in but a single sentence: "It opened up in me a dormant love of lost and misty times, myth and legend." Naturally, specifically, the quote refers to when his sister introduced him to The Lord of the Rings. But I have already posted on Nasmith and his renditions of Valinor and Valyria, and indeed one can see his work scattered throughout Star Uncounted. However, I am in an artistic mood and thought to myself: What is some underappreciated Fantasy art that I could post? Something well-known in its own circles but perhaps not beyond? The answer was obvious, the justly popular card game Magic: the Gathering. In fact Mtg is more than popular, it is downright world-famous, but that does not mean people know much about it. I knew about it since I was small, but only that it was thematically related somehow to Dungeons & Dragons. Yet even after seeing a few game played I did not truly appreciate what for many players – include me, now –  is a matter of critical importance. The art on the cards. Above you can see one of my favorites, the Temple of Serra at Epityr where the town is cradled in the lap of the of statue while the towers of temple itself can just be made out between her wings.

Quite elegant and in my mind no less worthy of wonder on an aesthetic level than Mr. Nasmith's depiction of the Argonath. Indeed, I would bet that The Pillars of the Kings directing inspired both the temple and the Memorial to Genius. But it is not just statues carved into mountainsides, oh no, for when Magic players think of the games art one of if not the first thing that comes to mind is the wondrous world of Zendikar, images of which flank this text. To be clear, gravity does exist in this world as otherwise the Elf to the left would not bother with ropes. Granted that I do not know how it works on Zendikar save that it affects everything except the floating chuck of terrain. (Those floating angular things are called hedrons, are not natural formations, and are another story.) I could include more, but posting solid walls of art is something I try to avoid, particularly when I can provide a link to a fair bit of it. Anyway, the point is that just as great Fantasy authors bring their created worlds to life in the minds of their readers, great Fantasy artists can do the same regardless of whether the world they depict comes from a book or game.

My father and I just finished The Valley of Fear

My father and I just finished The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and with it we have completed the last of the Sherlock Holmes novels. 

Masterful in every sense of the word, it was easily his greatest mystery - plot and counterplot woven in intrigue, love, loyalty, and murder with surprise that the great Diana Wynne Jones herself could not have better. I also had a great personal moment for I actually solved the mystery before Mr. Holmes did 😊 Ironically because it involved a trick that GRRM played several times. All of which again shows that mystery and Fantasy are literary kindred.
And yet, even on the last page, Professor Moriarty left a bloody fingerprint. We may have finished the novels, but we are not yet done journeying with the consulting detective of 221B Backer Street.

Quote to start the month

A sparrowhawk

"Only in silence the word, only in dark the light, only in dying life: bright the hawk's flight on the empty sky." - Ursula K. Le Guin

Rumors of the Wheel (updated)

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

Naturally I have been aware of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time for a most of my life, yet had long sworn not to read it for reasons of excessive length (even by my standards) and a glacial pace. That being the case, though, I would often browse through random volumes while in bookstores and in doing so noted Jordan's skill (for creating a world that rivals Middle-earth in scale and gaining such fame is no small thing). I viewed the series as a tragedy of Fantasy: an author who let his world swallow the story he was trying to tell at the story's expense given the glacial reputation. However, as my interest in The Wheel of Time grew I began to research it, looking at once for an excuse to read it as well as validation for my vow not to touch it. Paradoxical, I know, but such is the nature of the human mind at times. The six key rumors I found are as follows:

1. That the first book, The Eye of the World, is a near-copy of Tolkien (as that was required to get published way back when).
2. That Jordan really diverges and becomes his own writer story-wise in book #2, The Great Hunt.
3. That the glacial pace does not start until book seven, A Crown of Swords, making the first half the series exemplary to the highest definition of the word.
4. The the glacial pace was made far worse by the fact that each book took years for Jordan to write, making readers tear their hair out over getting slow book after slow book afters eons waiting.
5. That, now that all the books of out, the rumored glacial pace is not half so bad because, rather than waiting years, readers can move straight from book to book.
6. That the final three books written posthumously by Jordan's chosen successor, Brandon Sanderson, are masterful – with the last book, A Memory of Light, being one long heart-stopping climax.

Thankfully, as I am now reading Winter's Heart (Book #9) and thus supposedly in the middle of the glacial pace, I can now answer as to the accuracy of most of these rumors. To start, The Eye of the World is not a Tolkien-imitation once one gets past the first quarter of the book. Again, back in the day everyone wanted a second LOTR so some Tolkien-imitation was required if one wanted to get published, but Jordan's story swiftly becomes a unique one in the first book and blossoms in The Great Hunt. In short, Book #1 was excellent, but afterwards is where the tale takes off in truly startling directions. As to rumors 3-5, while I can easily see how the story felt glacial when it was first coming out, reading it straight through negates that because one has not had years to forget characters' names and the many plot points both major and minor between one volume and another. A critical point, as Jordan has the depth of vision to lay gives key hints, visions of the future both large and infinitesimal, that do not come to full fruition for until several books later. That being said, I cannot deny that The Wheel of a Time is hardly a fast-paced series, but to call it glacial is wrong. In sum, I confirm rumors one, two, four, and five, deny three due to the lack of said glacial pace, and cannot speak to six because I have yet to reach those books. Meanwhile, and as the Aes Sedai say, the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills.

Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.