Here, There Be Disappointment

I began a review of James A. Owen's Here, There Be Dragons in a previous post.
I finished the book a couple of days ago.
I came very close to closing the book before the end.
But if I had given up on it I would have missed wonderful moments within it – some unexpected turns of scenes.

Unfortunately these great bits did not outweigh the whole experience. I'm not impressed. I dare say that after a time, I found it slightly insulting. Ironically, the very concept that attracted me to the book is what stirred up the disenchantment. The idea that Tolkien, Lewis and Williams did not come up with their material on their own…that they crafted it based on a wild adventure in a magical realm. And it doesn’t stop there. You’ll find that Dickens, Poe, Dante, Shelley, Byron, Doyle, Verne, Hawthorne, Swift, Grimm (Jacob but not Wilhelm?), Brahe, Wells (who is the Time Traveler, apparently, though he doesn’t use his machine to help them? Or reveal and utilize his experience in the Keep of Time?), Spenser, Kepler, Dumas, Bacon, Andersen, Shakespeare, Twain…apparently all of these authors and more have no internal imaginations. They all simply wrote disguises of experiences they had in the Archipelago of Dreams. This bothers me…but I might be oversensitive. Oh. And then there’s this line about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: "Now, John,” Bert chided. “That’s just a story." I’m sorry…what? Dragons is a book about fantastical places, some specifically named from literature such as Lilliput. Yet Wonderland is merely a story? Could be meant as a joke. But then why not include Carroll among the esteemed? Plus, my all-too-obvious speculation from the previous post came out positive. Jamie does indeed refer to Barrie. The book claims that Barrie had been unable to handle the adventure of it and resigned his post as Caretaker of the "Imaginarium Geographica." Excuse me? Surely this is an insult? Also, it states that Barrie had been knighted. Barrie did not accept knighthood in 1909. But he became a Baronet in 1913. The Sir refers to baronetcy.

Besides these curiosities, remember how I said it became all too easy to see the parallels between the characters/places in this book to the authors' work? Such as the Winter King being a form of Jadis, the White Witch? Well, even this went on to annoyance. It’s one thing to refer to or homage elements from other tales. But to condense and squeeze as many as possible into one story for the sake of the premise quickly became tiresome. For instance, taking shadows from people (a la Peter Pan) by looking in a cauldron known as Pandora's Box (standard fantasy icon and Greek myth) resulting in dark, soul-less cloaked figures, slaves to their Master’s will (a la the Ringwraiths/Nazgul) loses its impact. It even has a Ring of Power with other rings given to dwarves, elves… Did I mention the Winter King wants said lost Ring of Power and has a hook on his right hand?

Plus, as I've already shown, it goes on to “borrow” from at least Greek mythology. Yes, I realize that Tolkien and Lewis used world mythologies. So it stands to reason to include them. But here the tales feel thrown together with the rest of it. Bible stories and Arthurian legend, too. Not that it’s wrong to use such things. One of my own works has elements of King Arthur. But to have it all jumbled together in a kind of Storybook Chex Mix?

All in all, I suppose it’s not exactly a bad book per se. The story is told well enough. And it did take some ingenuity to ransack and hodgepodge the great fantasies of the world into a single entity. As I said, at times it delighted with fun surprises. I just question the intention and the outcome. It didn’t warrant the rampant abuse of fiction.

For those of you who enjoyed the novel, I hope you don’t think less of me for my opinion. As my mother always tells me, “That’s why there’s chocolate and vanilla.”

A -bit- of a Drag...

I’ve begun reading a book I’ve had on my shelf for a long time. I bought it because upon hearing the premise, it stirred curiosity. I believe I had been reading one or more of The Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones (author of Howl's Moving Castle) at the time. Eventually the book became one of the daily fixtures that barely get noticed.

But I recently read what is contained within the sequel to this book, which made me after all this time, reach for Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen. The story revolves around Jack, John and Charles who find themselves in possession of a magical book and thrust into an adventure into the Archipelago of Dreams to stop the Winter King. The twist is that these gentleman are none other than C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles Williams. It’s based on the fact that they were all Oxford men, so what if they all met, had a supernatural adventure and returned to write fantastic tales? Intriguing.

Even more intriguing is that I find myself reading another book that fictionalizes real people.

What I read that prompted me to pick it up, finally, is that reportedly J. M. Barrie and Peter Pan himself are in the next book, The Search for the Red Dragon. All right. Now I have to be involved in reading it.

First let me say that Barrie is already alluded to in this first novel: Jamie, who liked playacting in Kensington Gardens. Who else could it be?

I am not wholly impressed so far, but then I am not wholly disappointed either. There are some rather overused conventions coming together to make this tale occur. A stormy night, a mysterious stranger, a sudden upheaval into another world… Not that these elements can’t be used effectively. But here they seem a bit too contrived to create a fairy tale . Perhaps this is part of the goal. To make our own world feel and seem as if it could turn into a fairy tale at any given moment. A concept dear to my heart, as my profile indicates. But here it doesn’t yet feel cohesive. I’m too aware of the conventions. Maybe it just lacks atmosphere. Perhaps I would feel more immersed and willing if it did not go so quickly. Rapid action has its time and place, too, of course. But here these elements here just don’t seem to mesh.

Also, it’s a bit obvious where and how the story pieces from the three authors are woven into their adventure. For instance, the Winter King obviously becomes Jadis, the White Witch and Ruler of Narnia for a century. Forced, perhaps.

And then there is the, for me, gratuitous use of literary characters. For example, what should sail up and along to help them out in a dire situation at sea? Verne’s Nautilus, complete with Captain Nemo. He exists in the Archipeligo of Dreams because….well…anything can….actually, I’m not really sure. That aspect hasn’t fully explained to satisfaction.

But I am not disliking enough that I’m not turning pages. The premise is still fun. It may be too early to judge. I am only going into Chapter Six of Twenty-Four. A lot can happen in that time. I’ll see where it leads and get back to you.