Books: The Literary Reflection, XXII

Wow. It's the twenty-second edition of the 'Literary Reflection', and once again it's a very mixed collection of books that don't quite fit anywhere else. 'The Gate Of Ivory' almost got a post of its own but suffered due my not really knowing what to write about it. It was a confused reaction.


'The Gate Of Ivory' (Gate Of Ivory) (1990) by Doris Egan
Hmmm. This is a tricky one. In 'The Gate Of Ivory', we meet a woman called Theodora, who has been stranded on the magical world of Ivory, without the money to book a space journey home to her university studies. She has been making do, pretending to read tarot cards, and storing up funds for her escape in an illicit bank account. That all changes, though, when she is employed a by a magician as his reader, begins to authentically read from her card, and is drawn into a long and confusing adventure.

This is a tricky story to write about, for it is very level. Well written as it is, there are few peaks or troughs. It feels like a level road from beginning to end, and one which doesn't answer a lot of the questions that I would like answered. Why is Ivory the only world where magic works in the galaxy? Why does this Empire that runs the planet intervene so little in the story? Why is there no reference to music anywhere? How many last memories are stored in that family library? Ultimately, this is good, but it feels as if a thousand things could have been expanded upon. It really does. There could have been two or more standalone novels based on just this material, excluding the second third books that were written.

My confusion might be based in the confusion that is the lead character Theodora.  She is definitely less self-aware than would be ideal, coming to conclusions long after the reader might have, and shifting from supporting character to lead, and then back again. Does she care about this, or about that? Or both? Is she a soap opera character, a romance character, or in the middle of an adventure? It's very hard to say, but the world is nice. There are people with their own stories, to be intersected with, and then left behind. Ultimately, this is a good second tier fantasy novel, with soap operatic and romantic leanings.


'The Blind Barber' (Gideon Fell) (1934) by John Dickson Carr
This was only the fourth 'Gideon Fell' novel to be written, and there is very little of Gideon Fell in the narrative. He is part of the framing story, wherein the actual lead character tells the doctor of the events of the transatlantic crossing he and his friends had just made, which are described to us the reader as a flashback which forms the bulk of the book. And that flashback is eventually very good indeed. I say eventually because it starts off rather slowly, and there is a sense of disappointment at the absence of Dr Fell, both of which are subverted into a sense of small amazement at the complex and farcical story that is wound tightly around a probable murder, the theft of a valuable artifact, an imposter on the ship, a drunken puppet master, some scandalous but innocuous home movies, and a very put-upon ship's captain. Even this is topped by a rather chilling interview with the criminal behind it all. It's utterly recommended, and no more will be said. Excellent.


'Some Buried Caesar' (Nero Wolfe) (1939) by Rex Stout
'Nero Wolfe' has really flown under the radar. There were more than thirty novels or collections in this run by Rex Stout, and Wolfe is supposed to be one of the most important detectives in all of fiction writing, but he's a non-presence here in Britain. After reading 'Some Buried Caesar', everything becomes a little clearer. It's a very simply written short novel, almost too simply, with an interesting plot and a narrative first person point of view in the vein of what might be called a hard-boiled Doctor Watson. Yes, that's right, a 'hard-boiled Doctor Watson'.

Similarities to Sherlock Holmes abound, wherein we have the ingenious (and often very sleepy and stay-at-home) detective and his less perceptive personal assistant who might be distracted by the ladies more often than not. Archie Goodwin makes a marked contrast to Watson, in that he discovers things as much as he receives explanation, presumably being the street detective to Nero Wolfe's armchair sleuth. Wolfe, uncharacteristically out of his rooms in this story, spends a lot of time looking for a decent chair in 'Some Buried Caesar', amusingly. I will not say much of the plot, except that there is a prize-winning bull, which supposedly kills someone, and that Wolfe and Goodwin happen to be on the scene thanks to a car accident.

Opinions on 'Nero Wolfe' in general will have to wait until some more experience is garnered.



'A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born' (Stainless Steel Rat) (1985) by Harry Harrison
And so we go back in time to witness the beginning of Slippery Jim DiGriz, the titular character, and it's much better than I thought it would be. The reduction of scale in the story is welcome, as the earlier stories had escalated to the point of madness, as is stripping the character down to being a vaguely moral thief instead of a galaxy-saving anti-hero. These short novels are unceasingly entertaining, and you can't help but admire Harrison's perseverance in keeping them going for so long, and in breaking the cycle of ever expanding space opera by going back to the beginning. Is it classical? Probably not, still, but it's wildly more inventive that what you might find now, so I will finally recommend the 'Stainless Steel Rat' series, and there are still a few more to come...


O.