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Freedom Book of the Month
Email List Archive
Free-Market.Net's Freedom Book of the Month
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Edited by Sunni Maravillosa. To join or leave this and other
lists, click to: http://www.free-market.net/features/lists/
* September, 2003: "Hecate's Glory", by Karen Michalson
* New and notable
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Freedom Book of the Month for September, 2003:
"Hecate's Glory"
by Karen Michalson
Tor 2003, hardcover, 477 pp.
ISBN: 0-312-89060-5
Guest review by Don Lobo Tiggre
"Hecate's Glory" is one of the two most beautifully written books
I've read in years. The other one is "Enemy Glory", to which
"Hecate's Glory" is the sequel.
I don't normally care much for swords and sorcery-type fantasy, of
which these "Enemy Glory" novels are an example. I can enjoy it if
the story is really well written, and the magic has some kind of
structure, or set of rules so that the characters have to solve
problems, instead of just finding the right words or the magic
crystal that makes all their problems go away at the end. Still,
though, most just never stack up to the Lord of The Rings, and
(unlike good science fiction) the worlds described are not ones
that can ever come to pass, so I usually don't bother.
But this is different.
Not only has Ms. Michalson created rules of magic that will bring a
smile to the face of any seasoned Dungeons & Dragons player, rules
that force the characters to apply logic and deal with the
consequences when they screw up, her novels are genuine works of art.
Now, I'll be honest and say, snooty as it might sound, that I don't
think a lot of people will appreciate art this fine ... but for those
who can ... wow!
The writing in "Hecate's Glory" (and "Enemy Glory") is a kind of
poetry in prose. A lot of it doesn't make any sense, if you try to
think it through. Even knowing that creative use of metaphor is at
work -- a creative use that twists the universe as you might expect
the universe to seem twisted to anyone who can actually practice
magic -- isn't enough to make many passages make sense. But the feel
you get after reading some of these passages, the pictures they paint
in your mind once you stop trying to make the words conform to the
rules, the very taste of the words on your tongue ... It's really
amazing.
Having said that, I'm not sure I can pick an example that will work,
excerpted from its context in the book. I'll try, though -- here are
some words describing the hero's ride into a frozen countryside:
"The night sky an abyss of cold suns and even the fires I created
kept no brightness against the vast still thunder of this passionate
tranquility called northern Threle .... My horse slid through the
great northern silence and still I rode, and the brown hills accepted
me into their frozen dream of earth and they bound me upward and
upward toward a bright crag in the winter sun, like an icy groaning
ocean wave to break on a place of wandering mist and dazzling spires
of icy light ..."
Or this bit, describing the spot where the hero buried an evil
wizard:
"I had buried fistfuls of moonlight in that grave, and ribbons of
ice-covered tree shadow, and tattered pieces of words from old
wizard spells Mirand had once taught me."
I should mention that the hero actually becomes an evil wizard and
cleric himself, in the first book, "Enemy Glory". He manages to do
some good in spite of this, because he loves beautiful things.
Nevertheless, his "evil" nature makes it perfectly natural for him to
make some most cutting observations of human nature, such as when he
needs to train some apprentices, but can't let on that he's evil:
"I chose my new apprentices based on their lack of ability. They did
not know that, of course. I devised a point system which allowed
marginally competent wizards to make the grade if their competence
was mitigated by an especially overweening pride that I could flatter
into submission. But what I generally found was that the least
competent individuals invariably had the highest self-regard, so I
ended up selecting the magically weakest ones anyway."
Or, consider this observation regarding a young woman who is
emotionally open and honest:
"Most people mask their emotions to protect themselves against
someone else's reaction, which is why so many conversations never
really happen, are not real conversations, but intersecting
monologues of cowardice. Aeren was not an emotional coward. It was
the closest thing I'd found in her to a tragic flaw."
And what is the nature of the hero's evil?
"... Evil is often loved and loved fiercely. You need only know that
nothing you have is properly your own, not even your life, hmmm.
Nothing. That is the highest lesson of evil."
So, of course, the hero's goddess demands his life in payment for his
desire to save things of beauty.
Okay, okay, I imagine some readers saying, this all sounds wonderful
and artsy, but what does it have to do with liberty? Why should
"Hecate's Glory" receive the honor of FMN's Freedom Book of the
Month?
Well, Ms. Michalson is a libertarian, and it shows. There are no
80-page speeches on economics, but somehow the effects of the war
between an evil, conquering emperor and the good-guy duke manage to
teach some lessons in free market economics and the institutions of
civil society. Little vignettes make subtle, and not so subtle,
points about freedom:
"I maneuvered the horse into a slow walk and rode leisurely toward
the guards, where I had to wait for an old woman on an ill-looking
donkey to finish cussing them out ... She wanted to see her son. She
had no papers. The son lived in town. He was a cobbler, the best
cobbler in the empire, the best everything in everything until
Roguehan's [the evil emperor's] new laws put him out of business...
'You tell that cud Roguehan from me you don't milk the goose dry and
expect good eggs... How am I supposed to see my son?' ... 'You know
the reasons... No crossing without papers. We all have a social
responsibility to our own local communities, and we can't let folks
shirk that by going elsewhere. New law for the common good.' 'The
common what?' she spat. 'The common nothing...' 'You benefit from
your town, Madam?' 'Look at my donkey, I benefit from my town.' She
spat again. 'My son used to send me piecework to do for a penny --
now I scarcely get hay allowance from the council to feed my poor
donkey for the common good...'"
So, in this book, you have good battling evil, in terms Ayn Rand
herself would recognize. You have freedom fighters battling an evil
dictator, in terms any libertarian would recognize. And you have it
all as a non-intrusive backdrop to a great story, a lesson in
politics and economics that people may not even notice they are
getting.
And then there's the art.
Karen Michalson's poetry in prose might not work for those who just
want a fast-paced thriller to engross them, but for those who are
willing to read something a little more demanding, I predict moments
of pure pleasure. These are not words to simply read, but to savor,
like a fine wine -- or maybe a burning brandy -- that sets one aglow
inside. This is what real art is all about; reaching into people and
touching them. "Hecate's Glory" does this.
The book is not perfect, though it has fewer jarring flaws than
"Enemy Glory", Ms. Michalson's first novel. Still, if there's any
justice in the world, these works of art will still be studied and
enjoyed by students of great literature, long after most fantasies
have turned to forgotten dust.
Order "Hecate's Glory" from Amazon:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/860132937.html, $19.57
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New and notable
o "Defend America First," by Bruce Ramsey (Ed.)
A collection of the antiwar editorials of the Saturday Evening Post,
by Garet Garrett. Ramsey's editorial hand is light and deft,
providing helpful footnotes and an excellent introduction. Highly
recommended to those who oppose the current war, and students of
history. A superb gift idea for such individuals as well.
Order "Defend America First" from Laissez Faire Books:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/830539605.html, $13.95
o "Natural Process: That Environmental Laws May Serve the Laws of
Nature," by Mark Edward Vande Pol
A unique, insightful, thought-provoking examination of the politics
of environmental law and agencies. Vande Pol brings an insider's
perspective to contentious issues, and offers penetrating analyses
and creative solutions. A fresh look at environmental issues for both
experts and interested lay individuals, "Natural Process" may help
persuade non-libertarian conservationists about the importance of
the market.
Order "Natural Process" from Wildergarten Press:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/841330400.html, $29.95
o "Freedom Evolves," by Daniel C Dennett
One of the most controversial thinkers of our time takes on free
will versus determinism, in a book that has been denounced by some
on both left and right. Dennett de-muddles many concepts, and
leaves the reader with a sense of optimism about the future of
mankind.
Order "Freedom Evolves" from Amazon:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/872031249.html, $17.47
Keep doing freedom,
Sunni Maravillosa
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