My thoughts on Knight

Andrew Bollen · 29 Sep 2004, 06:50 · from 2004-September.txt.gz

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From: abollen at internode.on.net (Andrew Bollen)
Date: Wed Sep 29 06:50:20 2004
Subject: (urth) My thoughts on Knight
References: <1e6.2bee9a88.2e8bd049 at aol.com>
Message-ID: <088f01c4a62b$3c745d00$3700a8c0@crunchynut>

StoneOx wrote:

"First, I can't believe that Wolfe thinks that it was a good idea for Able 
to
drop his quest, abandon his friends, abrogate his duty, and run off into
elfland chasing visions of Disiri, as he does at the end of the book.  He
does seem to get Grengarm out of it, which you'd think would be a good
thing, but I bet that in Wizard we'll see that this side trip also has
adverse consequences."

FWIW, the publisher's blurb at Amazon says that all the quests get fulfilled 
in Wizard:

"A novel in two volumes, The Wizard Knight is in the rare company of those 
works which move past the surface of fantasy and drink from the wellspring 
of myth. Magic swords, dragons, giants, quests, love, honor, nobility-all 
the familiar features of fantasy come to fresh life in this masterful work.

The first half of the journey, The Knight -- which you are advised to read 
first, to let the whole story engulf you from the beginning -- took a 
teenage boy from America into Mythgarthr, the middle realm of seven 
fantastic worlds. Above are the gods of Skai; below are the capricious Aelf, 
and more dangerous things still. Journeying throughout Mythgarthr, Able 
gains a new brother, an Aelf queen lover, a supernatural hound, and the 
desire to prove his honor and become the noble knight he always knew he 
would be.

Coming into Jotunland, home of the Frost Giants, Able -- now Sir Able of the 
High Heart --claims the great sword Eterne from the dragon who has it. In 
reward, he is ushered into the castle of the Valfather, king of all the Gods 
of Skai.

Thus begins the second part of his quest. The Wizard begins with Able's 
return to Mythgathr on his steed Cloud, a great mare the color of her name. 
Able is filled with new knowledge of the ways of the seven-fold world and 
possessed of great magical secrets. His knighthood now beyond question, Able 
works to fulfill his vows to his king, his lover, his friends, his gods, and 
even his enemies. Able must set his world right, restoring the proper order 
among the denizens of all the seven worlds.

The Wizard is a charming, riveting, emotionally charged tale of wonders, 
written with all the beauty one would expect from a writer whom Damon Knight 
called "a national treasure." If you've never sampled the works of the man 
Michael Swanwick described as "the greatest writer in the English language 
alive today," the two volumes of The Wizard Knight are the perfect place to 
start. "

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