Jane Lindskold's Blog, page 123

TT: The Most Complex Race on Middle Earth

JANE: One of the things I thought made Middle Earth particularly rich was that we get glimpses of different well-developed human cultures.  There are the Dunedain, the Men of Gondor, the Men of Arnor, the Black Numenoreans, the Cosairs of Umbar, the Haradrim , the Easterlings, and the Woses.

A Wide Variety of Humans

ALAN: In other words, the social and political divisions within Middle Earth are just as confusing and messy as they are in the real world.

JANE:  Yep!   As one comes to expect with Tolkien, the same people/culture may have many names, which can be confusing.  For example, the Dunedain and the Numenoreans are different names for the same people.

ALAN: Tolkien did this all the time – I am firmly convinced that it was a conscious literary device that he used in order to add verisimilitude to his story. We’ve already seen how place names in the real world work like that, but so too do the names of tribes and nations.

I was born in the UK so therefore I am British. But I was actually born in England, so it would be equally legitimate to call me English. However, I tend to think of myself as a Yorkshireman, and Yorkshire people often refer to themselves as Tykes. In another context, you could also consider me to be European. On the other hand, I’ve legally changed my nationality, and I no longer use a UK passport because now I’m a New Zealander. So I’d be happy to have you refer to me as a Kiwi or, depending on the circumstances, a Pakeha.

Do you have a theory as to why Tolkien used such a plethora of names for the various humans of Middle Earth?

JANE: Before I answer your question, I just need to say “Wow!”  I love your example of how one person can have many cultural identities – and how all can be perfectly correct.

Going back to Tolkien.  Tolkien often dates the development of a new sub-group to some historical event.  For example, Gondor and Arnor are both descended from the survivors of the destruction of Numenor, so new names develop for a changing peoples.

ALAN: I think Tolkien is deliberately drawing literary parallels here. Just as Gondor was founded by those who survived the fall of Numenor, so too was Rome founded by those who fled from the destruction of Troy, and a whole new world-dominating culture arose from that disaster! Virgil wrote an epic poem about it (the Aeniad). The legend of Aeneas was so important to the mythology of Rome that Julius Caesar claimed to be directly descended from him.

JANE: And through Aeneas to the goddess Venus, please remember.  Julius Caesar could claim a pedigree worthy of a hero out of myth…

Interesting…

Indulge me in a small sketch of how Tolkien worked through his histories.  The Numenoreans were called so because of where they lived: the island of Numenor.  They were also called the Dunedain, which means Men of the West.

A small aside…  Many of Tolkien’s races had a “directional” name.  The Haradrim are also called the “Southrons.”  Sauron’s human forces are the “Easterlings.”

ALAN: I wonder why we never hear of the heroic deeds performed by the Northeast-by-North-erlings? And what about those villainous Southwest-by-South-erners?

JANE: Evil!  True evil is in bad jokes…

But you bring up something that has always bothered me about these directional names.  They’re relative to where you live.  For the first part of my life, Texas was emblematic of the American West.  Now that I live in New Mexico, it’s just another eastern state. 

Getting back to Tolkien’s history…  Numenor was sunk into the sea for reasons that boil down to the Elves thinking them uppity for wanting to be immortal, too.  (Imagine!)  Some of the Numenoreans who had not challenged the Right Way (which was that Men die and Elves don’t) survived.  They founded Gondor and Arnor.

The people of Gondor and Arnor in turn intermarried with various other groups, creating new cultures.  To pick one at random, Jim is particularly addicted to the Riders of Rohan.

ALAN: Oh yes! I vividly remember when I first read the books, I was sitting alone in a room. My parents were in the next room watching something on the television, but I was so immersed in the books that I left them to it. And just as the fellowship arrived in Rohan, my father came in and insisted that I go to bed because it was late. Oh, no! I was devastated!

Guess what I read by torchlight under the sheets that night?

I’ve had a very soft spot for the Rohirrim ever since, and I think it says something about the impact that the Riders had on me that more than fifty years later I still vividly remember the emotion of that moment.

JANE: I also like the Riders of Rohan a great deal.  For one, they’re the only culture in the entire massive block of print to produce a female main character: Eowen.

That aside, they remind me of all the good things about Vikings, without the random looting, pillaging, and such.  If you can have idealized Vikings, then the Rohirrim are they.

Are there any other human cultures you like in particular?

ALAN: Well we can’t leave a discussion about the Races of Men without talking about one man – Aragorn, the King who returned in the last book of the tale. Tolkien talks a lot about Aragorn’s lineage (Aragorn, son of Arathorn… blah, blah, blah) and it’s certainly one of the many reasons why he was able to reclaim the title of King.

JANE: I’d go further than that.  I’d say that this heritage – and the powers Aragorn inherited with it – are the reason everyone is supposed to accept him as king.  It is to Tolkien’s credit that he created such a fine character that we all want Aragorn to win the throne, rather than wondering why a guy who has spent most of his life wandering around in disguise should be expected to be able to run a massive empire.

ALAN: Again this heritage is a reflection of how things used to work in the actual world we live in. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, can legitimately trace his family back to William the Conqueror and there is a medieval manuscript in the archives that details William’s descent from God. So Boris would seem to have impeccable credentials, if you happen to believe in the Divine Right of Kings…

JANE: But we don’t – and as you and I earlier discussed – the behavior of monarchs, modern and otherwise, contributes a great deal to our lack of faith in the divine right of kings.

ALAN: And quite right too.

Although Aragorn was of the race of Men, he always seemed a bit Elvish to me. While he was certainly not immortal, he was very long-lived and there was a grace, dignity and nobility about him that was very Elvish.

JANE: In a sense, Aragorn is sort of Elvish, since the Elves granted magical powers and long life to the Dunedain after they sided with the Elves in an earlier Really Big War Against Evil. See above as to what happened when the Dunedain (now also Numenoreans) decided this wasn’t enough.

Before we close here, I’d like to take a brief look at one of the most overlooked human races in the novels: the Woses who, by the way, are also – confusingly – called the Druedain.

ALAN: I must confess I draw a blank here. I don’t recall the Woses at all. Can you enlighten me?

JANE: Okay… Think back to when the Riders of Rohan have finally finished squabbling and are racing to aid Gondor.  They are halted by a terrifically huge group of Orcs.  All seems lost until arrows come from nowhere, felling the Orcs.

The source of those arrows was the people the Riders had contemptuously called “Woses” and had hunted as annoying beasts.

That the Druedain (or Drughu as they call themselves) would have come to the rescue of people who had treated them so badly shows their intelligence and awareness of the bigger picture – an awareness the ostensibly more sophisticated Riders had been slow to accept.

In fact, the only reason the Riders of Rohan arrive in time at the Battle of Pelennor Fields is because of the Woses.  And the only reason Sauron’s forces are defeated is because the Riders arrive in time.  So one could argue that the Woses – short, ugly, twisted, and primitive as they are – are the twig that turns the flood.

Once again, Tolkien makes the point that those who are not obvious heroes have an important role to play.

And you forgot them…

ALAN: To my sorrow, so I did. I promise that it won’t happen again.

JANE: As was mentioned in the comments when we started this discussion with Hobbits, Hobbits can be considered one of the human races – one that, like the Woses,  has taken a wildly divergent path.  So, in a sense, we have come full circle…  Perhaps this is a good place to close.

Seriously Thinking About Series

News Flash: Contest Announcement

Artemis Invaded will be released at the end of June.  To celebrate, I’m giving out three ARCs of the novel via Goodreads.  Check out the contest details here.

A Selection of Series

Wish you could have learned about the contest sooner?  Sign up for my mailing list for notifications of contests, author events, and new releases.

News Flash: Interviews

Last week, I was asked to do a couple of interviews.

In the first, Alyx Dellmonica asks a few questions about how early literary heroines shaped my characters. It should go up sometime today here.

The second interview comes from the folks at the Goodreads space opera community.  Treecat Wars is one of their featured titles this month, but they wanted to know about a lot more than just the treecats.  You can check out their questions here.

News Flash: Change of Venue for The Change

Last week, I mentioned that I’ll be part of a launch even for S.M. Stirling’s anthology The Change on June 15th at 7:00 p.m.  The location for this has been changed to the Violet Crown Cinema, 1606 Alcadesa Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

And now to our regularly scheduled Wander…

A couple weeks ago, in “Avoid or Anticipate?: The Problem of Series,” (WW 5-27-15), I talked a bit about the mixed reactions that series books (and the writers who write them) receive.  At the end, I encourage readers to ask any questions they had about the complexities involved in writing a series.   I had quite a few questions, both on the site and from my shy “ghosts.”  To avoid repetition, I’ve condensed and rephrased where necessary.

The questions were split between creative considerations and business considerations.  I’m going to start with the creative aspects, then move on from there.

The first question addresses, very rightly, the point when a series becomes a series –  when you start writing the second or third book.

Q: How do you treat a series book? Do you write a treatise at the beginning of each book saying what happened in the preceding book?

A: No treatises, please!  A series novel is still a novel and an “info-dump” is still an info-dump.

Sure, in current television or old movie serials, it’s not uncommon for a new episode to begin with a short clip from the previous one, but the key here is short.  Moreover, these mostly happen in circumstances where the previous episode ended on a cliffhanger, especially an action cliffhanger.  Therefore, rather than dulling the viewer’s interest, these recaps get the blood pumping again: “Oh,yeah.  That’s right.  Last week we left Dark Ranger fighting with Evil Elf, unaware that Blood Armadillo was about to stab him in the back.”

But a novel is not a television show.  Moreover, the purpose of a short recap and a treatise is different.  Those clips are meant to re-familiarize a viewer with the prior chapter.  They are not meant to re-introduce characters, setting, past action, and all the rest.

Q: Can you start out with reminders of the important characters by doing several short scenes as to “what they’re doing now”?

Yes, you can, but this is still an info-dump and info-dumps can be deadly dull.  Readers who already know the characters are frustrated  because after the initial “Oh, yeah, right. Smitty!  I remember Smitty,” they’re going to feel, well, dumped on.

New readers are not going to be hooked by a bunch of scenes showing characters going about their day-to-day business.  And narrative hooks are no less important in series novels than in stand-alone novels.

My tendency is to go right into the story I’m currently telling and find a way to re-introduce background material in context.  How you find that context will depend on the story you’re telling.  It might be conversation: “I can’t believe it’s only six months since we first met, after we’d both been swallowed by the Utterly Enormous Sea Monster.”  “Yeah, and don’t forget, if I hadn’t been there, you’d have been nothing but sugar in a monster’s bloodstream, not the High Priestess of Deep Oceans.”

 Or it can be in a character’s thought.  “As she hung onto Cargo’s increasingly slippery fingers, Angel Momma thought, ‘Was it only six months ago that Cargo nearly broke my hand as he tried to keep me from sliding into the Sea Monster’s colon?’”

Or, if you’re a fan of omniscient narrative voice (not one of my favorites, but some people are good at it), the backstory might take the form of something like: “No one looking down at the slime-covered pair desperately struggling against the tentacles of Mega-Squid would have guessed they’d known each other a mere six months, so intensely did their bond to each other show.”

Q: That’s stuff’s great for smaller things like the passage of time, but how about the deeper, more complicated elements, like that Angel Momma feels a lot of guilt about how Shorts (Cargo’s twin brother) died saving her life?

A: Once again, work it into the story.  If this is really such a key event in Angel Mama’s life, she’s going to think about or talk to someone about it.  If you need to struggle to bring it up, then you’re not sufficiently in touch with your characters.

Q: Any thoughts on what to do when the story requires a regular or semi-regular be phased out of the main focus? They had their role, and readers are attached to them, but now they must take a lesser role, which may become almost or completely nothing. Something like that could irk quite a few readers.

A: Many a good novel (or TV series, for that matter) has been destroyed by been burdened by characters who should have been retired to the sidelines.  It’s the writer’s job to make the story move along.  Does that mean you can never mention those other characters?  Not at all!

If they really were important to your protagonist, your protagonist is going to try to stay in touch.  A short passage with a letter from Absent Friend wouldn’t be out of line.  However, you can handle the matter more gracefully by incorporating news about Absent Friend into the action.  Here’s an example:

“As he drank the mug of thin, weak, yet still astonishing bitter coffee Crab Crocheter had handed him, Cargo wistfully recalled Angel Mama’s deft hand with a fireside percolator.  But Angel Mama wouldn’t be joining him on the road ever again.  Together they had won the proofs that she was indeed the High Priestess of Deep Oceans.  The last time he’d seen her, she was handing out prayers as if she’d been doing it all her life, although all that sitting in a temple had put a bit of weight on her once slender form.”

That said, there comes a point in a series where the author needs to decide who the audience for the next book is.  When talking about decisions that had to be made before he could complete Robert Jordan’s monumental  “Wheel of Time” series, Brandon Sandersen said (and I paraphrase):  There comes a point where it’s impossible to write a book that will make both the long-time readers of the series happy and provide a point of entry for new readers.  With the “Wheel of Time” the decision was made to write for the fans of the series.  Even so, especially with a very long, complex series, it’s impossible to bring everyone’s favorite character back, even for a cameo, without turning the books into nothing but a sentimental journey.

This provides a nice transition to the more business-oriented questions.

Q: When selling a series to a publisher, do you have to know how it’s going to end? And if you tell the publisher “5 books with ending A” and you need to change to 4 books … or 7 books … or ending B, can you?

A: No.  You don’t need to know.  If you’ve contracted for five books and try to get away with only four, then you’d better be ready to pay the publisher back part of the advance.

You can expand the series.  However, whether the publisher will encourage you to do so will have a lot to do with sales figures.  It’s easier for a “Wheel of Time” or “Game of Thrones” to expand beyond the originally projected number of volumes because they’re making everyone a lot of money.

Q: When writing a series, how do you deal with a new editor who might not have read all of the previous books, and who doesn’t understand why character A can’t fall in love with (or kill) character B?

A: You explain the situation politely.

Q: Is there even a major publisher who WANTS to publish a stand-alone novel these days? Or are they all looking for novels with “series potential,” even if they haven’t bought it as a series?

A: Of course there are publishers who want stand-alone novels!  As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, stand-alone novels still get most of the award nods and critical acclaim, so they have appeal for publishers.

“Series potential” might be attractive, but it’s not as easy as some make it sound.  If you’re going to try this game, make sure you really could open up a can of worms you’ve tightly sealed at the end of Book One.

That’s the last question.  I hope these answers were of some help.  If they raised other questions, feel free to bring them on!

FF: Finishing and Moving On

This week I finished a lot of unfinished reading

A reminder… The Friday Fragments feature lists of what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include either short fiction or magazine articles.

Ogapoge Reads About Giraffes

The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a few opinions tossed in.

Recently Completed:

Bluefeather Fellini by Max Evans.  Episodic journeys from mid-1930’s to post WWII, mostly in New Mexico and Colorado.  The bits of mysticism and larger than life characters somehow make the book more real.  It’s not a “fast” book, but it’s a filling one.

Children of Dune by Frank Herbert.  Done.  I may read the next one, but not right yet.

Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones.  Audiobook.  I very much enjoyed.  Conrad’s determination to believe he has an evil Fate hanging over him is equal parts frustrating and funny – and very wise, when we remember how easily adults can “program” children’s expectations for them.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.  Audiobook.  Jim immediately put the sequel, The Dream Thieves on his reading shelf for as soon as he finishes his current reads (a book on Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon,  and Patrick O’Brien’s The Ionian Adventure.

In Progress:

Authority by Jeff Vandemeer.  Audiobook.  Part two of the much-discussed “Southern Reach” trilogy.  Lovecraft meets conspiracy theory meets spy thriller.  Waiting to see if it adds up to more.

Philip K. Dick is Dead, Alas by Michael Bishop.  A “fairly thorough revision” of the author’s 1987 Tor hardcover The Secret Ascension.  Just started but, between this and Vandemeer, I’m going to have really odd dreams.

Also:

Re-reading some of the Stephanie Harrington material as I work on a short story that might turn into a novelette for the next Honorverse anthology.

TT: Hi-Ho? Not These Dwarves!

JANE: Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been discussing the various races that J.R.R. Tolkien forever made part of the landscape of Fantasy fiction.  It would probably shock many current Fantasy readers to realize that before this novel few – if any – Fantasy novels incorporated a suite of races that has now become routine, if not cliché.

Hi-Ho and Early Fantasy Fiction

ALAN: That’s exactly right. Pre-Tolkien fantasy, while it was full of wizards and magic, was almost exclusively human. The classic novel from this period is E. R. Eddison’s The Worm Ouroboros which tells of the war between Witchland and Demonland. In the course of telling his tale, Eddison also mentions Goblinland and Pixyland and at one point in the story a dwarf appears. However Goblinland and Pixyland are just country names, and even though the inhabitants are referred to as goblins and pixies, Eddison does nothing at all with the idea and it is clear that the goblins, the pixies and all the other characters are human.

Similar comments can be made about other fantasy worlds such as Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories and the Conan the Barbarian fantasies written by Robert E. Howard.

Mind you – I think I could make a good case that Shakespeare’s Oberon and Titania were actually High Elves, in the Tolkien sense…

JANE: Oh, absolutely.  I’ve always assumed that Shakespeare’s characters had an influence on how Tolkien depicted his elves.

A few weeks ago, you talked about how hippies really identified with hobbits, and that wizards also entered the cultural landscape.  The popularity of elves, however, seems to be a somewhat later phenomenon.

Did dwarves make a larger cultural impact?

ALAN:  I think dwarves have always been part of popular culture – I seem to recall them appearing in a lot of fairy tales.

JANE:  Good point.  It’s rather strange, but dwarfs, especially treasure-mongering sorts, appear in many fairy tales, in a way that elves do not.  Tales about elves are more likely to be legend lore, rather than fairy tale.

I also think Walt Disney’s depiction of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had a lot to contribute to keeping dwarfs in the popular eye.

So, how do you – personally –  feel about dwarves?

ALAN:  I’ve always had quite a soft spot for Tolkien’s dwarves. Certainly they were isolationists, preferring their delvings under the mountains to any involvement in the larger affairs of Middle Earth. Nevertheless they could not shut the world away completely and they suffered great tragedies as a result. I always felt a little bit sorry for them because of the troubles they had to live through.

JANE: My response to dwarves is much like yours.   Especially in The Hobbit, we get a good look at their interactions and differences in personality.  Because of this, they always seemed more three-dimensional than the elves, since the only elf we get to know really well is Legolas.

However, the dwarves indirectly lead to one of my biggest disconnects with Tolkien’s work.

ALAN: What was that?

JANE: When I was in college I read a translation of Snorri Sturlusson’s Poetic Edda.  Imagine my surprise when, in a piece about the origin of the dwarfs, I found a bunch of familiar names, up to and including Gandalf.  I realized that Tolkien had cribbed them entirely from Old Norse.

It’s startling to come across someone’s source quite so blatantly.  Whenever I’d hear people rave about Tolkien’s brilliant naming, I’d often point out he’d just swiped them.

ALAN: Not only did Tolkien swipe them, he also slightly misappropriated them. Gandalf was actually the name of a dwarf in the Völuspá, the first poem of the Poetic Edda. I can’t remember when or how I discovered that, but it definitely gave me a moment of culture shock when I did!

JANE: Tolkien must have liked the name Gandalf, because the character who would become Thorin Oakenshield was originally named Gandalf.

However, Tolkien later changed his mind and Gandalf became the wizard instead.

Many years later, I learned that Tolkien himself regretted his wholesale use of the names from the Poetic Edda.  It was one of the reasons he came up with the elaborate justification that the “Lord of the Rings” is actually translated from other languages and that the names in it are, in many cases, not the actual names, just borrowings to make translation easier.

ALAN: But that “elaborate justification,” to use your very appropriate phrase, is one of the major things that makes the world of Middle Earth feel so real and so full of history. So I think Tolkien can be forgiven his original theft of all those names because of what it led to.

Now, back to dwarves. In The Hobbit (both the book and the movies) we learn quite a lot about the history of the dwarves and their place in the world. One of the dwarves is Balin and we grow very close to him – he’s a tremendously appealing character. The movies make it quite clear that he is an influential dwarf, wise and battle-hardened. We see him fighting in the dwarf army that lost Moria to the orcs and, at the end of The Hobbit we see him survive the Battle of the Five Armies. We also know that, after Bilbo returns home to the Shire, Balin will lead an army to re-take Moria…

After watching all three Hobbit movies, I re-watched the Lord of the Rings, and I confess that I got a big lump in my throat when Gimli came across Balin’s tomb in Moria. His grief was palpable, and because I had grown so close to Balin, so was mine.

JANE: I always loved Balin.  He had a groundedness (pun intended) that Thorin – obsessed as he was with the Arkenstone of Thrain – lacked.  Honestly, he would have been a better leader all along.

Like Elves, Dwarves have shown a lasting appeal.  They are popular characters for role-players, and I suspect that if they weren’t usually defined as essentially non-magical – even resistant to magic – they would be even more so.

ALAN: Surely that magical resistance makes them great allies if you are enduring some kind of magical attack? But then again, I’m not a role-player…

JANE: Oh!  Absolutely…  But many role-players want to be able to do fancy magic, and if you play a dwarf, that’s out.

A great example of the appeal of dwarf can be found in the work of author Dennis McKiernan, whose first novels were an attempt to provide a backstory for the entire “Lord of the Rings” trilogy from the point of view of the dwarves.

I should note here that Dennis was an electrical engineer at the time and had no idea about literary rights.  However, he’d always loved the books, thought that there was more story behind the dwarves involvement.  When a motorcycle accident put him in bed with two broken legs, he decided to write the dwarves’ story.

Doubleday was interested and apparently tried to get permission from the Tolkien estate to publish them as prequels.  When the estate would not give permission, Doubleday thought (correctly) there would be an audience for the tales, and asked Dennis to rewrite, creating his own world to set the story in.

These books were eventually published as The Iron Tower trilogy and became the basis for McKiernan’s Fantasy realm of Mithgar.

ALAN: Another good example of the enduring popularity of dwarves comes from the German writer Markus Heitz. He has written a whole series of novels about dwarves, some of which have been translated into English. They seem to be quite popular. I’ve not read any of them myself, but a friend of mine whose judgement I trust is particularly fond of them. It seems that dwarves are everywhere.

I actually know a dwarf in real life. He’s a very tall dwarf, about six feet tall in every direction. But nevertheless he’s a dwarf.

JANE: Okay…  I’ll bite.  How do you have a dwarf who is six feet tall in every direction?

ALAN: It’s simple – I know an actor who was one of John Rhys-Davies’ body doubles (Rhys-Davies played Gimli in the movies). Peter Jackson really does enjoy making life hard for himself – both men are very tall and very bulky, not dwarf-like at all!

JANE:  Bulky works for dwarves…  Doesn’t it?   I wonder why the body-double, at least, wasn’t shorter.  Probably has something to with the CGI work.  I thought John Rhys-Davies did an excellent job with Gimili, despite the height disadvantage.

Now, I feel we can’t discuss dwarfs – or dwarves – without a mention of where the plural “dwarves” originated.  Do you know?

ALAN: No, I don’t. Is that what they call a trick question?

JANE: Not really…  It fits our discussion perfectly.  Tolkien actually created the word.  “Dwarves” (rather than “dwarfs”) was a plural he came up with, later regretted as “ungrammatical,” but by then it was established enough in his writings and in his own mind that he stayed with it.  So, in addition to fleshing out dwarvish culture and taking them from myth and fairytale to popular figures of Fantasy fiction, Tolkien also gave them a new plural!

ALAN: I suppose that’s what happens when you are a philologist!

JANE: Now, we’ve left one mysterious and important race out of our discussion…  Perhaps we can pursue it next time!

Announcements, Memorial, and Conduit

Have I ever mentioned that I’m a little superstitious?  Well, I am, at least about things that seem to be too good to be true.  That’s why I’ve waited until now to tell you about something I first learned back in early April.

Paul Genesse Interviews Me

I’ve been invited to be one of the featured authors at this year’s National Book Festival.  This event is a Big Deal.  It’s organized by the Library of Congress and features a hundred or so of (in their own words) “the nation’s best authors, poets and illustrators.”

Making it nicer for me, the National Book Festival is held in my hometown, Washington, D.C.  You can learn more details here.

So, that’s the first announcement…  The second is that S.M. Stirling has asked me to pass on the word that the anthology The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth, which features stories set in his immensely popular “Changeverse,”  will be hitting stores and Amazon on the first of June!  Among the stories featured is my own “The Hermit and the Jackalopes.”

A launch for The Change will be held on June 15th, at the Jean Cocteau Theater in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Many of the authors plan to attend, so this is a great way to get your copy signed by all.  A second event will be held on June 27th at Page One Books in Albuquerque.

Speaking of the Jean Cocteau Theater, I was there Sunday for an event in honor of Roger Zelazny, hosted by George R.R. Martin, and organized by Trent Zelazny.  As many of you know, Roger was very dear to me.  We lived together the last year of his life and losing him was the hardest thing that ever happened to me.

I won’t pretend that the event was easy.  When I got up to make my presentation, for the first time ever in my life, my mouth went completely dry.  Up to that point, I’d thought that was a metaphor.  It isn’t.  I could barely talk and was too overwhelmed to ask someone to get me some water.  However, though some miracle, I managed to say a few words, then read Roger’s poem, “When Pussywillows Last in the Catyard Bloomed.”  You can bet that I made sure I had water available when, later on, I read another of Roger’s poems, “To Spin is Miracle Cat.”

Presentations and readings, wise, witty, and wonderful were given by Parris Martin, Walter Jon Williams, Melinda Snodgrass, Shannon Zelazny, John Jos. Miller, Steve Gould, and Trent Zelazny.  Joe and Gay Haldeman and Steven Brust weighed in via Skype, and Neil Gaiman sent a videotaped reading from London.

Trent had made a slideshow mingling art inspired by Roger’s work with some photos of Roger.  We watched the Twilight Zone episode George had adapted from Roger’s story, “The Last Defender of Camelot,” followed by George talking about how Roger had befriended him when George first moved to Santa Fe, then some behind-the-scenes details of how the story was adapted to the script.

Later in the evening, there was a dramatic presentation centered around Roger’s play, “Godson,” based on the short story of the same name (which in turn was inspired by the fairytale “Godfather Death.”)  I was familiar with the play already.  I think I was probably the first person to read it.  I’d even heard Roger read it aloud one memorable night at George’s.  However, I had no idea how it would actually work out when performed.

I’m happy to report that it was a delightful presentation.  Andy Primm wrote (and I believe performed) music for guitar to go with Roger’s lyrics.  The small cast did a brilliant job with the handkerchief stage.  Since there was no room for sets, a newly created character, “The Raven,” read Roger’s lovely stage directions to set the scene.  I was very impressed!

And while we’re talking about events…  Over Memorial Day weekend, Jim and I went up to Salt Lake City, Utah, where I was Guest of Honor at Conduit.  We drove up from Albuquerque, stopping overnight in Moab, Utah, so we could visit Arches National Monument.  For Jim, this provided an opportunity to take photos.  For me, it was a great opportunity to immerse myself in a strange, almost alien landscape, not unlike portions of the planet Gryphon on which I’ll be setting my next Honorverse story.  The immersion must have worked, because I started the story soon after we got home!

On Friday, Jim and I completed the drive to Salt Lake.  (Aside: The distance between Albuquerque and Salt Lake takes about twelve hours to drive, longer if you want to stop along the way.)  We checked into the convention hotel and, by 4:00 p.m., I was on my first panel, chatting about the Honorverse with the HMS Jonas Adock crew (aka, the local David Weber fan club).  I had fun telling tales on my good buddy and giving away prizes.

This panel was followed immediately by one on YA fiction.  Then we dined with our good friends, Julie and Nora Bartel, before going off to the Ice Cream Social.  Here some of the Jonas Adock crewmembers made sure we didn’t feel left out.  Soon, other people drifted over to chat.

Eventually, we staggered off to bed.  We rose early the next morning to meet the Bartels (now a full set, rounded out by Ken, Julie’s husband and Nora’s dad).   We went to breakfast at the Little America hotel, where I ate the best French toast I’ve ever had.  After breakfast, we went across the street to tour the astonishing five-star splendor of the  Grand America Hotel, which was built as part of bringing the Olympics to Salt Lake City.  Now I know precisely how to describe a palace, should the need ever arise.  Even the individual stalls in the lady’s room were lined in marble!

Then it was back to Conduit for an amazingly busy day.  I started with back-to-back panels on “The Unpayable Debt” (influences from other writers or mentors) and on Dune on the 25th anniversary of its publication.  Both were lots of fun.

I had an hour break, so we dashed up to my room to grab a few things before the next round.  We came down to meet with Julie for a quick review before our joint panel on “Judging a Book by Its Cover.”  We’d also hoped to find coffee but, in an act of Cosmic Mystery, the hotel coffee shop had closed at 11:00 a.m.  Happily for us, the hotel restaurant made us gifts of two “to-go” cups, so Julie and I were recharged for our event.

After “Judging a Book by Its Cover” (in which we were joined by Eddy Roberts and which included a lot of audience participation), I had time to breathe for a few minutes before bustling off to my reading.  Because I knew Julie wanted to hear it, I read my short story “The Button Witch,” an odd bit of old-style urban fantasy about a strange woman who grants wishes, but only “button wishes.”

When I finished, one of the audience members exclaimed: “My mother collects buttons!” which just goes to show: there is magic in the universe.

After my reading, I galloped off to do a signing.  I’d brought copies of Wanderings on Writing and was pleased how many people bought one.  Icing on the cake, the artist Guest of Honor complimented Tori Hansen’s cover art.

For the final event of the day, I’d asked local Utah author, talented interviewer, and friend Paul Genesse (that’s pronounced “Gen-ess,” like “finesse”) to interview me.  He’d really done his homework and the hour sped by.  Afterwards, we grabbed jackets and went out to dinner with Paul, and two of his friends, Don and Pat.  The evening ended with an unintentional dungeon crawl through the single most confusing parking garage I’ve even been in.  As if commenting on our plight, we passed a car whose license plate read: “Mwahaha,” in the best evil villain fashion.

Sunday, I only had two panels – one on using non-classical mythology, the other on writing in collaboration.  Both were lots of fun.  Jim ended our day by giving a well-attended talk on archeology.  Nora Bartel, age six and a half, had the courage to ask the question everyone really wants to ask, but is too shy to venture: “What do you do when you find a skeleton?”

We explored Salt Lake City with the Bartels that evening.  (The older areas are very lovely.)  We ended with dinner at a Himalayan place.  We’d never had Himalayan cuisine before and liked it a lot.

Monday morning, we were back on the road. This time our destination was Dolores, Colorado, which features the Anasazi Heritage Center.  We got there an hour before closing, but a kind ranger gave us permission to hike the trails, as long as we closed the gates after us.

Tuesday was home again, home again…  I don’t know how people who travel a lot manage!

FF: Reading on the Road

We spent a lot of time on the road this past weekend, driving up to Conduit, in Utah, so I didn’t get as much reading done as I would have liked.  Still, audiobooks do help…

At Arches National Monument in Utah

A reminder… The Friday Fragments feature lists of what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include either short fiction or magazine articles.

The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a few opinions tossed in.

Recently Completed:

The House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones.  Jim and I had listened to the first two “Howl” books on our last road trip, so this was our first choice for this trip.  Charmain is the sort of protagonist Diana Wynne Jones does very well – annoying yet still sympathetic.  And, as those of you who have read my Child of a Rainless Year know,  I love stories about weird houses.

In Progress:

Bluefeather Fellini by Max Evans.  I didn’t bring this one with me, so I’m not much further along.

Children of Dune by Frank Herbert.  The Dune panel at Conduit was fun, but the second half of this book is really dragging…

Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones.  Audiobook.  This one also stayed at home, but I’ve resumed and am having a great deal of fun.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.  Audiobook.  I read this soon after it came out and loved it.  I used the trip to seduce Jim.  He’s completely hooked.  We’ll definitely make time to finish it this weekend.

Also:

Some of Roger Zelazny’s poetry.  As much as he loved his prose, poetry was Roger’s first writerly love.  I’ll be reading a couple of his at a celebration of his life this weekend in Santa Fe and found myself reading more than my “homework.”

That includes the ones he wrote for me – which I won’t be reading at the event.

TT: Elegant and Ultra Cool

JANE:  Well, Alan, we’ve been chatting about the ripple effect of the “Lord of the Rings” novels.  We’ve talked about Hobbits and Wizards.  Now, how about elves?

ALAN: Indeed – how about elves? Elves are fascinating and very important in the unfolding of the stories.

Young Wood Elves (by Jane)

JANE: These days, I’d say that elves are the most popular of the races of Middle Earth.  How were they seen during the Summer of Love and the novels’ first flush of mass popularity?

ALAN: I’m not sure I know how to answer this. I don’t remember any of the races of Middle Earth (other than the hobbits, of course) as being particularly inspirational.

I think the current feelings about elves and dwarves (and even orcs!) derive far more from Peter Jackson’s movies than they do from the books.

JANE: I’d have to disagree with that.  Elves have been very popular for a long time.  A good example comes from role-playing games and fiction derived from them where they are (based on a very informal survey) among the most popular characters.

 Elves are cool, beautiful, and get all the advantages of long lives, but never look old.  There are all sorts of “flavors” of elves: high elves (like Galadriel and her kin), wood elves (like the ones Bilbo meets in The Hobbit), and even dark elves.

ALAN: I’m not a role-player, so I’m not familiar with dark elves. What are they?

JANE: I’m not sure where they originated, but I first encountered them via AD&D.  Dark elves (also called Drow) have night-black skin, silvery hair, and live underground.  They practice dark arts (of course) and are often skilled in stealth and assassination.  They were originally introduced as antagonists, but they were too popular to stay that way for long.

I gave up on the AD&D gaming system long ago, so my knowledge is limited.  However, if what I keep seeing on book covers is any indication, the Dark Elf is alive and more popular than ever.

ALAN: Ah, I see. That would definitely add an extra dimension to the character of an elf.

Down here in Middle Earth itself, elves really have made an indelible impression. I once had an elf on one of my training courses. In “real life” he was a computer system administrator, but he’d volunteered as an extra and he’d been cast as an elf because, damnit, he was an elf. He was tall and slim and beautiful, he had long straight blond hair and there was an undeniable elegance about his body language. He was utterly thrilled about the whole thing, of course and I’m sure that for him it was a life-changing experience.

JANE: That’s really neat.  How did you find out?  Did he come in and introduce himself as an elf?

ALAN: No – I always ask the students to introduce themselves to me and to the rest of the class (it helps to break the ice), and when it was his turn, he just told me about his computer background and why he was in the course. Trying to make conversation, I said, “Gosh, you look just like an elf. You really should be in the Lord of the Rings films.” He smiled and told me that actually he was in the movie. He said that if I looked closely and didn’t blink, I’d see him as one of the elf warriors who fought at Helm’s Deep. Everyone in the class was very impressed!

JANE:   He must have been very pleased.  At Bubonicon one year, we had two cosplayers who were such magnificent elves it was hard to believe they weren’t the real thing.   They turned out to be brother and sister – Jacob and Jennifer – from the southern part of New Mexico.

As an aside, Jacob also did a marvelous Jareth from Labyrinth a few years later, and Vash the Stampede (from the anime Trigun, as well).  Peter Jackson probably would have cast him in a heartbeat.

ALAN: I’m sure he would! He never misses a good opportunity like that.

JANE: To be honest, though, while I visually liked Peter Jackson’s elves very, very much, I did not care for how they were presented otherwise.  Emotionally, they were more Vulcans than elves.  I re-read the books after seeing the movies and confirmed that Tolkien’s elves – even the High Elves – were fond of song and dance, of picnics and teasing.  The ethereal creatures who floated through the movies demonstrated none of those personality traits.

ALAN: Perhaps Peter Jackson was feeding off popular culture as well as off the books. From what you said before about role-playing games, there’s obviously been a lot of thought put in to the way elves are supposed to look and behave. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find that Jackson had tapped into this. He always seems to have his finger firmly on the pulse of the various sub-cultures that we collectively refer to as fandom. And he’s a big fan himself, of course.

JANE: I hadn’t thought of that, but I bet you’re right.  I could see fans blending Vulcans and elves without even being conscious of it.

ALAN: In terms of defining the character of the elves in the popular imagination, I think that the archetypal elf is Legolas. And Orlando Bloom, the actor who played him in the movies, gave a definitive performance.  When The Return of the King premiered in Wellington, the whole city went mad. There was a huge parade through the city with the cast and crew of the movie having pride of place. Orlando Bloom was particularly prominent, waving enthusiastically to everyone and obviously having the time of his life. A stunningly beautiful elf lady in the crowd was spotted holding up a sign that said “De-Bloom Me Orlando!”

JANE: Oh…  That’s made me laugh…

Y’know, it’s funny you’d say that Legolas is the “archetypal” elf.  He’s certainly the most prominent elf in the novels – being the only elf in the Fellowship.  However, if I’ve got my facts straight, he’s not a High Elf, he’s a Wood Elf, son of the hard-drinking, avidly partying elf king who locks up the Dwarves in The Hobbit.  Do I have that right?

ALAN: Yes you do – Thranduil is the ruler of the Wood Elves in Mirkwood and Legolas is his son. Thranduil sent Legolas to represent the Wood Elves at the Council of Elrond as a result of which Legolas found himself a member of the Fellowship that set out to destroy the One Ring.

JANE: If so, the snooty High Elves would be very disturbed that you see Legolas as “archetypal,” since they’d probably see him as a roistering “country cousin,” son of a king or not.

ALAN: You are probably right – but in both the books and the movies we see more of Legolas than we do of any other elf, and it is that prominence that made me think of him as archetypal. There’s something cold and distant about the High Elves. We never really come to know Elrond or Galadriel in the same way that we know Legolas.

JANE: We don’t – either in the books or the movies – although I will restate that they are far less cold and distant in the books.  And there must be something good about them, since Bilbo retires among them, and Sam – who is the most sensible character in all the Lord of the Rings – is very taken with them.

We’ve given elves a lot of attention.  I can hear someone hammering at the door, demanding his people be given a fair share.  So, next time, how about Dwarves?

Avoid or Anticipate?: The Problem of Series

Hi, Folks…  I just got in from Utah yesterday, and my animals and garden are hollering for attention.  (Jim is not hollering, because he went with me.)  I’ll wait to write about our trip for next week.

Three of My Series

Meanwhile, here’s something I wrote in advance.  It’s an update of a piece of the same title that I wrote for Tor.com in 2008.

Over the years I’ve been writing, I’ve noticed a funny thing.  I’ve had close on twenty-five novels published since late 1994 when my first novel, Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls, came out.  During that time, no one has ever come up to me and heartily thanked me for writing a stand-alone novel.

Seriously.  You’d think someone would have done so, given the lack of respect that series, especially fantasy series, get.  But no one ever has.

Although people tend to think of me as a “series writer,” I’ve actually written quite a lot of stand-alone fiction, both long and short.   There have been plenty of opportunities for people to praise me for writing just that one novel.  However, usually the response is the opposite.  When I say, “No.  I don’t have any plans to write a sequel to Child of a Rainless Year” (or whichever book is under discussion), I immediately hear why I need to write more about those people and that place.

By contrast, while I’ve never been praised for writing a stand-alone, I’ve had a lot of requests for sequels – and not only to novels, but to short fiction as well.  When I finished the Wolf Series (which starts with Through Wolf’s Eyes and ends with Wolf’s Blood) I had copious e-mails asking if I was really, really done.  Now, eight years later, not a month has gone by without a request for more about Firekeeper, Blind Seer, Derian, and all the rest.

Some kind folks even pointed out minor elements I had left open.  I felt genuine appreciation that these numerous someones could put that much energy into picking apart something I’d written.  However, I also pointed out that, short of blowing up the world and turning out the lights, there is no way to absolutely, categorically end a series.

So it seems that readers like Fantasy and SF series.  Yet, apparently, the fastest way to fall from grace is to write one.  Reviewers sniff.  Books in series seem to have a lower shot at award nominations.  Later books in a series seem not to get reviewed as often – although I think this last is changing.

Why, then, are Fantasy and SF series the girl everyone wants to date, but no one wants to take home to mother?

Here a few thoughts on why, followed by my own approach to avoiding these pitfalls.

Fantasy and SF series are too often an excuse for writing one novel that spans several volumes.  Unlike Mysteries or Thrillers, which have a set goal, Fantasy and SF series can go on and on without closure.

Why did this become acceptable?  Partly because, when more complex Fantasy and SF stories began to be told, the market simply wasn’t ready for Fat Books.  Lord of the Rings is one story.  So are the first five Chronicles of Amber (and the second set, too).  But in the age of the skinny paperback these complex stories had to be split up, and readers became conditioned to the “weak middle book,” lots of repetition, and all the other things that can make series weak.

Another problem is the time lag between books in a series.  I know that I almost didn’t read the second Chronicles of Amber because I’d noted a five year lapse between the copyright dates of volume four and five of the first set.  When an excited friend called me to tell me that there was more Amber, my reply was “I’ll wait.”  (Then because of a camping trip, I didn’t wait, but that’s neither here nor there).

Then there are the books that become a series, but were never intended to be such.  Some of these work out very well.  Others read like what they are – an attempt to capitalize on an unexpected success, but showing that the author really lacks the fire and organization to make subsequent books live up to that first golden one.

I was very aware of these pitfalls when I started the Firekeeper Saga (aka the Wolf Books) – which was my first project I planned as a series.

(Aside: Changer was not planned to have a sequel.  I was open to the possibility, even had ideas in mind, but it was not sold as part of a series.  By contrast, the Firekeeper Saga was conceived and purchased as a series.)

To deal with the first part of the problem, I decided to take one of my favorite mystery series: Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey novels as a model.  In each of these novels, Peter has a problem to solve: a body in a bathtub or whatever.  While he solves that, he also must deal with personal challenges: unresolved romantic attachments, post-traumatic stress disorder, his relationship with his immediate family.  By the end of the novel, we know who the body in the bathtub was, but the personal problems may or may not be resolved.

I like this approach.  Although my novels aren’t murder mysteries, I try to pose myself a question at the start of each one, a problem that will be resolved by the end.  This isn’t always easy, and I don’t think I quite managed with the end of Wolf Hunting but, overall, I’m happy with what I did.

I tried the same tactic with the “Breaking the Wall” series and my new “Artemis Awakening” series.  In both cases, I was somewhat handicapped by the fact that Powers Beyond My Control insisted that the novels be shorter than the Firekeeper books.  For the “Breaking the Wall” books, I managed by giving the problem a tighter focus.  However, for the even shorter “Artemis Awakening” books, I had no choice but to make some serious changes in my previous series format.

One change I made was limiting myself to two point-of-view characters for Artemis Awakening.  (By contrast, Through Wolf’s Eyes had at least three major and several lesser.)  Another change was that I had to leave one major plot element – a certain door – unresolved.

For those of you who have read Artemis Awakening, I promise you’ll get the answer to where that door leads in Artemis Invaded.

On the author’s side of the equation, the problem of delay between volumes is solved by applying fingers to keyboard and tail bone to chair.  And working – hard.

However, the author is not in sole control of when a book will come out.  Even if she turns her manuscript in on time, scheduling is in the hands of Someone Else.

As an aside:  I’ve talked to several self-published authors.  Although they have somewhat more control over scheduling, wild cards (health problems, complications over some element in producing the book itself) can mess up even the best intentions.  In fact, since most self-publishing operations narrow down to one person, a problem with that one person can lead to more, not fewer delays…

Most of my work has been traditionally published.  Although release dates have varied, I will say this: I’ve missed one deadline.  That was when my father died.  Even then, I was only six weeks late turning in the manuscript.  I really try not to disappoint my readers.

So…   How do you feel about series?  Avoid or anticipate?

Also, any questions about the complexities of writing series?  I’ve had a request from a “ghost” reader of these Wanderings that I talk more about how I approach it…  I’d love to include your questions, too.

FF: No Real Theme. Sorry!

This week my reading has been all over the place…

A reminder… The Friday Fragments feature lists of what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include either short fiction or magazine articles.

Another Stark Landscape

The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a few opinions tossed in.

Recently Completed:

The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones.  Audiobook.  I really enjoyed this.  Christopher’s growing realization as to who he is and what consequences are doesn’t automatically make him a “nice child.”  The transformation is a lot more subtle and a lot more interesting.

The Hunt for the Big Bad Wolf by E.M. Tippets.  The third book of Tippets’ series which began with Someone Else’s Fairytale continues being more about “relationships” than romance. This is a plus, as far as I’m concerned.  The mystery/crime plot was well-handled, with an interesting resolution.

In Progress:

Bluefeather Fellini by Max Evans.  I picked this up on impulse.  It’s episodic, almost like novellas woven together.  I’m currently on the battlefields of WWII.  Scary.  There has also been love, sorrow, discovery, friendship, and obsession.  And some gorgeous descriptive writing.

Children of Dune by Frank Herbert.  I’m on a panel at Conduit this weekend on Dune.  I decided I wanted to remind myself how “Dune the next generation” progressed.

Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones.  Audiobook.  I’d seriously intended to move on to the second book in the much-discussed Southern Reach triology as soon as a copy became available on audio, but I gave into the lure of watching Christopher as a teenager.

Also:

I started Ursula K. Le Guin’s “rendition” (her word, not mine) of Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching: A Book About the Way and The Power of the Way.  Reading slowly, as such deserves.

TT: The Hippness Factor of Wizards

JANE: So, Alan,  I’ve been enjoying talking with you about the impact Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” novels had – not only their decided impact on Fantasy fiction, but their larger cultural impact.  Can you give me another example?

Wizards Rock!

ALAN: I most certainly can. We had a hippie community in England that called itself Gandalf’s Garden. It ran a head shop and published a magazine that emphasised mysticism over materialism and which claimed that meditation was to be preferred over drugs!

JANE: Wait…  Both a head shop and preferring meditation over drugs?  There’s a disconnect here…

ALAN: Perhaps head shop is the wrong word, I was using it in the generic sense of filling your head with new ideas based on spiritualism and occultism (and probably a lot of other -isms as well). Gandalf’s Garden was a craft shop and drop-in centre with some accommodation for the homeless and lots of honey-flavoured tea. The magazine only lasted for six issues but, nevertheless, it still managed to attract articles by Joan Baez, Spike Milligan and the poets Christopher Logue and Adrian Mitchell.

JANE: Wow!  That’s a great list of contributors.  I like craft shops…  Too much!  Sounds as if I would have found much to enjoy.

ALAN: Another example of the impact the books had came from the music of the time. Marc Bolan and a young man who insisted on calling himself Peregrine Took (after the hobbit of the same name, of course) formed an avant-garde, psychedelic underground rock band called Tyrannosaurus Rex. I’m sure you can guess what kind of songs they sang.

JANE: Uh…  Hobbitty folk songs?  I’m guessing, because I’m more familiar with Marc Bolan’s later work.

ALAN: Their songs all had a magical/mystical feel to them, heavily influenced by generic fantasy tropes. For example, their 1968 album Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages has a track called “Aznageel The Mage.”  I can easily imagine bumping into Aznageel at the Prancing Pony in Bree…

JANE: I’m not familiar with the album.  We did discuss the impact of Fantasy on rock music in general a while back, and this fits in beautifully into that pattern.  But Marc Bolan didn’t stay with the hobbits, did he?

ALAN: No, not quite.  Later in his career, after Peregrine Took left, Marc Bolan re-invented himself as a glam rocker and changed the name of the band to T. Rex. He made a fortune, lived the rock star life to the full, and died in a car crash, a victim of his own success. There were those who claimed he had sold out…

JANE: Ah, but as the band name shows, he envisioned himself as a carnivorous dinosaur, not a hobbit.  He just followed his muse.

Going back to your mention of Gandalf’s Garden.  I’m not sure I would have found the use of his name an incentive to attend a place, even a garden.

Gandalf was one of my biggest problems with the “Lord of the Rings” story.  He was so very full of himself.  He put other people in danger.  Vanished inconveniently.  Refused to die and leave people alone but, instead, did the whole Jesus resurrection thing…  And then at the end of the series, he has the gall to admit he’s had one of the major magical rings all along.

It took me a long time – and actually a very sound comment from the audience by a fellow named Joe Jackson, during a panel at Bubonicon – to show me Gandalf as many others see him: the unhappy political leader who must send others into danger.  Next time I read the books, I read them with that in mind and I felt more sympathy for Gandalf.

ALAN: That’s a good point. When I read The Hobbit, like you, I was always unhappy about the way Gandalf deserted Bilbo and the Dwarves just when they needed him most. I was very pleased to see that Peter Jackson obviously felt the same way because in the movie of The Hobbit we learn just why Gandalf had to go, where he went and how important his journey was. Also, Gandalf does not leave with an easy conscience. He clearly feels guilty about the necessity.

JANE: Good for Peter Jackson.  I suppose it was a lot to expect Gandalf to be everywhere at once, but he certainly had a gift for vanishing and leaving others to carry the burden.  I really felt he was stupid to go see Saruman as he did, even though there had to have been evidence that his old friend wasn’t quite right in the head.

However, having Saruman imprison Gandalf did solve the problem Tolkien had created for himself by creating a very powerful wizard who knew a huge amount of both history and magic, and had influence with just about everyone.  As when earlier in the series, Gandalf falls when fighting the Balrog, it gets him out of the way, so more vulnerable characters will be center stage.

ALAN: I like the idea that Gandalf could make mistakes. There’s something terribly tedious about infallibility – all the literary tensions disappear. I hesitate to say that his errors of judgement and moments of weakness made him more human, because human was the very last thing that he was. But it certainly made him easier to identify with.

JANE: I’ll go with the fact that these mistakes do make Gandalf easier to identify with.  However, it’s often overlooked that neither Gandalf nor his fellow wizards are human.  They belong to a race called the Maiar, and were sent to Middle Earth as part of the struggle against the forces of Sauron.

It may be because Gandalf is aware that he and Saruman’s (I really hate how similar the names “Saruman” and “Sauron” are!  They perpetually confused me when I was a child.) entire reason for being on Middle Earth is to fight Sauron, that he cannot believe Saruman would fall and go over to their enemy.

ALAN: The Maiar can be seen as angels and we know that angels can fall. I’ve always seen Saruman as a Lucifer-like figure. It helps, of course, that Lucifer means the bringer of light and Saruman was the white wizard. White is the colour of a bright light (remember the tremendous glare when Merry and Pippin encountered the re-born Gandalf the White in Fangorn Forest?). I don’t want to read too much into the parallel because Tolkien always denied that he was writing allegory, but nevertheless he was a deeply religious man and this must have had an effect on his view of the world. Saruman’s treachery would be a natural story development for him

So I didn’t find it nearly as surprising as Gandalf did.

JANE: Hmm… I can certainly see your parallel, although Lucifer’s besetting sin was Pride.  Saruman’s going over to Sauron seems to have been from fear and a desire to be on the winning side.

Gandalf, by contrast, never shows Luciferian pride, even when the power of becoming Gandalf the White is so intense that he is distant and even confused when he first re-encounters his friends.

I’d love to go on and talk more about the influence of the Lord of the Rings novels but, although Middle Earth is fascinating, my duties on this Earth beckon.  I’ll save my musings and questions for next time!