Bloomsbury Review Fall 2010 Review of The Called
THE BLOOMSBURY REVIEW-Fall/20lO
FICITON
The Called
WARREN ROCHELLE
Golden Gryphon Press/IPG, $24.95 cloth,
ISBN 978-1-930846-63-0
Reviewer: Michael Cornelius
Welcome to World War Faerie.
Warren Rochelle's The Called,the follow-up to his critically acclaimed Harvest of Changelings, is a
relentless novel, a fantasy-war epic
that turns much of the United States and
especially North Carolina-into a bloody battleground. Unlike its more contemplative predecessor, which explores the nature of relationships and
being and the parts of our identities we
hide from the world, The Called is all
action, all the time, a gripping, fast-
20 paced tale designed to leave the reader as breathless and battered as the main characters called to duty here.
Like its predecessor, The Called features
four not-quite-human, not-quite fairy
changeling protagonists who form
a fey quartet that amplifies the powers
of the individuals involved far beyond
what they could otherwise achieve on
their own. As the novel opens, two of
the four, Malachi and Hazel, are living
on Earth, aging normally, having kids,
and fighting for the rights of all magical folk, who are being suppressed by the Ordinary Union, a political party with shadowy backers that feels threatened by anyone who veers even slightly from what they consider the norm. The other two members of the group, Jeff and Russell, have stayed behind in the land of Faerie, a parallel world that occasionally intersects with our own, where aging is greatly decelerated and life is nearly as idyllic as paradise. The previous novel focused on the four characters, then children, coming together as a group, defeating a source of evil known as the Formorii, and the ramifications of introducing magic to an unsuspecting, "mundane" world(Rochelle's term for those who possess no magical abilities). The current novel splits the group apart, first as their adult lives take them down separate paths,and then- as Malachi is kidnapped by members of the Ordinary Union and held as bait for the other three. The Formorii leaders of the Ordinary Union hope that by drawing the entire quartet to them, they can feast on their mana-their magical energy-and use its power to control the fate of both this world and the world of Faerie.
War is soon declared, in the form of a
military coup, as the governor of North
Carolina is assassinated and the president of the United States flees for his life. As the government dissolves into a brutal state of martial law, disparate groups of people choose sides based on ideological principles. One of the most fascinating aspects of the story is the convincing way in which people turn on and turn in their neighbors, friends,teachers, and fellow churchgoers, without reason or compassion, to destroy democracy, freedom, and, indeed, the entire country. Rochelle has fashioned
an alternate history, one that splits off
from our own in 1991, when the events
of the first novel conclude, and incorporates real historical figures and slight variations on the time line. Universities are destroyed, churches are leveled, and entire cities are firebombed in the name of ideological purity, an ideal that is never quite explicated beyond the human desire for power and the hatred of that which is other or different. If Rochelle's newly invented history seems too heavy-handed to be allegory, it is surely plausible enough, in this age of divisive politics, to terrify any reader
regardless of political affiliation.
Rochelle has created a startling villainous presence in the Formorii, reptilelike beasts born of shadow whose favorite dining option is the hearts and brains of magical and human folk alike. Lacking compassion or feeling, easily slipping into human garb, and rising to the very top of military and civilian authority, these terrifying figures remind us not only how easy it is for evil to lurk under our very noses, or in our own lives, every day, but also that such evil flourishes only because good men and women will not stand up and renounce it when it rears its ugly head. Truly chilling, the Formorii make great villains because they are us, the worst of us anyway, and in them readers will be forced to see themselves.
The novel works best when action meets ideology, as it moves back and forth from good guy to bad guy to indifferent
folk, and events unfold from multiple
perspectives against the backdrop
of a rapidly changing and devolving
world. At times it is an apocalyptic road
novel, akin to Cormac McCarthy's The
Road or Justin Cronin's The Passage, but
here it flags a bit. It is much better when the characters stand and fight, struggling to understand what is going on in their world and how they, as merely four individuals, can work to change anything. The large cast occasionally becomes confusing or a bit superfluous; the action is so frenetic and relentless that keeping all the magic and history and characters in order can be daunting. It's of no consequence, though, in the end. The Called is a story that grips readers and never lets go, leaving them as pensive as they are shaken .•
FICITON
The Called
WARREN ROCHELLE
Golden Gryphon Press/IPG, $24.95 cloth,
ISBN 978-1-930846-63-0
Reviewer: Michael Cornelius
Welcome to World War Faerie.
Warren Rochelle's The Called,the follow-up to his critically acclaimed Harvest of Changelings, is a
relentless novel, a fantasy-war epic
that turns much of the United States and
especially North Carolina-into a bloody battleground. Unlike its more contemplative predecessor, which explores the nature of relationships and
being and the parts of our identities we
hide from the world, The Called is all
action, all the time, a gripping, fast-
20 paced tale designed to leave the reader as breathless and battered as the main characters called to duty here.
Like its predecessor, The Called features
four not-quite-human, not-quite fairy
changeling protagonists who form
a fey quartet that amplifies the powers
of the individuals involved far beyond
what they could otherwise achieve on
their own. As the novel opens, two of
the four, Malachi and Hazel, are living
on Earth, aging normally, having kids,
and fighting for the rights of all magical folk, who are being suppressed by the Ordinary Union, a political party with shadowy backers that feels threatened by anyone who veers even slightly from what they consider the norm. The other two members of the group, Jeff and Russell, have stayed behind in the land of Faerie, a parallel world that occasionally intersects with our own, where aging is greatly decelerated and life is nearly as idyllic as paradise. The previous novel focused on the four characters, then children, coming together as a group, defeating a source of evil known as the Formorii, and the ramifications of introducing magic to an unsuspecting, "mundane" world(Rochelle's term for those who possess no magical abilities). The current novel splits the group apart, first as their adult lives take them down separate paths,and then- as Malachi is kidnapped by members of the Ordinary Union and held as bait for the other three. The Formorii leaders of the Ordinary Union hope that by drawing the entire quartet to them, they can feast on their mana-their magical energy-and use its power to control the fate of both this world and the world of Faerie.
War is soon declared, in the form of a
military coup, as the governor of North
Carolina is assassinated and the president of the United States flees for his life. As the government dissolves into a brutal state of martial law, disparate groups of people choose sides based on ideological principles. One of the most fascinating aspects of the story is the convincing way in which people turn on and turn in their neighbors, friends,teachers, and fellow churchgoers, without reason or compassion, to destroy democracy, freedom, and, indeed, the entire country. Rochelle has fashioned
an alternate history, one that splits off
from our own in 1991, when the events
of the first novel conclude, and incorporates real historical figures and slight variations on the time line. Universities are destroyed, churches are leveled, and entire cities are firebombed in the name of ideological purity, an ideal that is never quite explicated beyond the human desire for power and the hatred of that which is other or different. If Rochelle's newly invented history seems too heavy-handed to be allegory, it is surely plausible enough, in this age of divisive politics, to terrify any reader
regardless of political affiliation.
Rochelle has created a startling villainous presence in the Formorii, reptilelike beasts born of shadow whose favorite dining option is the hearts and brains of magical and human folk alike. Lacking compassion or feeling, easily slipping into human garb, and rising to the very top of military and civilian authority, these terrifying figures remind us not only how easy it is for evil to lurk under our very noses, or in our own lives, every day, but also that such evil flourishes only because good men and women will not stand up and renounce it when it rears its ugly head. Truly chilling, the Formorii make great villains because they are us, the worst of us anyway, and in them readers will be forced to see themselves.
The novel works best when action meets ideology, as it moves back and forth from good guy to bad guy to indifferent
folk, and events unfold from multiple
perspectives against the backdrop
of a rapidly changing and devolving
world. At times it is an apocalyptic road
novel, akin to Cormac McCarthy's The
Road or Justin Cronin's The Passage, but
here it flags a bit. It is much better when the characters stand and fight, struggling to understand what is going on in their world and how they, as merely four individuals, can work to change anything. The large cast occasionally becomes confusing or a bit superfluous; the action is so frenetic and relentless that keeping all the magic and history and characters in order can be daunting. It's of no consequence, though, in the end. The Called is a story that grips readers and never lets go, leaving them as pensive as they are shaken .•
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