Iron Chamber of Memory

by John C. Wright

The small island of Sark in the English Channel is the last feudal government in Europe. By law, no motor vehicles run on the road, and no lights burn at night. Only the lord of the island may keep hounds.Into the strange, high house of Wrongerwood wanders Hal Landfall, penniless graduate student at Magdalen College, looking for his missing friend Manfred Hathaway, who has just inherited the lordship, the house, and the island. What he finds instead is the lovely, green-eyed Laurel, a beautiful girl from Cornwall who is Manfred's wife-to-be.

There is said to be a haunted chamber in the house, erected by Merlin in ancient days, where a man who enters remembers his true and forgotten self. When Hal and Laurel step in, they remember, with fear and wonder, a terrible truth they must forget again when they step outside.

John C. Wright is one of the living grandmasters of science fiction and the author of THE GOLDEN AGE, AWAKE IN THE NIGHT LAND, and CITY BEYOND TIME: TALES OF THE FALL OF METACHRONOPOLIS, to name just three of his exceptional books. He has been nominated for the Nebula Award, and in 2015, he was nominated for a record 5 Hugo Awards.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 14, 2016

About the author

John C. Wright (John Charles Justin Wright, born 1961) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy novels. A Nebula award finalist (for the fantasy novel Orphans of Chaos), he was called "this fledgling century's most important new SF talent" by Publishers Weekly (after publication of his debut novel, The Golden Age).

Reviews

[Jeff Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished John C. Wright's latest book "Iron Chamber of Memory" last night. I would agree with Lars Walker's review:

> Iron Chamber of Memory is simply a wonderful fantasy story – an original and unforgettable work of imagination. It’s about memory, and it’s about sex – or rather, erotic love.

And that it was a "fairy tale for adults".

The first half of the book I thought I had figured out the trajectory of the novel. I was totally wrong and there were layers of reveals to come. I would have enjoyed the novel even if it had just taken what I thought was the story arc. That it came to really surprise me in a good way made it even better. Just so much to like.

Lars also wrote:

> I have shot my mouth off more than once – publicly – about my low opinion of most contemporary Christian fantasy. When I do that (and I expect I’ll do it again) I need to make a clear exception for a very few writers. One of those is John C. Wright.

This is a wonderful work of Christian imagination. I thought his last novella "One Bright Star to Guide Them" was his finest work and this shows his craft increasing.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange little tale -- very dream-like in the sense of actual dreams, not the "dreamy" of daydreams.

In the prologue, Hal at his father's funeral finds his mother senile, and some inexplicable events happen. Then he has to return to England, where he is working on his dissertation.

In the opening proper, he's on the island of Sark, with a woman named Laurel, trying to break into a house. Flashes back to show him waiting for his best friend Manfred, who recently inherited a house there and is inexplicably late to meet Hal and show him it. When he meets Laurel, Manfred's fiancee, whom he also did not meet. They go to the house through the Wrongerwood (actually "Wronger" is a corruption of French "gnawer of bones") and break in and find a chamber -- a rose quartz chamber -- that brings back memories.

It weaves on through the losing and regaining of memories, feature an account of a man pulling a dove from his sleeve; a dissertation on King Arthur; what happened to the relatives who used to own the house; Hal's mistaking some names for common nouns, making a conversation strange; a legend of a saint; dwarfs who sell jewelry; and more.

[Daniel Cardoso · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much preaching about marriage. If I wanted that, I would have picked up a bible.

[hevs · Rating 2 out of 5]

When last year I’ve read “Orphans of Chaos” I fell in love with John C. Wright. I finally found fiction that is not post-modern, in which various traditions and values are alive and in the same time fun and rule of cool are equally important. Then I’ve read all of “Count to Eschaton” and proceeded to build a little shrine in the name of John C. Wright. It was obvious to me a that point that I need to buy “Iron Chamber of Memory” when it came out. And boy what a mistake that was.
This book is bad. And I mean objectively bad. It’s bad literature. I am not talking about whether I liked it or not because this is another thing. “Iron Chamber of Memory” is a really, really bad novel. I’m not sure you can call it a novel anyway.
It’s starts good and the strange atmosphere and this really bad feeling that nothing is as it seems and that you cannot trust anything you just read – that was good. It made me really uneasy. But then it appears that there’s nothing more behind it. Plot and whole reasoning behind the events is so poor I still can’t believe I paid money to read it. And this is not even the worst part – the worst part is most of the time “Iron Chamber…” is filled with long, repetitive philosophical mumbling about marriage and chastity and such stuff. And whether I agree with Wright or not has nothing to do with the fact that this is not the way you convey message in a novel. The two parts – events and marriage theory are completely unrelated as if someone just turned some switch and suddenly instead of plot we have this lecture – for the sixth time on a few hundred pages. Yes, the theme is similar but that’s the end of common points.
I’ve never read anything by Vox Dei so I have no idea what kind of writer he is, but he’s so not an editor.
Honestly, read “Orphans of Chaos” because it is a beautiful book or “Count to Eschaton” because there’s Blackie there and Blackie is beautiful.

[Scott Appleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adult fairytale with a refreshingly redemptive moral.

This book is not for younger readers, as it deals explicitly and effectively with seduction. This is a dark tale and bloody, but contrasts those things with clear themes of Christian allegory.

The story opens with an intriguing angle on memory loss, then spends too many pages giving detailed descriptions of the setting. But when the story gets rolling it’s worth the read.

[Caspar Vega · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weird, wandering, wonderful.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just an old fashioned love story

A beautifully written story of love and honor. A timeless tale set against a backdrop of the modern world and society.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal story that has everything. Love triangles, mythical creatures, intrigue and a sci-fi flare as well. It has an ending that is truly a spectacle that unfurls as the words continue.

[Joanne G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

John C. Wright has a phenomenal imagination, but this tale was outside my preferred genres. At seemingly 70% erotic romance (I should have surmised that from the scantily clad temptress on the cover, but there is often little relationship between a book and its cover), I had to read two-thirds of the book to get to the action. Once the action took off, I enjoyed the story. If you like romance, you may find this more to your taste.

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Iron Chamber of Memory by John C. Wright is a very strange book. I’m not sure what I was supposed to get out of it.

It starts out in a cemetery, where Hal Landfall is burying his father, accompanied by his feeble mother who is suffering from dementia. Hal feels responsible for his parents, and regrets how his mother now has to live. But we never really return to this theme. (Chekhov's gun, anyone?) I already know that everyone gets feeble and dies. Thanks for the reminder.

The first half of the book actually seems to be going somewhere, and at least starts to develop into an interesting fantasy. Hal’s best friend Manfred has just inherited an ancestral castle on the island of Sark off the coast of England. Sark is one of those places that wants to pretend that it’s still in the Middle Ages, with a Lord of the Manor ruling over his subjects who love him dearly. There’s no cars, no paved roads, and not much electricity. (Sounds heavenly, as long as your tetanus shot is up to date.)

On his journey to the castle, Hal meets Laurel, Manfred’s fiancee. Hal is clearly attracted to the most fetching Laurel, but he respects his friend’s relationship with his girlfriend and hides his feelings. It soon becomes obvious, however, that Laurel is attracted to Hal, and she starts sending Hal signals that he should step up and see where this goes.

As Hal and Laurel explore the castle, they discover a room that has a profound affect on the two of them. Apparently when they walk into this room they become other people who are in the midst of a torrid love affair, and the heck with Manfred. I’m not sure what the backstory was on this, it seemed to come out of the air, even though the concept of memory and how it shapes us wants to become a main theme of the novel. Hal and Laurel spend a lot of time trying to figure out ways to insure that they will return to the room once they leave it, since once outside, they forget about their relationship and how the room turns it on. Complicating this, any overt directions they give themselves to return to the room are defeated by some mysterious magic. This was confusing and I didn’t see what this plot point contributed to the overall theme of the novel, or where this was going.

This part of the story was actually quite interesting and original, but about half way through the book it turns into a medieval fantasy novel with knights and dragons and battles. That was jarring, and seemed to belong to another story entirely. I was struggling to tease a main theme out of this confusing jumble of literary yarn, but at that point I was lost for good.

The author is a skilled writer, and his descriptions of people, events, and castles hold your interest and attention. (If he wasn’t I would not have been able to finish the book.) However, there is a lot of repetition and exposition and doesn’t seem to have a point. Perhaps this novel should have been shorter and more focused.

I know there were a lot of readers that gave this book five stars, but I just didn’t get it. This is the first book I’ve read by John C. Write. Apparently he has a strong following of readers who feel he is a mystical, theological author of Christian literature. Except for a constant admonition to not engage in premarital sex, I didn’t find any theological underpinnings. (I think the Muslims and Jews also have the same rules so even this didn’t seem very “Christian”.)

I’m not sure if I’ll read any other books by this author in the future. I suppose it will depend on the cover art. The girl on the cover reminds me of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, so at least there’s that.

[Russell Newquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Between the Wall and the Fire wrapped up (or mostly so), a major software release just out the door at my day job, and the Memorial Day holiday giving me a long weekend, I finally had a chance to relax for a bit. In addition to catching up on the season finales of my favorite shows, I also had time this weekend to read Mr. John C. Wright‘s newest masterpiece, Iron Chamber of Memory.

And yes, I do mean masterpiece. This isn’t just one of Mr. Wright’s finest works, although it is definitely that. It also now occupies a spot as one of my favorite fantasy works of all time. Yes, this work is really that good. Unfortunately, to say too much about it is to spoil it. So I will dance around the problem as best I may.

First of all, this is one of Mr. Wright’s most readable works. I must beg his forgiveness for that phrasing, and explain carefully what I mean. Although I greatly love the vast bulk of Mr. Wright’s art, some of it is downright work to read. But the work is well rewarded, and well worth the effort. For what it’s worth, I tend to feel the same way about my favorite band, Dream Theater. Iron Chamber of Memory, however, absolutely does not suffer from this issue at all. From the very beginning it’s engrossing, and the reading simply feels effortless – as, indeed, Mr. Wright describes the actual writing of it:

This book has a special and mysterious place in the author’s heart, because the whole thing from start to finish, all the scenes and much of the dialog, came to me in a dream not long after my conversion, and I spent the whole of the next day writing down before it escaped me. Those notes rested on my desk for decade. Only now did I have the time to compose them into a novel.

The book is a deeply romantic (something that is lost in modern society), and contains a wonderful mystery that will keep you reading. And although I guessed one of the major twists quite early on, I truly didn’t quite see where the story was heading. It’s also a deeply spiritual story, and it reminded me quite a bit of one or two of the stories in The Book of Feasts & Seasons. Most surprising from Mr. Wright, however, is how deeply sensual the story is.

This is truly a fantastic tale, and I can’t recommend it enough. I give this one five stars out of five… and frankly, I find myself wishing for a sixth to give it.

[Patrick O'Hannigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Twinkie of a book that looks better than it actually is, mostly because John C. Wright telegraphs his punches. If you remember English literature classes from high school or college, or have since acquainted yourself with the tales of King Arthur, then you know it's no coincidence when a female character has "du Lac" for a surname. Similarly, if you think the woman on the cover looks like trouble, or surmise that a young American man with no physical disabilities would not carry a walking stick simply for the sake of appearances, you're right on both counts. Wright is not subtle here.

What this book has going for it is the author's willingness to ponder the meaning and purpose of memory from psychological and theological angles. J.R.R. Tolkien did a better job of that, but Wright wins points for trying.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible ideas and an incredible story. The pacing was rushed in the last third of the book and some very deep ideas were squandered due to lack of context. This book could have been deeper and much more accessible to a wider audience if some of the ideas were more explicitly explained.

[Viktor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to like this better than I did. Wright is immensely talented, and I have loved some of his other stuff. So, I suspect that this is simply not my genre.

Fantastic cover art, though!

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been looking forward to this book, partly because of the odd story of its origin, and because I have enjoyed some of Wright's other writing without being bowled over.

However -- It's a very difficult book to review it without spoilers, not least because much of the plot is about lost memories.

Suppose I were to liken authors to musical instruments. Some produce intimate woodwind pieces. Some are concert pianos or jazz saxophones. Some are drumkits. Wright, I think, is a kind of electric church organ - adept at picking up and putting on voices, and at 'pulling the stops' and changing voice in an instant. He has some rather fun stops too: A. E. Van Voght, sci-fi B-movie (specialising in Space Princesses), Old Virginian Gentleman, ... arguably G. K. Chesterton too. And like a church organ, his max volume is so OTT it puts other authors in the shade. It isn't just the vocab and over-the-top imagery, but an ability to switch the whole worldview of the narration and the fabric of thought of the book.

Yet in his earlier Titans of Chaos series, this virtuosity of voice was used mostly to play a kind of entertaining but not very deep scissors-paper-rock game. His Narnia tribute "One Bright Star To Guide Them" was better, switching between a boring-everyday voice and a high fantasy voice to bring out the main character's longing for the other world and the way he no longer fit back in our world after his return.

So to The Iron Chamber of Memory. The first half was extremely frustrating - in many senses, for our narrator has a spell affecting his memory and is (involuntarily) an unreliable narrator. It's also quite steamy, as his feelings for his best friend's fiancée that he only remembers he's having under certain circumstances nevertheless keep surfacing. That said, the first half is atmospheric and eerie. The setting doesn't feel quite real; the island of Sark depicted is more like stage scenery painted from a Wikipedia article, and the whole thing ends up feeling faintly allegorical. In my musical analogy we sit through a lot of brooding build-up and unresolved chords trying to work out what on earth is going on.

Then we get to the second half, where things get a lot more fun. I can't say what happens without serious spoilers, but he's playing a sort of metaphysical context push-pop game (sort of Douglas Hofstadter-like though thankfully without the recursion) and to signal the change up he pulls a fistful of stops and turns the volume up to 11. More interestingly, it is not just a parlour game this time, but a serious attempt to depict something important about the Christian view of the world that is seldom done in fiction and rarely done well. Indeed, the whole effect reminds me a little of Charles Williams (a man who had the full pipe-organ-by-underground-lake powers of writing and was interested in similar themes).

Despite the metaphorical ringing in my ears afterwards, I finished faintly disappointed. What Wright has set himself to address, as a theme, is really very ambitious. He has gone at it allegro and fortissimo and I'm not sure it was enough. Yet I do greatly admire him for trying and will probably look for more of his books.