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White Crow Sequence #1-3
White Crow
The White Crow, one-time Soldier-Scholar of the Invisible College and a practioner of Hermetic science and magic, and Baltazar Casaubon, architect and lover, a man not too particular about his personal hygiene, are two of Mary Gentle's finest creations. The worlds they stride across range from the Renaissance city where aristocratic rats rule the human servant class, to a near-future London where chaos is come again. They are two of the most powerful players in the games of magic and politics, and the most colourful. This volume brings together three brilliantly imaginative, powerful and disturbing tales - Rats and Gargoyles, The Architecture of Desire and Left to His Own Devices - and the linked short fiction and confirms Mary Gentle as one of the foremost writers of dark and visionary fantasy.
864 pages, Paperback
First published April 10, 2003
7 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Mary Gentle
46 books204 followersThis author also writes under the pseudonym of Roxanne Morgan
Excerpted from Wikipedia:
Mary Gentle's first published novel was Hawk in Silver (1977), a young-adult fantasy. She came to prominence with the Orthe duology, which consists of Golden Witchbreed (1983) and Ancient Light (1987).
The novels Rats and Gargoyles (1990), The Architecture of Desire (1991), and Left to His Own Devices (1994), together with several short stories, form a loosely linked series (collected in White Crow in 2003). As with Michael Moorcock's series about his anti-heroic Jerry Cornelius, Gentle's sequence retains some basic facts about her two protagonists Valentine (also known as the White Crow) and Casaubon while changing much else about them, including what world they inhabit. Several take place in an alternate-history version of 17th century and later England, where a form of Renaissance Hermetic magic has taken over the role of science. Another, Left To His Own Devices, takes place in a cyberpunk-tinged version of our own near future. The sequence is informed by historically existing ideas about esotericism and alchemy and is rife with obscure allusions to real history and literature.
Grunts! (1992) is a grand guignol parody of mass-market high fantasy novels, with orcs as heroes, murderous halflings, and racist elves.
Excerpted from Wikipedia:
Mary Gentle's first published novel was Hawk in Silver (1977), a young-adult fantasy. She came to prominence with the Orthe duology, which consists of Golden Witchbreed (1983) and Ancient Light (1987).
The novels Rats and Gargoyles (1990), The Architecture of Desire (1991), and Left to His Own Devices (1994), together with several short stories, form a loosely linked series (collected in White Crow in 2003). As with Michael Moorcock's series about his anti-heroic Jerry Cornelius, Gentle's sequence retains some basic facts about her two protagonists Valentine (also known as the White Crow) and Casaubon while changing much else about them, including what world they inhabit. Several take place in an alternate-history version of 17th century and later England, where a form of Renaissance Hermetic magic has taken over the role of science. Another, Left To His Own Devices, takes place in a cyberpunk-tinged version of our own near future. The sequence is informed by historically existing ideas about esotericism and alchemy and is rife with obscure allusions to real history and literature.
Grunts! (1992) is a grand guignol parody of mass-market high fantasy novels, with orcs as heroes, murderous halflings, and racist elves.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 16, 2012
Finally finished the White Crow omnibus by Mary Gentle. It contains 3 short stories, one long novel and two short novels loosely connected by characters or setting. Although the main characters, the scholar-doldier Valentine White Crow and her larger than life partner Baltazar Casaubon, appear in all but one, all stories seem to be set in alternate universes or something like that...
It's a difficult book to review, because the stories it contains are very different, and in terms of quality, not all on the same level. In addition to that, the author's style here is pretty complex and hermetic.
I guess I'll just take them in order...(descriptions first, criticisms later)
Beggard in Satin introduces the characters Valentine and Casaubon, and also the main theme of alchemy and hermetic magic, as Valentine arrives in Casaubon's city to repair his memory garden, which has gone evil.
The next story, The Knot Garden, is, unusually, set in the same world as the above. This time, a number of powerful deities threaten the peace in Casaubon's city.
Black Motley introduces the themes of the novel Rats and Gargoyles, and is the only piece here not containing Valentine and Casaubon. This is set in an alternative 17th century London, where humans are enslaved by 6ft tall, anthropomorphic rats (yes, seriously), and written contracts are not accepted, so that there are people called King's Memory, who are trained to listen to negotiations and later repeat everything they heard verbatim. Unfortunately, they sometimes hear things they shouldn't...
Rats and Gargoyles introduces several more aspects into the political powerplay: the Rats, in turn, are subject to the 36 Decans, gods who have incarnated in living sphinx-like statues, and live in a huge structure called the Fane, bordering on every district of the city. They control Acolytes, huge gargoyle-like beasts who inspire fear in people and eat them. Then there's the Church of the Trees, outlawed by the Decans, but still around, and whose priests are actually able to do magic. And there's the University of Crime, which must be interdimensionally related to the Thieves Guild of Ankh Morpork, and teaches everything from pickpocketing to hacking the universe, as a science and art-form. And there's Katayans, who have tails, for some reason. And a ship which physically brings the souls of the dead back to life...It does have a plot too, actually: there is a conspiracy of the Rat-Lord to get rid of the Decans, which threatens to rip apart the universe.
The next short novel, Left to His Own Devices, is set in a near future London, full of technology, and in the grip of an international economic crisis, and war in Europe. Here, Valentine and Casaubon are software designers (although she doubles as a fencing teacher for actors), who have developped a way to transcribe content directly from people's brains. Strangely enough, it comes out in the form of a Elizabethan play. And the military gets interested...
The collection concludes with the story The Architecture of Desire. In this world, Valentine and Casaubon just want to live quietly at their estate in the country with their kids, but then a bunch of old mercenary colleagues of Casaubon show up, and a young girl is found half frozen in the snow. Later, the mercenary captain is found on the girl, who, unfortunately, is unconscious at the time. To make matters worse, the mercenaries actually came to transmit a summons from the General Olivia, who wants Casaubon to come to London to fix a temple which seems to be possessed by demons, so they all travel to London, but things don't really get better.
Now...what did I think about it...
I liked the short stories, especially Black Motley. They are tightly constructed, and have a relatively clear structure, and a clear ending.
I loved the novel Rats and Gargoyles. There's so much wacky stuff going on, so many details, characters, plots twists and turns. It also manages to be incredibly funny in places, like when a group of characters meet a bunch of ancient chtonic deities in a cavern deep beneath the ground. Due to mostly having serpent heads, the gods have a thevere thpeeth impediment. The characters pretty much crap themselves laughing, although the gods are not amuthed. It may not be very high-brow but it's hilarious.
However, Ms Gentle doesn't bother to explain anything. Giant rats? Decans? People with tails? Tree-priests? The Ship of the Dead? Butterfly souls (ok, that one is not quite as far out there)? 5 directions to the compass, all 90° apart? They just exist. Deal with it. As she says in the disclaimer: normal service will resume when you close this book.
The other two novels, however, I didn't really like much. The problem with Left to His own Devices is that nothing actually happens. The setting is interesting, there are some nice ideas, the internet is foreseen, but it just leaves a bit of an empty feeling.
The Architecture of Desire does have plot, but it just stops in the middle of it...we never find out what happened to the temple, or the political situation. Also, there are some rather disturbing things in this one, like Valentine going off the rails and raping a Puritan girl who was already under enough shock from being raped twice before by the mercenary captain, and came to her to find out if she was pregnant or had caught anything nasty. WTF? Valentine then decides to save the mercenary from hanging, because she feels to guilty. The end.
In general, the author does her usual excessive description, which is not always a good thing. Casaubon, we are told about a hundred times in the space of 800 pages, doesn't think all that much about personal hygiene, ha greasy hair, likes wiping food grease and all kinds of other stuff all over his clothes, carries all kinds of stuff in his pockets, including some chicken wings and a live pet rat, possibly in the same one...he is actually a great character, fiercely intelligent and quite nice, but there is such a thing as TMI...
In conclusion: I liked the collection in general, although it has its flaws. I would recommend reading Rats and Gargoyles, because it's a crazy rollercoaster ride full of impossible stuff. The other pieces, unfortunately, can't quite keep up.
Rating:
Rats and Gargoyles: 9/10 (or ****)
Collection: 7/10
It's a difficult book to review, because the stories it contains are very different, and in terms of quality, not all on the same level. In addition to that, the author's style here is pretty complex and hermetic.
I guess I'll just take them in order...(descriptions first, criticisms later)
Beggard in Satin introduces the characters Valentine and Casaubon, and also the main theme of alchemy and hermetic magic, as Valentine arrives in Casaubon's city to repair his memory garden, which has gone evil.
The next story, The Knot Garden, is, unusually, set in the same world as the above. This time, a number of powerful deities threaten the peace in Casaubon's city.
Black Motley introduces the themes of the novel Rats and Gargoyles, and is the only piece here not containing Valentine and Casaubon. This is set in an alternative 17th century London, where humans are enslaved by 6ft tall, anthropomorphic rats (yes, seriously), and written contracts are not accepted, so that there are people called King's Memory, who are trained to listen to negotiations and later repeat everything they heard verbatim. Unfortunately, they sometimes hear things they shouldn't...
Rats and Gargoyles introduces several more aspects into the political powerplay: the Rats, in turn, are subject to the 36 Decans, gods who have incarnated in living sphinx-like statues, and live in a huge structure called the Fane, bordering on every district of the city. They control Acolytes, huge gargoyle-like beasts who inspire fear in people and eat them. Then there's the Church of the Trees, outlawed by the Decans, but still around, and whose priests are actually able to do magic. And there's the University of Crime, which must be interdimensionally related to the Thieves Guild of Ankh Morpork, and teaches everything from pickpocketing to hacking the universe, as a science and art-form. And there's Katayans, who have tails, for some reason. And a ship which physically brings the souls of the dead back to life...It does have a plot too, actually: there is a conspiracy of the Rat-Lord to get rid of the Decans, which threatens to rip apart the universe.
The next short novel, Left to His Own Devices, is set in a near future London, full of technology, and in the grip of an international economic crisis, and war in Europe. Here, Valentine and Casaubon are software designers (although she doubles as a fencing teacher for actors), who have developped a way to transcribe content directly from people's brains. Strangely enough, it comes out in the form of a Elizabethan play. And the military gets interested...
The collection concludes with the story The Architecture of Desire. In this world, Valentine and Casaubon just want to live quietly at their estate in the country with their kids, but then a bunch of old mercenary colleagues of Casaubon show up, and a young girl is found half frozen in the snow. Later, the mercenary captain is found on the girl, who, unfortunately, is unconscious at the time. To make matters worse, the mercenaries actually came to transmit a summons from the General Olivia, who wants Casaubon to come to London to fix a temple which seems to be possessed by demons, so they all travel to London, but things don't really get better.
Now...what did I think about it...
I liked the short stories, especially Black Motley. They are tightly constructed, and have a relatively clear structure, and a clear ending.
I loved the novel Rats and Gargoyles. There's so much wacky stuff going on, so many details, characters, plots twists and turns. It also manages to be incredibly funny in places, like when a group of characters meet a bunch of ancient chtonic deities in a cavern deep beneath the ground. Due to mostly having serpent heads, the gods have a thevere thpeeth impediment. The characters pretty much crap themselves laughing, although the gods are not amuthed. It may not be very high-brow but it's hilarious.
However, Ms Gentle doesn't bother to explain anything. Giant rats? Decans? People with tails? Tree-priests? The Ship of the Dead? Butterfly souls (ok, that one is not quite as far out there)? 5 directions to the compass, all 90° apart? They just exist. Deal with it. As she says in the disclaimer: normal service will resume when you close this book.
The other two novels, however, I didn't really like much. The problem with Left to His own Devices is that nothing actually happens. The setting is interesting, there are some nice ideas, the internet is foreseen, but it just leaves a bit of an empty feeling.
The Architecture of Desire does have plot, but it just stops in the middle of it...we never find out what happened to the temple, or the political situation. Also, there are some rather disturbing things in this one, like Valentine going off the rails and raping a Puritan girl who was already under enough shock from being raped twice before by the mercenary captain, and came to her to find out if she was pregnant or had caught anything nasty. WTF? Valentine then decides to save the mercenary from hanging, because she feels to guilty. The end.
In general, the author does her usual excessive description, which is not always a good thing. Casaubon, we are told about a hundred times in the space of 800 pages, doesn't think all that much about personal hygiene, ha greasy hair, likes wiping food grease and all kinds of other stuff all over his clothes, carries all kinds of stuff in his pockets, including some chicken wings and a live pet rat, possibly in the same one...he is actually a great character, fiercely intelligent and quite nice, but there is such a thing as TMI...
In conclusion: I liked the collection in general, although it has its flaws. I would recommend reading Rats and Gargoyles, because it's a crazy rollercoaster ride full of impossible stuff. The other pieces, unfortunately, can't quite keep up.
Rating:
Rats and Gargoyles: 9/10 (or ****)
Collection: 7/10
October 24, 2018
White Crow is a compilation of three stories and three novels by Mary Gentle from the early 90s. Valentine White Crow, Scholar-Soldier of the Invisible College, and her lover/husband/pest Balthasar Causabon spend two stories and the first novel Rats and Gargoyles in a bonkers fantasy world filled with ideas from 17th century hermetic magic (and also elsewhere). So the city at the heart of the world has five cardinal directions, each at 90 degrees to each other; the extra direction, aust, allows every district to back onto the Fane, the home of the Decans, the thirty six gods who rule the world. The city is actually ruled by a rat king, and there’s a bunch of plotting between humans, human sized rats, humans from outside the city and, well, everyone and everything.
It’s a bit complex is what I’m saying.
The other two novels are Left To His Own Devices (Jacobean flavoured cyberpunk) and The Architecture Of Desire (rape and regret in a magic-flavoured English Civil War with gender-swapped King Charles and Oliver Cromwell). Valentine and Balthasar slip not-quite effortlessly through time and space, and much less effortlessly through their lives with each leaving and betraying the other at times, though they continue to find each other irresistible.
(The third story is about rats and the exploration of the East Pole, and does not have Valentine and Balthasar, but is clearly in (very nearly) the same world as Rats and Gargoyles)
This is visceral and brutal, and has an intense physicality. Balthazar in particular is both tall (six foot five, my own height) and enormously fat (not me, though I’m working on it), and continually eating and drinking; he always has some food in a pocket to chew on, except when he doesn’t and complains that he is hungry.
Read This: For complex, powerful fantasy that cares a lot about time and place, but not in the normal ways.
Don’t Read This: If violence, including sexual assault, and other outrages, described in intimate, shocking terms puts you off.
It’s a bit complex is what I’m saying.
The other two novels are Left To His Own Devices (Jacobean flavoured cyberpunk) and The Architecture Of Desire (rape and regret in a magic-flavoured English Civil War with gender-swapped King Charles and Oliver Cromwell). Valentine and Balthasar slip not-quite effortlessly through time and space, and much less effortlessly through their lives with each leaving and betraying the other at times, though they continue to find each other irresistible.
(The third story is about rats and the exploration of the East Pole, and does not have Valentine and Balthasar, but is clearly in (very nearly) the same world as Rats and Gargoyles)
This is visceral and brutal, and has an intense physicality. Balthazar in particular is both tall (six foot five, my own height) and enormously fat (not me, though I’m working on it), and continually eating and drinking; he always has some food in a pocket to chew on, except when he doesn’t and complains that he is hungry.
Read This: For complex, powerful fantasy that cares a lot about time and place, but not in the normal ways.
Don’t Read This: If violence, including sexual assault, and other outrages, described in intimate, shocking terms puts you off.
Read
December 7, 2024A collection of novellas featuring the same two characters set in various interesting fantasy and fantasy-adjacent settings. White Crow is Mary Gentle's response to all the bad low effort fantasy that was flooding the market in 90s and early 00s.
Read
October 21, 2007http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1338809.html[return][return]A few years ago, shortly before I began bookblogging, I read and totally loved Mary Gentle's Ash. More recently, I was rather disappointed with her 1610. I'm afraid that White Crow was more towards the 1610 end of the scale. It brings together three short stories about her protagonists Valentine and Casaubon, and three novels, Rats and Gargoyles, Left to his Own Devices and The Architecture of Desire. Most of the stories are set in varyingly 17th or 18th century milieux, with a heavy admixture of Hermetic magic. I am afraid the only one I really liked was the exception to this setting, the near-future cyberpunkish Left to his Own Devices; the rest all lost me somewhere between the showing and the telling. I guess they are of interest as rehearsals for Ash, but I couldn't really recommend them.
August 18, 2010
A compilation of three novels and three short stories, centering on the same pair of characters, Valentine, the soldier-scholar, and Baltasar Casaubon, the Falstaffian "Lord Architect" who is her soulmate. These books contain: 17th century Paracelsian magics, memory gardens (like memory palaces, only with physical form), alternate history versions of Disraeli, Gladstone, and a very different Victoria, gargoyles, strange gods, a University of Crime, and a new play by Marlowe. So of course I adore them, although there's sometimes a pacing problem with the plots. For anyone who read that list and thought "oooh, cool stuff!"
August 1, 2012
White Crow by Mary Gentle is a massive 850 pages with many similarities to her very good Ash. Based on Ash, I sought out other books by Gentle, but White Crow's basic plot and main character are far too similar to Ash. Furthermore, I could not fathom most of the details and I was left feeling stupid and still have no idea what the book was about. It is a wonder I stuck with it and finished it.
December 15, 2016
Read 15/12/2016: "Beggars in Satin" (short story), "The Knot Garden" (short story), "Black Motley" (short story), "Left to His Own Devices" (novella). ["Rats & Gargoyles" and "The Architecture of Desire" read previously.]
July 10, 2008
Some strong and interesting characters in this book.
Read
August 23, 2008isbn,original
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews