From: amadeus@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Susan Harwood Kaczmarczik)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: The Keltiad (Re: Recommendation on Fantasy Epic Novels)
Date: 16 Aug 92 21:09:27 GMT
Organization: University of Texas at Austin

Michael Qvortrup writes:
>Having only just read the first volume of The Keltiad, I might not
>know everything I ought to know to have an opinion about the series,
>but [...]

But you just had to offer one anyway, didn't you?

>Spoilers may follow.



>It seems to combine all the worst aspects of soap fantasy and space opera
>without one single one of the redeeming qualities. I like second-guessing
>the author, but I hate being able to deduct the development several hundred
>pages before it happens.

What is your idea of the "redeeming" qualities of space opera, and
what aspects of that did _The Silver Branch_ not meet?  I enjoyed all
of the books very much, but _The Silver Branch_ is my favorite.  Maybe
it's because I wasn't looking for arbitrary qualities of hackneyed
genres but because I was reading it purely as a work of fiction to be
judged on its own merits.

And if you like second-guessing the author so much, surely you *are*
right some of the time for authors other than Patricia Kennealy...?

>The space/science fiction part is absolutely incredible (or should that
>be *un*credible?). My willingness to suspend disbelief was mortally wounded
>when Aeron decides to travel through subspace to destroy the Fomori space
>base, which btw. at one point in the book was a moon, and at another a
>planet (if I remember correctly). The description was rather corny.

What's wrong with the subspace sequence?  When was the last time you
were in subspace, and how would you describe it?  I thought the
description was particularly evocative and effective, myself.  What
about it did you find corny, or was it simply that you would have
described it another way?

And, by the way, you remember incorrectly.  Bellator was always a
moon; it was just a moon with inhabitants and was referred to as a
homeworld, but not a planet.

>What is also very annoying about many C-grade space operas is the
>seemingly incapability of the author to deal with the vastness of
>space in an at least approximative manner. Hiding behind a moon to
>escape the notice of Keltian cruiser, which *might* be in that part of
>space, indeed!  it only confirmed my suspicion that the books were
>first written as a fantasy epic, after which Kennealy decided to make
>a SF story out of it.  This she then did by replacing every occurence
>of "sailing ship" with "space ship", "land" with "planet" and so
>forth.

Actually, that's not true.  The books were conceived from the start
just the way you now read them -- the fantasy element just turns out
to be predominant because it's Celtic mythology, magic, et cetera.
Although the technology may not be as hard-core as you might expect or
like, I think it's integrated pretty well.

What is it about sf/fantasy readers that they have to classify and
codify what they read?  "It's a fantasy epic with a veneer of science
fiction; why are they trying to write sci-fi?"  Why can't an author
simply blend elements of these things together without having people
checking them out with their quantum physics books or their magical
references?  It seems to me that technology should just be there when
you need it, not be described in great detail down to the type of
screws in the metal of the computer.

>She also has the bad habit of upping the ante to inconsistent heights
>when she needs a new plot device. Examples are the ever holier sanctum
>of the Ban-Droi school and the education Aeron has to go through. First
>the Ban-Droi school is described as one of the holiest places. Then it
>is one part of the premises. At the next turn of the story a holier place
>(for the resp. first and second initiations) is needed, and it is found,
>first in a room and thereafter in a corner of that room.

Ban-draoi, pronounced "*ban*dree".  It's Irish Gaelic.  

What's the problem with the layout of Scartanore?  It has levels, just
as many religious mystery orders have levels.  And the novices
discover (or rather uncover) those levels gradually; the outer circle,
then a level in, and so on until you reach the center.  Many
sanctuaries are like that.  Many initiatory paths are like that.  In
Celtic mysticism, plumbing the depths of the inner circles is integral
to understanding, and this is the case in many other cultures as well.

This is not a valid example of your gripe that Kennealy "ups the ante"
as a mere plot device.

>Her use of words also annoyed me no end. "Troublous" and "any road". Hah!

Well, someone else has already pointed out to you that "any road" is
still used (I, in fact, use it myself from time to time), and you
looked up "troublous" yourself.  But what is this derisive "hah" you
so knowingly append to the end of your sentence?  So she uses words
you don't.  Is that intimidating for you or something?

I saw in your later post that you said you liked Donaldson's prose.  I
think at this point we will simply diverge on personal preferences,
never to meet, because I think Kennealy is a writer of excellent
talent and prose style, and consider Donaldson to be a gruesome,
over-writing, gratuitous hack.  But I really do not see Kennealy's
choice of the occasional antiquated word of word-form as a mere device
to show ethnicity.  If you saw someone say "anyway" four times on a
page, would you even think twice?  Probably not.

>It really is a shame. The basic idea of the book held so much
>promise. I will read the last two volumes, though. Perhaps they get
>better.

Well, I think they're all wonderful.  I don't know that you will fare
so well with them, but perhaps you will find _The Copper Crown_ and
_The Throne of Scone_ more to your liking.  But I really think you
might enjoy them a bit more if you wouldn't try to pigeonhole them,
which it seems to me you're doing.

Just my two cents (and then some...)

>Greetings,
>--Mike
-- 
-----Susan Harwood Kaczmarczik-------------------------------*<:-)-------------
"Queens never make bargains."  -- The Red Queen, _Through the Looking Glass_
-----amadeus@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu--------------The University of Texas @Austin---
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written