Shine On, Golden Warrior (original) (raw)

The Eyes of the Overworld, by Jack Vance – The first book in the Dying Earth series was a collection of short stories that take place on the same world but aren’t really related. While this one also started out as individual stories, there’s an ongoing narrative about the thief and con-artist Cugel, who calls himself Cugel the Clever. When he tries to rob a magician, he is sent on a quest for a magic talisman, with a weird creature made of hooks attached to him to enforce it. Cugel is a very selfish character, always trying to finagle a cushy position for himself, and not feeling all that remorseful about sacrificing his temporary allies. As with a lot of scammers, though, he also has a tendency to get scammed himself, and usually has to use his wits to get out of dangerous situations. I appreciate how absurd some of his misadventures are. When a famished Cugel unwittingly eats an insect with incredible magical potential, a magician sends him a million years back in time to find the bug. He actually succeeds, but it’s taken away at the last second. This episode does confirm that these stories take place way more than a million years in the future, since the setting Cugel goes back to is still a magical wasteland. The weird creatures that live in Cugel’s world include grues and erbs, neither of which Vance does much to describe, but the former would go on to appear in the Zork games, and the latter have the same name as evil beings in the Oz series.

The Hanging City, by Charlie N. Holmberg – It seems like I’ve gotten several of this author’s books from special online deals. In this one, a girl named Lark, who has the power to instill incredible fear in others, is being exploited by her warmaking father, and is considered a witch by her neighbors. So she goes to live with the trolls, or trollis, as they prefer to call themselves. She does her best to adjust to the society, which is interestingly developed, including the value it places on strength and its strict caste system. The title is a reference to how the trolli city of Cagmar is hanging from a canyon, and the book includes a map, always a plus for me. Lark ends up having a romance with one of the trollis. It’s a pretty good story.

House of Gold, by C.T. Rwizi – Set in the future on a planet settled by Africans, it tells the story of four people living in an underwater laboratory who break out and rebel against the ruling corporation. The two narrators, Hondo and Nandipa, are trained to be loyal to their Primes, which causes some problems when they turn against each other. The two Proxies also develop feelings for each other. I liked the characters and the setting, but a lot of the story didn’t stick with me that well.

Batu and the Search for the Golden Cup, by Zira Nauryzbai and Lilya Kalaus, translated by Shelley Fairweather-Vega – Originally written in Russian, this is another modern-day adventure in a world of folklore and mythology. This time, it’s that of Kazakhstan, which I didn’t really know anything about. (I don’t think Borat contained any actual facts.) The story was okay, but I appreciated all the cultural and mythological references. Aspara, the ancient golden warrior of the Saka people, comes out of Batu’s notebook cover, and joins him on an adventure that includes playing the dombyra and battling the brass-clawed Jeztyrnaq. There’s also a mention of the Simurgh, although it’s spelled “Samruk.”

This entry was posted in Altaic, Book Reviews, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Oz, Video Games and tagged aspara, batu and the search for the golden cup, c.t. rwizi, cagmar, charlie holmberg, cugel the clever, dombyra, erbs, grues, house of gold, jack vance, jeztyrnaq, simurgh, the dying earth, the eyes of the overworld, the hanging city, time travel, trolls, zork. Bookmark the permalink.