Skip to main content

More Druid of Shannara: The Platypus Reads Part CLXVIII

Those of us who were book worms growing up know what it is to have literary role models.  I'm not talking about every geek who wants to be the next Tolkien (something I was fervently guilty of as a kid).  Instead, I mean that those who love to read as children often find themselves selecting characters that they wish they could be like; characters that show them one possible image of themselves.  The Magus Zoroaster, my dead child, / Met his own image walking in the garden. / That apparition, sole of men, he saw.  So, when I was in Jr. High, I always wished I could be like Walker Boh.  He was introverted, learned, intuitive, got to dress in black, loved nature, and was respected as a natural leader.  In short, he was a kind of cool that very awkward and uncool Jr. High me could envision being one day.  Nowadays, I dress in black, have a beard and both my arms.  Make of that what you will.

Onto the review.  We're covering up through about half of Chapter 17.  Don't continue reading if you don't want to know what happens.


Actually, since there isn't that much happening in terms of action, there's not much to spoil.  Having enlisted the help of Tracker Horner Dees, the little company push north over the mountains and down towards Eldwist and the Tiderace.  While traveling in the mountains they meet Carisman, a troubadour who has been made king the Urpas.  He negotiates their escape from Urpa territory so long as they take him along.  This makes Pe Ell increasingly testy.  During the escape, Morgan and Quickening are washed over a cliff and inexplicably have Mad Wild Tree Sex on an islet.  Rejoining the group the next day, Quickening and Morgan continue to journey to Eldwist casting amorous glances all the way.  That is until they come to the Koden, a creature which guards the gates to Uhl Belk's realm.  Now Walker Boh gets to show his stuff and communes with the Koden, convincing them to let the group pass.  And... that's where I had to leave off reading and go to bed...

Scattered thoughts:

1. I love the episode with the Koden.  This is the first time Brooks has given us a monster and done something different with it.  The whole scene has a wonderful sense of tension tempered with sorrow that sets a wonderful emotional tone for the stone city of Eldwist.  This is also our first chance in the novel to see Walker acting as Allanon.  Here, and not at Paranor, is really where he claims the mantel of "Druid of Shannara."  I think it's also important that his career begins with an act of empathy and compassion.

2. For all that this is Walker's book, we see remarkably little of the guy.  I think Brooks is doing this intentionally.  As with Quickening, our sense of awe and wonder with Walker will decrease the more we get into his thoughts -indeed the more time he's on screen.  If Walker Boh is going to become Allanon, he needs to become as distant and inscrutable as Allanon.  Again, Brooks' choice to begin this distancing in the novel dedicated to Walker is interesting a daring; another sign of real authorial growth.

3. I wonder if any of this was influenced by a game or six of Dungeons and Dragons.  By the time the PCs reach Eldwist, we've got a classic group: tracker, rogue/assassin, barbarian, druid, bard, and NPC McGuffin.  Even the way the episodes are constructed reminds me of a good GM trying to make sure that there's something special for each character to do during the session.  Eldwist itself reminds me of a dungeon in The Legend of Zelda or Final Fantasy.  If these books are ever adapted into films, the design team are going to have a field day with Eldwist.

4. Mad Wild Tree Sex is forced and dumb.

5. I was surprised at how likable Carisman is as a character.  I'd completely forgotten about him.  When he first arrived on scene, I thought he'd be another annoying whimsy of Brooks' rather omnivorous authorial tastes, but even his constant Bombadil-like poetry is somehow fitting.

So there you have it: one part nostalgia, one part literary review.  Meantime, the Platypus continues to speak Truth.  

Comments

Herch said…
I had completely forgotten about Carisman. I remember Walker, Quickening, Morgan, and Pe Ell quite vividly, but Carisman (and Horner Dees) is a complete black hole in my memory. You might be inspiring me to re-read these books.

And, yes, mad tree sex was dumb.
James said…
Matt, I couldn't remember Carisman or Horner Dees for the life of me until the moment they popped into the book either. I would say that it's because they don't continue on into the other volumes, but that's true of Quickening and Pe Ell too, and I remember them. I think it may be that they arrive late in the story and aren't in the strictest sense plot-critical. There isn't enough of them as characters or plot-points to be remembered over the long haul. If you do attempt a re-read, let me know what you think. Hopefully, you won't be cursing my name by the end of it!

Popular posts from this blog

The Platypus Reads Part XXVII

Thoughts after reading the "Iliad" to prepare a Greece unit for my students: -Hector is a jerk until he's dead. He even advocates the exposure of Achaean corpses and then has the cheek to turn around and ask Achilles to spare his. He rudely ignores Polydamas' prophecies and fights outside the gate to save his pride knowing full well what it will cost his family and city. After he's dead, he becomes a martyr for the cause. -Agamemnon has several moments of true leadership to balance out his pettiness. In this way, he's a haunting foil to Achilles: the two men are more alike than they want to acknowledge. -We see that Achilles is the better man at the funeral games of Patroclos. His lordliness, tact, and generosity there give us a window into Achilles before his fight with Agamemnon and the death of Patroclos consumed him. -Nestor is a boring, rambling, old man who's better days are far behind him, and yet every Achaean treats him with the upmo...

SNES as Money Well Spent: Platypus Nostalgia

I got my Super Nintendo Entertainment System when I was eleven years old.  That's a couple years after it first came out.  The occasion was a little dramatic: to celebrate the end of a two-and-a-half year course of treatment for cancer.  I had no idea that it would be waiting for me at home after the final doctors visit.  It was a nice spring day, the trees were waving gently in the breeze outside the bay windows.  With a cup of tea resting on the coffee table, I set down to play.  What was that first game?  It was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past .  Around twenty years later, my SNES still works as does that Zelda cartridge.  It's been a long way from boyhood in Southern Connecticut to manhood in North Houston, but I'm still playing. Why am I still playing?  There were stretches when I didn't.  Many times, I've just been too busy.  There were also seasons when it felt embarrassing to still be playing video games....

Under the Moon: The Platypus Reads Part LXVI

My wife and I were discussing our favorite books from the Chronicles of Narnia on our way back from lunch.  My wife, true to her sunny personality, is a staunch fan of "The Voyage of the Dawntreader."  I can't argue with that choice but, when push comes to shove, "The Silver Chair" has always been my favorite. I have a bit of a theory.  I think "The Voyage of the Dawntreader" is Lewis' grail legend.  If that's so, then I'd hazard a guess and say that "The Silver Chair" is his "Pilgrim's Progress." -just think about the shape of Puddleglum's hat and the fact that he lives in the Fen Country and you'll see what got me thinking down this line. That brings me to why I like "The Silver Chair" so much.  When I was little, we had a children's version of "Pilgrim's Progress" that my mom used to read to me.  I lived in New England and the Christianity I was raised with had a heavy tin...