Intriguing and enjoyable collection of three inter-connected novellas, telling the stories of three generations of women who have a unique relationship with the world of Faerie.
Bitter experience has taught me to be wary of novels that are expansions of novellas and short stories. Up until now, I can't think of one hasn't left me with the sour feeling that, not only the author hasn't managed to successfully expand their original idea, but that they've managed to diminish or spoil what I enjoyed about the original story
I'm glad to say that my poor track record has changed, with Ian McDonald's King of the Morning, Queen of the Day. his 1991 novel based on his 1988 novella of the same title. The secret to McDonald's success where others have failed miserably, imho, is that he his strategy wasn't just to pick up where the novella left off, or carry on explaining his original idea in excruciating detail, but instead he skips across the generations, telling the almost-stand-alone stories of the daughter and granddaughter of Emily, the Irish teenager whose uncanny ability to create reality from her imaginings results in tragedy for herself and her family.
The stories of Jessica and Enye, whose stories begin as they discover the mixed blessings of the powers they have inherited from Emily, not only round out the story of the original novella, and clarify what went on, but also effectively bring the story forward into present day, and present concerns, as Emily, Jessica and Enye reflect the development of Ireland from the last gasp of the Victorian era, during the pre-Revolution days of 1913, to a new nation in the 1930s, to a modern, vibrant, secular society in the 1990s.
In fact, if anything, McDonald's rewrite of the novella for the opening section greatly improves on it -- taking better advantage of the epistolary format of letters, diary entries, newspaper clipping and transcripts of interviews, showing greater faith in the ability of the reader to "get it," without explaining too much, too soon, and making Emily's romantic obsession with Faerie seem as enticing to us as it is to her.
I thought the two companion stories stood up very well -- I loved Jessica and Enye, with their powers inherited from their ancestor, and their very different responses to the challenges they brought, and I loved the friends and enemies they encountered on their journeys (particularly, Jessica's protectors Tiresias and Gonzaga, two Gentleman Knights of Faerie, who put a whole new spin on the predicament of two other slightly down-at-heel gentlemen, Vladimir and Estragon of Waiting for Godot.
Bitter experience has taught me to be wary of novels that are expansions of novellas and short stories. Up until now, I can't think of one hasn't left me with the sour feeling that, not only the author hasn't managed to successfully expand their original idea, but that they've managed to diminish or spoil what I enjoyed about the original story
I'm glad to say that my poor track record has changed, with Ian McDonald's King of the Morning, Queen of the Day. his 1991 novel based on his 1988 novella of the same title. The secret to McDonald's success where others have failed miserably, imho, is that he his strategy wasn't just to pick up where the novella left off, or carry on explaining his original idea in excruciating detail, but instead he skips across the generations, telling the almost-stand-alone stories of the daughter and granddaughter of Emily, the Irish teenager whose uncanny ability to create reality from her imaginings results in tragedy for herself and her family.
The stories of Jessica and Enye, whose stories begin as they discover the mixed blessings of the powers they have inherited from Emily, not only round out the story of the original novella, and clarify what went on, but also effectively bring the story forward into present day, and present concerns, as Emily, Jessica and Enye reflect the development of Ireland from the last gasp of the Victorian era, during the pre-Revolution days of 1913, to a new nation in the 1930s, to a modern, vibrant, secular society in the 1990s.
In fact, if anything, McDonald's rewrite of the novella for the opening section greatly improves on it -- taking better advantage of the epistolary format of letters, diary entries, newspaper clipping and transcripts of interviews, showing greater faith in the ability of the reader to "get it," without explaining too much, too soon, and making Emily's romantic obsession with Faerie seem as enticing to us as it is to her.
I thought the two companion stories stood up very well -- I loved Jessica and Enye, with their powers inherited from their ancestor, and their very different responses to the challenges they brought, and I loved the friends and enemies they encountered on their journeys (particularly, Jessica's protectors Tiresias and Gonzaga, two Gentleman Knights of Faerie, who put a whole new spin on the predicament of two other slightly down-at-heel gentlemen, Vladimir and Estragon of Waiting for Godot.
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