Finally, I am posting about the last book that we did for Book Club earlier this year. It has been a while since I last posted, which was about The Lies of Locke Lamora, our June book. Life has gotten the better of me the last couple months and work has been extra crazy and stressful. Gratefully, I am happy to say that my work-related issues have sorted themselves out and that makes going into these last couple weeks before the end of the year much, much easier.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is written by renowned fantasy author Patricia A McKillip. Published in 1974, it was her third published work and won the first ever World Fantasy Award in 1975. The feat solidified her as master of fantasy literature; she has over 20 published works in the last four decades. Another of her fantasies, The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976), is still on my to-be-read list.
This book is really good, and I really think people should read it, but I'm having a very hard time writing this blog post. I got part of the way through it and its just been sitting for the last seven days because I can't seem to get out what I'm trying/wanting to say about this book. There is a lot to the plot and if I just pick out some specific things to write about, some if it might not make any sense. I'm struggling here.
I started off with:
The introduction, written by Pat Cadigan, in the volume I own has a very gripping passage that I want to share. It gave me a perspective of the book that I may never had concluded, and would be the sorrier for. Honestly, I don't think I would have enjoyed or read as deep into the story as I did had I not read the introduction Pat wrote.
"But this is not a novel about a magical zookeeper. This is a story about power - what it is to have it, what it is to use it, and what it is to discover that no matter how much you have or how strong it is, there is always something that has power over you."
And then I started going into the plot of the book because the quote is all about power and that is the key theme to the whole thing. BUT, like I said, there is a lot to it, and then the post may be really, really long to read and I don't want to bore my readers... But I feel like the basic premise should be elaborated on a little...
Sybel, our protagonist, is a descendant of wizards, and nobility, who use magic to call fantastic beasts from lore to them. Some of the beasts in her care and how they came to be there is also presented and then the real plot begins: A baby is delivered to Sybel's door by a man who knows her name and her beasts and their stories. She is told the baby is the son of the Queen and her lover, and is not the King's. She reluctantly agrees to take care of the baby, which ends up changing her life forever.
There is a time jump of 12 years after this part of the story. You learn that Sybel "calls" the beasts to her using her mind and magic, and binds them to her by holding their true names. But there is one she cannot attain, her one true desire, a creature called the Liralen. Her ability to call and hold the animals to her is the first demonstration of the power that Sybel possesses.
Coren, the man who originally delivered the baby, returns after the 12 years to take the child, Tamlorn, back with him to a rival family and use him to dethrone the current King Drede. He explains that Tam is the actual son of the King and that he lied to Sybel all those years ago. He now wants to buy her powers to use them, and Tam, to help overthrow the King as requested by the rival family. She refuses and Coren knows the boy will not follow him without her.
After I re-read what I had start writing, I kind of got back into it and I think I can actually put my thoughts back into a logical order and continue!
There was a moment here when I was reading, during their exchange about Tam, when I questioned if Coren wanted Sybel, and not just for her powers. Their conversation is both thought-provoking and heart-wrenching:
'Can you call a man?'
'If I choose to,' she said, surprised. 'I have never done it.'
'Then if you ever have anything to fear from any man who comes here, will you call me? I will come. Whatever I am doing will remain undone, and I will come to you. Will you?'
'But why? You know I will do nothing for you. Why would you ride all the way from Sirle to help me?
He looked at her silently. The he shrugged, the snow melting in his fiery hair. 'I do not know. Because. Will you?
'If I need you, I will call.'
He loosed her hand, smiling. 'And I will come.'
'But I probably will not. Anyway, if I want you, I can call you, and you will come without choice.'
He sighed. He said patiently, 'I choose to come. It makes a difference.'
'Does it?' Then her eyes curved slightly into a smile. 'Go home to your world of the living, Coren. That is where you belong. I can take care of myself.'
'Perhaps.' He gathered the reins in his hands, turned his mount toward the road that wound downward to Mondor. Then he looked back at her, his eyes the colour of clear mountain water. 'But one day you will find out how good it is to have someone who chooses to come when you call.'
That last line really got to me.
It shows Coren's feelings; how he wants her, but not for her powers. It also gives inkling that Sybel is not fully aware of how damaging her powers may be. She's only ever used them on the beasts, and after so many years they have become part of her - but man is a different beast. It brings to mind the question of freewill and what can and might happen if its taken away.
All of this calls back to the quote about power. Sybel eventually uses her powers to call the King Drede to her, and he doesn't quite understand how she did it. He describes it as an 'impulse'. The truth about Tam comes out and the king offers to make Sybel queen (more power) if it means he can take Tam. All she wants is for him to love Tam (power of love), which is something Coren could not offer, and why she wouldn't give him up. Sybel does not accept the King's offer, but she vows that she will neither work with him or against him, or with or against Coren and Sirle.
Within days of Tam leaving, and while in a trance calling a dark, nameless creature, she unconsciously calls Coren to her. (Is she now lonely without Tam there?) He arrives, saying he came because he loves her, but Sybel does not want him. She denied a King and becoming a Queen, so what does she have that he could possibly want? (Does not want someone with power over her.) She sends him away, again.
Shortly after Coren is sent away, Sybel discovers she herself is being called and she is afraid. The caller is very powerful and causes her to become shut off from herself, her own mind, and from her beasts. In her desperation to regain herself, she calls for Coren. (Is it because she is afraid? Does she think he can help her? Is she starting to care for him?) And that night, while Coren guards her, the call of the other is so strong, she leaves without a word or sound; even her animals don't know she has left.
She goes to the one who calls her; a very powerful wizard who is in the service of King Drede. He has been paid to take her will from her and close off her mind so that Drede can control her. He fears her, and at the same time desires her, and is jealous of Coren. She begs the wizard not to do it:
She caught the sobbing between her clenched teeth, her hands clenched on the wool. She turned her head, looked up at him, her face glittering in the firelight.
'Let me see him. I will - I will do whatever he wants. Only do not take my will from me. I will marry him. I will walk meekly beside him - only let me choose to do so!'
I think this passage finally shows Sybel the reality of what her powers could do and be used for. And the thought of having someone strip away who she is terrifies her because it was something she had never dreamed of consciously or purposely doing. She does not do this to her beasts, she lets them remain who they are and they choose to stay with her willingly.
The wizard allows her to talk to Drede, and she begs the King to let her be free, and that he can trust her to stay. He doesn't believe her and commands the wizard to finish the deed. Sybel is distraught. However, the wizard has no plans to give her to Drede and tries to have her for his own. Thankfully, in his passion he loses the grip on her mind for a split second and she calls the Nameless Thing. It kills him, setting her free from the cloud around her mind and she vows revenge on King Drede.
All of this happens in only the first half of the book, and it's not a long book! I'm going to stop here with the plot review and excerpts and my thoughts because anymore after this point will give away the ending. In the remainder of the story Sybel makes some bold choices, uses her powers in a shameful way, and discovers what her true desire is. I was a bit surprised by the ending, but then again also a little let down. I wanted it to continue on a little more, but I guess, then there wouldn't be room to let the mind wander.
I asked Carmen, one of the girls from Book Club, to share some thoughts on The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. Being as it was her choice for July, and was the only other one to read it, it made perfect sense, but unfortunately she is fighting a nasty cold at the moment and was only able to comment that she:
"Loved it." and that "It was another read that felt 'like home' to me."
Sums it up pretty well, I think.
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