Lyonesse :
Suldrun’s Garden by Jack Vance
Published :
Berkeley Publishing Group, 1983
Series : Book 1
of the Lyonesse Trilogy
Awards Nominated:
Nebula Award, Locus Fantasy Award, and World Fantasy Award
The Book :
“The Elder Isles, located in the modern-day Bay of Biscay, contain a number
of independent, often contentious, kingdoms. Some of kingdom’s monarchs have an
eye towards unifying the entire region under a single rule. One of these ambitious rulers is King
Casmir of Lyonesse, who is determined to use anyone and anything he can to
conquer the other islands. For the
most part, his ambition gains him only powerful enemies and war.
It is Casmir’s pretty, powerless, neglected daughter Suldrun, however,
whose sad life sets a wide-reaching tale in motion Though most of the excitement and magic is experienced by
others, the start of it all can be traced back to Suldrun’s peaceful, isolated garden. In these kingdoms full of violence,
war, magic, ogres and fairies, there are plenty of adventures—good and bad—to
be had by young princes, cruel rulers, and powerful sorcerers.” ~Allie
I know I said I was going to review The Sparrow next, but this I wanted to make sure I got this month’s WWend.com Grand Master’s Reading Challenge review out on time. This is the first novel
I’ve read by Jack Vance, and it’s possible I should have started out with some
of his science fiction. I’ve heard
Vance’s work described as pulp-style adventure fare, where the destination of
the story matters little compared to the interesting things you see along the
journey.
My Thoughts:
Suldrun’s Garden starts
out very much like what I would think of as a typical high fantasy. The Elder Isles seem like a fantasy version of medieval
times, and the story seems constantly interrupted by lectures about lines of
inheritance, politics, and
geography. Whether all the dry detail is a benefit or a drawback will really
depend on the reader. I can see
the appeal of Vance portraying the Isles as a large place with many different
peoples and lands. However, the
solid blocks of information seemed to come at very jarring places in the
narrative. In my case, it took me
quite some time to develop an interest in the lands of the Elder Isles, and the
information dumps were more of a hindrance than a help (at least initially) in
building that interest.
The many characters that peopled the Elder Isles also seemed
fairly usual for high fantasy--primarily princes and princesses, sorcerers, and fully evil villains. The story starts out featuring the pretty Princess Suldrun. She suffers from most of the familial
problems of fantasy princesses (her father wants to marry her off, her parents
really wanted a son, etc.). This
is not necessarily always a formula for a boring character, but Suldrun is also
incredibly passive and inactive. She
spends most of her time wandering aimlessly about the castle and sitting alone
in her garden. She does her best
to avoid any kind of social interaction, so she has essentially no meaningful
relationships. Of course, when her Hero shows up, she falls in love instantly
and marries him shortly thereafter.
The best thing I can say about Suldrun is that the novel soon abandons
her to follow much more interesting stories.
The story of Suldrun’s
Garden eventually builds to a climax, but it is difficult to see where it
is going for most of the first half of the novel. The narrative skips from one character to another seemingly
at random, though one can begin to see the design as the overarching story
starts to become clear. Aside from Suldrun’s story, other plotlines feature the
sorcerer Shimrod, the evil wannabe-sorcerer/ruler Carfilhiot, the wandering Prince
Aillas, and the children Dhrun and Glyneth. It was with Shimrod’s story that I began to appreciate Jack
Vance’s creativity, as he described magic and other realms. Prince Aillas’ journey is much more of
a straightforward adventure story, with lots of hardship and daring deeds. The story of Dhrun and Glyneth, with
its fairy-tale quality, is possibly my favorite. There are many different kinds of stories within this single
novel, so it would be hard to not find something of interest. In my case, Suldrun’s
story left me completely cold, but I thought that many of the other characters
had delightfully creative, magical, and adventurous tales.
While I found a lot to enjoy in many of the stories, I was
bothered by the frequent use of rape or the threat of rape in the many of
the plotlines. Of course, it’s not unreasonable that a story featuring a
medieval-style society would include some depiction of rape. What most bothered
me was the sheer prevalence of rape in this society and the way it was used in
the story. It seemed like nearly
every female character had been either raped or threatened with rape, sometimes
more than once. One adolescent
female character in particular, Glyneth, seemed to lead a life under the
constant threat of rape. As far as
the usage, rape typically seemed to be included as a comic story or as a way of showing the evilness of a villain. I did not appreciate
the former, and the latter seemed entirely unnecessary. Most of the villains were clearly
completely evil, and their actions, even without the rape, emphasized this ad
nauseam.
On more technical matters, the prose and dialogue were
written in a stilted, formal, pseudo-medieval style. For an example, consider
this description of furniture by Princess Suldrun, early in the story:
“Suldrun surveyed the
interloping furniture with equal disapproval. It intruded into the space between the tall chairs, and
impeded their intercourse. Why
would anyone do so clumsy a deed? No doubt the arrival of the three grandees
had dictated the arrangement.” P.38
All of the characters seemed to speak in a very similar
manner, from a 9-year-old boy raised by fairies to the middle-aged king of a
realm. For an example of the style of speech, here is a conversation that took
place as King Casmir received visitors:
“’Sirs, for now I
suggest that you make haste to your chambers, where warm fires and dry clothing
will bring you comfort. In due
course we will exchange our counsels.’
Sir Milliflor
responded: ‘Thank you, King Casmir.
In truth we are wet; the cursed rain has allowed us no respite!’ “ p.36
For the sake of comparison, here is the voice of a
9-year-old, considering his mortal peril:
Dhrun bethought
himself of his talisman. “Remarkable that I am not terrified!” he told himself
in a quavering voice. “Well, then, I must prove my mettle and kill these horrid
creatures!” p.205
Since this is a novel with many, many characters, this
sameness of voice sometimes made it difficult to keep the minor characters distinct
in my mind. Altogether, there were
certainly things to enjoy in Suldrun’s
Garden, but I’m not sure this is a series I want to continue. I am considering checking out some of
Vance’s science fiction, because I think his creativity might appeal to me more
in a different style of world.
My Rating: 2.5/5
Suldrun’s Garden is
a meandering tale, though the plotlines of the main characters do connect
neatly in the climax and conclusion.
The novel jumps from character to character, showing many kinds of stories—from
the tale of the boring, anti-social Princess Suldrun, to those of wandering
princes, sorcerers, evil rulers, and children caught in a kind of dark fairy tale. I very strongly disliked the prevalence
and treatment of rape throughout the novel, and it did significantly reduce my
enjoyment of the novel. The
writing has a very stilted, pseudo-medieval feel, and the frequent asides about
geography and cultures can be seen as either a strength or a weakness,
depending on the reader’s preferences. Though much of the setting seems like generic fantasy fare, there are points where Vance’s creativity shines through. I will probably read more Vance in the
future, but I’m not sure if I want to continue this trilogy.