∎ PDF The Last Guardian of Everness Chronicles of Everness John C Wright 9780812579871 Books

The Last Guardian of Everness Chronicles of Everness John C Wright 9780812579871 Books

Download As PDF : The Last Guardian of Everness Chronicles of Everness John C Wright 9780812579871 Books

The Last Guardian of Everness Chronicles of Everness John C Wright 9780812579871 Books

SF and fantasy require such differing genre muscles that there aren't many authors who can write both successfully and even rarer are those that can satisfy their fans of their primary genre enough to induce them to cross over and find the new work as equally interesting.

By this point in his career (that is, early), Wright had been primary known for his "Golden Age" SF series and his foray into fantasy was a bit of a curve-ball for fans who probably expected more space opera stuff. Wright himself seems to have a high opinion of his own series, resulting in something I don't think I've ever seen before where the first pull quote on the page of glowing reviews is the author basically saying how awesome the work is, promising a book for "readers weary of nostalgia pastoral setting and who object to the threadbare fantasy themes, that technology is wicked and democracy is folly . . ." later on in the quote stating that authors like Neil Gaiman and Roger Zelazny are popular "because their characters talk and act like contemporaries and express the values in which modern readers believe."

I only point this out for two reasons beyond how strange I find it for an author to be tooting his own horn before you even get to the story itself . . . one, it strikes me as somewhat pompous that he knows exactly what fantasy fans want and his book is about to give it to them hardcore and two, the book he describes really isn't the one you get.

The first in a two book series, it focuses on the Waylock family who for thousands of years have stood as guardians before the gate before the dream worlds where evils wait to come in and gobble up all the stuff that dream worlds presumably don't have, like Big Macs and selfie sticks. Galen is essentially the last of that line, a teenage boy trained by his grandfather to enter into dream states so that he can one day take up the mantle of dream guardian and hopefully not be the guy who sounds the warning. His dad has dismissed this stuff as mystical mumbo-jumbo and bailed, so its just Galen and grandpa living in an ancient house without electricity, training for the end times the way that people have done for centuries . . . by sleeping all the time.

Its a interesting backstory for an epic but for quite a while in the book it seems that all Wright has is backstory as we're constantly parceled out information in short chapters that hint at the bad times that could come someday without any nods toward a forward motion that would imply the plot is going to start at some point. Galen takes about portents, his grandfather explains something, we jump forward in the narrative and then somebody goes and explains to us what we've just missed in the gap the book itself created. Its a very herky-jerky way to tell a story and while it does read fast you start to wonder when he's going to get on with it already.

To slow things down further, we're introduced to a couple with an equally complicated backstory that doesn't always quite have any bearing on the plot . . . a Russian guy named Raven and his wife Wendy, who judging by how she talks is either descended from fairies or eight years old, with her golly gosh optimistic loving cheeriness something you're either going to find endearing or grating, perhaps depending on how much warmth for humanity you retain. I apparently have known, as I trended toward the latter feeling time and again.

The two of them get mixed up with the Waylock family as after what feels like a long time and really circuitously it feels like all hell finally breaks loose and suddenly dreams and myths and magic wands and people and guns are all vying for supremacy in a mix that can only kindly be called "everything at once" as Wright seems determined to smash every single mythical concept together while attempting to create some of his own in the process.

Under the right circumstances this can work, if the writing and depth are enough to sustain this sort of epic feel, or if you push for a more satirical approach and turn it into the waiting room for Olympus, with the madcap fun that erupts from all these concepts smashing together. He doesn't quite go with either route here, just keeps piling on chapter after chapter and introducing concept after concept and before too long the whole affair feels sort of weightless, like we're getting assaulted with anything and everything to see what sticks. Myths from all the globe are referenced, which you can take as evidence he's done his research but it seems like no attempt was made to determine how they fit in with each other or even subvert their original meanings to play off the readers' expectations. Matters are so hyperkinetic that when stewed into the mix it all feels part of a piece, giving a samey feel to a lot of diverse concepts without retaining much of their original richness.

This is probably where Wright trumpeting the worthiness of his own novel hurts him the most . . . calling attention to Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" only accentuates how much he isn't Gaiman or "Sandman" and in fact the whole book in its mish-mash of mythological concepts ramming into the modern world feels a little too sub-Gaiman at times for its own sake without adding anything new to the conversation. There's no attempt to even put all those myths into any kind of context "Mythago Wood" style and perhaps see how they still work in the modern world. Its just like an episode of "Jeopardy" where every category is the same and all you can do is identify demigods or shout out names.

It doesn't help that none of the characters seem to talk like real people despite what his quote up top seems to suggest you're going to be getting. Almost everyone's dialogue comes across as stilted or way too earnest (the few scenes Galen and Wendy have together are almost excruciating) and while there's some comedy with a character speaking all Olde High Fantasy while inhabiting a normal person's body, that moment is unfortunately too fleeting. It means there's very few moments where you care about what's happening to these people . . . heck, Galen literally vanishes about halfway through and I frankly didn't even miss him. Keeping the focus on Wendy and Raven and Galen's wheelchair bound Vietnam vet dad (who like every Vietnam vet everywhere is cynical and an amazing killing machine, although he's written with far more subtly than his ex-wife and her new husband, who contribute zero to the plot) adds some variety but with everything whipping by so fast its hard to even grasp the stakes beyond immediate survival. His striving for an emotional hook works exactly once, when a character is faced with the consequences of a decision he made early on and finally reaps what he never meant to sow. Its fleeting but there's almost a sense of loss so I'll take what I can get.

And just when you're maybe starting to feel like you're in a fantasy book populated by actual people the characters start to sneak in pedantic comments about the Constitution or America that starts to make you wonder if Wright is intending this toward all the Communist fantasy literature that apparently exists on the bestseller lists. It reaches its nadir in a scene where a soldier of questionable ethics is recruited to a shadow army of some kind and is given a quiz about sexual preferences in regard to gender and other races. Its a strange moment and perhaps meant to be strange but given Wright's online comments about homosexuality a little . . . disquieting? But the bits afterward with the paperwork were much more entertaining and I wish he had included more stuff like that (the selkies were sort of fun, although not super-distinctive after a while).

Which is the book in a nutshell . . . interesting moments surrounded by a constant barrage of things happening, so the effect is like someone giving you a fascinating history lecture while standing in the center of one of those gyms for little kids with trampolines and the ball pits. The work clearly wants to believe its doing something innovative and different but its still good versus evil, half the cast still talks like fantasy characters, guns aren't that effective, and the resolutions will eventually come down to people collecting magic items and shouting sleep spells at each other, which with the addition of pizza and tiny figurines could be mistaken for almost any Dungeons and Dragons session I've ever played in. Its not terrible but it doesn't do much to distinguish itself from the Neil Gaimans and the Tim Powers of the fantasy world, who trod the same "fantasy in the real world" territory while mixing in a stronger grasp of myths and characterizations that justify all the plotting.

Even worse, its not a complete story (which may be the publisher's decision, to be fair) with the book literally ending on a cliffhanger with absolutely nothing resolved. Having bought both book eleven years ago I can just dive into the next one but I can't imagine audiences of the time would been pleased. So for all my griping there's enough decent stuff to make me hope that he can pull it all together for the finale but right now its probably a cautionary tale about challenging your betters before you're quite ready to stand at the same level.


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The Last Guardian of Everness Chronicles of Everness John C Wright 9780812579871 Books Reviews

Personally, the label "fantasy" usually sends me looking elsewhere as the entire genre suffers from comparison to Tolkien. I bought "Last Guardian" purely upon the strength of Mr. Wright's "Golden Age" trilogy and was pleased to find a work that stands quite independent of the "fantasy" label placed upon it. Although the book suffers from volume one syndrome (and with the exception of Stephenson, I don't know why the market tolerates what is essentially serial publication) this book manages the feat of making the surreal seem both intriguing and plausible. But be warned, just as you get a feel for the main characters and the gist of the story, volume one is over.

The strength of "Last Guardian" lies in the author's ability to effortlessly draw upon a wealth of mythology within a contemporary setting. The alternate world view develops very fast and while it can be difficult to keep track of the various beasts and characters taking their part in the story, the author skillfully creates a tension that draws you through the exposition without the story seeming to lag.

Each of the characters are confronted with particularly thorny moral dilemmas and the author follows the struggles by highlighting their different world-views and ethical considerations. Gifts always come with a price--and casual comments are binding, often at a frightful cost. Especially enjoyable are the observations of an ancient character reborn into today's world who must struggle to interpret the modern technology and social mores.

Mr. Wright has embarked upon a morality tale where private choices have public consequences; where promises kept result in great and powerful good and promises broken result in despair. I anxiously await the next volumes.
This book has a bit of differences from the first one. Namely, it's not as good. It's so well written that I HAD to give it 4 stars, but i was pretty disappointed. The first book was great, and I was starving for more of that combined dream and real world goodness. But, unfortunately this one mostly takes place in the real world (as the dream world encroaches), and generally I just found the plot to fall flat. Maybe because, as a short series, it moved too fast, I don't know. The dream world was so fantastical and awesome in the first one, that this one felt more boring. It definitely has its moments, it's still a solid book and worth reading, but all I'm trying to say is that as good as it was it didn't live up to its potential.
Author stumbles out of the gate and then struggles to get his stride. The book is also marred by an at times, overly pedantic style. However, even at its weakest there are flashes of brilliance and you're aware you're in the presence of a major talent. Perhaps part of the problem is the story itself, which is set in Dreamland, and our own world. Both at times impinge upon one another and that can make for some confusion. Hero's war to defend our world from the nightmares of dreamland is the gist of the story, but that really doesn't do the story justice as there are disparate threads woven into the tale that add a depth that is hard to explain in an review (after all, the author has hundreds of pages to develop it). Some threads include, the dissolution of family and it's effects, how far would you go for love and could you live with the unforeseen outcome(s), the abandonment of duty, and the moral order. There's a lot here to chew on (maybe too much), I look forward to the sequel.
SF and fantasy require such differing genre muscles that there aren't many authors who can write both successfully and even rarer are those that can satisfy their fans of their primary genre enough to induce them to cross over and find the new work as equally interesting.

By this point in his career (that is, early), Wright had been primary known for his "Golden Age" SF series and his foray into fantasy was a bit of a curve-ball for fans who probably expected more space opera stuff. Wright himself seems to have a high opinion of his own series, resulting in something I don't think I've ever seen before where the first pull quote on the page of glowing reviews is the author basically saying how awesome the work is, promising a book for "readers weary of nostalgia pastoral setting and who object to the threadbare fantasy themes, that technology is wicked and democracy is folly . . ." later on in the quote stating that authors like Neil Gaiman and Roger Zelazny are popular "because their characters talk and act like contemporaries and express the values in which modern readers believe."

I only point this out for two reasons beyond how strange I find it for an author to be tooting his own horn before you even get to the story itself . . . one, it strikes me as somewhat pompous that he knows exactly what fantasy fans want and his book is about to give it to them hardcore and two, the book he describes really isn't the one you get.

The first in a two book series, it focuses on the Waylock family who for thousands of years have stood as guardians before the gate before the dream worlds where evils wait to come in and gobble up all the stuff that dream worlds presumably don't have, like Big Macs and selfie sticks. Galen is essentially the last of that line, a teenage boy trained by his grandfather to enter into dream states so that he can one day take up the mantle of dream guardian and hopefully not be the guy who sounds the warning. His dad has dismissed this stuff as mystical mumbo-jumbo and bailed, so its just Galen and grandpa living in an ancient house without electricity, training for the end times the way that people have done for centuries . . . by sleeping all the time.

Its a interesting backstory for an epic but for quite a while in the book it seems that all Wright has is backstory as we're constantly parceled out information in short chapters that hint at the bad times that could come someday without any nods toward a forward motion that would imply the plot is going to start at some point. Galen takes about portents, his grandfather explains something, we jump forward in the narrative and then somebody goes and explains to us what we've just missed in the gap the book itself created. Its a very herky-jerky way to tell a story and while it does read fast you start to wonder when he's going to get on with it already.

To slow things down further, we're introduced to a couple with an equally complicated backstory that doesn't always quite have any bearing on the plot . . . a Russian guy named Raven and his wife Wendy, who judging by how she talks is either descended from fairies or eight years old, with her golly gosh optimistic loving cheeriness something you're either going to find endearing or grating, perhaps depending on how much warmth for humanity you retain. I apparently have known, as I trended toward the latter feeling time and again.

The two of them get mixed up with the Waylock family as after what feels like a long time and really circuitously it feels like all hell finally breaks loose and suddenly dreams and myths and magic wands and people and guns are all vying for supremacy in a mix that can only kindly be called "everything at once" as Wright seems determined to smash every single mythical concept together while attempting to create some of his own in the process.

Under the right circumstances this can work, if the writing and depth are enough to sustain this sort of epic feel, or if you push for a more satirical approach and turn it into the waiting room for Olympus, with the madcap fun that erupts from all these concepts smashing together. He doesn't quite go with either route here, just keeps piling on chapter after chapter and introducing concept after concept and before too long the whole affair feels sort of weightless, like we're getting assaulted with anything and everything to see what sticks. Myths from all the globe are referenced, which you can take as evidence he's done his research but it seems like no attempt was made to determine how they fit in with each other or even subvert their original meanings to play off the readers' expectations. Matters are so hyperkinetic that when stewed into the mix it all feels part of a piece, giving a samey feel to a lot of diverse concepts without retaining much of their original richness.

This is probably where Wright trumpeting the worthiness of his own novel hurts him the most . . . calling attention to Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" only accentuates how much he isn't Gaiman or "Sandman" and in fact the whole book in its mish-mash of mythological concepts ramming into the modern world feels a little too sub-Gaiman at times for its own sake without adding anything new to the conversation. There's no attempt to even put all those myths into any kind of context "Mythago Wood" style and perhaps see how they still work in the modern world. Its just like an episode of "Jeopardy" where every category is the same and all you can do is identify demigods or shout out names.

It doesn't help that none of the characters seem to talk like real people despite what his quote up top seems to suggest you're going to be getting. Almost everyone's dialogue comes across as stilted or way too earnest (the few scenes Galen and Wendy have together are almost excruciating) and while there's some comedy with a character speaking all Olde High Fantasy while inhabiting a normal person's body, that moment is unfortunately too fleeting. It means there's very few moments where you care about what's happening to these people . . . heck, Galen literally vanishes about halfway through and I frankly didn't even miss him. Keeping the focus on Wendy and Raven and Galen's wheelchair bound Vietnam vet dad (who like every Vietnam vet everywhere is cynical and an amazing killing machine, although he's written with far more subtly than his ex-wife and her new husband, who contribute zero to the plot) adds some variety but with everything whipping by so fast its hard to even grasp the stakes beyond immediate survival. His striving for an emotional hook works exactly once, when a character is faced with the consequences of a decision he made early on and finally reaps what he never meant to sow. Its fleeting but there's almost a sense of loss so I'll take what I can get.

And just when you're maybe starting to feel like you're in a fantasy book populated by actual people the characters start to sneak in pedantic comments about the Constitution or America that starts to make you wonder if Wright is intending this toward all the Communist fantasy literature that apparently exists on the bestseller lists. It reaches its nadir in a scene where a soldier of questionable ethics is recruited to a shadow army of some kind and is given a quiz about sexual preferences in regard to gender and other races. Its a strange moment and perhaps meant to be strange but given Wright's online comments about homosexuality a little . . . disquieting? But the bits afterward with the paperwork were much more entertaining and I wish he had included more stuff like that (the selkies were sort of fun, although not super-distinctive after a while).

Which is the book in a nutshell . . . interesting moments surrounded by a constant barrage of things happening, so the effect is like someone giving you a fascinating history lecture while standing in the center of one of those gyms for little kids with trampolines and the ball pits. The work clearly wants to believe its doing something innovative and different but its still good versus evil, half the cast still talks like fantasy characters, guns aren't that effective, and the resolutions will eventually come down to people collecting magic items and shouting sleep spells at each other, which with the addition of pizza and tiny figurines could be mistaken for almost any Dungeons and Dragons session I've ever played in. Its not terrible but it doesn't do much to distinguish itself from the Neil Gaimans and the Tim Powers of the fantasy world, who trod the same "fantasy in the real world" territory while mixing in a stronger grasp of myths and characterizations that justify all the plotting.

Even worse, its not a complete story (which may be the publisher's decision, to be fair) with the book literally ending on a cliffhanger with absolutely nothing resolved. Having bought both book eleven years ago I can just dive into the next one but I can't imagine audiences of the time would been pleased. So for all my griping there's enough decent stuff to make me hope that he can pull it all together for the finale but right now its probably a cautionary tale about challenging your betters before you're quite ready to stand at the same level.