Who is Tripitaka?

I swear I was joking about a second post on The New Legends of Monkey.

I already did a long (long, long) review of this new version of the Chinese legend. (To cut it short, it was nothing like the 1978 series, but if you were a fan of Xena: Warrior Princess or Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, you'll like it). I thought I was finished. I thought I was done.

But there's a question in my head that just won't die. Despite the ten episodes dedicated to answering this very question, I am still not convinced that we really know who Tripitaka is. Or rather, we're not told the whole story.

As always, consider this a general *SPOILER WARNING*. I am going into major detail on various plot points, so if you'd rather remain unspoiled, bail out now.

Theory 1: She's No One

This is what the show gives us, and so far nothing disproves it. Tripitaka is introduced as an orphan left on the Scholar's doorstep and raised by him. It's a big plot point that she never knew her parents and we never even learn her name prior to assuming the identity of Tripitaka. The idea being, of course, is that who she was before is irrelevant. It's who she chooses to become that matters.

Honestly, I'd be fine with this. It fits in with the show's modern sense of values, where all-powerful kings are a concept of ages past and gods can be born into the humblest of places. (Note to self; do another post about the difference between the gods of Hercules and the gods of Monkey...damn it, I'm going to be here all night.) So I'm entirely okay with the chosen one being an ordinary girl who stepped up because the job needed doing and she was available.  

However, there's one niggling little oddity that doesn't quite add up about Tripitaka.

She knows the language of the gods.

This is explicitly supposed to be known only to gods. It's entire reason that Davari was keeping them alive; so that they could translate the sacred scrolls for him. So it's very unusual (possibly forbidden) that Tripitaka was taught it by the Scholar, another character whose origins are shrouded in mystery.

Even if we assume the Scholar himself was a god (not implausible), that still begs the question why he would teach that language to an ordinary human girl who randomly got left on his doorstep. Or, if we assume he learned it from a god, you'd also assume they'd make him double pinky-swear not to pass the knowledge onto anyone who wasn't a god.

Which leads into my next theory...

Theory 2: She's a God

We already know from Sandy's backstory that gods are not lineage-based like Greek gods.  They can be born to ordinary people and don't automatically understand their own nature. If Tripitaka is a very young god who doesn't know what she is, it would explain why a Resistance leader raised her and gave her that specific education.

Of course, Tripitaka hasn't demonstrated any special abilities on the quest; nothing like Sandy's control over water or Monkey's cloud or Pigsy's trident-thing.

Or has she?

I already covered in my review her truly astounding ability to think on her feet and pull a victory out of her ass. Father-figure murdered and home destroyed? No sweat, she has the Monkey-King free within a week. Captured by demons? All good, she's got the captain of the guard helping her. Friends kidnapped by a powerful sorcerer? Better hope that secret lair is insured.

What if her power is a much more subtle than her friends'? Something so subtle and powerful you might not notice until you looked at the bigger picture and realised how many times those one in a million odds fell in their favour.

What if Tripitaka has the power of hope.

Sure it sounds about as lame as heart, but to quote the third-best Star Wars movie of all time, "Rebellions are built on hope." And that word comes up a lot in relation to Tripitaka. Gwen warns her that the name Tripitaka is a beacon of hope for gods. The Scholar tells her that she only needs to live, that (and I quote) "hope must never die". Cynical characters like Monica and Pigsy seem to assume a fresh optimism after being in her vicinity and Resistance-allied Sandy seems half in love with her already (speaking of, if the thing with Monkey falls through I am all for a Sandy/Tripitaka ship).

Of course, this is kicked apart by Episode Five, due to the simple fact that she's not affected by the god-paralysing mist that traps Monkey, Sandy and Pigsy. So unless gods have a dormant or adolescent stage where they're more or less human, we can probably safely assume that Tripitaka is not a god.

At least not yet. Seeing as how much this show shares with Hercules: The Legendary Journey, and how many people got to become gods on that show (and in the original Chinese folklore) chances are good she'll get there eventually on her own.

Unless...

Theory 3: She's a Demon

Now this might be me going wild with too much Easter chocolate and sprouting my own Epileptic Tree, but the more I think about it, the more interesting it is.

We don't have much information on demons, other than the implication that they're always chaotic evil. It's suggested one can be born a demon the same way one can be born a god (Sandy's father certainly thought so), and it's not always possible to identify them on sight. Even Monkey, who had "done this a million times" mistook Sandy for a demon and Davari for a human. Technically, we have no proof that Tripitaka isn't a demon acting under the belief that she is human.

It would explain why her mother abandoned her; perhaps she had reason to suspect her child was demonic. And the Scholar was exactly the kind of maverick to attempt raising a "good" demon using all the same educational tools one would with a god. I mean this is the guy who planned to bring back the god painted as a monster by history; even if he was reasonably confident that history was wrong, he had no way of being certain it wouldn't make things ten times worse. He certainly wasn't shy about taking risks.

The biggest argument against all of this, of course, is that Tripitaka is about as demonic as a fuzzy duckling snuggling with a Labrador puppy. But again, what do we know about demons apart from their long-standing feud with the gods? Most of what we learn about them is what the gods tell us, and even before the war, the gods were content to murder demons on sight.

Based on what we've witnessed, not all demons are uniformly evil. Locke seems to have genuine feelings for Pigsy, Davari is desperate to live, and the Shaman... okay, the Shaman is a bad example. My point is, they're capable of a broad range of emotional reactions. Even the Font Demon, an otherwise inhuman monolith, takes human form so he could have a quiet meal at the tavern. And he doesn't even need to eat! For all we know, a demon raised in the right conditions would exhibit entirely human behaviour.

If I'm right, it would put Team!Monkey through a very interesting wringer. You'd have Tripitaka going through a second, much more horrific crisis while Monkey and Sandy (the two people most devoted to her) would be struggling between their hatred for demons and their love for her. At the very least it would take "It's okay if it's you!" to a ridiculous new level. About the only person I can see taking it in their stride is Pigsy, since he's already been in one intense long-term relationship with a scary demon lady, so would be a bit more blasé about the whole thing.

And call me crazy, but it would be a great inversion of the source material, where the purest and most innocent character is now a demon ignorant of her own nature.

The Broken Well Trilogy by Sam Bowring

What's there to say about Sam Bowring's Broken Well trilogy?

'Go and read it!' is a start. However, since that would make a pretty short review, I'll try and go into more detail.

Think of the Broken Well like "reverse Star Wars".

At first glance, these two works appear to follow the same rules - and not just because Star Wars is high fantasy set in space. Both have a literal black-and-white religion where you're either following the pretty gods of light (the 'light' side) and are good, or you're following the dark creepy gods (ie, the dark side) and are unrepentantly evil. No backsies, no do-overs, do not pass go or collect $200.

If you didn't know this was high

fantasy, clearly you need to go 
back and watch again.

They also revolve around a prophesied Chosen One that will decide the battle between light and dark... blah blah savior... blah blah destiny. You know the drill. Literally fifty percent of fantasy has this premise.

The Anakin Skywalker stand-in of Bowring's universe is a blue-haired infant born on neutral ground. Upon discovering this, the light side does the obvious ethical thing and sends agents to protect the family from the machinations of the-

- Holy crap, did they just steal a baby?! 

Yep, they totally just stole a baby. While fighting darksiders with the same idea. And just to rub in that light emphatically does NOT equal good, they also had a magical tug of war. Using the baby.

Fortunately, this being a magical tug of war, instead of a splatter of gooey insides we get two whole infants, each with a separate aspect of the original kid's personality. Losara is stolen by the "bad guys" while Bel is stolen by the "good guys". So within the first chapter, we have a protagonist literally torn between light and dark.

And more importantly, we learn that everything I just told you is a lie. Nothing in this world is as
simple as it looks. Dark and light have nothing to do with morality, faith is a poor replacement for strategy, and no one's hands are clean in war.

Sadly, the old 'beard or no-beard' test has proved unreliable.

Remember this because it's the overarching theme of the trilogy.

That's great, you may be thinking, but what does that have to do with Star Wars? This isn't the first fantasy novel to challenge black-and-white coded morality (Sara Douglass and Ann Bishop are two of a few million examples). So lets look at the protagonists.

Our light-sided warrior Bel has a lot in common with Anakin Skywalker. He's a magnificent fighter, ruled by his passions, and romantically devoted to a woman he has nothing in common with. And just as Anakin has a bad habit of dismissing any opposition as "evil", Bel blindly assumes that everything dark is an abomination.

Yet this is just a symptom of a deeper problem. Bel, by his own admission, possesses no higher convictions or ideals. He couldn't tell you specifically why the light is better, because deep down, he doesn't care what side he fights on. The only reason he fights for the light is sheer chance. Had he been stolen by the dark, he'd have fought just as passionately for them.

The one on the left has blue hair.

That's how you tell them apart.

Anakin also had a dim understanding of what he was fighting for (recall his arguments for dictatorship during that schmaltzy romance scene in the meadow) and was only committed to the Jedi insofar as they didn't stand in the way of getting what he wanted. He had zero problems lying to them or violating their rules, and the moment they became an obstacle, he turned on them.

So what does this mean? Aside from Bel's idiocies being a bit more justified than Anakin's?

Well... maybe it's a pointed commentary on what happens when you demonise your enemies.

See, both Anakin and Bel were born balanced between light and dark. Bel was initially unified with Losara. Anakin was told his purpose was not to fight for either side, but to keep both sides in check (see the brilliant Mortis arc of The Clone Wars cartoon series). However, they were both recognised as Chosen Ones and taken to be raised by the light, which is where things go wrong.

Both children were taught a very simple life philosophy: light is good, dark is bad. Losara was a "dark worm" that Bel is better off without, and Anakin's ordinary human emotions (fear, anger, love) must be purged. Understandable when you're raising the Chosen One, and you don't want him having doubts at a critical juncture. Yet utterly inadequate when dealing with real-world situations.

And predictably enough, when dealing with the complexities of adulthood, these simple codes completely fail them. Neither youth has any idea how to deal with a situation that's not black and white. Bel throws a tantrum when his girlfriend and father are (justifiably) arrested for committing crimes, while Anakin falls to pieces when he believes his wife is going to die and the Jedi either can't or won't help. And before you say anything, Vader isn't any better. He's simply Anakin adjusting his moral code to suit himself; if the Sith can help him, then the Sith are good and the Jedi are bad. He just swings from one kind of extremism to another.

It's only in Losara that we see any kind of balance, and that's only because he has an advantage the others don't. Unclouded, unbiased logic.

The dark sorcerer who performs human sacrifice and
political assassination...and is the only guy 
who seems to know what he's doing. 

See, because Bel got all the passion, Losara is physically incapable of reacting with strong emotion. This lack means he immediately sees the contradiction between what he's told and what he's observed. He can't hate or fear, so he alone can see both sides for what they truly are. And while that doesn't stop him from doing what he must (seriously he does some scary shit), he's also the only person who makes any effort to avoid the war.

Perhaps the scene that best encapsulates Losara is his meeting with the dark gods. They demand that he serves them first, over and above even his people. He considers this - bearing in mind he is physically in front of the gods at this time - and replies "I'll serve you as well". Not an outright rejection, but an offer of compromise. Later he even suggests to Bel that they withdraw to their respective lands and ignore the prophecy.

That's Losara in a nutshell. Balance. Compromise. Coexistence.

Of course he'll murder your allies in an unholy ceremony and unleash an unkillable monster on your army if you insist on war. But the point is, he gave you an out. It's not his fault you didn't take it.

On the one hand this could imply the Jedi were right - lack of emotion is the way to go - but actually shows how wrong they were. Rejecting and demonising an entire aspect of one's self, religion, or country leads to ruin. The Jedi and Sith have been fighting the same war for millennia, in the same vicious cycle of retribution and counter-retribution. Bel and Losara's gods didn't do themselves any favours when they parted ways; they just made it possible to destroy each other.

Losara and Bel eventually both acknowledge this, that neither of them are whole and that a great wrong was done to them. Whatever you think of the ending (which I won't go into detail on) it's at least suggested that the cycle of violence has been broken. Whereas Luke Skywalker, who won by utterly rejecting the dark side, saw the same cycle start up again a few years down the road in Force Awakens.... Man, this article gone in a depressing direction.

Anyway, this leaves just one last question.

Is there a second version of Anakin Skywalker running around the Star Wars universe, maybe trying to fix everything his double broke?

Someone who encapsulates everything Anakin is not. Someone utterly brilliant, devious and genre savvy. Someone immune to manipulation and strategically unparalleled -

Holy crap. It's Admiral Thrawn.

Admit it. It's all starting to make sense now.

Top Five Star-Crossed Lovers in Aussie High Fantasy

Romance is a big part of high fantasy. Whether it's Etta's misguided yearning for Kennit that made her consort to a pirate king or Daenerys' marriage to Drogo that put her on the road to power, the romances are epic and life-changing.

However they don't always work out. Sometimes they end very badly. So here the top five star-crossed lovers in Australian high fantasy. All couples on this list share a mutual attraction which they are unable to follow through on and originate from a series by an Australian author.

Because this post will be discussing plot points of various books, watch out for *SPOILERS*.

Prophecy doesn't care what you want.  

5. Axis and Farady - The Axis Trilogy

Yes, big surprise. A Sara Douglass novel is on a list of ill-fated romances.

Axis and Faraday met during a relatively innocent time of their lives, before they encountered the Forbidden or the Prophecy that would shape their lives and very identities. Axis was a bastard prince assigned to escort Faraday to her wedding to his hated half-brother. Their forbidden attraction would shape the fate of Tencendor.

But not in a way that either of them would like. Axis' enemy got wind of their love and captured Faraday, intending to use her as a hostage. Axis had to watch her torn to literal pieces in front of him, unable to move without losing his advantage. And he only managed it because he'd fallen in love with someone else, which just adds insult to injury.

What could be more romantic than fighting
monsters in a bloody war?

4. Willan and Hrudis - A Dark Winter

For a slightly less bloody example, there's the unlikely attraction between Hrudis and Willan.

Hrudis was a shield-maiden, sworn to chastity and the sword. Willan was a guardsman-turned-squire among reinforcements sent to help defend her homeland. It would be a stretch to call it a relationship as they never made any promises or consummated the simmering sexual tension - but they were trying not to be killed by zombies or monsters, so you can't fault their priorities.

In fact, Willan and Hrudis managed to act like adults, which is a rare thing to see. They knew from the start it was never going to happen, not without one of them giving up a vital calling. There was no drama, no angst, just a single quiet kiss before they parted ways forever.

3. Rhian and Zandakar - Godspeaker Trilogy

No, royal weddings don't fix everything.

Speaking of acting like adults, there's a reason the only two sane people in the Godspeaker Trilogy are attracted to one another. Rhian was a princess struggling to claim her throne in the face of rampant misogyny. Zandakar was a prince exiled from his home for daring to suggest that maybe genocide wasn't the best foreign policy.

Zandakar was one of the first men to ever take Rhian's ambitions seriously and Rhian gave Zandakar a much-needed purpose. In any other story, they would have married, bringing peace and unity between their lands.

But not this one.

In a surprisingly realistic twist, Zandakar returned home to rule his people while Rhian remained behind to rebuild hers. They never spoke of their feelings and never met again.

Love doesn't overcome every
obstacle. And thank god for that.

2. Zenith and StarDrifter - The Wayfarer Redemption

I'm going to catch so much flack for this...Yes, he's her grandfather. Yes, it's all kinds of ickie and wrong. Just let me explain.

Zenith and StarDrifter were from the royal family of the Icarri, and therefore cursed only to ever feel real passion for those within the same bloodline. So their falling in love was totally acceptable in their culture, except that Zenith was raised with human attitudes and was revolted by her own desires, ending their relationship before it even began.

And then Zenith was gruesomely murdered by a madwoman, because this is a Sara Douglass series and no one can ever have nice things, ever.

1. Ylena and Alyd - The Quickening

Beauty may not be a curse but pervy
princes definitely are (fanart by celladore)

Children avert your eyes! The final and worst-fated couple on this list are not for the faint-hearted.

Ylena and Alyd were two young nobles sickeningly in love. Unfortunately Ylena received word that a corrupt prince intended to demand her as a tourney prize and married Alyd in secret. When the prince found out he backed off, because apparently ceremonial rape is okay, but adultery is just a step too far.

The day is saved, the bad guy is thwarted, it's a happy ending, right?

Wrong. The prince did not take rejection well. He framed Ylena's family for treason, executed Alyd and puts his decapitated head in the cell where Ylena was imprisoned so she could look at it all day and night. Ylena eventually escaped, only to die a painfully pointless death.

Proving that you don't have to be in a George R. Martin novel for your epic stars-colliding romance to go down in flames.

The Alien Says Don't Take Your Meds by Tansy Raynor Roberts

http://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-alien-says-dont-take-your-meds-neurodiversity-and-mental-health-treatment-in-tv-sff/

I love this article. It articulates an issue I've been peripherally aware of, but couldn't quite put my finger on. The metaphor of magical people (generally women) being diagnosed as crazy and locked away is relevant metaphor, because sadly that did happen back in the day when someone was an embarrassment or inconvenience.

However these days when attitudes to mental health issues are so different, we need to have more than one kind of interpretation - particularly when the above metaphor implicitly implies that these issues don't exist. Frankly it's dangerous for kids that absorb this idea and disrespectful for the people who live with these issues day in and out. Few things enrage me as much as seeing the 'powerful' moment onscreen when a character throws away their medication, like Erik Selvig in Thor 2. (In all seriousness, it can be dangerous to stop flat without a 'weaning off' period, particularly in regards to medication for anxiety or depression).

I'm not saying the supernatural can't be an interesting story-telling device (otherwise I wouldn't be working on this blog!), just that there's on over-abundance of the supernatural-diagnosed-as-crazy metaphor. Try something new. The British Being Human series is a perfect example, where vampirism is a metaphor for addiction, the werewolf faces the same issues as a person with HIV, and the ghost behaves like an agrophobic just coming out of an abusive relationship. It doesn't always work perfectly (I can see where critics of Mitchell's third season storyline are coming from) but it delves into the very human question of how you move forward after a horrific, life-changing event.

I love Tansy Raynor Roberts for her Mocklore and Creature Court series, but this is the first I've seen of her work that isn't straight-out fiction. I think I'll find out what else she's written...

Five Worst Fathers in Australian Fantasy

Father's Day is come and gone, and I've decided to incorporate this into my next article; the five worst father or father figures in Australian fantasy. Why the worst? Because whinging about things is easier than praising them, obviously.

To be fair, what's happening here is
only partly due to StarDrifter's
absentee parenting...

Remember, these are not the King Magnuses or StarDrifters of the world. These are not fathers who tried their best, but made mistakes or bad judgement calls. These are the fathers that either didn't give a damn or went out of their way to make their kid's life hell.

Remember,*SPOILERS BELOW*. 

***

5. Galen Flint from The Last Stormlord
He's a minor character who only appears in the first book, but I argue he is indirectly responsible for every bad thing that happens in that series. His solution to abject poverty is to drink until he forgets about it and his reaction to his son's god-like power is to terrify him into hiding it. If this guy had been even remotely supportive, Shale would have showed his abilities to the Rainlords, the Rainlords would have taken him to the Cloudlord in time to learn rain summoning properly, and Taquar would never have got his greasy mitts on the throne. There's a lesson here; good parenting can save the world.

A naive, lonely sorcerer
with god- like power and
daddy issues..just what every
demon wants!

4. Michael from Mage Heart
How to mess up a kid; buy her from her desperate mother, lie to her about the circumstances, teach her to fear and despise her own gender, isolate her within her own culture, then die leaving her alone in the world. Small wonder Dion keeps playing around with demons; she is so deeply confused about her own sexuality I'm surprised she doesn't have a breakdown every time a man stops to ask her the time.

3. Longfield from Tender Morsels
Honestly, this guy doesn't even merit the title of father. Abusive rapist jerkass that deserves to be eaten by a bear is closer. You know what, on second thought, I'm taking Longfield off this list and saving him for that 'most contemptible characters you'd like to bury in a swamp' list I'm working on.

3. Battu from Prophecy's Ruin
Another text-book demonstration on how to screw up a child. Granted, we can't quite put the blame for Losara and Bel's severing on Battu; he wasn't even in the same country when that happened. But we can blame him for stealing a child from loving parents, raising him in an atmosphere that's by turns neglectful and oppressive, grooming him for a battle quite literally against his own self, and attempting to manipulate his affections for Battu's own selfish agenda. Luckily Losara doesn't have any pesky 'feelings' and manipulates him right back. Happy Father's day, Battu. You deserve everything that comes to you.

Not only did Gayed raise a
fanatically loyal psychic
assassin, he was genre
savvy enough to die before
she inevitably turned on him.

2. General Gayed from the Mirage Makers
This guy is clearly taking notes from Battu and Michael. He also steals a child from loving parents, brainwashes her to serve his own agenda and turns her against her own identity in fundamentally damaging ways.
The difference is he's actually good at it. Considering Ligea is psychic, the fact that he has her so twisted round she believes he loves her is kind of impressive... in a sick, horrifying, you-bastard kind of way.

1. Everyone from Evil Genius
And for the winner we have a group nomination; Cadel's adoptive father, his secret imprisoned father, and his psychologist father-figure. All of them work together to manipulate Cadel in deliberate, callous ways and screw him up severely. Really it's mostly luck that he didn't turn out a raving psychopath like they were hoping. Fortunately he has the sense to go find himself a healthy father-figure elsewhere or we'd have a lot more to worry about than a toddler playing god with the Sydney public transport system.

So there you have it - the five worst of the worst fathers in Australian fantasy. This will either destroy your faith in fatherhood or make you appreciate the one you have. One of the two.

Top Five Kick-Ass Heroes of Australian High Fantasy

Not long ago I did a top five list of Kick-Ass Heroines of Australian Fantasy. So in the interests of fairness, here is another list, this time for all the awesome guys of Australian fantasy.

**Please note that there will be SPOILERS.**

--

5. Jasper of The Last Stormlord

Some men rule by the sword.
Jasper doesn't need no sword. 

Jasper was a child born into abject poverty but whose stunning powers made him the only possible successor to the all-powerful Stormlord. Kidnapped to be used as a puppet ruler, Jasper escaped through a scheme that combined both simplicity and common sense.

He went along with the plan, waited until he was Stormlord, then kicked said kidnapper to the curb.

This is a guy of ruthless political efficiency who could have been a player in Game of Thrones. He may not have a formal education but god help him if you try to manipulate him. He's also a fair and reasonable ruler who believes in religious freedom, education and civil rights. Sure he had to kill a few thousand people to get there, but in a civilization constantly teetering on the brink of disaster, bleeding hearts end up dead.

Also, he has super powers to make the Last Airbender look like a pussy and can suck the water out of you. No, not that way. With his super powers. Jeez, dirty mind much.

--

4. Prince Gar from The Innocent Mage

The badass bookworm who proved you don't need
magic to save the world. Though it might have
helped with that whole 'survival' thing.
Fanart by GoldenLionofRa

Now I know what you're thinking; Gar isn't the main character. Clearly you weren't paying attention. It's obvious that Gar is the real hero of this series and Asher was just the opportunist who talked himself onto a throne at the end.

Gar was the prince born without magic, the guy perfectly equipped to rule who would have been an amazing king, but because of a little magical deficiency was passed over in favor of his younger sister. Evil overlords have been born out of less!

But no, Gar willingly stepped aside, and only made a play for the throne when it looked in danger of falling to that bigoted bastard of a royal adviser. Everything he did was for the good of the people, and when an eldritch abomination appeared, who sacrificed himself to finish it off? Not Asher, that irritating prophesied I'm-so-innocent-I-can-get-away-with-anything douche.

Nope. It was Gar, who gets a cool-looking grave while Asher lives and gets a throne. Goddamnit, leadership is a thankless job.

--

Some evil overlords would let this power
go to their heads. Losara is thinking about
taking his girlfriend out to lunch. 

3. Losara from Prophecy's Ruin

Losara had a rough start to life. He came into existence when a prophesied child was mystically ripped in two, producing an impulsive being called Bel and the more cerebral Losara. Raised by opposite sides, they were pitted against each other in a war of light and darkness.

Losara however didn't let that weigh him down. Not having much in the way of pesky emotions like anger or arrogance, he turned out to be a powerful, calculating sorcerer who always knew exactly what he was doing. You wouldn't catch him pausing to cackle at inopportune moments or allowing his enemies just enough time to escape. He matter-of-factly overthrew the psychopath who raised him, calmly and collectedly led his people to devastating victory, and reasonably talked his violent twin into rolling over and giving up.

Yes, he's a tyrant and a dark lord, but a benevolent genre-savvy one who's clearly read the Evil Overlord List.

--

If you see a hitchiker that
looks like this, for the love
of god, keep driving!

2. Axis of the Wayfarer Redemption

So Axis is a jerk. There's no two ways about it. This is not a guy you'd want to fight against. Or with. Or pass in the street.

But I'll say this for him; he gets results. He went from being the shunned illegitimate son of a duchess to sorcerer supreme to leader of an invading army to God of Tencendor. When this guy goes for a promotion, he doesn't muck around. He doesn't let little things like decency and the laws of life and death stop him either. He once cut out his half-brother's heart to raise his cousin from the dead, then let his other brother kill his ex-girlfriend just so he'd get the chance to kill the guy.

Sure he completely screwed up his kids, inadvertently bringing about the destruction of an entire continent and the horrific death of everyone he ever loved...but who hasn't made a mistake?

He's the guy who in any other book would be the antagonist, but through some mis-filing of paperwork in the karmic system is apparently the hero. So lets not piss him off by leaving him off this list.

--

The only guy on this list who avoided
war and thousands of  pointless deaths.
Make of that what you will. 
Fanart by celladore

1. Wyl of The Quickening

How do I explain Wyl? He's like the Ensemble Darkhorse who happens to be the hero already. He's the guy who gets killed off in the movie but is so popular he gets brought back and given his own tv show, except that during production they realised how awesome he was and ditched the movie, going straight to the show. That is Wyl.

He's the loyal second-in-command type. He's a strategic genius and a great fighter, but is very humble and really would be perfectly happy just to serve a good ruler. And because the antagonist is an f-ing moron, he has Wyl killed for this terrible crime of absolute loyalty.

Fortunately, Wyl is so awesome you can't kill him. Or you can, but it doesn't last. He just comes straight back and starts hitting on your girlfriend, subverting your underlings, forming alliances with your enemies... Don't screw with Wyl, that's all.

He'll be terribly honorable about it, but you will end up just as dead as if you'd set fire to Lostara's house while knocking up Axis' daughter and talking smack about Jasper's girlfriend. (I'd include Gar in this gag, but he's already dead, so not a lot he can do there.)

--

So to recap; Jasper is the Avatar, Gar is Boromir, Losara is Xanatos, Axis is half a step away from Tywin Lanister and Wyl is Phil Coulson.

Is everyone clear on who not to ask for help?

--

Australian Urban Fantasy You Should Be Reading

In light of my recent foray into Urban Fantasy, I decided to combine two of my favourite things: lists and fantasy authors!

Here are three Urban Fantasy authors from Australia that are worth reading. I'm sure there are others, but these are ones I've read previously. No doubt more will be added to this blog over time :-)

1. Narrelle M. Harris

I picked up one of Narrelle Harris' books up at Supanova a few years ago, which was actually the start of my interest in indie authors. She's a Melbourne author that does several  genres, one of which is Urban Fantasy.

I started with her Opposite of Life series (the second book actually) which had the most depressing and yet realistic take on vampires I've read in a long time. In this world, vampires are trapped as they were at the moment they died. They have extreme difficulty learning anything past what they already knew when they were alive and so have to watch the world change around them, growing increasingly isolated and out of place.

It sounds tragic and horrible, and it is, but the characters' genuine affection for each other made it all worthwhile. Similar to the British tv show Being Human, Harris' work explores the isolating affect of the supernatural while showing that the support of friends and family can ease the burden.

2. Keri Arthur

Keri Arthur (also from Melbourne!) has written a number of paranormal books, including the Circle of Fire which I have previously reviewed. I'll be honest, I wasn't that impressed by her. However, I have been told by a friend whose judgement I trust that the series steadily improves, so I'm not going  to write her off just yet.

She is more on the Paranormal Romance side of the fence than Narelle Harris, who is more skewed toward Urban Fantasy. To elaborate, Paranormal Romance is very similar to Urban Fantasy except with a more heavy focus on romance. I definitely prefer Urban Fantasy myself, which is probably part of the reason I didn't really enjoy Keri Arthur's work, but that's just my own preference so don't let that scare you off. She's fairly well-known, so clearly she's doing something right.

3. Daniel O'Malley

Some would argue that Daniel O'Malley does not write Urban Fantasy. I'd tell them to take a long walk off a short pier.

He has supernatural creatures existing behind the scenes of an unsuspecting world, working to keep the masquerade going. There's a no-nonsense female protagonist who's solving a mystery and finding depths she didn't know existed. There are lives in danger and a world in need of saving. If that's not pure Urban Fantasy, it's definitely heavily involved.

If you ignore every other author on this list, check out this guy! You won't regret it. The Rook is his first novel, while the sequel is coming out this year. Go to his website (see above link) to read the first four chapters. I guarantee you'll be hooked by the end of the first.

Racial Relations in the Axis Trilogy, or The Death of my Teenage Nostalgia

I love nostalgia as much as the next girl. It's one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place; there are so many good books from my teenage years that aren't getting enough exposure. But looking back at my old favourites, it's inevitable that I'd find flaws that I didn't see the first time round.

Most recently, I was trying to write a review for Enchanter, the second book in the Axis Trilogy, which delves heavily into the world's fictional races and their interactions. But on flicking through the book, I was confronted with troubling racial overtones that had completely flown over my head as a teenager. I couldn't continue until I'd explained what I'd found and why it was so disturbing. Consider this a form of catharsis so I can go back and finish my review.

*Please note that there will be SPOILERS below, so skip if you want to remain unspoiled for the Axis and Wayfarer trilogies*

To give some context, there are three major races in Tencendor; the Avar, whose mysterious origins are never revealed, and the Icarii and Acharites who share a common ancestor. Each are ethnically distinct with their own customs and culture. The Acharites are unequivocally the worst sinners regarding racial injustice, having attempted genocide and driven their neighbours out of Tencendor. However, the Icarii and Avar are not completely innocent either, with the Icarii in particular having some troubled views on inter-racial unions.

Icarii and Acharite pairings are not common but not outright forbidden. Rivkah and Stardrifter's marriage caused "more than a few raised eyebrows" but was accepted.It's difficult to say if mixed parentage is usually cause for shame among Icarri, as although characters like Azhure and Axis never have to deal with any stigma for it, they occupy such exalted positions in Icarri society that it's unlikely anyone would be brave enough to say it to their faces.

Fanart of an Icarii by Illirik

More illuminating is the Icarii belief that "in every case of mixed parentage, the Icarii blood has proven the stronger". While StarDrifter speaks approvingly of the "vitality" of human blood, Icarii also believe that it must lie in "subjection" to Icarii blood and that all mixed heritage children will have purely Icarii characteristics. This has unfortunate similarities to the one-drop rule that was once prominent in the US, wherein the degree of mixed ancestry determined a person's racial classification regardless of how they identified themselves or what community they partook in.

Even worse is StarDrifter's casual admission that "in ages past Icarii birdmen simply took the babies of Human-Icarii unions and never spared a thought for the women they bedded". If you know anything about Australian history, this has extremely uncomfortable parallels with the Stolen Generations, wherein half-caste Aboriginal children were stolen from their mothers and raised 'white'. This wasn't a pleasant realisation for me; suddenly Azhure's anxiety about Caelum being taken from her was less an attempt to inject unnecessary drama and more a horrifically real-world fear.

However, I will admit that the narrative does not support this particular reading. Even Axis, who is a thoroughly unlikable person, condemns the practice of stealing children, and you know if even Axis is against it, it must be vile. The Icarii belief in dominant blood is played straight during the Axis trilogy, but is arguably subverted in the Wayfarer Redemption, where tapping into their Acharite heritage is the key to salvation.

What is truly impossible to overlook is how the narrative treats Gorgrael and Avar-Icarii unions.

Ironically, although the Avar are close allies to the Icarii (much closer than the Acharites) unions between them are completely taboo. There are no marriages and sexual encounters are only permitted on a specific religious holiday "when both people relaxed sufficiently to carry interracial relations to extremes never practised throughout the rest of the year". The one positive Avar-Icarii union we ever see is between Shra and Isfrael, whom Zenith muses had changed so much "it was as if his Sunsoar link was gone".

Children of these unions are explicitly prohibited, under the belief that they would be "abomination". Gorgrael's mother actually left her people because she "would not have been allowed" to carry her child to term. And the narrative supports this view because sure enough when Gorgrael is... born (don't ask, just don't) the naysayers are proven completely correct. He's hideous and irredeemably evil.

Fanart of Gorgrael from MissWiggle 

To make this even more explicit, an Avar man called Brode has an epiphany that Gorgrael's evil is due to his Avar heritage. Not because he was raised by monsters in the wilderness, or he wanted revenge for his rejection, or he was brainwashed by Wolfstar, the one supportive humanoid presence in his life. None of these valid and justifiable reasons. Gorgrael was evil because the Avar are inherently violent. Here is the passage:

"The Avar were people of innate violence...His Icarii blood may have given him the means to access the power to achieve his ends, but it was his Avar blood that had created the need to destroy in the first place."

The implication being that the only reason that the Avar aren't a race of sadistic, blood-thirsty murderers is because they don't have the means to do so. Apparently if they could get their hands on real power like the Icarii, they'd be the same monsters that the Acharites always accused them of being. This is pretty awful in and of itself, but if you take into consideration the other characteristics of the Avar like their connection to nature and ambiguously brown appearance (being described as "dark" or having "smooth olive skin" in contrast to the Icarii's "fine pale skin") it gets exponentially worse. It's very easy to read them as an expy of real Indigenous people, which makes these implications all the more disturbing.

I certainly don't believe this was intentional on Sara Douglass' part. If she were still around today, she'd probably be horrified and insulted if I implied as much. However, the text leaves itself open to a very uncomfortable interpretation, which I'd have liked to see subverted the same way the Icarii superiority was in the Wayfarer Redemption. If nothing else, I suppose it's a lesson on how carefully you have to watch what you're writing and what could be taken away from it.

Hopefully now that I've gotten this written down, I can go back and finish that review for Enchanter without these uncomfortable ideas hanging over my head. And maybe put some flowers on the tombstone of my teenage nostalgia because that's not going to be coming back any time soon.

Self-published Australian fiction you should be reading

With the past decade and advent of Amazon, self-published books have become more widely available. There is some stigma attached to them, and not without reason. Self-published books don't have the same checks as those that go through publishing firms, and so tend to have more mistakes and problems.

However there are some pretty decent ones out there, available for fairly reasonable prices. Here are the some of those I've found deep-diving through the depths of Amazon and Booktopia: 

1. The Silence of Medair (High Fantasy)

This is a goodie. The titular character was sent to retrieve an artifact that could save her kingdom from invaders. However, in retrieving the artifact, she goes to sleep and awakens hundreds of years later to find the invaders succeeded and her world irretrievably altered. It's an interesting premise and unfolds in a way that offers no easy answers. Be warned though; it ends on something of a cliff-hanger and has a sequel. 

For a story on why the author chose to self-publish, see here; it's pretty daunting for anyone looking to break into the industry. 

2. Contest (Science Fiction)

This book is proof that self-publishers can break into the market; it's actually how Matthew Reilly was discovered. It's more science-fiction-y than what I usually recommend, but makes for a great action-adventure thriller. 

The premise is that the main character has been chosen to represent Earth in a fight to the death competition against representatives from seven other worlds. It's a little rough in place, but still an exciting, fast-paced read. 

3. Through the Whirlpool  (High Fantasy)

This one is a cross-dimensional adventure with two characters from very different worlds. It's a relatively recent arrival in self-publishing that needs some more love. It's up on Amazon.com and I can't seem to find it anywhere else. 

Be warned that the sequel is a lot more expensive than the first book, so be wary of starting this one unless you don't mind paying more to see how it ends. 

4. Wisdom Beyond Her Years (Science Fiction, Romance)

This one isn't high literature (not that any on this list are!) but is a very fun lesbian love story set 200 years in the future in a world of efficiency and rigid class structure. Has lots of action and is a little bit kinky, so probably avoid if bondage isn't your thing. 

The setting is futuristic Sydney and has fascinating world-building. 

Out of interest the author has a Youtube tutorial on self-publishing. 

5. Dark Shadows (Paranormal Romance)

This is a vampire paranormal romance, so if you're into that sort of genre this is definitely your book. Not for children, and has been compared favorably to Twilight (as I hated Twilight myself, this doesn't say much). 

Personally I prefer urban fantasy to paranormal romance (the difference being that the romance is a sideline rather than the focus) but people that do like it have loved this book. 

As with any book, it all depends on what you're into. 

So there you have it. Five self-published books by Australian authors that are worth reading. But don't take my word for it, go investigate companies like Vivid and Indimosh. There's plenty of talent out there; it's just a question of finding it. 

Five Kick-Ass Heroines from Australian Fantasy

Not long ago, during my Threshold review, I had a small bitch-fest about Sara Douglas' tendency to create sub-par female characters. Of late I realized that I'm probably giving the wrong impression of Australian fantasy as a whole. There are plenty of great heroines being written, it's just a matter of looking in the right places.

So without further ado, here is my list of top five kick-ass heroines in Australian fantasy. (Note that there will be, obviously, SPOILERS).

1. Azhure from the Axis Trilogy

To prove that I'm not completely dissing Sara Douglas, Azhure gets a place on this list, but it's a well deserved one. She started out as the much-abused daughter of a villager, who rescues a Forbidden girl from being burned alive. One of her first acts is to trick a soldier into opening the door and hit him over the head with a rock. From thereon, she only gets more awesome, escaping to the Forbidden people and becoming a warrior of renown. 

She's dirty fighter, not afraid to fool her enemies with decidedly gruesome tricks, and if you get on her bad side, she will set her hounds on you. Yes, she's wrapped up in a love triangle with the male lead, but she doesn't angst or whine about it. She even ends up as friends with the other woman without any resentment or jealousy, which is nice to see. 

Azhure is proof that all you need to escape a bad situation is to keep your head and take the opportunity for escape when you see it. Though an affinity for violence and a well-sharpened knife helps.

2. Princess Rhian from the Godspeaker Trilogy

This is one I haven't reviewed yet, but it is a great series. Rhian is the sole daughter of a dying king and since only men can inherit the throne, Rhian is under a bit of pressure to marry and provide Ethrea with a king. 

Rhian, however, is no wilting flower. She tells her dukes where they can stick their ideas and runs away to marry a man of her choosing: ie. someone who will be happy with the title 'Prince Consort' and keep his grubby mitts off her throne. Along the way she meets a bad-ass warrior who teaches her the dance of the knives, which is exactly as violent as it sounds, and ends up leading her people against a savage invading army. 

Rhian is smart, practical and politically savvy. She might not have wanted the throne, but dammit, it's hers and she's going to fight for it. She's like Queen Elizabeth, if Elizabeth was a ninja with a sword and challenged rebellious dukes to single combat.

3. Ligea Gayed from The Mirage Makers trilogy

This is another trilogy I haven't reviewed yet. Ligea is the adopted daughter of an aristocrat, who is sent to infiltrate rebellion in the land of her birth. She is underhanded, sneaky and not afraid to bribe or blackmail people into doing her bidding. 

Unlike the others in this list, she's not a warrior, but she doesn't need to be. She can get on just fine without it, and when push comes to shove, she's not afraid to punch you in the throat and stop your heart. She also has some cool psyhic powers and a sword that answers only to her. 

While Rhian and Azhure make some pretty amazing spectacle, I'd probably be more wary of Ligea because she's the one you'd never see coming. You'd wake up on the other side of death, wondering what the hell just happened. Appropriate for the heroine of a trilogy with 'Mirage' in the title.

4. Kassa Daggersharp from the Splashdance Silver 

I've already mentioned before how much I love Kassa. She lives in the lovably ridiculous world of Mocklore where only the genre savvy survive. She's the daughter of a Pirate King, who has magic singing voice, a ghost-ship and a very niche sense of style. 

Technically you could say Kassa isn't really a hero. Most of her time is spent finding treasure, dodging death, and fighting with her crew about who's going to do the washing up. She's also caused at least two large scale magical disasters and attempted to kill the Empress, so you can kind of understand why there are so many warrants for her arrest. 

But the hell with it. Kassa might be selfish, manipulative and throw epic tantrums, but she does try to fix her mistakes. And the Empress was elected through some really dodgy government practices, so you could argue she didn't legally hold the office anyway.

5. Sabriel from the Old Kingdom series

Yes, these are teen fiction. No, I'm not going to apologise. Because Sabriel is awesome. She doesn't have the bad-ass skills of Katniss Everdeen, but she fights zombies and can cross over into the afterlife, literally bringing you back from the dead. 

She's smart, driven, and honorable about her duties. If you're in trouble - even if it's not part of her given quest at the moment - she will take the time to help you. And if you are centuries old undead looking to bend all magic to your will, watch out. She will lure you into a magic-less realm and stuff you into the body of a cat, where you can spend the rest of your days dreaming of tuna. 

Put it like this; if I was part of an oppressed people where my only hope was a hidden magical aristocracy, I'd want Ligea or Azhure on my side. If I was looking at invasion by a brutal army running on human sacrifice, I'd want Rhian. If I wanted to avoid a large scale magical disaster I'd probably... not want Kassa anywhere near the thing. 

But if I lived in a world where the vicious undead roamed and wanted to chew my face off, I'd pray really hard that there was a Sabriel there to come save me. And you know what? She'd probably show up and do it.