Jan’s Place

I’ve been on a losing streak lately. The two Gemmell books (Wolf in Shadow and Last Guardian) were disappointing, although I think Gemmell is starting to hit his stride with the last one. He managed to weave Noah into a post-Apocolyptic wild west, which is quite a feat (and almost works).

I tried Kiln People by David Brin, but couldn’t finish it. He’s going for a hard-boiled noir detective feel, but wants to congratulate himself too often on his premise — that people can be made into short-term copies and then downloaded back into the original. It has possibilities, but after about the 10th time that the copies go into a rant complaining about their truncated existences, I’m tired of it.

Then I tried Jonathan Gash again, and just couldn’t get interested in the plot, although his British slang is lovely as ever. His editor must have told him he should tell people what these words mean; let’s see: “Dundied without a bean” means “made redundant,” ie laid off. I kind of enjoyed guessing.

Then a disappointing sequel to Voyage of the Shadowmoon by Sean McMullen, an Australian author whose work I’ve liked in the past. Glass Dragons seems to be a messed-up carbon copy of Shadowmoon.

I guess the truth is I’m just grumpy this weekend. “There’ll be days when the house is just too small….”

fungate - grow like a fungus, grow rapidly (OED)

cachectic - affected by wasting and malnutrition associated with chronic disease

These are the first two books in Gemmell’s “Stones of Power” series. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend this series very highly so far. I’ve never much liked the Arthurian fantasy genre, and I think that Gemmell is straining to force his heroics onto the Arthurian template. He’s certainly given it some plot twists (Gilgamesh is a character, Atlantis figures large in Arthurian history, and Guinevere and Morgana are the same person), but the twists and turns seem designed to get essential characters placed, rather than to make the plot interesting. Even the writing seems stilted compared to his Drenai and Rigante sagas. The last three books in this series are a big jump from Arthur into post-Apocalyptic earth where a half-crazed wanderer searches for Jerusalem. Hmmm. We’ll see.

To my many blogreaders (hah!): I find Gemmell an enjoyable author, but he’s really not all I read. For a chain reader who picks up a new book the minute she put one down, serial monogomy is the easiest path, and a huge genre like sci fi/fantasy is the easiest resort for those late nights of book addiction.

I would read this book just for the words – words I’ve never seen before, juicy new words, almost none of which appear in my dictionary since they turn out to be British slang. I fall for British writers the way some people fall for accents. “Black hair fungated above his straining belt.” “Benjie would marmalise me if I so much as looked at Gloria.” “Once a boxer, he looks a real gent and wears a monocle, very Brigade of Guards, waistcoated, suit, George boots, a toff.” “Rob the Hermitage, join this gaggle of duckeggs enacting a crazy Priscilla-of-the-Lower-Third dream?” “A crocodile of passengers,” “I wittered, a perfect prat,” “a mingy three pieces of toast … a manky plate of toast,” “I said, gormless,” “scarpering through undergrowth….” How can you not love a book abounding with such charms?

The book has even more pleasures, chief among them antiques and art forgery. Lovejoy is a “divvy,” someone who can divine true antiques by nearly fainting when he’s in their presence. He’s used this talent for a career just sort of definitely almost barely (his words) this side of the law. He is drawn against his will into a mysterious caper involving the Hermitage and a shipful of antique enthusiasts, almost none of whom can recognize a real antique from a fake. Occasional forays into the history of amber, pottery, wicker chairs and other antiques are a lot of fun, and Lovejoy is quite a storyteller. Is it true that Elvis once entered an Elvis impersonator contest and lost?

A Conspiracy of Paper is set in the early 1700s in the developing world of finance capitalism in London. It’s protagonist is a lapsed Jew, pugilist-turned-detective Benjamin Weaver, whose murdered father was a powerful figure among “stock-jobbers,” the early stockbrokers. Stock finance was considered a necessary evil, not to be handled by gentlemen, so fell largely to the Jewish minority who brought knowledge of the nascent field from Amsterdam and other European finance centers. The “conspiracy of paper” is the South Sea Company stock bubble of 1720, considered the first stock market collapse.

Weaver’s struggle to solve his father’s murder leads him from London high society to the underworld to the then-mysterious realm of stocks, “promised” money that few truly understood, but many flocked to for its promise of unearned wealth. The mystery is serviceable but not exciting, and the novel’s best qualities are in its portrayal of the Exchange (the burgeoning financial district of London), the Jewish district, and the discordant life of Weaver, a proud man who no longer follows his people’s religion, but cannot (and is not allowed to) think of himself as anything but Jewish. The stock schemes of the 1700s are easily recognizable to modern readers inured to stock scandals and get-rich-quick promises; the book reveals how little has changed in stock speculation since its early days.

Liss brings a wealth of knowledge of early capitalism to the book, and a lively writing style that manages to be antiquated without being daunting. For a wilder ride through the same period, the “Baroque Cycle” by Neal Stephenson provides an entertaining romp through Isaac Newton’s world in the style of the early picaresque novel - Candide meets alchemy, calculus, and mayhem in high finance.

This book ends the Waylander series, and sets the stage for the later stories of Nogusta and Skilgannon. Gemmell fills in some of his world’s history, telling the origin of Ustarte and the meldings that figure in many books. But the heart of the book is Waylander, now aged and rich, still haunted by the deaths of his wife and children. He has settled near a ruined city that begins to breed monsters. In the ensuing fight, Waylander encounters Niall, the grandson of the king he had killed for hire in the berserker years after his family died. Guilt and the dreamed forgiveness of the king lead him to protect the boy.

Waylander is a stock figure for Gemmell (and for many myths) – the steely and uncanny fighter, tormented, given to battle fugue, seeking redemption, holding power but deploring it, the Eternal Hero. Gemmell can draw this character better than any other writer I know, and his exploration of the dark side of heroism is unrelenting. The philosophy may not run deep, but it certainly has impressive relations, from Gilgamesh to Cuchulain to Shane. (Lighten up, Jan! It’s just a fantasy novel!)

Gemmell usually centers his novel around his tormented heroes, but surrounds them with a varied and interesting ensemble. The best side characters in the novel are the samurai-like warrior Kysumu and his “burden” Yu Yu, an oaf with a stolen sword. Reeva is one of Gemmell’s sympathetic women fighters; though she shares his talents, she is determined not to become the monster she sees in Waylander.

Part of the Drenai series, this book is a good introduction to Gemmell. It features three aging soldiers, Nogusta, Kebra, and Bison, who are called upon to defend a hunted queen and baby. While the typical anguished hero is missing here, the three old fighters are tormented by their loss of skill and their dismissal from the king’s service. The story is built around their enduring friendship.

Gemmell’s books fall into the categories of the largely human story and the supernatural. This is one of the heavily supernatural books, dealing with a demon race trying to return to earth. The earlier “Waylander” series ties the demons in with the Drenai heroes. In the somewhat loose Gemmell cosmology, it seems they may be related.

Gemmell is supposed to have said he would jump out of an airplane naked if it would please his readers. As Terry Brooks and others show, it’s not enough to want to please; you have to be able to write. Gemmell started with more heart than skill (the famous Legend was really pretty bad), but got better quickly and now can’t seem to write a bad book (in the somewhat dilapidated standards of fantasy, anyway).

The ongoing Drenai saga, post-Druss, pre-Skilgannon the Damned. Waylander is another of Gemmell’s ur-heroes, tormented by his past, supernaturally good at fighting, surrounded by a cast of talented sidekicks. This sequel to Waylander concentrates on his daughter Miriel and her suitors, two swordsmen. Like most Gemmell novels, this is serviceably written and fun – a good, undemanding fantasy read, great for a road trip.

We moved to Lone Pine for the last night in the Sierras. Lone Pine seems somewhat dilapidated and passed by, and the hotel there was inferior to the one in Bishop. Drove to Whitney Portal, which had only the Whitney trail – too steep for casual hiking. We backtracked to the Horseshoe Meadows area and took a short hike toward Cottonwood Pass. This area seemed too dry and dusty for my taste, but the Cottonwood Lakes might be worth a try.

The longest hike of the trip — 11 mi RT to the Big Pine Lakes. This was a real treat. We followed a stream (cascade in places), then climbed through a pass to the first of several alpine lakes. These stunning lakes (apparently deserving of no better names than 1st Lake, 2nd Lake, etc.) are an amazing milky turquoise. The 2nd lake is beneath the towering Temple Crag (elev 12975). One hiker reported that in June, rocks loosened by the snow melt were pounding the valley all day and night. We ran into several backpacking groups, but had the view of the lakes to ourselves when we arrived. We’d like to return and do the loop of all 7 lakes.

Allen on the trail to the Big Pine Lakes.

View of First Lake

Jan at Second Lake with Temple Crag in the background.

Long day of driving. We started at Mammoth Lakes, taking a USFS bus into the Devil’s Postpile National Monument. Unusual columnar rock formations. We hiked to the top, which looks like a tile floor made of hexagons. Also hiked to Rainbow Falls, which was crowded but worth the trip.

Devil’s Postpile from below.

Devil’s Postpile above

Rainbow Falls

On to Mono Lake to see the tufa formations — calcium carbonate “lake stalagmites” that grow from the lake bottom where underground streams emerge. Many are above water now due to Los Angeles’ draining of water from the lake. With the Bristlecones, this brings us up to seeing two of the best natural sculpture gardens in the West.

Tufa formations at Mono Lake

Tufa formations

Bodie is a ghost town north of Mono Lake. Allen was somewhat indifferent, but I thought it was one of the best stops on the trip. Bodie was an 1880s Gold Rush town, largely abandoned by 1890. Somehow, many buildings survived with artifacts intact. We saw a Singer sewing machine in one house; a one-room schoolhouse with textbooks, desks, and globe; a stocked store with cans and bottles from the 1880s; a bar complete with bar stools and mirror… the list goes on. For sewerhistory.org, I took pictures of the outhouses, which were pretty nondescript, but, hey, they have historicity.

Mine at Bodie. This section was closed to the public.

Overview of Bodie mine area showing typical housing in foreground

Bodie interior

Interior of schoolhouse

Interior of bar

Interior of store at Bodie

Outhouse.

Driving to Yosemite via Tioga Pass (east from Lee Vining). It’s a shock to run into bumper-to-bumper traffic after yesterday. We hiked up a dome (3 mi RT) and to May Lake (2.5 mi RT). We both prefer the less-travelled portal hikes on the Eastern Sierra, though I’d be interested in doing the 8 mi RT hike to Cathedral Lakes next time.

May Lake at Yosemite

Visit to the Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains. Drive goes east from Big Pine into a very arid mountain landscape. We hiked the Methusaleh Trail (4 mi RT). The Bristlecones grow the longest in the harshest areas; the oldest trees are 3-4,000 years old. They are twisted, stunted, mostly dead, with strips of bark running to the remaining live branches. Allen’s comment: “I’m not sure if we’re seeing something noble and inspiring, or some horrible protracted death agony.” I loved the twisted roots especially — the photos never do them justice.

Late in the day, a short hike along the South Fork west of Big Pine. This reminds me of the Mt. Wrightson hike in the White Mtns. (AZ) — walking high above the creek along a treeless trail (mix of wildflowers and arid plants, including prickly pear), with clear views. We were too late to ascend to the alpine lake. This looks like a good hike for future trips.

Bristlecone Pine Trees

First day of the trip. Driving from Needles, CA (Motto: Never again!) to Bishop, CA. Staying at the Best Western Creekside Inn. The turnoff from I-40 to Bishop has some interesting structures which appear to be large solar collectors extending over several acres.