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Global Perspectives on the Ecology of Human-Machine Systems (Resources for Ecological Psychology, Vol 1)
Manufacturer: CRC
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ASIN: 0805813810 |
Book Description
There is a growing consensus in the human factors/ergonomics community that human factors research has had little impact on significant applied problems. Some have suggested that the problem lies in the fact that much HF/E research has been based on the wrong type of psychology, an information processing view of psychology that is reductionistic and context-free. Ecological psychology offers a viable alternative, presenting a richer view of human behavior that is holistic and contextualized. The papers presented in these two volumes show the conceptual impact that ecological psychology can have on HF/E, as well as presenting a number of specific examples illustrating the ecological approach to human-machine systems. It is the first collection of papers that explicitly draws a connection between these two fields. While work in this area is only just beginning, the evidence available suggests that taking an ecological approach to human factors/ergonomics helps bridge the existing gap between basic research and applied problems. br
Book Description
Now here's a formula for near disaster: East Coast big-city guy, world-traveler, jounalist, and otherwise politically savvy fellow settles down in rural Alaska, where men are many and manly, and women with survival skills are good to count among your friends. He wants to fit in. But how does one learn to be a Mountain Man? By observing, imitating, and making near-fatal mistakes, that's how. The choices a boy has to make. Eat processed food or on-the-hoof food, learn to operate a chainsaw or freeze to death, figure out what a bunny boot is or lose a few toes, and by the way, which end of he barrel points up? This is the story of Doug's first difficult winter in a one-room cabin, trying to stay alive and come out of it with some semblance of Alaska cool. With side-splitting, self-depreciating humor, Doug shares his attempts to elevate himself past his perpetual state of greenhorn-ness by aligning himself with tough sourdoughs to someday claim the title of manly Mountain Man.
Customer Reviews:
As Homer said to Garrison, "Be funnier!".......2007-09-01
Doug Fine has given us a collection of essays from his first year or so as an urbanite living in rural Alaska. He groups these around three "steps": finding warmth, obtaining food, and building shelter. I think they're supposed to be funny, along the lines of (say) David Sedaris, and they are indeed intermittently funny. But they need to be funnier to work that way.
In fairness, some of the chapters are not intended to be funny but to be travelogues of a sort. For example, he joins an Inuit family on a whale hunt on the ice and tells us what that's like. I think this was the most successful story because Fine's a good observer and he's willing to make fun of himself along the way.
The least successful story comes at the end, when Fine joins the community in rebuilding a neighbor's house that had burned down. He never quite figures out what the point of this story is, and let's face it, holding up drywall all day doesn't really lend itself to thrilling or humorous narration. It reads more as if, "I've committed to this three steps structure in my book, and so I must talk about building shelter at the end."
As this last point may suggest, Fine doesn't have a lot of material in this book. It's not a good sign when you take several basic ideas (using a chain saw for the first time, joining Inuit on a whale hunt) and split each one across two chapters. Each of these topics needed to be tightened up to fit in a single chapter, with a new essay on a different topic put in the place of the deleted chapter.
I realize that I've been pretty critical here, and I should mention that Fine is a talented writer, and the book is a very pleasant read despite its weaknesses. In addition, Fine comes across as a very likable guy - - and that's important in a book like this because you're essentially along for the ride with him.
Not Really Worth Reading.......2007-01-11
Author tries to be funny with each line. Gets boring and predictable very quickly. Maybe worth reading during the long cold Alaska winter, but probably not even then could it keep you awake. I would give it a zero star if availible.
Fabulous!.......2005-05-19
I ordered this book from Doug after seeing him on a local TV magazine program discussing his book. My husband and I took a vacation of a lifetime last summer by traveling for 3 weeks through Alaska by car and hiking. We left our hearts there and this book brought back wonderful memories. I enjoyed reading about Doug's adventures, especially his experience at Barrow (one place we would have liked to visit). This is a great read for any lovers of the outdoors or who dream of escaping the rat race to come back to nature...
Self Discovery.......2004-10-24
ARRIGAA!! Journeying with Doug Fine on his many adventures in Alaska in pursuit of becoming "An Alaskan Mountain Man" is a truly wonderful experience. He leaves the safety net of a stable environment and heads for rural Alaska. His purpose was to discover his indigenous roots by learning the skills necessary to survive the subartic winter temperatures, create suitable shelter, and prepare a food supply to sustain him and his dog, Sunny, through the winter months.He is a 'cheechacko', a tenderfoot, who has some harrowing experiences as he attempts to master these skills.
He elevated my heart rate while I anticipated the outcome of some of his adventures and had me laughing out loud as he mocked his foibles. He is a careful observer with an astute ability to give the reader and inside view. Can you just picture him eating his first piece of two-toned muktuk saturated in whale oil off his sword as a kabob? His interaction with the family of harvesters of this newly caught whale was both humorous an insightful.
As a nature lover, I enjoyed seeing the beautiful, pristine land of Alaska through Doug's eyes. His writing flows from his heart as he describes the meadows strewn with bluebells, the meditative silence of the spruce forest, rainbows across Kachemak Bay,and the glaciated peaks that framed the scenes. From woodpeckers to kittiwakes, to moose, to snowshoe hares, he acknowledges their place on this earth and their struggle to survive.
This book was a joy to read. Doug Fine is hilariously funny and an excellent writer. I look forward to reading about more of his adventures. In the end, he proves himself to be a true Alaskan Mountain man, a man unafraid to confront those challenges of growth and disconvery. AARIGAA!!
Great book, a humorous look at survival.......2004-10-16
This is an excellent story which is told with a great sense of humor. Doug Fine morphed from New York City, through the American "west", to his rural Alaska living which he describes in the most entertaining manner. Since we share a love of animals, Doug's description of the moose around his cabin had special meaning. His free-spirited little dog, Sunny, is woven into the story leaving me surprised that a petite Golden Retriever mix could survive at all in the Alaskan wilderness, much less love her surroundings so much. Doug's trip to Barrow and beyond on the ice was yet another sensory level for me and perhaps for anyone who read Going to Extremes. Doug makes the ice and the native Americans feel like adventuresome but familiar friends -- it is a matter of focus. Doug's story struck home to the part of me that years ago secretly wished to homestead in the wilderness in Alaska - to live remotely and simply in a beautiful place without population pressures. (In my day dreams I added a dog team and sled training to my daily regimen, though it sounds like human survival would have been more than enough.) Though I worked in Alaska for several summer "field seasons" out of the Anchorage-Palmer area, and have been to Homer and the Kenai Peninsula, I never lived there and remain curious about Alaskan winter.
Amazon.com
According to Judith Appelbaum, author of How to Get Happily Published, "it is largely within your power to determine whether your work will get published and whether the public will buy it once it's released." Anyone who has had a manuscript boomerang back from every publisher who sees it (or a book remaindered mere months after publication) may view this assertion with some amount of skepticism. But, as Appelbaum says, "hardly anybody treats getting published as if it were a rational, manageable activity," and it's hard to argue with that.
In addition to providing a mini-course on editors and agents and submissions and funding--peppered with revealing anecdotes from the front lines--Appelbaum offers information less frequently found in books of this sort. For one, she emphasizes the importance of taking publicity for your book or article into your own hands (and she has savvy advice on how to do so without alienating your publisher's publicity department). She also makes a very strong case for self- publishing--not to be confused with using a vanity press--and then tells you how to go about it. And finally, her annotated resource guide to books, Web sites, periodicals, courses, organizations, and more--stretching to over 120 pages--is astounding. That's right. Astounding. --Jane Steinberg
Book Description
The classic, bestselling guide to getting published
In the 20 years since it first appeared, hundreds of thousands of writers'professionals as well as beginners--have read, followed and benefited from How to Get Happily Published. This new edition adds material on making deals with publishers (and what's important), working with small publishers (and when that's preferable), capitalizing on contacts (and where to make them), deciding whether to self-publish (and how much that costs), using new electronic media (to publish; to get information, publicity, promotion and sales; and to connect with enthusiastic readers), and making your work sell better (whoever the publisher is).
Plus hundreds of new resources--books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, groups, experts and Internet sites covering every step of the publishing process.
Customer Reviews:
A superior how-to book.......2007-09-06
This is the best book I've ever read on getting published. It's instructive, no-nonsense, and remarkably wide-ranging. Plus it doesn't waste time making digressions and idiotic "jokes." It sticks to the point, is witty and straight-talking. Ms. Appelbaum is knowledgeable and sympathetic to the business of writing. This is a book worth studying, not merely reading once. Thank you.
Too bad every writer hasn't read this........2007-01-01
I earn extra money as a contract reviewer for a number of publishers, periodicals, etc. It's always a pleasure to review a piece written by someone that has educated themselves on the process of publication. This book has it all!
Of particular note, Judith writes in her introduction (Initiation, p.7) "There's only one kind of help you shouldn't hire: A vanity press" -- and further explains this on page 88 under the title "Danger: Dead Ends".
This book is also a great resource for reviewers like myself. You will find many prospective clients.
Review of "How to Get Happily Published".......2006-03-24
I am still reading the how to self publish section. I am a complete novice writer attempting to write a first non-fiction book. The book has opened my eyes to the pitfalls and made me aware of many details I would otherwise miss. Marketing being one of the details I needed to be more aware of.
I recommend the book highly.
If you have written a manuscript..........2004-07-14
Then you MUST buy this book.
Judith really knows her stuff. This is an excellent place to start brainstorming, even if you think that you have "seen it all". Kudos to Judith for sharing her knowledge. As a published author of several books I KNOW the challenge of marketing to the public - and publishers - that each book brings. Keep a copy of this close by and reread it often. You won't be disappointed.
Dusty White
Author of How to Get ANY MAN to do ANYTHING You Want!
Every Writer Should Read This.......2004-07-07
This book has relevant and up to date information for anyone who is trying to break into print. It is a must for beginning authors, and a good reference for those who are published. Since getting this book I have published several articles, and I know a lot more about the industry as a whole.
Book Description
Following the triumphant success of her Kushiel series (Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, Kushiel's Avatar), Jacqueline Carey now turns her hand to another startling fable, an epic tale of gods waging war in their bid to control an entire universe and the mortals they use as chess pieces in a most deadly game.Once, the Seven Shapers dwelled in accord. First-born among them was Haomane, Lord-of-Thought and with his brother and sister gods, the Seven drew upon of the power of the Souma, claimed a race of beings for their own and began Shaping the world to their will. But Haomane saw the ways of this new world and was displeased. For in his younger brother Satoris, once called the Sower, Haomane thought too prideful and in his gift, the quickening of the flesh too freely to the races....and to that of Man in particular. Haomane asked Satoris to withdraw his Gift from Men but he refused. And so began the Shapers' War. Eons have passed. The war that ensued Sundered the very world. Haomane and his siblings lay to one end of a vast ocean unable to touch their creations, Satoris and the races of the world on the other. Satoris has been broken and left adrift among the peoples of the world and is reviled, with most of the races believing that it was he alone who caused the rift and depriving them of the balm of the Seven. He sits in Darkhaven, controlling his own dominion--seeking not victory but neither vengeance.But still Haomane is not content. Through Haomane's whispers in the minds and hearts of the races of the world come a prophecy that if Satoris were defeated, the world could be made whole and all would bask in the light of the Souma again. And the few who stay by Satoris are viewed as the ultimate evil. And so the races come together to defeat Satoris, a being who helped engender them all but who is caught in his elder brother's warp.Strong storytelling with evocative, compelling, and unforgettable characters, Banewrecker ultimately asks the question: If all that is considered good considers you evil, are you?
Customer Reviews:
This isn't good.......2007-09-30
I was implored by a friend of mine to read this novel due to the idea that it is solely based on the phrase, "If All That is Good Thinks You are Evil... Are You?" My friend stated that it was basically a Tolkienesque story applying that question.
I bought this novel based solely on that recommendation, and I wished that I hadn't. Books like this are directly linked to the reason why I hardly ever read fantasy. I was even expecting a Tolkien clone, but maybe some interesting anti-heroes, clever dialog or better yet, a very concise analysis on what people perceive as evil to make it a little more palatable. Not only did I not receive any of these, I received a book containing nothing even remotely resembling a good story.
I've heard nothing but good things about Carey's "Kushiel" series, which is why I plan on reading it, but there was nothing good about "Banewreaker." Wait, I'll take that back. If I were a thirteen year old who'd never been exposed to Tolkien, I probably would have liked this book. This novel was essentially a bad plagiarizing of The Silmarillion; it's actually nauseating as to how cloned it is.
Though it was obviously spawned from Tolkien's world-building classic, the prose and character development were easily the worst parts of the novel. From the second page of "Banewreaker," I couldn't help but think that it was written by a junior high student. I wouldn't make the summation that Carey is a horrible writer, but any command of prose or dialog is nonexistent here.
It was almost as if Carey said to herself, "How about a story involving evil guys, who are not really evil as much as they are misunderstood." Then is seemed as if she were trying to break a record for how quickly she could produce a full-length novel. The characters, every Old-English speaking one of them, are utterly one-dimensional. Regarding the Old English diction: It would be hard for me to describe how irritating the use of it is in this novel. "Banewreaker" is actually supposed to be a tragic piece about how all of these "evil" guys were painfully wronged and how they now see the world differently than all others. And speaking of all others, Carey, like Goodkind with his dreadful "Wizard's First Rule," managed to create an entire planet with a whopping population of about 54. Not only does this world seem devoid of cities or varying borders, but it has no populace to speak of.
I certainly hope that Carey was not attempting to make a statement about moral relativism or subjective perceptions of good and evil, because she would have failed miserably. "Banewreaker" could have been a much better book had Carey studied up on her Kant and Glaucon. It would have also helped unequivocally had she really spent the time to build her characters and their histories, not to mention making the prose and dialog a little more intelligent.
No, Banewreaker is not derivative.......2007-09-20
Do not be put off by any review that derides this work as derivative. It is true that Jacqueline Carey's world as described in Banewreaker and its sequel Godslayer has many similarities on the surface with Tolkein's Middle Earth. Moreover, the parallels among the characters are numerous: Aracus Altorus, the dispossessed heir to the Kingdom of the West, vs. Aragorn, the dispossessed heir to the throne of Gondor; Dani the Water-bearer vs. Frodo the Ring-bearer; Malthus, the grizzled old wizard (who vanishes for a time underground only to return as a white rider) vs. Gandalf, the grizzled old wizard (who does exactly the same thing). But the parallels are deliberate. In fact, they are the whole point.
What Carey has done in Banewreaker and Godslayer is to take the premise of the epic struggle between good and evil and turn it on its head. In the Lord of the Rings, Sauron the Dark Lord is purely and irredeemably evil and is viewed only rarely and at a distance. In contrast, we meet Satoris the Sunderer and those around him on an intimate level. We learn what motivates them and how they struggle with their doubts and with their moral and ethical dilemmas. And it turns out that they're not so evil after all. They value love and trust and honor and they grieve over the suffering of others, even of their enemies. What they are fighting for is not, from their point of view, evil. They are fighting for freedom.
On the other side of the conflict is Haomane and his allies, who have taken upon themselves the mantle of the Good. Interestingly, it is Haomane who is viewed only rarely and at a distance. Moreover, the claim of Haomane's allies that they are the forces for Good is borne out of the certainty of their faith. And it is the tyranny of that certainty that makes them more truly evil. The core of the dispute between Haomane and Satoris centers on sexuality. It was Satoris' gift to humanity at the beginning of the world and Haomane asked--no decreed--that it should be withdrawn. When Satoris refused, the conflict that we witness began.
There are fascinating similarities between the war in Banewreaker and Godslayer and the cultural war that is playing out in early twenty-first century America. When the forces of freedom and open sexuality are arrayed against the forces of certainty and unquestioning faith, it's clear where Carey's sympathies lie. Given that, plus the fact that she managed to work in the phrase "a thousand points of light" when describing the home of the "good guys" (who are actually the bad guys), I'm pretty sure I know how Jacqueline Carey will vote in the next election.
just read the silmarillion.......2007-09-06
ok i NEVER write reviews, but how can someone who was so goooooood in the kushiel series write such derivitive crap like this? 2 chapters in and even the names (never mind the plot) arecompletely hijacked from tolkein's the silmarillion! go read that instead, it's much more fleshed-out. I know the silmarillion isnt as widely-read as the lord of the rings series, but come on! even the gods names are so alike! stick to kushiel......they are wonderful, inventive, gorgeous imagery.......get back to work on that series instead. there are enough bad ripoffs of tolkein out there already. (sword of shannara anyone?)
A Great Book.......2007-09-03
I think this novel is an excellent one. Those who criticize it as merely a Tolkien rip-off are, in my opinion, beyond help. Those readers are skeptics of the worst kind. They are pessimists.
I think Carey knows exactly what she's doing here. If you want to read a Tolkien rip-off, read Eddings or the scores of others that have come and gone over the decades. Carey is a far better writer than any of the so-called "me too" novelists who have tried (and failed) to do a good Tolkien clone. Indeed, it is true that the vast majority of characters in Banewreaker have Tolkien equivalents, but they have so much more substance than ANY characters in LOTRs. I don't see how anyone with two eyes and a working knowledge of the English language could think otherwise.
So I'm giving this one a strong thumbs up. Give it a shot. You may like it.
Very Interesting, though not Perfect.......2007-08-30
I adore the Kushiel's Legacy Trilogy, and the new Imriel books, but luckily I wasn't expecting these books to be as good as them--I had heard some complaints about them, so I didn't have that high of expectations. It took me until this summer to pick this one up in fact.
But as it turned out, the book exceeded my expectations--it wasn't long until I had gotten into the book and was picking it up to read at every opportunity I got. True, the prose is a bit clunky and slow, to the extent that I largely skimmed through the last half of the book, getting the gist of each scene, trying to find scenes with interaction between Tanaros and Cerelinde (which admittedly was the thing in this book I was most interested in and loved most--I'm a big C/T shipper, and loved the subtle and gradual development of their relationship so far--Carey is so good at writing romance!). There were boring parts, and I wished we could have stayed more in Darkhaven or with Tanaros and Cerelinde. However overall the story was great and a very interesting concept--and as in Kushiel's Legacy, there are characters I genuinely adore, foremost among them Tanaros, who I find to be a very compelling, tragic, and complex character. The fact that I find his murder of his wife and King to be understandable and forgiveable, and love him in spite of such crimes tells a LOT about Carey's masterful writing and character development! Carey is the best author when it comes to character development, IMO, and this book is no exception, though there aren't as many great characters as in Kushiel.
It's also great to see all the different perspectives--especially as a history buff and major, I can understand how Haomane's Allies would have been so blinded by what they'd been told abotu Satoris--if it can happen in the real World, why can't it happen there? Look at the way Germany was blamed for starting WWI in the Versailles treaty at the end of WWI when they were far from having begun it (Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Serbia were higher on the list of countries to blame--Germany actually tried to avoid war for a while, begging their ally Austria not to do it, and asking Russia to remove their troops from their border with Germany--not to mention all the other, many complex factors that caused the war), and the idea that they began it still exists--I thought that was the case myself when I was younger. Just as Tanaros and others had learned as children that Satoris was evil and to blame for the Sundering of the world, before they learned the other side to the story. So I don't think it's a stretch at all to believe that all Men would hate Satoris after being taught to do so, and learning to do so, all their lives--it's just another example of history being written by the winners. So as a history buff I can also especially appreciate the complex interplay of views and histories as presented in the book.
Anyway, in short this book is well worth reading, and even if it's different from the Kushiel's Trilogy and perhaps not as good, it's still a great work of fantasy with a compelling story and characters, as well as a more complex and philisophical work. (Though Melisande is more complex than your average villain because of her capacity for love, she is still rather black-and-white evil--when she says there are two sides to everything, it's not very believable. In this book, however, there are two sides, which makes things very interesting and thought-provoking.
Product Description
This is a two-in-one volume with both of Jacqueline Carey's top sellers Banewreaker and Godslayer. (Inside jacket: with her successful Kushiel series, Jacqueline Carey proved herself a force to be reckoned with in the fantasy field. Now she returns with another extraordinary epic, a shattering tale of gods at ware and the mortals they use in their deadly game.) Once the Seven Shapers dwelled in accord. First-born among them was Haomane, Lord-of-Thought, and with his six sibling gods, they Shaped the world and its children to their will. But Haomane was displeased with Satoris' Shaping, for he thought his younger brother too generous in his gifts to Men, who made war upon Hoamane's Children, the Ellylon. Though the First-Born asked his brother to withdraw his Gift, Satoris refused. So began the Shapers' War, which sundered the world and cast Satoris and his kindred to opposite ends of a vast ocean.
Customer Reviews:
An extraordinarily complex, moving achievement.......2007-07-13
Yes, I have read and loved all the Kushiel series; they are astonishing, wonderful books. Yet those who pick up the two volumes of the Sundering because they loved Phedre, and come away disappointed and complain the books fail to measure up, are missing the point entirely. These books are a different genre, and a different kind of accomplishment; they are a fantasy epic which is also a philosophical and ethical critique of the epic genre.
Of course, the similarily in narrative structure to the Tolkien epics is conscious and purposeful. Almost every character from the Lord of the Rings is found here: Gandalf-Malthus, Frodo-Dani, Aragorn-Aracus. Previous reviewers may have missed that the arguable "heroes" of this story, Tanaros Cavaros and the "Misbegotten" Ushahin Dreamspinner, are analogous to the leader of the Ringwraiths and Gollum. And Satoris Banewreaker, of course, is the Sauron who the Elves/Ellylon so lyrically claim to be bent on the destruction of all that is good and beautiful, working tirelessly "to cover all the world in a SECOND darkness!!!"
I wonder, how many of us who read and loved the Lord of the Rings ever wondered why Sauron would wish such a thing? Did the explanations of his motivations ever seem thin? Sauron was supposed to have created the Orcs "in savage mockery" of the Elves; a force of pure evil, needing no purpose other than destruction, with no desires, even in creation, except to mock and ruin. What Carey's epic is meant to show, and it succeeds beautifully, is that there are no such villains. There can be no races, such as the Orcs in Tolkien, without redeeming characteristics. To exist at all, especially to exist as a living community of any kind, living creatures must manifest certain virtues. The "Orcs" on the Sundering epic are ugly, certainly, and the "Elves" fear and despise them; yet Carey shows the Ellylon hatred and fear of the trollish Fjel as a product of their own limited aesthetics and the enmity between their races. The Fjel lack the beauties and brains of Elves and Men, yet they are real creatures, and therefore, in order for them to continue as a race at all, they must reproduce and rear their children, they must have some forms of love and loyalty. As this epic unfolds, the awareness grows in the reader that the "orcs" of Tolkien could never have been anything but a savagely distorted picture, a lie wrought by those who hated them from a distance. The power of the Ellylon to tell their stories with beauty, and thus inscribe their point of view as history, is explicitly thematized by Carey's hero Tanaros, who reminds the lovely Ellyl lady that every story has two sides, and that no Elf or Man has ever listened to the stories of the Fjel.
Tanaros himself stands as one of only two counter-examples; he himself is a Man, one who once served the ruling house of the oldest of Men's kingdoms. Once a hero in the best epic style, a loyal general who loved his king and his wife, now he is the most famous villain of his own race of origin. Long ago, he discovered his wife's new child to be, not his own son, but the son of his own best friend and beloved liege. The power of his loves fueled the violent madness of his hatred when those loves were betrayed, and he killed both his wife and her lover. Only in the service of Satoris can he re-discover loyalty and purpose, as only Satoris was willing to allow him the "dignity of his hatred" and allow him the chance to make a new life. The kingdoms of Men call Tanaros "Wifeslayer" the worst of comicbook villains, and see his service to Satoris as simply confirming how evil he is; a man who killed both wife and king could only flee to bad black Satoris in his evil dark fortress. Yet Carey shows us Darkhaven through the eyes of Tanaros as a haven, a place of beauty and dignity, and Satoris as the being who has given Tanaros sanctuary-- as well as a love that has never failed nor been untrue.
The Darkhaven of this epic, this Mordor, was built by Satoris after his first war with his older brother, who, wrathful at his younger brother's refusal to obey, burned the world with the fires of the sun and left Satoris wounded and scorched. Darkhaven is dark not to symbolize evil, but because light hurts as well as illuminates, and because fire is the weapon of the elder Shaper who believes, on thin grounds, that his own will is the entirety of truth and goodness, and that Satoris' refusal to obey him is the essence of wrong and evil. Darkhaven is guarded by Fjeltroll and staffed by madlings, and here is the poignant heart of Carey's vision. For Tanaros is only one of the ambiguous and complex heroes of this story. The other is his counterpart Ushahin, like Tanaros a byword for evil among the Elves and Men of this world, and like him a product of the very world and races who fear and hate him.
Ushahin Dreamspinner, unique in this fantasyworld, is half Ellyl and half mortal Man. The Ellyl, children of Haomane FirstBorn, are a race gifted with mind and heart, rationality and love, but immortal, and without the gift Satoris was asked to give to every other race: Desire. It was Haomane's command that Satoris withdraw Desire from Men which Satoris refused, the refusal for which he is called the Sunderer. Desire is an ambiguous gift, and one both Men and Elves find easy to blame for the crime one Man committed upon a daughter of the Ellylon; the crime of rape. Ushahin Dreamspinner was conceived in that rape, abandoned by the kindred of both parents, and almost killed in childhood by a crowd of other children with rocks. His appearance is all the more monstrous for the remains of remarkable beauty ruined, elegant bones shattered and ill set, wide-set eyes permanently dilated and crazed; he embodies all the horror of human cruelty and callousness, and walks in their dreams to show them the image of a child's fist with a rock breaking another child's face to bits. Called "The Misbegotten" by both the races from which he sprang, Ushahin serves Lord Satoris for the sanctuary Satoris gives to all the mad and broken of the world, those Ushahin calls to Darkhaven where they are safe and loved.
It is Satoris' relationship with Ushahin and his madlings that thematizes the true heart of this amazing critique of epic storytelling, this reply to Tolkien's brutal aesthetic of bright beautiful Elves versus nasty ugly orcs. When the lovely Ellylon lady arrives in Darkhaven and learns that it is a sanctuary for madlings, for all those beings broken and maimed by the cruelty of the world, she is of course appalled. The lovely, the perfect lady, of course she cannot fail to feel pity and mourn for the victims of cruelty and neglect who find safety and love in Darkhaven. Yet she protests they could be fixed, that Satoris ought to heal them and make them pretty again, a response that Tanaros shows in its selfishness with his reply: "To my lord Satoris, she is already beautiful." He loves them as they are, and finds the beauty they have in themselves, not needing to transform them into pretty elf maidens to find them lovely. Similarly, the Ellylon cannot realize the limitations of their own attitudes towards the half-elven Ushahin; they blame Satoris for not "fixing" him, never imagining that it is tghe Dreamspinner himself who refuses to be "healed" to erase the signs of what has made him what he is.
The Elves can only imagine beauty as being like themselves: perfect, tall, glowing with light, and above all, lucky. The scars of the unlucky, of all those who have been hurt, the stories of all those whose lives have been shaped by pain-- they can only see those things as flaws to be erased. What the limited aesthetic of the Ellylon cannot understand as valuable is the same thing that disappears in the caricatures of "orcs"-- the values and features of *life*. Life that struggles through pain and trauma, life that nurtures young, life that makes the best of ambiguity, life that goes on imperfectly.
It is finally an aesthetic of life with which Carey counters the simplistic aesthetic of epic in the Tolkien vein. In place of a god whose mysterious will must be obeyed as the definition of Goodness, we have a god who wishes only to live as he sees best, and survive the despite of his older brother's wrath. Haomane First-Born believes his own vision to be the definition of truth and reality, and his own will as the determiner of goodness. In such a belief-system there can only be one kind of choice: obedience is good, and defiance, evil. Counterpoised to that simplistic lie, Carey gives us a meditation on the nature of choice as life-determining, or choice and responsibility, of truth itself as ambiguity and complexity.
Good first half of a story. What next?.......2007-04-15
I love Jacqueline Carey's series about Phedre, beginning with Kushiel's Dart. It is one of my favorite stories. I also enjoyed The Sundering, though not as much.
The Sundering is a takeoff on Lord of the Rings, upside down. Sauron is the good guy here, and Gandalf is the bad guy. Frodo is a bit of a dupe, sent to destroy Sauron's power, even though Sauron was much kinder to him than the good guys ever were.
In this story, Gandalf's name is Malthus. "Mal" means something bad, as in malady. Frodo's name is Dani. He is accompanied by his uncle Bilbo, whose name here is Fat Uncle Thulu.
The dwarves are intact, but the elves are here called Ellylon, and are not as short as the elves of LOTR. Instead, they are the size of the elves in the LOTR movie, man-size.
Aragorn is in this story as well. His name is Aracus Altorus rather than Aragorn son of Arathorn. Same guy. Leader of the Borderguard, and the hereditary king. And as in LOTR he is scheduled to marry an elf, the Ellylon beauty Cerelinde.
Sauron, here called Satoris, isn't half bad. He inspires love and loyalty. It is his big brother Haomane who is the real pain in the butt. All of Satoris's brothers and sisters have ditched our world, gone across the sea, I suppose across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in America while the action of the story is in Europe, more or less, though Haomane's home is described as an island, not a continent.
Haomane wages unjust war against Satoris. On Satoris's side are Jackie's version of orcs or trolls, which she calls fjeltrol. They are big and strong and ugly. They are bigger than humans. But they have hearts of gold and are the good guys. The beautiful Ellylon are a bit of a load, conceited as all hell. So while Tolkein made it obvious who to root for because his good guys were cute and his bad guys were ugly, Carey turns that upside down for us. Ugly good guys, cute bad guys.
I was confused with some of her terminology. Souma. Soumanie. Marasoumie. Rhios. Half the time I barely knew what she was talking about when she mentioned these things. Apparently there is a lot of magic in her world, and the souma is a great source of magic.
Her characters are so interesting that I always wish the books were illustrated.
The main additions she has to LOTR are some new characters. Satoris (Sauron) has his three main helpers. I suppose they could be compared to the ring wraiths, and once in a while one of them is a Black Rider, but these three really aren't ring wraiths, and have interesting characters of their own. One of them, Tanaros, is the star of the book.
I enjoyed this book but it cries out for a sequel. Everything about the ending screams out SEQUEL.
A tragedy.......2006-05-27
This is an interesting book. The world is believable. the different races recognizable. It is told from the perspective of Satoris, the third born shaper of the world. He is supposed to be the bad guy that caused the world to be sundered.
And war is coming. It is led by the children of the first born shaper, Satoris' brother Haomane. They are allegedly the good guys. So now we have a classic battle between good and evil, only good isn't that good, and evil might actually be innocent of the charges against him.
I found myself cheering for Satoris as everything about him fell apart. I really didn't like Haomane at all. There are magical weapons, prophecies, but no one becomes all powerful that none can stand before him.
This is a story filled with rich characters, and they experience the spectrum of love, betrayal, honor and pride. This is good story and fine fantasy.
Recommended.
Books:
- Hidden Beauty: Microworlds Revealed
- Higher Education in the World 2007: Accreditation for Quality Assurance: What Is at stake? (Guni Series on the Social Commitment of Universities)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- iGenetics: A Mendelian Approach (The Genetics Place Series)
- Illustrated Guide to Fossil Collecting (Fossils & Dinosaurs)
- In A Mexican Garden: Courtyards, Pools, and Open-Air Living Rooms
- Introduction to Conventional Transmission Electron Microscopy (Cambridge Solid State Science)
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