| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Dec 2007 : 11:47:32
|
The Gossamer Plain Review
By. Charles Phipps
The Gossamar Plain, ostenibly a novel for the Forgotten Realms, actually goes back to a place that I fondly remember in Planescape. Now, the cosmology is the Great Tree but there's no real difference between the House of the Triad as a divine realm in Mount Celestia and it being the actual Plane itself that just happens to have Mount Celestia. There's certainly Toril material on the work but it doesn't form anything close the majority of the work.
Fundamentally, this is about a bunch of Angels attempting to reform a Demon and taking her Half-Fiend child away for their own purposes. A part of me wondered 'Why do the Angels care?', not so much because Angels shouldn't care about children raised by demons, but more to the fact that one would think that they have better things to do with their time. Then, it occurred to me, this is probably not a major mission on their behalf but just something that they're doing with their spare time. Demons are constantly out corrupting mortals and destroying lives, why not the same in reverse?
The Angels are played very well in this work. I never have particularly liked the portrayal of Celestials as Touched by an Angel perfection. I much prefer the take forwarded by In Nomine by Steve Jackson games. Specifically, Angels are indeed selfless and noble beings but unless you're the Choir of Angel that is specifically designed to interact with humanity (sort of like Succubi are with Demons) then the less likely you are able to have anything in common with humans.
Overall, the Angels of the House of Triad manage to hit the right balance of being useful as antagonists while also not forgetting they're so supposed to be embodiments of good. They're judgemental, ruthless, alien minded things that you can definitely understand mortals being afraid of. On the other hand, you also get the idea they're efffective and fundamentally selfless creatures. What they do to Aliisza is all too akin to cult programming but the author doesn't attempt to hide the fact that she's a multiple mass-murderer.
It's sort of like a weird celestial A Clockwork Orange in places.
So, I salute Thomas M. Reid for accomplishing the difficult task of writing a story with demonic protagionists and angelic antagonists while not diluting the nature of either being. This kinda reminds me of Hellblazer in some respects where the Angels aren't necessarilly preferrable to Demons but you never really doubt that they're trying to help (in their fundamentally inhuman way).
Some readers may be turned off by the controversial nature of the topic. It's difficult not to make a Row vs. Waid parallel in the fact that the Angels couldn't care less whether Aliisza (from the "War of the Spider Queen" novels) lives or dies but are interested in preserving the innocent life of the as-yet unborn figure. For individuals who don't like any form of political applicability in their fantasy, they might want to avoid this. Nevertheless, the author doesn't make any particular statement on the issue but merely presents the opinions of the embodiments of both Good/Evil involved in the story.
The alien nature of the Planes are also captured quite well. While the House of the Triad is treated as a stereotypical 'Fluffy Cloud' Heaven in most respects, that's pretty much what it is in canon. There's also strange issues of time-dilation, unexplained magical effects, and a lot of potential for further exploration. I hope Thomas M. Reid does so.
Less interesting than Aliisza's place as a captive of the Celestials is Kaanyr Vhok's Bogus Journey. Yes, that's what I tend to call the man's bizarre journey across the Planes and misadventures. Kaanyr Vhok seems to be channeling Phauran Mizzrym for terms of 'clever and lovable magician evil doer' which isn't a detraction. Frankly, I hope that we don't have him brought up again since Kaanyr Vhok is actually able to exceed Phauran in most respects.
Tauran the angel of Tyr gets bonus points for not having "El" in the back of his name. He's also a very well realized angel and one that's definitely likable, even if he's also a figure that's party to the horrors inflicted on Aliisza. It's a fascinating and multi-layered set of characterizations through this story.
9/10
|
My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
|
|
|
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 25 Dec 2007 : 17:55:34
|
I actually thought the abortion issue (NOT that I want to get into that here) was more prominent in book 2 of the House of Serpents series. Not that this novel didn't touch real-life issues (issues, of course, that are best left to more appropriate forums if one really wants to discuss them)--it touched the issue of "what happens to a baby's soul if it dies in the womb, or without being old enough to make a choice for itself?". Ed already gave his answer, and I liked it.
It's pretty hard to feel sympathy for Aliisza when one considers all the wrongs she's actually committed. Angels, do your worst!
As for the angels themselves--I do have mixed feelings about writing them as prominent characters and "stepping into their minds", as this novel does. On one hand, I do like the characters, and found the scenes with Tauren to be interesting. On the other hand, there's the danger of anthropomorphizing the angels so much that they are basically little different from human beings, except that they live amongst the clouds. I'm not sure if that's a version of angels I find desirable (the same pitfall happens, by the way, when people step into the minds of the gods and use them as characters in the novels).
|
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
 |
|
|
Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
Posted - 27 Dec 2007 : 13:08:02
|
quote:
As for the angels themselves--I do have mixed feelings about writing them as prominent characters and "stepping into their minds", as this novel does. On one hand, I do like the characters, and found the scenes with Tauren to be interesting. On the other hand, there's the danger of anthropomorphizing the angels so much that they are basically little different from human beings, except that they live amongst the clouds. I'm not sure if that's a version of angels I find desirable (the same pitfall happens, by the way, when people step into the minds of the gods and use them as characters in the novels).
True, on the other hand, I'm very fond of the fact that you don't make Angels too unapproachable. If you have Demons, you should have Angels and one shouldn't be "better" than the other. It runs the risk of glamourizing Evil too much. |
My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
|
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Gossamer Plains Review *Spoilers*
