The wrong kind of details: the components of wonder (aka lmp's rant)

[Naaramare]

lmp:

because he could have allowed the great white dragon to be destroyed by (i forget his name) the evil dude in the far northern fortress

Rakoth. ^^ (Yeah, this is an oft-reread book). I never had that problem, because that wasn't the eucatastrophe for me. Oh, it was sad that Imraith (the unicorn) died, and all that, but the true "moment" for me was when Kim made her choice to allow the Queen of Waters to stay where she was. None of that had anything to do with Imraith and the boy for me; it was all about the fact that there's a point where, even in an impossible war against total evil, that one must draw the line at what one will do. If the Queen of Waters had been there, I have no doubt that she would have utterly destroyed the Black Dragon, as the Gods had intended . . .but Kim decided that it wasn't worth the price. It wasn't worth utterly destroying the dwarves to achieve. There was where she drew the line, the difference, I suppose, between good and evil (embodied in expediency).

I deal with the same thing in my own story: impossible evil, and a chance to end it. My herione faces both, and has to decide between stopping the war and paying the price--essentially, her own soul, and possibly something more--or allowing the war and paying THAT price, in blood and bodies. Always choose the lesser of two evils, but which is the lesser? Kim's moment of choice was the eucatastrophe for me, not Imraith's death.

Imraith and her rider were always secondary to that whole moment, at least for me. They were just the inevitable consequence, but not the moment that made me cry. I knew that Imraith was doomed the moment she stepped into the story.

As to Redwall, I enjoyed it, but the same way I enjoy my five-hour-read Sword and Sorcery fantasies. I loved it as a child, and still enjoy the first one (He wayyyyy overdid it, however. The back to basics plot and such were charming .. . ONCE. By about the seventh book . . .eh.)

(edit) I was thinking this morning, and it occurred to me that Fionavar Tapestry is in sharp contrast to LotR in it's basic mythos-premise-thing (it's early, gimme a break). LotR is, as has been mentioned--over and over and over again--profoundly Christian in it's essential mythos. The idea of everything coming back and contributing to God [Eru]'s basic idea, of everything in the end being tributory to his awesome . . .self, as the Creator, and also the exaltation of humbling oneself and submitting to higher authority . . .these are all very Christian themes.

FT, on the other hand, is profoundly pagan in the same way. The Weaver, the being closest to control of everything . . .even the Weaver doesn't overwhelm our free will. She/he/it (can't remember if the sex was specified) can set out the basic pattern, but the thread of "wild magic"--free will--means that even he/she/it has no real control. Everything was set up for Kim to bind the Queen of Waters; Macha and Nemain, with the Weaver behind them, had CHOSEN the dragon to counter Rakoth's. And Kim, little human Kim the Seer, made her own choice not to bind it.

Of course, as a result she had to face the consequences, but it was still her own choice, made independantly of the gods, the Loom and anything else.

Just a thought.

[ August 08, 2002: Message edited by: Naaramare ]