REREAD: The Sword Bearer
Nov. 10th, 2024 03:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllThe Sword Bearer (Book 3 of the Archives of Anthropos): John White, Minstrel, 1989
As hinted in the last few books in this series, ‘Uncle John’ did visit Anthropos before his nephews and nieces, and this is the story of the first time. However, when first we meet him, he goes by the name John Wilson and lives in foggy Pendlebury, England. It’s a special day, he’s just turned thirteen, and today Grandma Wilson, who brough him up, has promised to tell him the truth about his parents, of whom he has mementos in a locket that he always carries around with him. But his grandmother will never tell him, for he comes home to find her dead from a stroke, and it looks as though his life will turn upside down. Eavesdropping on neighbours, he learns that his grandmother never liked his father, his mother died in childbirth, and the consensus is that he’ll be sent to a home. He’s determined not to let that happen, and his plan is to go to Canada, where his father may now be living. That’s the plan of a traumatised thirteen-year-old-boy.
But that night, he visits Anthropos in a dream, where he sees a seer, an old man named Mab, join a group of Matmon (dwarves) and a talking vixen named Vixenia. They have recently turned on their former master, the Mystery of Abomination, and are hoping to travel to the Island of Geburah, where it is prophesised that the Regents will come to rule over Anthropos. In this dream, the seer, at least, sees him, and around his waist is a sheathed sword.
Only John sleeps in, and the next morning, the neighbourhood terror, a scrapyard owner named Old Nick (do you see what the author did there?) is offering to pay for John to go to a special school. Having come across Old Nick before, and gained a shoulder injury then, John is even more determined to avoid that fate, and bolts. He’s just trying to get away, not so much to get to Canada.
But when a mysterious door appears, John walks through it, rather than have to face Old Nick. He finds himself in a blue-lit room, talking to an amazing presence, called the Changer, who tells him He will always be with John and has a mission for him, if he picks up the sword lying on the floor and leaves through another door.
For John is to be the Sword Bearer, a figure with a key role in the prophecies surrounding the Regents. He is to slay the Goblin Prince, but almost as soon as he enters Anthropos things go wrong. He is only saved by the aid of Folly, the king of donkeys, who speaks in confused cliches (and is something of an echo of the flying horse Theophilus of previous books.) He is rescued by the party who saw him in the dream, although King Biorn of the Matmon is suspicious of him, but Mab who follows the Changer, vouches for him. What follows is a series of picaresque adventures as John travels with the party to Geburah. For a while, he refuses to drink the wine of free pardon, served at magical meals brought to them by Aguila the giant, talking eagle and her like. He is taunted by Lord Lunacy, one of the forms the Mystery of Abomination takes, and haunted by dreams he had of two Matmon, who turn out to be the king’s grandsons. Worse, he learns that somehow the Goblin Prince is Old Nick from England.
John has a mixture of feelings about the fact that he is the legendary Sword Bearer, there’s some pride, but also a lot of internal conflict. The story is about his relationship with the Changer, also called Mi-Ka-Ya, and the equivalent of God the Father, but also his relationship with old Mab, who knows that his long life will come to an end as the Sword Bearer fulfils his part of the prophecy, which is for the good of Anthropos. So, it’s the same sort of thing as the children of the previous books faced, with adventures sort of representing a spiritual journey, as John comes to drink the wine of free pardon and comes to call the Changer his Changer, rejecting evil, particularly facing his old nemesis. It’s clearly set in an Old Testmanet equivalent – when they come, the Regents are Adam and Eve figures, and there is, as yet no Gaal, although he is mentioned in the name of magical Gaal trees – wherein Mab can tap a tree and it leads into a large room inside the tree for him and John on their journey.
But it’s very scattershot, very episodic. I got irritated by the fact that many chapters started a while after the last one and then the author went back to exposit what had happened in between. It’s irritatingly for the boys – ooh, look, John gets to carry a sword around (like Wesley did, or will chronologically speaking). Female characters are an afterthought, John’s mother died, very sad, but rarely mentioned, while he longs to meet his father, admittedly, still living as far as he knows, even though he knows nothing about him. Mab too had been promised a son, but like Abraham, is now very very old, and like Simeon, knows his death will come when certain events happen. His relationship with John reminded me a bit of the priest Eli and young Samuel’s. He claims that every man wants a son, which might be what an orphaned boy wants to hear, but I rather queried.
When the Regents announce that they named the Matmon, I rolled my eyes. Bjorn is all right as a name, alluding to Scandinavia and all that, but his wife was literally named Bjornsluv. The author only seemed to have put thought into Folly’s name. The only other significant female character is John’s dead grandmother, about whom he has complicated feelings. Chocma makes a cameo, and we learn the origin story of a character who appeared in ‘The Iron Sceptre.’
Some bits are more effective than others, but you’re left with a heap of questions, like why Aguila and Oso decided to try to attack the Goblin Prince when they did, how and why Bjorn and company turned against the Mystery of Abomination, and how and why Old Nick/the Goblin Prince could traverse worlds. Some of John’s confused internal struggles over whether he is evil, his vanity and what he does because of it are sympathetic. There are echoes of classic kids’ literature – the orphan on a journey finding kindly companions and a new destiny, though did he have to lose the need for glasses when he came to Anthropos? We get some of the backstory of Geburah, the island with a tower that plays such a vital role in the first book. But there’s no mention of some of the things involving Gaal that were referenced particularly in ‘The Iron Sceptre’ in a clear sign there’s another book to be read. The happy ending is fairly predictable, as the Changer keeps his word. I must say I’m finding diminishing returns from this series.
As hinted in the last few books in this series, ‘Uncle John’ did visit Anthropos before his nephews and nieces, and this is the story of the first time. However, when first we meet him, he goes by the name John Wilson and lives in foggy Pendlebury, England. It’s a special day, he’s just turned thirteen, and today Grandma Wilson, who brough him up, has promised to tell him the truth about his parents, of whom he has mementos in a locket that he always carries around with him. But his grandmother will never tell him, for he comes home to find her dead from a stroke, and it looks as though his life will turn upside down. Eavesdropping on neighbours, he learns that his grandmother never liked his father, his mother died in childbirth, and the consensus is that he’ll be sent to a home. He’s determined not to let that happen, and his plan is to go to Canada, where his father may now be living. That’s the plan of a traumatised thirteen-year-old-boy.
But that night, he visits Anthropos in a dream, where he sees a seer, an old man named Mab, join a group of Matmon (dwarves) and a talking vixen named Vixenia. They have recently turned on their former master, the Mystery of Abomination, and are hoping to travel to the Island of Geburah, where it is prophesised that the Regents will come to rule over Anthropos. In this dream, the seer, at least, sees him, and around his waist is a sheathed sword.
Only John sleeps in, and the next morning, the neighbourhood terror, a scrapyard owner named Old Nick (do you see what the author did there?) is offering to pay for John to go to a special school. Having come across Old Nick before, and gained a shoulder injury then, John is even more determined to avoid that fate, and bolts. He’s just trying to get away, not so much to get to Canada.
But when a mysterious door appears, John walks through it, rather than have to face Old Nick. He finds himself in a blue-lit room, talking to an amazing presence, called the Changer, who tells him He will always be with John and has a mission for him, if he picks up the sword lying on the floor and leaves through another door.
For John is to be the Sword Bearer, a figure with a key role in the prophecies surrounding the Regents. He is to slay the Goblin Prince, but almost as soon as he enters Anthropos things go wrong. He is only saved by the aid of Folly, the king of donkeys, who speaks in confused cliches (and is something of an echo of the flying horse Theophilus of previous books.) He is rescued by the party who saw him in the dream, although King Biorn of the Matmon is suspicious of him, but Mab who follows the Changer, vouches for him. What follows is a series of picaresque adventures as John travels with the party to Geburah. For a while, he refuses to drink the wine of free pardon, served at magical meals brought to them by Aguila the giant, talking eagle and her like. He is taunted by Lord Lunacy, one of the forms the Mystery of Abomination takes, and haunted by dreams he had of two Matmon, who turn out to be the king’s grandsons. Worse, he learns that somehow the Goblin Prince is Old Nick from England.
John has a mixture of feelings about the fact that he is the legendary Sword Bearer, there’s some pride, but also a lot of internal conflict. The story is about his relationship with the Changer, also called Mi-Ka-Ya, and the equivalent of God the Father, but also his relationship with old Mab, who knows that his long life will come to an end as the Sword Bearer fulfils his part of the prophecy, which is for the good of Anthropos. So, it’s the same sort of thing as the children of the previous books faced, with adventures sort of representing a spiritual journey, as John comes to drink the wine of free pardon and comes to call the Changer his Changer, rejecting evil, particularly facing his old nemesis. It’s clearly set in an Old Testmanet equivalent – when they come, the Regents are Adam and Eve figures, and there is, as yet no Gaal, although he is mentioned in the name of magical Gaal trees – wherein Mab can tap a tree and it leads into a large room inside the tree for him and John on their journey.
But it’s very scattershot, very episodic. I got irritated by the fact that many chapters started a while after the last one and then the author went back to exposit what had happened in between. It’s irritatingly for the boys – ooh, look, John gets to carry a sword around (like Wesley did, or will chronologically speaking). Female characters are an afterthought, John’s mother died, very sad, but rarely mentioned, while he longs to meet his father, admittedly, still living as far as he knows, even though he knows nothing about him. Mab too had been promised a son, but like Abraham, is now very very old, and like Simeon, knows his death will come when certain events happen. His relationship with John reminded me a bit of the priest Eli and young Samuel’s. He claims that every man wants a son, which might be what an orphaned boy wants to hear, but I rather queried.
When the Regents announce that they named the Matmon, I rolled my eyes. Bjorn is all right as a name, alluding to Scandinavia and all that, but his wife was literally named Bjornsluv. The author only seemed to have put thought into Folly’s name. The only other significant female character is John’s dead grandmother, about whom he has complicated feelings. Chocma makes a cameo, and we learn the origin story of a character who appeared in ‘The Iron Sceptre.’
Some bits are more effective than others, but you’re left with a heap of questions, like why Aguila and Oso decided to try to attack the Goblin Prince when they did, how and why Bjorn and company turned against the Mystery of Abomination, and how and why Old Nick/the Goblin Prince could traverse worlds. Some of John’s confused internal struggles over whether he is evil, his vanity and what he does because of it are sympathetic. There are echoes of classic kids’ literature – the orphan on a journey finding kindly companions and a new destiny, though did he have to lose the need for glasses when he came to Anthropos? We get some of the backstory of Geburah, the island with a tower that plays such a vital role in the first book. But there’s no mention of some of the things involving Gaal that were referenced particularly in ‘The Iron Sceptre’ in a clear sign there’s another book to be read. The happy ending is fairly predictable, as the Changer keeps his word. I must say I’m finding diminishing returns from this series.
