Yule Review: Santa Claus in Fantasy Fiction

 

A version of this article appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table #182 (December, 2011).

Some of the pictures of Father Christmas in our world make him look only funny and jolly. But now that the children actually stood looking at him they didn’t find it quite like that. He was so big, and so glad, and so real, that they all became quite still. They felt very glad, but also very solemn. 

–The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis.

It is once again the merry time of Yule, when the old year dies and the new is born again. It is natural in the northern hemisphere, and especially in the truly northern regions, to associate this time with death and rebirth. It is a special time for myth and religion, a time that seems to attract mythical figures like moth to a flame. Christianity and Mithraism both chose this time to honor the broth of their respective deities, of course, but equally entwined in the season is the legend of the Gift Bringer, a magical figure that rewards children for good behavior and, sometimes, punishes the bad children. 

The gift figure takes many forms throughout Europe, ranging from the Yule Goat of Scandinavia to La Befana, the Old Woman of Italy or the Christkind of Bavaria and Austria. The more common form, however is a bearded old man, usually connected to the Christian Saint Nicholas, called Father Christmas in the British Isles. In America he is Santa Claus, and like many American things he has sprung from his old world origins to spread back out throughout the world. 

Whatever we call him, Santa Claus is a powerfully mythic figure and a seeming natural for fantasy fiction, especially the more mystical, dream-like style of fantasy that follows in Lord Dunsany’s footsteps far from the  fields we know and deep into the realms of Faerie. But as I have mentioned before, Christmas remains a difficult subject, and perhaps its relentless commercialization and the plethora of children’s stories have dissuaded fantasy authors from exploring its fantasy potential. Regardless, there are some very good fantasy tales of Santa, by the greatest writers in the field, and fantasy lovers looking for a fantastical take on Christmas should give them a try.   

Perhaps the earliest fantasy novel to tell a Santa story is L. Frank Baum's excellent The Life and
Adventures of Santa Claus (1902), which I reviewed here. Baum revisited Santa in the short story "A Kidnapped Santa Claus" (1904), a sequel to the origin tale which the five "Daemons of the Caves" (Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, Malice, and Repentance). They try to eliminate Santa and his influence on children first through temptation then when that fails through kidnapping. It's an excellent short parable, with plenty of fodder for gamemasters.

C.S. Lewis, of course, employs Father Christmas, but his momentous appearance in Narnia in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950) was indistinguishable from Santa save in name. His appearance is a pivotal plot point, and the gifts he brings are not mere toys, but essential to the tale - in fact, rather similar to Galadriel's gifts to the Fellowship in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. 

Lewis’ friend J.R.R. Tolkien produced a series of letters from Father Christmas to his children, written over two decades and first published in 1976.  Letters from Father Christmas (revised 1999), notable not only for its engaging prose and episodic tales of life at the North Pole, but also because so many of the motifs and events of Tolkien’s The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Silmarillion are foreshadowed in the letters.

Of course, as well written as they are, the Santa works of Tolkien, Lewis, and Baum are aimed at children.  Seabury Quinn’s Roads, first published in Weird Tales in 1938 and then in hardback by Arkham House in 1948, is written for adults, asking the question, "What if Conan the Barbarian became Santa Claus?"  The Arkham House novel was well illustrated by Virgil Finlay, and was reprinted in 2005.  It is divided into three parts, ‘The Road to Bethlehem,’ ‘The Road to Calvary,’ and ‘The Long, Long

Road.’ Santa is really "Claudius" an immortal German mercenary who apparently spent centuries slaughtering his way across Europe and the Middle east with his equally immortal wife (a sort of Jewish Red Sonja who begins life as a prostitute in a brothel run by Mary Magdalen). The book positively reeks of anti-Semitism and Anglo-Saxon triumphalism. Quinn is best known for writing occult detective stories, which appeared in the pulp magazines alongside the tales of H.P. Lovecraft, R.E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith. Roads is a religious Christmas tale told through a Sword & Sorcery lens and dripping with 1930s style anti-Semitism that it simply never rises above.

A more modern take comes in Bill Willingham’s long running comic Fables. The comic addressed Santa, in “Jiminy Christmas” (issue #56). Santa is a

‘Fable’ (a living, breathing fairy tale) of course, but he is a particularly powerful one who somehow transcends the other Fables in power and influence. The tale is very adult, all though it portrays a young child’s quest to see Santa during his gift-giving (the explanation provided for Claus’ miraculous Christmas Eve global service is sublime). Like Lewis, Willingham uses Santa as a deus ex machina who passes gifts and knowledge onto the protagonists. It also provides one of the best explanations for how Santa reaches all the houses around the globe in one night. 

Another modern fantasy take is Tony Abbot's Kringle, from 2005. It isn't a traditional Christmas book but rather a Dark Age bildungsroman. Kringle has goblins, elves, magic, all against a back drop of Anglo-Saxon Britain. It's very
good, but it is really only about the start of the tale, how Kringle transform into Santa is barely addressed. But as far as it goes its a great, fun, fantasy tale. It reminds me a great deal of Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword, with the magic world existing alongside but hidden from the barbarity of the Dark Ages.

An even more modern take is The Christmas Chronicles: The Legend of Santa Claus by Tim Slover. It is a pleasant enough tale, but it doesn't quite scratch the Santa and Fantasy itch I've always had. It doesn't catch the magic of the elves and faerie quite right. Magic only enters the tale after Claus and his wife have had a long life as toy givers. Even then, it ignores or changes most of the Christmas legends, (Rudolph gets a different name and totally different story). It lacks that connection to older, deeper mythologies

and is very Christian, aside from an odd digression concerning the Dalai Lama.

For gamemasters looking to add some Christmas spark, Lewis and Willingham’s use of Santa as a gift-giver provides an excellent example. Lewis’ Santa, especially, is similar in role to Tolkien’s Galadriel. Santa can pass on wisdom or knowledge (suitably hidden in rhyme) as well as providing precisely the needed magic weapon or spell. If limited to a one time, special event for a particularly mythic quest, this can work extremely well. Of course, Christmas scenarios can also be drawn from these Santa tales, especially the ongoing war between Santa and the goblins in Tolkien’s The Father Christmas Letters.

Whether you read these tales for fun, for a window into the holiday, or merely to get some ideas for the Christmas Eve role-playing session, I hope you will sing:

Goday, goday, my lord Sire Christëmas, goday!

Goday, Sire Christëmas, our king,

for ev'ry man, both old and ying,

is glad and blithe of your coming;

Goday!

(Anon. Christmas Carol, 1458)

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

My "Off the Shelf" book reviews

 All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

And yet more crass self-promotion. From May 2006 through April 2013 I was the "Off the Shelf" columnist for Knights of the Dinner Table (aka KoDT), a comic book/game magazine published by Kenzer & Company. I wrote most of these columns during that period, but there were a handful, roughly one a year, written by others. Most of the columns were straight forward reviews, but I also wrote several as  review essays on several topics.

I felt that having a column like this was a privilege not to take lightly, and so I generally only reviewed works that I felt comfortable recommending to readers. I wanted to direct people to books worth reading rather then warn them from books that I may not have liked. After all, just because a work wasn't to my taste didn't mean others would not enjoy it. 

Because Knights of the Dinner Table was a comic and magazine aimed at table top roleplayers, I tried to include at least a paragraph in each review on what a gamer or gamemaster could pull from the work regarding inspiration and ideas for their games. 

One of my long term goals for ‘Off the Shelf’ was to work my way through the authors listed as ‘inspirational and educational reading’ in Appendix N of the 1st edition AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide (p224, Gary Gygax, TSR (c) 1979). I didn't manage to get to them all, but I got to most of them. I wasn't always able or willing to review the books listed for the authors (some of them are fairly obscure today) so in some cases the author was listed but not the specific work I reviewed. I've marked works by Appendix N authors with a * at the end of the entry. In the years since I wrote my column, Appendix N has inspired many blogs and at least one rather bad IMO, book. A quick google search will turn all of these up, here is one example. 

The 1981 Tom Moldvay Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set included, on page 62, a bibliography of "Inspirational Source Material." I think it is actually a better, more comprehensive list than the more famous Appendix N (as do some others). I have indicated authors from that list with a # mark at the end of the entry.

In 2013 the editors brought on Noah Chinn to take over the column. Noah is an excellent author in his own right (I reviewed two of his books in the column) and a good friend of mine, he was an excellent choice to keep the column going. Noah has also been posting about his reviews since he took over the column. I encourage you to check out his work. 

Individual back issues of Knights of the Dinner Table magazine, including all of those listed below, can be found here for purchase.

KoDT #115 May 2006 Thieves’ World anthology series edited by Asprin and Abbey*# (revised and expanded here.) 

KoDT #117 July 2006 The Lankhmar aka Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber*#

KoDT #118 August 2006 The Corum Saga by Michael Moorcock*# (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #119 September 2006 The History of Middle Earth and Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien*#

KoDT #120 October 2006 Conan of Cimmeria by Robert E. Howard*# 

KoDT #121 November 2006 The Barsoom Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs*#

KoDT #122 December 2006 Black Seas of Infinity: The Best of H.P. Lovecraft *#

KoDT #123 January 2007 The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea by Mary Renault#

KoDT #124 February 2007 The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany*#

KoDT #125 March 2007 Quag Keep by Andre Norton*#

KoDT #126 April 2007 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke 

KoDT #127 May 2007 Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson*#

KoDT #128 June 2007 The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien*#

KoDT #129 July 2007 The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander#

KoDT #130 August 2007 A Rendezvous in Averoigne by Clark Ashton Smith#

KoDT #131 September 2007  Goblin Quest and Goblin Hero by Jim C. Hines 

KoDT #132 October 2007 The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova 

KoDT #133 November 2007 The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs*#

KoDT #135 January 2008 Tales of the Dying Earth (aka the Compleat Dying Earth) by Jack Vance 

KoDT #136 February 2008 His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik 

KoDT #137 March 2008 The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #138 April 2008 Medieval Romances by Howard Pyle 

KoDT #139 May 2008 The Wardstone Chronicles aka The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #141 July 2008 That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis# (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #142 August 2008 Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser 

KoDT #143 September 2008 The Last Mythal by Richard Baker 

KoDT #144 October 2008 Dracula by Bram Stoker# (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #145 November 2008 Game Night by Jonny Nexus 

KoDT #146 December 2008 The Compleat Enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt*# 

KoDT #147 January 2009 The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte 

KoDT #148 February 2009 The Merlin Trilogy by Mary Stewart# (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #149 March 2009 Lankhmar Book 8: Swords Against the Shadowland by Robin Wayne Bailey 

KoDT #150 April 2009 "Important Fantasy Writers"  (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #151 May 2009 The Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley 

KoDT #152 June 2009 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore

KoDT #153 July 2009 The Wyvern's Spur by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb 

KoDT #154 August 2009 The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

KoDT #155 September 2009 She by H. Rider Haggard#  

KoDT #156 October 2009 The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore 

KoDT #157 November 2009 The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan 

KoDT #158 December 2009 The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper 

KoDT #159 January 2010 Peter & Max by Bill Willingham 

KoDT #160 February 2010 The Corps series by W.E.B. Griffin

KoDT #161 March 2010 The Legend of Sigrid and Gudrun by J.R.R. Tolkien*#

KoDT #163 May 2010 Shadow Hawk by Andre Norton*# 

KoDT #164 June 2010  The Moon Pool by Abraham Merritt*# 

KoDT #165 July 2010 The Last Seal by Richard Denning 

KoDT #166 August 2010 The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson*#

KoDT #167 September 2010 Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver 

KoDT #168 October 2010 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 

KoDT #169 November 2010  Johannes Cabal: the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard 

KoDT #170 December 2010 The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum#

KoDT #171 January 2011 Evermeet: Island of the Elves by Elaine Cunningham 

KoDT #172 February 2011 Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover and Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker by George Lucas and Alan Dean Foster 

KoDT #173 March 2011 The Magicians by Lev Grossman

KoDT #174 April 2011 The Original Shannara Trilogy by Terry Brooks

KoDT #175 May 2011 "AD&D Player's Handbook by Gary Gygax and others in a Genre Genesis article" aka "Genre Genesis: The Literary Foundations of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the Players Handbook"

KoDT #176 June 2011 "AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual by Gary Gygax and others in a Genre Genesis article" aka "Genre Genesis: The Literary Foundations of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the Dungeon Master’s Guide & Monster Manual"

KoDT #178 August 2011 "Genre Genesis III" aka "Genre Genesis: The Literary Foundations of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the early AD&D Modules"

KoDT #179 September 2011 The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

KoDT #180 October 2011 Master of the Macabre (lesser works of Edgar Allan Poe) (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #181 November 2011 Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things and In Ghostly Japan by Lafcadio Hearn  

KoDT #182 December 2011 "Santa Claus in Fantasy Fiction" 

KoDT #183 January 2012 Bleeding Heart Yard aka A G**damned Love Story: The Curious Case of Bleeding Heart Yard by Noah Chinn

KoDT #184 February 2012 The Belgariad by David and Leigh Eddings

KoDT #185 March 2012 Swords Against the Darkness III edited by Andrew Offutt

KoDT #186 April 2012 The Doctor and the Kid by Mike Resnick

KoDT #187 May 2012 A Tale of the House of the Wolfings, and All the Kindreds of the Mark Written in Prose and in Verse by William Morris

KoDT #188 June 2012 Black Amazon of Mars by Leigh Brackett*#

KoDT #189 July 2012 Ready One Player by Ernest Cline

KoDT #190 August 2012 The White Raven by Diana L. Paxson

KoDT #191 September 2012 The Tempus novels aka the Sacred Band series by Janet Morris (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #192 October 2012 A Guile of Dragons by James Enge

KoDT #193 November 2012 The Jewel of the Seven Stars by Bram Stoker#

KoDT #194 December 2012 Trooper #4 by Noah Chinn

KoDT #195 January 2013 The Lancashire Witches by William Harrison Ainsworth (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #196 February 2013 The Express Diaries by Nick Marsh

KoDT #198 April 2013 Sanctuary by Lynn Abbey

It does seem fitting to me that I started and ended my tenure reviewing works from the Thieves' World setting.

 All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

Some thoughts on Socrates & Plato

The Debate of Socrates and Aspasia by Nicolas-André Monsiau.

We cannot help but see Socrates as the turning-point, the vortex of world history.

—Friedrich Nietzsche, in The Birth of Tragedy (1872), p. 73

I really enjoyed my 'deep dive' into CS Lewis and his fiction during the summer of 2019. I decided to do something similar in the summer of 2020, looking at Socrates & Plato. It turned out to be a more difficult project, not in terms of reading but in terms of getting my head around the subject. In the end, I limited myself to Socrates, looking at Plato beyond his role as Socrates' recorder was just too much for a summer.  My plan was to read some of the dialogues, some of Aristophanes' plays in which they appear, and some biographies. I intended to focus on Socrates and Plato as people, their thinking on rhetoric, and reexamining my past in-depth readings in the dialogues, which were 30 years ago.

I started my Summer of Socrates by reading Rosamond K Sprague's edition of Plato: Laches and Charmides, which I still had from my days as an undergrad. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed Laches. Charmides was more shocking, as I had forgotten how blatant it is about Socrates' 

homosexuality (the dialogue is framed as Socrates trying to seduce a young man noted for his beauty - but note other sources argue Socrates restrained himself from sex). Also, it takes place at a palaestra, reminding me that, somewhat ironically, Socrates and Plato were both jocks.

[Edit: The homosexuality isn't shocking. What shocked me was how bawdy and blatant it was, the "locker room" of it.  It would have been equally shocking if Socrates was drooling over a young woman. This level of bawdiness wouldn't be out of place in one of Aristophanes' plays, but just felt odd in a Socratic dialogue -  which undoubtedly says something about me, because I had read this dialogue before and I should not have been surprised by it.]

Rereading these really highlighted a couple things for me. One, is that language impacts this even more then usual. I compared two different translations, an old, 19th century translation and Sprague's much newer one.  There were definite differences that impacted Plato's meaning.  The modern translation made the sexual connotations of Socrates' interest in Charmides more apparent. I would like to know more about the exact Greek word used for 'courage' and what shades of meaning it has. In Charmides, the virtue being defined is usually translated as 'temperance', but the actual Greek word is  'sophrosyne' which clearly means much more then temperance or even moderation. In both cases it is clear the goal is not to define that one virtue, but to define Virtue itself.  

I was also struck by how much lack of context left the works untethered historically. The 'characters' in the dialogues are all historical personages, prominent Athenians whose reputations are supposed to inform our understanding of the dialogue. Nicias was one of the commanders of the infamous Sicilian expedition renowned for his caution. Laches was one of the commanders who lost the Battle of Mantinea. In Charmides, both Charmides and Critias were infamous as members of the 30 Tyrants. None of this is mentioned in either dialogue. 

I then turned to another of my old undergrad works, Aristophanes: Lysistrata/The Archanians/The Clouds, translated by Alan Sommerstein. I love Aristophanes' plays, which are earthy, funny, and really help you see how the Athenians were real people (who liked dirty jokes), humanizing them in ways that are often needed as our study of the past can transform them into metaphorical marble statues. Only The Clouds dealt specifically with Socrates, and I'd forgotten how annoyed The Clouds made me, because the Socrates who appears within that work is so utterly different from the Socrates we find in Plato's dialogues, literally espousing opposite opinions. But it is important to see how his contemporaries viewed him.

I turned next to Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths by Robin Waterfield. This work challenged by preconceptions of Socrates and helped me put him firmly back into the context of his life, within Athenian history. It was well written and often convincing. For example, his description of Athenian religion placed the impiety charge of which Socrates was convicted in its proper context, reminding us that religion and patriotism were linked in Athens (it is still dominating our political thought today). 

The weakest section of the book was a long digression into Athenian politics and Alcibiades where Socrates barely appears at all. It provides context, but a work on Socrates should not have long stretches with no mention of the philosopher.  Waterfield's interesting twist is that he makes a case that Socrates' conviction and execution were, by Athenian standards of the day, justified. It boils down to what one thinks of Socrates' role, if any, in the rule of the the 30 Tyrants.  Plato, writing long after the fact, positioned Socrates as a foe of the Tyrants, but in the same source he mentions that many of them were friends and relatives of Plato (and friends and students of Socrates as well). As Waterfield points out, that is hardly a convincing case, and it is easy to see how Socrates could be associated with Tyrants. 

Then Waterfield pivots again at the very end, this time to the Thargelia. This reminds us that not only was Athenian society steeped in religion in ways we find difficult to understand (as permeated by religion as modern America is by commercialism) but also that ancient religion was literally blood soaked, even "rational" Athens still practiced essentially human sacrifice (though perhaps it was ceremonial). This ends the work with the idea that Socrates is just a scapegoat, that his trial is similar to the Thargelia if less ritualized. 

I found myself with new questions after reading Waterfield's work, I wondered if Socrates SHOULD bear some blame for Alcibiades, Critias, and the Thirty Tyrants. Did his teachings lead some to mass murder? His defenders, Xenophon and Plato, argued after the fact he was not connected to their excesses but obviously biased defenses long after the fact should not be wholly convincing. I tried to deeply rethink my understanding of Socrates -- perhaps he drank the hemlock cup because he knew he deserved it. But perhaps not, as a friend pointed out to me, Socrates' teachings do not really support their actions. In the Meno, for example, he "shows that the non-citizen slave - with the right training - is just as capable of the Socratic method as a free citizen." The more I consider it, the less convinced I am of any of Waterfield's arguments. 

The next book in my deep dive didn't help much. Plato's Republic by Simon Blackburn was not a
history at all, but an analysis of Plato's ideas by someone who doesn't really like Plato very much.  A useful corrective, as Plato does get more then his share of hero worship but he allowed his own real-world politics into the mix too often.

My final book for the project was The Hemlock Cup by Bettany Hughes.  It is the best of the works I've read to date. It is a detailed history that frames the tale with his trial and execution (apparently that is irresistible to his biographers) but what Hughes highlights that Socrates is really 'donut' subject - tons of information available on the people and world around Socrates, but he himself is absent because he left no writings (the parallels with Jesus are striking).  In order to counter this absence, Hughes focuses on the archaeology, recreating Athens at each stage of Socrates' life as he would have seen and interacted with it, while inserting the documentary evidence we do have. It is brilliant, a technique I shall have to remember if faced with a similar donut subject myself in the future. 

The Hemlock Cup was a very good read, I definitely think I understand Socrates better having read it. It certainly gave me a better perspective and understanding when I turned to the final book in my Socratic 'deep dive':  Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo translated by G.M.A. Grube. This is another reread of my undergrad textbooks, and it was interesting reading these dialogue translations after my previous readings.  

I was particularly struck by this bit: "Finally, I went to the craftsmen. For I was conscious of knowing practically nothing and I knew that I would find they had knowledge of many fine things. In this I was not mistaken … the good craftsmen seemed to me to have the same fault as the poets: each of them, because of his success at his craft, thought himself very wise in other most important pursuits, and this error overshadowed the wisdom they had." (Plato, Apology, 22.D) This reminds me a great deal of STEM types who assume history or other Humanities are 'easy' and blithely make pronouncements about those areas of studies despite their own relative ignorance.

The biggest takeaway I have from this "deep dive" is a better understanding of my personal ignorance regarding Socrates and Plato, as well our collective ignorance of Socrates character and thoughts. This is known as the Socratic Problem, and it has dogged scholars and philosophers for hundreds of years. Socrates left us no writings of his own, nor any hints of things he wrote that other writers mention. All we have are the writings of a few people who knew him personally. Of these, Aristophanes' comedies are the only contemporary writings. Two of his students, Plato and Xenophon, wrote extensively about him, but they wrote long after he was dead. Thus the "donut" status mentioned above. The broad consensus is that earlier Platonic dialogues are close to Socrates' authentic thoughts, especially when the match what is said of him in other sources. In later writings, like The Republic, Plato is using Socrates as a character to express his own philosophies.  

My "deep dive" into Socrates and Plato had shifted quite a bit as I delved into it. First, it was immediately clear the topic was way too huge for one summer of study, even for a cursory examination. So I abandoned Plato to focus on Socrates, who had always fascinated me more. But even Socrates on his own was far to large of a subject, and in the end, after a perfunctory look at his wider views, I was led by the books I read to focus on his place in Athenian politics and society.  I didn't come to many firm conclusions -- like so many of mankind's most influential thinkers much of his life remains shrouded in the unknowable -- but I learned a great deal.

Considering that many of mankind's greatest minds have grappled with Socrates and come to no firmer conclusions then I did after my light summer reading exploration, I'm fairly content with my conclusions. 

Last summer I was too buried in research and writing to do a "deep dive" on any subject other then my work. But I certainly hope I have an opportunity to do one this summer. 

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

Spelljammer Reviews

I have many interests, one of my most enduring is Dungeons & Dragons, which I've been playing since 1980. I've played in most of the various campaign settings that have come out for the game, but one of my favorites is Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space.  I love the idea of fantastical wooden ships flying through space, and I love that Spelljammer potentially connected all of the AD&D campaign settings. 

In fact, I love Spelljammer so much its the only D&D campaign for which I have had some of my writings published - I co-authored the Hackmaster 4e conversion of the setting, Hackjammer (sadly long out of print and difficult to find). 

So, along with that published work, I wrote a great deal of material for Spelljammer that was "published" on the web, mostly on what was the official Spelljammer fan site, Beyond the Moons. It's all still there, but the site is a bit harder to link to these days. And I have been converting old works and adding new material to create unofficial Spelljammer 'netbook' pdfs. Mostly these are reference works of various sorts to the Spelljammer products.

I recently completed another of these. Long ago Beyond the Moons put up my "Spelljammer product reviews" (scroll down to the bottom of the page),  I decide to reedit these, add new ones for material i missed the first time, and add images of the various product covers to produce an annotated and illustrated Spelljammer bibliography. 

So, here it is:

Spelljammer in Review: An annotated and illustrated bibliography of the Spelljammer campaign setting and related products and articles.  

If you wish to distribute this work, please contact me first.

I hope Spelljammer fans find it useful.

N.B.  I recently came across this blog entry with reviews of the Cloakmaster cycle of Spelljammer novels. It's a bit kinder on the later novels in the series then I am, but it is an excellent set of reviews anyway. 

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

The Sacred Band tales of Janet & Chris Morris

Portions of this article appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table #191 (September, 2012).

One of fantasy’s enduring motifs is the concept of the multiverse, the idea of different worlds and times that co-exist, and which the unwary or wise can travel between via various extraordinary devices or phenomenon. Dungeons and Dragons famously made great use of the concept of the multiverse, it was particularly useful in allowing travel between the various home campaign worlds of gamemasters but also between TSR’s commercially published settings. I dare say most gamers and many fantasy fans find the concept fascinating and enticing, who doesn’t want to see Conan take Elric down a peg? And for writers the multiverse is a wonderful tool, Janet and Chris Morris employed the multiverse motif to free Tempus, Janet Morris’ most famous character, and his followers from the constraints of the Thieves’ World shared universe series.

Janet Morris is a prolific author who got her start in the late ‘70s with High Couch of Silistra, an old school science fiction novel that reads like a cross between Leigh Brackett and early John Norman. In fantasy fiction, she is best known for her participation in the Thieves’ World anthologies and as the editor of the Heroes in Hell Bangsian shared world anthologies.

I think her best work, however, is I, the Sun, a biographical historical ficton novel about Hittite king Šuppiluliuma I.  It is a powerful work, extremely well done. It is far better, IMO, than any of her Thieves' World stories. In fact, it is on par with Mary Renault's works, and there is no higher praise from me. Told in the first person, the tale is riveting from beginning to end, in a subtle manner. The relationships are believable, the angst is minimal, and religion is handled just right for the period.

The only real weakness is the military aspects and battle scenes. Morris is obviously fascinated by warfare, but she just doesn't seem to understand it very well. As a military historian I was hoping for some imaginative insights into Hittite military culture and tactics, but those aspects of the novel were minimal.

As with any work on antiquity, especially on a subject like the Hittites, she has to make some things up, and the scholarship is from the 1970s,so there have likely been quite a few changes in how we view the Hittites and the nations around them. So be sure to look to newer works for actual Hittite history. But this one is very fun. I especially love how she deals with the women interacting with the protagonist and the internal politics. This is Janet Morris' best work and the audiobook is also quite well read.

Based on publication dates, it appears that she wrote I, the Sun contemporaneously with her Thieves' World work, there is some obvious connections with Father Enlil and later Shepherd, from I, the Sun, appears in a couple late Thieves' World stories. Her depictions of religious observances are clearly influenced by her Hittite research, and several characters from the series were likely inspired by, or at least named after, individuals from Greek history, notably Critias.

Her most enduring character in Thieves’ World was Tempus, a tortured immortal mercenary who regenerates any wounds he takes and is the chosen avatar of the storm god. Tempus quickly became one of the most popular characters in the series, what teen-age boy could resist a character who takes women when he wants them, constantly insults the god rumbling in his head, is preternaturally strong, swift, and healthy, never sleeps, and is generally feared by all? And, of course, he battles demons and wizards who also fear him.  Of course, such a character creates balance problems in a shared world setting, and Tempus and his followers, the Stepson mercenary band, certainly led to the power glut that oozed through the middle volumes of that series.

In addition to short stories, Morris wrote the first three novels for Thieves' World: Beyond Sanctuary, Beyond the Veil, and Beyond Wizard Wall. In the Thieves' World chronology they fell between Face of Chaos and Wings of Omen and they introduced an 'epic fantasy' storyline involving the Nisibisi globes of power that roiled Thieves' World through out the rest of the series. Though they had many interesting scenes and vignettes, these novels were somewhat disjointed and difficult to follow. These novels have some cool ideas - especially the Nisibisi cultures and the basic northern politics. it's a shame they remained so underdeveloped.

They were also very focused focused on Nikodemos, a junior Stepson who gradually took over as the primary protagonist from Tempus. Niko became a problematic character in

the series. the plots all seemed to revolve around witches and gods desiring Niko, but why anyone should want to spend time with Niko is an open question. Sulking angst is his most common attitude, and he never shows any particular intelligence, empathy, or any other desirable trait. He prefers to prey on young girls - criminally young in the modern world. Most damning of all, he is a point of view character, so we see inside his mind often, which means it is clear that Niko is nearly always wrong about what is going on around him. He fails to value wiser, braver, and more ethical characters about him, such as the wizard Randal.  Yet we spend nearly all of the remaining tales in his company, following the same storyline repeated over and over - the Nisibisi witch Roxane wants Niko, and so do the gods, and Tempus wants to protect Niko.  

When Thieves’ World ended Morris published a series of novels furthering the tales of he and his followers, since she had the rights to the characters but not the setting, Tempus and his band were soon travelling the multiverse.  

It is interesting to see how Janet Morris' handling of time and the multiverse differs from Michael Moorcock's, The two authors come from very different backgrounds, and I don't see any evidence that either was aware of or influenced by the other. Nonetheless, in many ways Tempus closest analog in fantasy fiction is Elric of Melnibone, right down to the predilections for philosophy, incest, gods and the cursed destinies that bedevil them. However, Morris' multiverse is far more heavily influenced by the philosophy and mythologies of the Ancient Mediterranean.

The first novel in this follow-on series, Tempus, merely collected the most relevant of the old Thieves’

World stories to provide suitable background for the later works, interspersed with a framing tale. In City at the Edge of Time, the first post-Thieves’ World tale of Tempus, the city in questioned is saved from ‘evil’ and Tempus’ protégé becomes its ruler. In Tempus Unbound, the immortal comes to fabled Lemuria, and is soon drawn into a demon war across time that is centered in modern New York – a tale that reads far better then one would expect from its summary. In Storm Seed, Tempus, now ruler of Lemuria, brings his scattered forces home, seemingly set to begin a new series of adventures across time and the planes.

Instead, the Morrises (Chris Morris being a co-author since the late ‘80s) abandoned Tempus and his Stepsons for twenty years, not coming out with a sequel to Storm Seed until 2010, with The Sacred Band. Working with a new publisher, Perseid Press, the Morris' tied the Stepsons directly into the legend of the historical Sacred Band of Thebes. Most of the tale takes place in Sanctuary, set between the conclusion of the original 12 Thieves' World anthologies, and the setting's 2002 revival.

Returning to an overt connection with antiquity allowed this tale to play directly to the strengths Morris exhibited in I, the Sun. The opening of the tale is very promising, the merger of the Thebans and the Stepsons introduces new characters and we get to see Arton and Gyskouras, the Storm children of Sanctuary's most turbulent story line as young men. And finally we see some actual battles, rather then mere skirmishes, something which was strangely lacking in the previous Tempus stories - for someone fascinated by warriors, Morris appears uninterested in fight scenes.

But there is a great deal that is less good. Too soon the novel shifts focus and once again Nikodemos becomes the center of the same repetitive story lines of the previous tales. Although published 8 years after the 2002 revival, and set between the original series and the revival chronologically, there is no sign that Morris read the linking novel by Lynn Abbey, Sanctuary - how any of this fits into the known history of Sanctuary between the series is a huge puzzle. And one of Morris weakness' as a shared world author stands out in particular in this work, she handles the characters borrowed from other writers poorly. Molin is almost unrecognizable, as is Arton's mother, Ilyra. The relationship between Gyskouras and Arton doesn't seem at all what one would expect after the original series. And Straton and Ischade simply repeat the storyline they were in at the closing of the original series, despite already receiving a proper ending in those tales.

The final work in the series is The Fish, The Fighters, and the Song-girl. This is another short story collection, although this time it does include a few tales not previously published. As with previous Sacred Band story collections there is a 'framing' story meant to put the tales into context, but it is confusing and doesn't seem to have much of a resolution. I don't know if this is intended to be the last work in the series but it felt open-ended, so perhaps we can expect more Tempus and the Sacred Band tales down the road. [Edit: With Morris' passing in 2024, sadly I believe the tales have ended. Though if Chris Morris chose to continue I am certain the fans would welcome them.]

Over all, in the Sacred Band series the prose is typically lush, and too dependent on repetitive internal character dialogue, but Morris has a knack for implying a level of complexity and insight that leads the reader to seek more.  

Nonetheless, she explores the multiverse in a unique manner, and the dynamics of the mercenary band she describes are fascinating.  The Sacred Band series novels are not to everyone’s taste, but if you like dark military fantasy they are well worth a read. 

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

Arthurian (Authorial?) Romance and Mary Stewart

The original version of this article appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table #148 (February, 2009).

I have loved King Arthur tales since I was a small child, and as I grew older I became somewhat obsessed with the Matter of Britain. By far my favorite Arthurian author is Mary Stewart, whose first person account of Merlin' childhood, The Crystal Cave was a wonder. I have reread her works many times over the years, always finding new delights and insights.

English author Mary Stewart has written over a score of novels, many of them romance or mystery books, but she is best known for her magnum opus, the Merlin Trilogy, comprising The Crystal Cave (1970), The Hollow Hills (1973), and The Last Enchantment (1979).  Armed with exhaustive research and a vivid imagination she broke through the extremely crowded field of Arthurian fiction with a series that ranks as among the very best, indeed possibly the best, modern work in that field. 

The conceit of Stewart’s work is that she takes Merlin, the perennial background character and plot device of Arthurian legend and transforms him into a dynamic and fascinating leading man. Her research is thorough, and she traces the threads of Merlin’s story through myth and legend while placing
him firmly within the context of the post-Roman Northern European world.  Specifically, she shows an understanding of the historical phenomenon of the ‘holy man’ or ‘holy hermit’ that allows her to create a believable, approachable Merlin, beginning with his youth in Wales and closing with his slow fade into obscurity at the height of Arthur’s reign.  All narrated by the ancient wizard himself, to an unknown listener (a precursor, if you will, of the modern "documentary" sitcom style found in shows like The Office or Modern Family). 

In fact her use of the ‘holy hermit’ really struck me when I first began to study the history of Late Antiquity under Dr Gregory at Ohio State in the early 1990s.  When reading "The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity" (1971) by Peter Brown I immediately noticed was how well Merlin in Stewart's trilogy fit the mold.  I don't believe Brown influenced Stewart; The Crystal Cave was out in 1970 after all!  But I do think she tapped into the same sources and threads in the jumbled, chaotic, partially destroyed records of late Antiquity that Brown was using as a historian.  Or perhaps as I slowly transformed theologically from a fairly conservative, orthodox Roman Catholic into a broad minded theist I was exceptionally sensitive to the comparison. I know my primary attraction to Late Antiquity was the holiness that I sensed in the tales from that period.  This is a typically long-winded way of saying that as I get older, I recognize Stewart’s Arthurian novels as some of the works that shaped me theologically. (Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series was also influential.)

In The Crystal Cave the story of Merlin’s origin and early life is told, as Britain suffers from Rome’s abandonment, treacherously weak kings, and the onslaughts of Saxon invaders.  Each of the famous legends of Merlin’s childhood life are addressed and explained in a highly plausible manner, and life in 5th century Britain is depicted vividly.  But at its heart this is a bildungsroman, or ‘coming of age’ story

and the supernal maturity and knowledge of Merlin does not lessen its impact.   

The Hollow Hills presents the story of Arthur’s rise to power, from Merlin’s point of view. Again the legendary events are followed and explained, and Stewart takes great care in presenting a believable ‘historical’ foundation for the legends.  It is quite clear how much fatherly love Merlin has for Arthur, an aspect of the story that I find touches me more now that I am a father myself than it did when I first read these books years ago.  The great battles and politics that mark the opening of Arthur’s reign create a dramatic, compelling story and Merlin is the perfect guide to these events.

In The Last Enchantment we see the coming of Mordred and Merlin’s fading finale. Ironically, the closer Merlin the narrator gets to his present situation the less clear the story becomes.  In this later reign Merlin has truly stepped to the side of most events, and the climatic battles and bright hopes of the earlier volumes have been replaced by the sedate meditations of age and the final follies of one’s antiquity.  Stewart grants Merlin a measure of dignity in his downfall that is sadly missing from so many Arthurian tales, and also removes the taint of misogyny from Nimüe’s role.  The volume is bitter-sweet, of course, and does not follow Arthur’s tale to its own conclusion.  

In a fourth book, The Wicked Day, Stewart brings that portion of the tale to a close. It suffers from the loss of Merlin; he's an excellent narrator and such greatcompany for the reader. Mordred narrates The Wicked Day and he is less enjoyable, in part because he keeps part of himself hidden from the reader as he narrates, Merlin might as well but is less obvious. This hidden aspect of Mordred is necessary for the story, but it leaves the reader, accustomed to intimately knowing the narrator, somewhat bereft.

The last of her Arthurian works is The Prince and the Pilgrim. Certainly not to the same level as the earlier works, it feels far more like a romance, in the modern sense. It is a pleasant read about two minor characters from the Matter of Britain, but it seemed a bit rushed. Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable, self-contained story from the period. I wish she had written more on the Grail Quest, she seemed to set it up in the earlier books but left that story untold. A pity.

For gamers, like myself, these books provide excellent examples of royal politics and dynastic quarrels as well an excellent view of Britain in the 5th century, a historical period perfect for an RPG campaign.  Merlin himself serves as an excellent template for a mystic, mage, or even a certain type of priest character.  But perhaps the most useful aspect for typical fantasy game-masters is the explanations later pagan religious beliefs and rituals.  In the modern world, surrounded by the dominant monotheistic religions it is difficult for us to imagine living in the sort of polytheistic and poly-religious culture of the typical fantasy campaign.  5th century Britain was such a culture, and as imagined by Stewart and presented through the eyes of the wise man Merlin the game-master has an excellent example to follow while depicting his own polytheistic cultures.  

Stewart’s prose is detailed yet never boring, and she is often extremely moving.  Merlin leaps to life under her skilled pen.  She has just the right blend of history and legend, and creates a masterful portrait of the ‘Matter of Britain,’ the tale of Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot.  If you love Arthurian tales, or just enjoy solid fantasy or historical fiction, immerse yourself in these tales and you won’t be disappointed.

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

 

Kings of War Reviewed

(Warning: Don't bother reading this if you have ever said "it's fantasy, it doesn't have to be realistic." You've already excluded yourself from the conversation.)

For the last year or so many members of my gaming club, the Spotsylvania Area Gamers have been pretty focused on a fantasy wargame, Kings of War 3rd edition published by Mantic Games. see a beginner's guide here.) It has taken the place of the fantasy game we tried briefly the year before, Age of Sigmar by Games Workshop. I've played enough Kings of War now to review it, I believe.  

Since this is the first war game review I've done for this blog, I thought I should detail my gaming background. I started war gaming in 1979 with Avalon Hill's Panzerblitz. I started miniature wargaming in 1986 when I was a Freshman at Norwich University and joined the the N.U.T.S. (Norwich University Tactics Society).  I've had a lot of experience playing a lot of different systems. My favorite fantasy wargaming system was Battlesystem 2nd edition by TSR, I rejected Warhammer in the '90s because I disliked Games Workshop's marketing practices.  

My dislike of Games Workshop has never really faded over the years, but in a club, you play what the majority prefers.  Many of our club members got their start in gaming with Warhammer 40k or Warhammer, and they were excited to try Age of Sigmar. I had some old GW lizardmen figures I had purchased used years ago so I jumped in. I didn't really like the game, when I beat a player who was far more skilled then I simply through dumb luck, I was convinced it wasn't the game for me.  And after a year the clubs interest in that system evaporated.  

Still, I loved fantasy war games and wanted to play more fantasy rather then simply go back to science fiction or historical war games. So when the club's interest turned to Kings of War I was very willing to try it.

I like it better then Age of Sigmar but that really is faint praise. After playing for over a year now, albeit stop and go due to the pandemic, I do have some thoughts on the good and the bad of Kings of War. I prefer intuitive games that start from a foundation of relative historical simulation and adjust from there for playability, I understand that many younger players are not interested in simulation at all. 

Good: Figures from all manufacturers welcome.  This really should be the norm, but companies like Games Workshop and Battlefront have pushed to crush the independence of the war gaming hobby by trying to limit 'organized play' to 'official' figures only.  I can't imagine that 3d printers are going to allow that nonsense to last with any game company for long.  

Bad:  'Group' basing and rigid formations.  All troops are in a single square or rectangular block and they cannot change formations. while this allows for gorgeous gaming dioramas as play pieces, it prevents anything resembling realistic play. Just as bad, from my point of view, is that the rigid basing discourages using the figures for other systems. Either you base them for Kings of War or you do a lot of additional work to allow your individually based figures to stand properly on Kings of War unit bases. As a firm believer in using figures in multiple settings and systems, this really bugs me. 

Good: A wide variety of fantasy archetypes are given statistics.  Nearly every fantasy trope is represented.

Bad: But they still have those different fantasy types rigidly defined. You can only play the armies designed by Mantic in Mantic's world. The system is not designed to be used for any other setting, there is purposefully no player freedom here.  You cannot decide to use Kings of War to fight out battle between orcs and dwarves on Middle Earth or in the Forgotten Realms. There is no way to create personal units or creatures. Basically, no room for player innovation or imagination.  

Good: The nerve checks with wavering and rout results, and hits instead of removing figures from units, is pretty good. Combining damage and morale results for a hybrid, cumulative effect on a unit is usually solid wargame design and the same holds here. 

Very Bad: Of course, the solid design of the combat results roll is nearly wiped about by the very broken melee combat system.  Melee combat is not simultaneous in this game. If someone charges you, their damage is done and results applied long before your unit gets a chance to strike back. The result is that often units will die in this game without ever striking a blow back.  It's simply ridiculous. Melee in the game should be simultaneous.  Regardless of which player's turn it is, if units are locked in hand to hand combat then they should both make attacks.  Yes, this will make for bloodier battles.  But as it stands, 90% of game play in this game is pre-measuring to stay out of charge range, unless you want to charge first.  It makes for games that don't feel like battles at all.  

Good:  The magic system.  The spells and magic items are straightforward and simple, and not overly complicated nor generally unbalanced. 

Very Bad: The bonuses for attacking the flanks and rear of enemy units are overwhelming.  Combined with the rigid unit base shapes, the elementary terrain rules, and the odd movement rules, the game devolves into "gotcha" geometry that resembles no real life battle I can think of.  

Good: A solid army building system. Like so many systems today, this one is focused on "organized play" or tournaments. It is obvious that the designers spent far more time on their army building system then on any other aspect of the rules, the result is a system that seems incredibly balanced.

Bad: The terrain and movement system are extremely simple and poorly done. This is especially noticeable in a fantasy system, where often units will have odd, interesting movement abilities. Kings of War has frog like creatures who can hop, amphibious fishmen, elementals, and flying creatures but all of their special movement abilities get watered down and rendered boring by the system. Castles, towers, magical swamps, and crystal groves are equally muddied up. 

Good: The game has a decent scenario system. It produces relatively random scenarios that are basically even. 

Bad: It doesn't lend itself to individualized scenario play.  The game just doesn't lend itself to anything beyond organized play. I would be astounded to see someone running a convention game using Kings of War.     

There are a few other issues, for example artillery is overly effective and missile fire too ineffective, but those issues have more to do with individual unit ratings then they do the game system as a whole. 

Overall, Kings of War is a simple game that does not produce battles that feel "real", it favors simplicity over simulation to a fault. It's reasonably well balanced.  But most figures used for the game will be useless for use in any other gaming system, making it relatively expensive for multi-system wargamers. It feels like a step backwards in game design but caters well to its target audience of former Games Workshop players.

I'll keep playing the game though, because that's what my club plays. 

Edit: A couple 'Good' points about the game that I was reminded of by 'Clement' in the Facebook Kings of War Fanatics group. First, all of the rules and a decent selection of army lists are included in the main book. The game system keeps splatbooks to a minimum, the only current splatbook simply adds more army lists, not more rules.  That's a big positive. And second, the game lends itself well to a chess-style turn clock. This is another way it is well suited for tournament play.  Neither of these change my view of the game, I was aware of them, but they are important positives that it is only fair my review mention.

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.