message 0072

• Comparing C.J. Cherryh's Fantasy with her SF

>Date: Tue, 19 Jan 93 17:37 PST
>Subject: cherryhlist
>From: Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca (Nick Janow)

ott@ansoft.com (nancy ott) writes:

> Back to Cherryh.  As Lesley points out, Cherryh is adept at using the
> "pool" of imagery that's common to most of her readership (whether fantasy
> or sf). And this may be part of the problem with the Rusalka novels and
> some of her other fantasies.  I got the feeling that she was expecting me
> to fill in the gaps with visuals from a pool that she had access to, and I
> didn't.  Did she assume too much knowledge on the part of her readers?

I don't think it's that simple.  We may be so used to the typical fantasy
stories, in which the writer's settings are bold, simple, and complete,
leaving little for the reader to fill in, that Cherryh's settings seem
"difficult". Perhaps she intended for the world-view to be shadowy, with
unknown beings and forces operating around them.  If she described the
leshys, yard-things, etc, in the style of Anthony, Brooks, or even Moon, the
stories would have a totally different "feel" to them.

The typical Tolkien/AD&D type of setting consists of a simple world populated
by "humans in funny suits".  Even Tolkien's orcs, Nazgul, and Ents are merely
"humans in funny suits"; they produce images that easily be matched up with
human stereotypes (bandits, SS, librarians, whatever).

The level of communication in these fantasy worlds tends to be simply
amazing. There's very little mystery in the world.  People in a small town
either know the stories (and geography, history, culture, etc) of distant
lands, or accept such knowledge the first time someone tells them.  That's
quite different from medieval times, where each town probably had its own
tales of goblins, bogles, and things that go bump in the night.  Their
knowledge of lands and events beyond walking distance was probably minimal,
deviating wildly from truth, and quite likely contradictory.

There's a lot of that "elves and unicorns" simplistic writing out there.
Cherryh's fantasy stories are refreshing in their difference.  Cherryh's
books--both fantasy and SF--shouldn't be compared directly with "light"
books, such as those written by Anthony and Brooks.

Even Tad William's Dragonbone books series is "light fantasy" at heart.  Its
lands and characters have no more complexity than those of typical "elves and
dragons" books.  It's just written in a tedious style.  Rusalka seems to have
more complexity and fewer of the simple, easy to grasp images of typical
books.

I don't choose Cherryh when I'm in the mood for light fantasy, but I find
books from authors such as Anthony and Brooks not worth reading (like sugar
substitutes: cloyingly sweet with a bad aftertaste).

--

Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca