The Journal of the Browncoat Cat

I have just finished reading The Seeress of Kell, the fifth and final novel in The Mallorean.  I enjoyed it  as much as The Belgariad, the series that preceded it. Next I plan to read the two prequel novels that David Eddings wrote with his wife Leigh, (although I suspect she had a great deal of influence on the two series).  The world created by Eddings was wonderfully rich and colourful, there are so many nice details that I would like to explore in greater detail, but which were quickly brushed over as the main quest that the series progressed.   I will be sorry to leave this intricate setting once I finish the two prequels. because the Eddings left a couple of dangling lose ends that I would like to see tied up.

The first thing is what happened to the Serf’s revolt in Arendia.  Mandorallan, the Baron of Vo Mandor took a huge step at the end of The Seeress of Kells to start a change of attitude amongst the nobility of Arendia, to try and end the constant bickering and warfare that beset  it.  But the whole society was based on feudal servitude, and the peasants  want  some serious change and nobody seems to be listening to them.  In thef The Belgariad many serfs went off to join Ce’Nedra’s army and saw a whole new world in the run up and aftermath of the battle of Thull Mardu. Many must have opened their eyes to how poor the quality of their lives was.  Add in  the  fact that  at the start of The Mallorean it was stated that the Grolim Naradaz was stirring up open revolt amongst the serfs, that must have had consequences for the whole of Arendia.  Finally, what affect on Arendish society will the discovery of the Dalsian Mimbrates have, as they long ago abolished serfdom, but still manage to maintain the way of life that any Arend  would easily recognise.

Another thing that bothers me is the geography of this World. Thanks to the divine intervention of the mad god Torak,  the landmass of the world was split into two major continents:

• “The West” which consists of kingdoms of the Alorns with their allies and  Angarak kingdoms. This is equivalent to Western Europe and Soviet dominated Warsaw Pact of the Cold War.
• Mallorea, which is a mixture of  Angarak, Melecene and Dalsian cultures that theoretically formed a single monolithic empire.  These cultures are based on Asian models such as Persia, China and India.

If this truly the case, where is the big empty continent equivelant to the Americas?  Barak and his friends sail all the way down the coast of “The West”, rounding the tip of southern Cthol Murgos and across the Sea of the East to get to Mallorea.  If this is really a psuedo-medieval culture that has accepted that the fact their world is a globe, then why didn’t Barak simply strike out across the Sea of the West until he reached the east coast of Mallorea?  If it were my fantasy world, then there would be a third (second pre-Torak) hidden continent, that the Twin Prophesies prevented the inhabitants of the world knowing about on a concious level. That the reason Barak, and later King Ahreg went the long way round was that they did not want to go near the hidden continent.  With the two prophesies resolved, the missing continent would become visable in a third fantasy series, that would  the effect of exloring and settling this continent had on the world of the Alorns and the Angaraks.

I  have recently finished re-reading David Eddings’ fantasy epic The Belgariad. It has been nearly two decades since I first read the chronicles of Garion, Ce’Nedra, Belgarath, Polgara, Silk, Barak and all the other fascinating character in the rich world he (and his wife Leigh, who was later credited as a co-author) created.  I have never managed to get much further than Frodo leaving the Shires is  The Lord of the Rings,  and  I don’t read fantasy very often. When I do chose to read Fantasy,  Pratchett and Bujold are usually the authors I reach for.

I remember way back in the 198o’s when I read the Belgariad, that it would be unfilmable.  However the adaptations of both Tolkein and Lewis in recent years has made me revise that opinion.  Although after those massive live action movies, I think that the Belgariad would work better as a mixture of live action, cel animation and cutting edge CGI techniques. Also I would adapt the books into epic television series and not feature films.

Which brings me to the question of who would I cast.  Well my first choice would truely be fantasy casting, as William Hartnell is for me the ultimate Belgarath the Sorcerer, and he has been dead for over three decades, so the only viable alternative would be Patrick Stewart.  Polgara the Sorceress can only be Elisabeth Sladen.  For the role of Garion, I  would cast Rory Jennings, who impressed me is the Doctor Who story The Idiot’s Lantern.  And one other thing, Drasnians all Glaswegian Accents.

So my casting so far (and this is just the Good Guys):

Belgarath the Sorcerer -  Patrick Stewart (William Hartnell)
Polgara the Sorceress – Elisabeth Sladen
Garion/Belgarion of Riva – Rory Jennings
Durnik the Smith – Ewan McGregor
Princess Ce’Nedre – Yasmin Paige
Barak, Earl of Trellheim – Colin Baker
Silk/Prince Khelar of Drasnia – Peter Capaldi
Mandorallan, Baron of Vo Mandor – Don Warrington
Lord Hettar – Daniel Craig
Relg the Ulgo Zealot – Andy Serkis

King Anrheg of Cherek – Brian Blessed
King Rhodar of Drasnia – Robbie Coltraine
King Cho Hag of Algaria – Richard O’Brian
King Fulrach of Sendaria – Peter Sallis
King Korrodulin of Arendia -  still thinking about it
Emporer Ran Borune XXIII of Tolnedra – Pete Posselthwaite
Gorim, High Priest of Ulgo -  still thinking about it

Merel, Duchess of Trellheim – Miranda Richardson
Queen Islena of Cherek – Jane Horrocks
Queen Porren of Drasnia -  still thinking about it
Queen Sillar of Algaria – Michelle Ryan
Queen Layla of Sendaria – Mirriam Margolis
Queen Mayaserena of Arendia -  still thinking about it

As you can see, by the serious lack of American names, my production is very definitely for the  BBC.

On Wednesday night, I something that might eventually lead to my job becoming obsolete. I downloaded a copy of the MobiPocket eBook reader software for PocketPC to run on my mobile phone.  I then bought an electronic copy of one of my favourite books, The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. The printed version I have is a chunky book, but the electronic version was just one small file that sits amongst many, many more files on a postage stamp sized memory card.

I spent a large part of Wednesday night fiddling with the settings so that I got a readable page. Of course, given the size of the screen, each pagelet consists of roughly one paragraph of text, and there is much clicking of buttons to read the novel. and on the train to and from Pontypridd last night, I was once again engrossed in the court politics of the fictional Ibran Peninsula.

Of course in the end my job is safe.  The book as we know it will never really die. Unlike my mobile phone, you don’t need to plug a book into the mains to recharge it. Many things can make a page illegible, but this will never be because it has a flat battery.  And whilst books live on, so will libraries, and so will my job.

Some of the best books I have read in recent years were The Sally Lockhart Adventures by Phillip Pulman. It is one of four books about Sally Lockhart, and now the BBC plans to turn them into television dramas. The icing on the cake is that they have cast Billie Piper as Sally. I will be the first to admit that I was underwhelmed when she was cast in Doctor Who, but having seen her in that I know that she is going to be excellent in the Pulman adaptations. However, this is the writing on the wall for the character of Rose Tyler in Doctor Who. Although the DW production office in Cardiff says that there is no problem, the Ruby in Smoke will be filmed between Series Two (28) and Three (29), given the way Billie Piper’s star is rising, I will be surprised if she is still there at the end of the series currently in production.

As I write, there is less than an hours and twenty minutes to go. At 00.01am the publication Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince, the penultimate novel in J. K. Rowlings remarkable series about a young boys time at a very special boarding school. Who would have thought in the early years of the twenty first century, an author would still be able to sell books set in a boarding school? Of course, the fact that it has wizards and magic, with heavy fantasy makes all the difference.

I didn’t get into the series until the paperback publication of the fourth book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and was instantly hooked, devouring the series, and then like three quarters of the literate population of the World, waited patiently for book #5 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to be published, cursing Ms. Rowling for daring to have a private life which took time away from writing the book, So, two years ago, book five is published, and I end up getting two copies from Amazon, one for myself, and one as a birthday gift for my sister Janet. I read it with indecent haste and enjoyed it. However, I began to wonder if Ms. Rowling was beginning to over egg the pudding, as book four was twice as thick as the first volume in the series, and this one was thicker yet, that in addition to all the wonderful prose she was adding just a hint of lucrative padding. In the gap between this book and the last, J. K. Rowling has had a baby. The first book was written when her son was a babe in arms, so maybe the pressures of looking after her new daughter will lead to a reduction in the padding, that she will cut to the chase more rapidly.So, I would not like to be a postman tomorrow morning. All those pre-ordered copies of Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince to deliver. I ordered mine through Amazon, so the postman will be cursing me. Although as it turns out, I will be in Cardiff tomorrow, as I want to get myself a new white shirt for my graduation on Monday. Then again, I doubt there will be many copies left on the shelf by the time I get into town, as some shops are opening just before midnight, so that the eager can get their copies as soon as it is legally available.

One of the biggest influences on my life is a science fiction phenomenon, created by a charming man, who is sadly no longer with us. The phenomenon is Douglas Adam’s masterpiece, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

I first encountered The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in the form of the television series, when it was first broadcast. I remember watching episode one on the Tuesday night, and the following day rushing strait to my local library, and to my unalloyed delight, they had just received a copy of the novel. I read it all in one sitting. My mother says that she thought I was going to burst a blood vessel, I was laughing so loudly. And then, it was down to Cardiff that weekend to get Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

It was such a hit with the people in my class, that for English, an adaptation of episode 1 was created. Unfortunately, it was staged, if you can call eight people at the front of the class staging, a few weeks before exam time, so episodes 2 through to 6 never saw the light of day.

The original novel remained one of my favourite books, and I really enjoyed Restaurant at the End of the Universe, however after that it was a case of diminishing returns, and I have still yet to finish reading Mostly Harmless, the last book in the series.

On the subject of series, I didn’t actually get around to listening to the radio series until I was in college in the late 1980’s and then only because I borrowed my girlfriend’s copy of the series on audio cassettes in pretty foil boxes, that the BBC had recently released. It was fun, but it confirmed my opinion that the best version of HHGG was the first novel, all else paled in comparison.

Why do I like HHGG so much? Apart from it still be bitingly fun, even after 25 years, I think because it is ultimate science fiction. It uses the technological perspective of bouncing around the big bad galaxy as a way of examing what life is like down here on planet Earth. In Restaurant at the End of the Universe for instance, Adams says that the President does not to wield power, but to draw attention away from the shadowy men who do, thus accurately predicting George W. Bush, whilst Ronald Reagan was still in the White House.

For as long as I can remember, a film version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has been in development. It looked as if it was actually going to happen in 2000, which is why Douglas Adams was living in California at the time of his untimely death. Everything seems to have gone quiet again on that front. I only hope that when the movie is made, it isn’t a ghastly Hollywood travesty.

I met the man himself shortly after the release of an illustrated large format hardback edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. My friend Jonjo and I were interviewing him for the ZZ9 newsletter Mostly Harmless in the Cardiff branch of Waterstones Bookshop. He was a really nice person, who answered all our questions politely and with good humour, even though he had answered them so many times before.

The news of Douglas Adam’s death was a blow. A few months earlier my Father had passed away, and I was sure there was a cosmic conspiracy to take all the good people away from this world, and leave only the bastards.

It was whilst I was in college that I first joined ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, the Official “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” Appreciation Society. This is definitely a fun organisation, dedicated to a fun topic. I have done more silly things as a result being a member of this organisation than any other, and thoroughly enjoyed myself doing it. I have also seen more parts of the UK as a result of joining ZZ9. Once a month members descend on a town, meeting up on a Saturday afternoon at a railway station, “to slouch around looking for something to do”, which explains why these gatherings are called Slouches. They also produce the killer piece of merchandise, the Beeblebear. Inspired by the character Zaphod Beeblebrox, these twelve-inch tall teddybear has two heads, three arms and an eye-patch on the right eye of the right hand. Cute does not even begin to describe them.

I suppose you are thinking why is this blog called Vorcampbel’s View. It is all linked to my favourite author, Lois McMaster Bujold. In many of her science fiction novels, the protagonists come from the planet Barrayar, which is recovering from a period of isolation from galactic civilisation. During the Time of Isolation the local warlords and their lieutenants formed a military caste that ruled their neo-medieval feudal world. This caste added the suffix Vor to their surnames. A few years ago, a fellow Bujold fan began producing mock Barrayaran Passports, all the writing in it is in English, but as the novels explain, the influence of Russian colonists on Barrayar means that it written using Cyrillic lettering. Naturally I bought one and created a Barrayaran pseudonym to go with it; John Campbell Rees became Lord Alexandr John Vorcampbel, I reasoned that if you are going to create a Barrayaran identity, then make yourself one of the ruling elite. So a few weeks ago, when I was setting up this blog, I knew it was going to have a high SF content, so I dug up the name Vorcampbel, and used it in the name of this blog.

20six Comment

Fred Z (23.8.03 17:56)
saw your blog in my Bujold Feedster watch — see http://www.wfzimmerman.com/index.php?topic=ROH
and posted same to bar.baen.com newsgroup baen.milestogo

When I started working in a library, I decided that I should read at least one of the different genres of novels that where available. It seemed to me, that if people were going to be asking me to recommend books, I should know what I was talking about, so I have read authors like Tom Clancy, Danielle Steel, Catherine Cookson, and John Grisham. Sampled genres as such as Westerns, war stories, spy thrillers and whodunits and loved every minute of it.

People say that Science Fiction is unimaginative and repetitive. Professor Stephen Jones even called it “Cowboys and Indians with spaceships”, but at least it is more imaginative than what I call Historical Industrial Fiction. This sort of novel is one of the mainstays of the library where I work. Just as most fantasy novels are a pastiche of Tolkein, these novels are a pastiche of Catherine Cookson’s style. A Historical Industrial novel is the tragic tales of woman who has had an unpleasant childhood, who temporarily find happiness, only for it to be stolen from her, and struggles for justice during the bulk of the book. There is usually one illegitimate child involved somewhere. The book is set in a gritty industrial setting like Liverpool, Newcastle or somewhere in Yorkshire. These poor hard-done-by women always manage to find true happiness in the end.

However, the Historical Industrial is far more preferable that the mass-produced novels published by Mills and Boon. The hero of these books is usually rich, and will give the heroine of the book the were-with-all to save her family if she marries him. Isn’t this slightly unsavoury? The man is forcing himself on some poor woman, and although by the end it is all lovey-dovey, in the meantime he is effectively raping her.