Last book I read cover to cover. Fire and Ice is Book Two of the "Mountain Made of Light" Trilogy by Edward Myers. [Roc Fantasy, 1992, 432 pages] This trilogy takes place in the Peruvian Andes in the early 1920s, in an undiscovered mountain land known by the locals as Rixtir. It truly is a Fantasy series, but there's no evidence of magic. The writing style and setting is so convincing, it actually seems very real.
The Mountain Made of Light (Book 1) begins the story with two Lowlanders (as the Mountain-Drawn say) entering the Mountain realm. Jesse O'Keefe is seeking to study the indigenous people as an aspiring anthropologist. Forster Beckwith is a rich man looking to climb an undiscovered mountain. The Rixtirra have a prophecy that speaks of this happening, defining one as the Man of Knowledge, who will lead the Rixtirra to the Mountain Made of Light, and depose the other, the Man of Ignorance.
The people calling themselves the Mountain-Drawn have been undisturbed in the mountains for over 400 years, scarcely making contact with the outside world. There are two factions, the Heirs and the Umbrage. They are all superstitious people without much technical ability; they have no real metallurgy, for example. Among these people is Aeslu, a Wordpathguide (or translator) who begins to teach Jesse their language. These two fall in love in the process, starting to fulfill part of the prophecy that speaks of the Man of Knowledge being the Sun's Stead, who shall marry the Moon's Stead, revealed to be Aeslu. The two finally lay eye on the mythical Mountain Made of Light together in a tender moment. When Forster burns down the City of Rope at the end of Book 1, the two are separated in the destruction.
Long story told, the Heirs choose Jassikki (Jesse's Rixtir name) as the Man of Knowledge, while the Umbrage follow Forster. Aeslu (ever loyal to the Heirs) falls in with Forster and the Umbrage, and vows to betray him. She plans to stay close to him to wait for the proper moment to make a move.
Forster takes his small force of Umbrage and begins to raid villages found in the valleys throughout Rixtir. He gathers supplies and followers and soon commands a much larger force. He finds Lowland supplies that he had stashed in the area prior to the events of Book One. Things such as his telescope, flashlight, phonogram, and especially dynamite both impress and terrify the Umbrage. He commands the Umbrage to mimic Lowlander supplies to prepare themselves to find the Mountain. Soon the Umbrage are dressed in pants, boots and jackets instead of robes. They craft these items to the best of their ability. All of this is done through Aeslu translating Forster's commands. It is no wonder the Umbrage saw Forster as the Man of Knowledge: He indeed gave them great new tools not only for climbing but for survival.
Meanwhile, Jassikki is among the Heirs. Their number has swollen with refugees from Forster's raids. Jassikki eventually shaves his beard, ties his hair back like the Heirs, and wears a robe, stepping fully into the role of the Man of Knowledge. He realizes that the Heirs' weak, merely ceremonial tools are far from sufficient to truly climb a mountain. At a city which is centered around a pyramid of ice, Jassikki figures out a secret intended by the Rixtir Founders, centuries in the past. The ice pyramid can be melted down instead of strengthened with more ice as is done every year. Reluctantly the Masters agree to this. At the center of the ice lay sophisticated climbing tools, from the time of the Founders. These supplies are made out of metals unknown to the Mountain Drawn. Here the Heirs are fully convinced that he is the Man of Knowledge.
The prophecy speaks also of the Mountain Stone and the Diadem: two ancient relics from the time of the Founders that serve as a map or guide to find the Mountain Made of Light, and thus salvation. The Diadem is a puzzle of many stones that when arranged correctly show the way to the mountain, while the Mountain stone, its' crown jewel, shows the way to actually climb it. Aeslu has the Diadem while Jassikki has the Mountain Stone. Thus, the Heirs are desperately seeking the Moon's Stead.
The Heirs make pursuit of of the Umbrage through the Mountain Land. The two opposing factions know small pieces of information about each other. There is a system of runners and messengers, as well as advance and rear guards to their forces. There are spies on both sides sending messages to their respective Man of Knowledge.
Finally the Heirs move on the Umbrage camp, at the base of the Mountain Made of Light itself. A bloody battle takes place over a sheet of ice in complete darkness, there is mass confusion all around. The Heirs outnumber the Umbrage however, and drive them from their camp. Jesse and Forster have an intense ice-hatchet duel on a valley of cracked ice, a very thrilling confrontation, in which Aeslu tries to intervene. Jesse and Aeslu fall down a fissure while Forster begins the ascend the mountain on his own. A small group of Umbrage pursue him, but the Man of Ignorance has lived up to his name by abandoning his followers. Finding Forster's dynamite, Jassikki has one of the Heirs sling them toward Forster, trying to assault him as he climbs. Forster manages to escape while the explosions cause an avalanche.
Jassikki, Aeslu, and what remains of the Heirs are left with the supplies from the Umbrage camp. They speak of preparing to ascend the Mountain Made of Light, and find the Founders Legacy at the summit, fulfilling the prophecy. The novel ends here, setting up the actual climb (and what is actually at the summit) for Book 3.
Now, the story is told completely in first person from the perspectives of various characters. Aeslu's are from "Chronicle of the Last Days"; she speaks much of the inner turmoil of playing along with Forster and the Umbrage, pretending to betray her people in order to betray the one she hates. Forster's segments are in the form of letters to his father, none of which reach their destination, and the last few never even sent; he speaks of figuring out the path to the Mountain and suspicions of Aeslu's loyalty, as well as his attraction and attempts to woo her. Jesse's are told through his dated journal entries; he lays out all of his uncertainties regarding the prophecy, the Mountain Drawn, and Aeslu, especially his confusion following the death of his mentor Norroi (one of my favorite characters). This narrative technique leaves a lot for the reader to imagine and fill in, while still getting detailed insights to the characters' situations.
In addition, there are three characters the author, Edward Myers, claims to have interviewed during a visit in Lima in the 70s. These are an Umbrage woman, an Heir woman, and an Heir man, all of whom were there during the events of Fire and Ice. The old man is the slinger who himself barraged the Man of Ignorance. One of the old women gives Myers a pile of documents that are some of his alleged sources, including letters from Forster and Jesse's journals. Here the author has written himself into his own story, and made it a very convincing link to the real world. On the cover it is labeled as "A Fantasy Novel by Edward Myers". However, there is no text inside that says "This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons or events is purely coincidental." Interesting...
As the Mountain Drawn would say: Upward to the Summit!
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