Kicking off 2023 with an interesting fantasy novel. David Jarrett's Witherwing.
[Warner Books, 1979, 236 pages] This only took me a few days. Hopefully a bit of that momentum will continue in the coming year.
The awesome Frank Frazetta painting had me interested right away, portraying the pulpy adventure style of the novel. The vocabulary used by Jarrett here is impressive, yet not without its' flaws. There are a fair amount of spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes throughout.
A useful map is provided at the beginning of the book, giving nice context, as much of the book concerns travel and survival in the wild. It's a bare-bones map, very easy to read. Not up there with Tolkien's cartography. But that kind of art isn't necessary. The world of Witherwing is not an overly complex place.
On to the story: It begins with the telling of King Rumi, of the city of Tum-Barlum. While visiting the Tree-folk, a woman forced herself as his wife, bearing him a son. It is revealed that she is some sort of sorceress, called by the people of Tum-Barlum, The Queen of Dread. Rumi left her, to return to his city and his six other sons. To curse Rumi, she transformed his six sons into swans, seemingly to shock the princess. The princess of Tum-Barlum wove silver shirts for each of the sons, but did not have time to complete the left arm of the sixth, for the youngest. They were transformed back into humans, and the youngest child's left arm remained a swan's wing. The only name he is ever referenced by is Witherwing.
Witherwing's eldest brother, Harand, is next in line for Rumi's throne. Rumi sends him on a mission to the Flatlands, north of Tum-Barlum, that are being invaded by what men call The Horde. These seem like me to zombies, lifeless bodies wandering aimlessly in a herd. Witherwing joins Rumi and his party to repel the Horde from Tum-Barlum. They laboriously bait, lead, and herd the bodies through a certain eastward pass to avoid the city. This all takes place when Witherwing is still a child.
When he reaches adulthood, Rumi is visited by a man called Hess. He seems to be excited over the violent and bloody sports he witnesses on his tour of Tum-Barlum. A party, including Witherwing and Harand, are directed to the lands of the Forest Folk. Once they return from this strange meeting, a new party is appointed by Rumi, for a much longer journey: beyond the flatlands to the city of Karn-Ingli. This is home to Hrasp the Hunter, the antagonist that Witherwing is tasked to kill.
There are a few different races in the world of Witherwing: The Forest Folk, the Flatland Folk, and Karns. Over the course of the novel Witherwing copulates with one of each race, excepting the Karns, and including a member of the Horde.
These races are referred to by Harand as mutants. The Forest Folk are certainly somewhat unnatural, or perhaps the opposite. Their bodies blend perfectly with the trees of their territory, and speak in a manner that sounds like rustling trees. Their city seems to be made of the trees branches and trunks, still living and growing. The Flatlanders are actually humans who live off the land, not some other species. Witherwing's future wife, Nada, is a Flatlander.
Witherwing's journey takes him far. Through swamplands, to Kryll the enchanter's tower at Lizard Lake, through snow passes and across barren mountains. But the most fantastic part of his journey takes place in some sort of portal-path, into what seems like a higher plane of reality. They were led there by Hess, who reveals to Witherwing that he is going to meet his Step-mother, the Queen of Dread. The Karns worship her as Mother Winter.
Hess, and Kryll, the enchanter characters, all speak of some Game that is being played between cosmic beings. There is a heavy sense of irony to their dialogue, speaking of things that humans have no comprehension of. Witherwing and Nada are brought into whatever dimension the cosmic beings live in. It is revealed that these beings are in eternal, deathless slumber, and have every event that has happened recorded in a file. They can enter the world of mortals, to 'play the game'. The Queen sleeps quite carelessly, not even wanting to remember what she has done outside of her slumber.
But Hess convinces her to come forth. In the end, she leads Witherwing to the valley of glowing stones, which supposedly hold some sort of great power, and is the reason Rumi sent Witherwing on this quest. Here he duels Hrasp, who was revealed to be one of the immortals. He is a giant man with antlers sprouting from his head, which he uses to impale his enemies. Witherwing bests him, in the end. He removes Hrasp's head, and proclaims himself the new master of the Karns. He commands them to lead him back home to Tum-Barlum in victory. The Karns follow him, being a primitive and dependent people.
There are many references made to the work of bards; Witherwing knows that their tales aren't exactly as things went and often wonders what a bard might say of his current situation. There are a few poems and verses throughout the novel, with some interesting rhyme schemes.
Overall, I enjoyed it. A somewhat Conan esque, swashbuckling fantasy adventure. Near the end, when the immortals are concerned, an almost Science fiction vibe is given to their vocabulary, speech, and technology; yet there are plenty of questions about the immortals and 'the game' that are truly unanswered and unexplained. I like this kind of cosmic fiction, which seems to be Fantasy but turns out to have some sort of Sci-Fi action behind it.
Witherwing was a good first book of the year! Looking through my collection to find the next one, coming soon.
