A Dirge for Prester John: Difference between revisions

[[File:PresterJohn_7934.jpg|frame| A book about books. Edible books.]]

 

 

# ''The Habitation of the Blessed'' (2010)

# ''The Folded World'' (2011)

 

In 1699, renowned orientalist Hiob von Luzern voyages to India in search of the legendary kingdom of Prester John, where strange mythological creatures have been converted to the Christian faith. Upon arrival, he discovers only a small village and a woman in yellow, who informs him that Prester John is gone. Unwilling to accept this, Hiob looks for some evidence of the lost kingdom. The woman in yellow shows him an impossible tree, one which grows books.

 

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* [[Abdicate the Throne]]: Abir gives up being queen at the second lottery.

* [[The Ageless]]: No one who drinks from the Fountain three times will age.

* [[Arranged Marriage]]: Every marriage in Pentexore is arranged via the Abir, though the people feel free to make that work or not, and take lovers whether they are happy or not with their spouse.

* [[Blue and Orange Morality]]: John's moral standards are perverse and inexplicable to the people of Pentexore, as are their moral standards to him.

* [[Creation Myth]]: The Garden of Eden story pops up here and there, but each of the races of Pentexore have their own myths of how the world came to be.

** Later, John tries to rewrite Genesis to fit Pentexore in it, because he simply can't let it go.

* [[Framing Device]]: Hiob's account of his voyage to India.

* [[From the Mouths of Babes]]: Sefalet's left-hand mouth says things no child should say. And she has no control over it.

* [[Gray and Grey Morality]]: The people on either side of the diamond wall view themselves as the real Pentexore.

* [[Growing Up Sucks]]: Lamis, Ikram, and Houd hate leaving the nursery.

** [[Our Angels Are Different]]: Qaspiel is an anthropteron. John's complete fascination with it confuses everyone.

** [[Our Griffins Are Different]]: Fortunatus.

* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Both Hagia and John go to fight in the Crusades, and neither of them seems to miss Sefalet that much.

* [[Parental Substitute]]: After her parents go to war, Sefelet is cared for by Vyala, Hadulph's mother.

* [[Unexpected Successor]]: It's debated whether or not John should be allowed to take part in the Abir when he knows so little of Pentexore's ways, because what if he becomes someone important? And then he's the king. {{spoiler|He cheated.}}

* [[Unreliable Narrator]]: Mandeville just comes out and says he is one.

* [[Weaker Twin Saves the Day]]: More like weaker twin Thomas goes off to have much wilder adventures.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: No one is really happy with anything John does, and he is often called out for his prejudice. Even Hiob, several centuries later, judges John for falling away from Christian teaching.

* [[Wicked Stepmother]]: Averted. When Anglitora comes to meet John, Hagia practically [[Like a Son to Me|adopts her as her own]].

* [[Year Outside, Hour Inside]]: Time flows differently depending which side of the Rimal you're on. Which leads to John realizing that the world he knew is pretty much gone.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fantasy Literature]]

[[Category:Literature]]