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stoutfellowMedalon, by Jennifer Fallon, was one of the freebie books I acquired at CascadiaCon; I doubt I would have picked it up otherwise. It's an acceptable story, nothing special but reasonably entertaining. I'm not going to do a genuine review, but some aspects of the history and cosmology of the world depicted interest me, and I'll talk about them under the cut.
At the beginning of the story, the continent on which it takes place is divided into three principal parts. In the north is Karien, home to an aggressive and intolerant monotheistic cult; in the south, Fardohnya and the quarreling kingdoms of Hythria, where an ancient polytheism remains dominant; and between the two is Medalon, where, generations before, power came into the hands of a quasi-religious/military organization of secular atheists. (They are rather bigoted about it, and have conducted periodic Purges to root out the remnants of the old paganism.) Medalon, and the southern realms as well, were once ruled by the Harshini - think of them as elves - but Medalon's rulers discount the stories of the Harshini's powers as being embroidered on a base of mere flummery. This belief is made easier by the fact that the Harshini seem to have vanished, not only from Medalon but also from the south.
The reality seems to be this. There are gods, and there are demons; neither group seems to be unambiguously good or bad, and the relation between the two is not made clear. Nor is the relationship between either and the Harshini, who seem to be on friendly terms with the demons (and familiar terms with the gods). There are primal gods - of war, of love, of thievery - who would exist whether they were worshipped or not, and there are incidental gods, who are demons who have acquired worshippers (and thereby power). The Karien god - who does, in fact, exist - is an incidental god who has, in effect, declared war on all the other gods, and the underlying motor of the entire story is the response of the other gods to that war.
What interests me here is that there is an old strand of Christian thought which holds that the old paganisms were in fact demon-worship - that literal devils had appropriated to themselves the worship properly due only to the Creator. Fallon's story is not unusual in depicting a clash between virtuous pagans and intolerant monotheists - although adding atheists to the mix is a bit of spice - but that it presents, in inverted form, that same charge of demon-worship caught my attention. In honesty I can't be sure whether Fallon is aware of the real-world original; if not, the irony is merely amusing, but if she is aware it becomes something more picquant.
The book is the first of a series. (Sigh. Aren't they all, these days?) It's interesting enough that I'll probably continue, but the main thing I'm interested in is the resolution of the theological/metaphysical questions it raises.
At the beginning of the story, the continent on which it takes place is divided into three principal parts. In the north is Karien, home to an aggressive and intolerant monotheistic cult; in the south, Fardohnya and the quarreling kingdoms of Hythria, where an ancient polytheism remains dominant; and between the two is Medalon, where, generations before, power came into the hands of a quasi-religious/military organization of secular atheists. (They are rather bigoted about it, and have conducted periodic Purges to root out the remnants of the old paganism.) Medalon, and the southern realms as well, were once ruled by the Harshini - think of them as elves - but Medalon's rulers discount the stories of the Harshini's powers as being embroidered on a base of mere flummery. This belief is made easier by the fact that the Harshini seem to have vanished, not only from Medalon but also from the south.
The reality seems to be this. There are gods, and there are demons; neither group seems to be unambiguously good or bad, and the relation between the two is not made clear. Nor is the relationship between either and the Harshini, who seem to be on friendly terms with the demons (and familiar terms with the gods). There are primal gods - of war, of love, of thievery - who would exist whether they were worshipped or not, and there are incidental gods, who are demons who have acquired worshippers (and thereby power). The Karien god - who does, in fact, exist - is an incidental god who has, in effect, declared war on all the other gods, and the underlying motor of the entire story is the response of the other gods to that war.
What interests me here is that there is an old strand of Christian thought which holds that the old paganisms were in fact demon-worship - that literal devils had appropriated to themselves the worship properly due only to the Creator. Fallon's story is not unusual in depicting a clash between virtuous pagans and intolerant monotheists - although adding atheists to the mix is a bit of spice - but that it presents, in inverted form, that same charge of demon-worship caught my attention. In honesty I can't be sure whether Fallon is aware of the real-world original; if not, the irony is merely amusing, but if she is aware it becomes something more picquant.
The book is the first of a series. (Sigh. Aren't they all, these days?) It's interesting enough that I'll probably continue, but the main thing I'm interested in is the resolution of the theological/metaphysical questions it raises.
