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A Dirge for Prester John #2
The Folded World
When the mysterious daughter of Prester John appears on the doorstep of her father''s palace, she brings with her news of war in the West--the Crusades have begun, and the bodies of the faithful are washing up on the shores of Pentexore. Three narratives intertwine to tell the tale of the beginning of the end of the a younger, angrier Hagia, the blemmye-wife of John and Queen of Pentexore, who takes up arms with the rest of her nation to fight a war they barely understand, Vyala, a lion-philosopher entrusted with the care of the deformed and prophetic royal princess, and another John, John Mandeville, who in his many travels discovers the land of Pentexore--on the other side of the diamond wall meant to keep demons and monsters at bay. These three voices weave a story of death, faith, beauty, and power, dancing in the margins of true history, illuminating a place that never was.
252 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2011
16 people are currently reading
927 people want to read
About the author
Catherynne M. Valente
254 books7,774 followersCatherynne M. Valente was born on Cinco de Mayo, 1979 in Seattle, WA, but grew up in in the wheatgrass paradise of Northern California. She graduated from high school at age 15, going on to UC San Diego and Edinburgh University, receiving her B.A. in Classics with an emphasis in Ancient Greek Linguistics. She then drifted away from her M.A. program and into a long residence in the concrete and camphor wilds of Japan.
She currently lives in Maine with her partner, two dogs, and three cats, having drifted back to America and the mythic frontier of the Midwest.
She currently lives in Maine with her partner, two dogs, and three cats, having drifted back to America and the mythic frontier of the Midwest.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
September 20, 2017
Again, as with the previous book, it's almost impossible to describe the events taking place here or giving real justice to its in-depth exploration of God, innocence, war, and love.
However, I can point to the mythical land of medieval beasts that Prester John converts to Christianity, the events of the first book that make John their king, how he becomes immortal, loves, has a family, and how all these beasts just humor him good-naturedly. They're Edenic and this magical land is pretty much Eden already.
But then we get a call to arms to save the Seat of the Holy Roman Empire against the Saracens and who raises the flag, along with all the innocent immortals who may or may not be angels? John Prester.
It's simple in the way I say it, but believe me, there's nothing simple going on inside the pages. We've got multiple PoVs... from John, his immortal and monstrous wife, and a famous explorer on the outside. They all have their own concerns and takes on reality and it's truly fascinating to behold.
Valente does no less than build a cosmos, a philosophy of living, of learning, and of loss of innocence on a grand scale. We are caught in traps of our own devising and we love with pure grace and we discover that we've changed too much to ever come back. It's really beautiful.
However, my personal enjoyment beyond the outright appreciation was kinda lacking. I can absolutely love what she tries to accomplish here and really get thrilled by the complex scaffolding of the chapters and structure and execution, her love of the language and the wordcraft, but overall, I wasn't personally awed by the story or the message. I can admit that I was (and am) awed by Valente's writing.
However, I can point to the mythical land of medieval beasts that Prester John converts to Christianity, the events of the first book that make John their king, how he becomes immortal, loves, has a family, and how all these beasts just humor him good-naturedly. They're Edenic and this magical land is pretty much Eden already.
But then we get a call to arms to save the Seat of the Holy Roman Empire against the Saracens and who raises the flag, along with all the innocent immortals who may or may not be angels? John Prester.
It's simple in the way I say it, but believe me, there's nothing simple going on inside the pages. We've got multiple PoVs... from John, his immortal and monstrous wife, and a famous explorer on the outside. They all have their own concerns and takes on reality and it's truly fascinating to behold.
Valente does no less than build a cosmos, a philosophy of living, of learning, and of loss of innocence on a grand scale. We are caught in traps of our own devising and we love with pure grace and we discover that we've changed too much to ever come back. It's really beautiful.
However, my personal enjoyment beyond the outright appreciation was kinda lacking. I can absolutely love what she tries to accomplish here and really get thrilled by the complex scaffolding of the chapters and structure and execution, her love of the language and the wordcraft, but overall, I wasn't personally awed by the story or the message. I can admit that I was (and am) awed by Valente's writing.
December 8, 2011
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
Prester John has been king in Pentexore for many years now, aided by his wife Hagia the blemmye. He loves the creatures he rules and has spent his time teaching them about Jesus Christ and trying to reconcile the creation story in Genesis with his new knowledge of the world. When one of John’s daughters brings a letter from Constantinople, asking John to bring his army of monsters to fight the Muslims in Jerusalem, he decides that they’ll go. Although he is happy with his new life in Pentexore, he is still a faithful Christian and he feels that it’s his duty to clear the sacred city of infidels.
The creatures of Pentexore, though they claim to be Christians to please their beloved King John, think the whole Christianity thing is a game involving silly hand motions and recitations. When they agree to fight on John's side, they have no idea what they’re in for. To them, war means “mating and keening” and they don’t understand the ancient battle between the Christians, descendants of Abraham’s son Isaac, and the Muslims, descendants of Abraham’s first but illegitimate son Ishmael. When they cross the wall into John’s world, they are shocked at the treatment they receive and the way humans treat each other.
The Folded World is similar in structure to the first novel in Catherynne M. Valente’s PRESTER JOHN series — a monk is alternately copying chapters from three different books (written by Hagia, Vyala the White Lion, and the explorer John Mandeville) and desperately trying to transcribe them before they rot. All the while, he tends to the dying Brother Hiob and attempts to understand what Pentexore means for his own faith.
The greatest impact of The Folded World comes not from its ideas about creation, salvation, eschatology, or faith, but from Catherynne Valente’s powerful presentation of every creature’s struggle to understand the world, its beauty and terror, and his own place in it. I cannot think of another author who can fill one book with so many thoughtful ideas so beautifully spoken:
Love is a practice. It is a yogic stance; it is lying upon nails; it is walking over coals, or water. It comes naturally to no one, though that is a great secret. One who is learned might say: does not a babe in her mother’s arms love? From her first breath does she not know how to love as surely as her mouth can find the breast? And I would respond: have you ever met a child? A cub may find the breast but not latch upon it, she may bite her mother, or become sick with her milk. So too, the utter dependence of a tiny and helpless thing upon those who feed and warm her is not love. It is fierce and needful; it has a power all its own and that power is terrible, but it is not love. Love can come only with time and sentience. We learn it as we learn language — and some never learn it well. Love is like a tool, though it is not a tool; something strange and wonderful to use, difficult to master, and mysterious in its provenance.
If love were not all of this, I would not have devoted my mind, which is large and generous and certainly could have done much else, to it for all these centuries.
If love were not all of this, I would never have known that wretched, radiant little girl, nor let her learn her teeth on my heart, which children can find with more sureness than ever they could clasp the breast, and latch upon it, and bite, and become sick, and make ill, and all the worst of the six ails of loving, which are to lose it, to find it, to break it, to outlive it, to vanish inside it, and to see it through to the end.
The entire book is like this — beautiful nuggets of wisdom on every page.
I listened to Brilliance Audio’s version, which is dynamically read by Ralph Lister who is convincing in all of his human and monster roles. He does a great job and I’ll be reading the third volume of PRESTER JOHN in this format.
The Folded World is highly recommended, but it’s not what you need when you want to read an action-packed adventure story. Save this for when you’re in a pensive and vulnerable mood. It’s incredibly gorgeous.
Prester John has been king in Pentexore for many years now, aided by his wife Hagia the blemmye. He loves the creatures he rules and has spent his time teaching them about Jesus Christ and trying to reconcile the creation story in Genesis with his new knowledge of the world. When one of John’s daughters brings a letter from Constantinople, asking John to bring his army of monsters to fight the Muslims in Jerusalem, he decides that they’ll go. Although he is happy with his new life in Pentexore, he is still a faithful Christian and he feels that it’s his duty to clear the sacred city of infidels.
The creatures of Pentexore, though they claim to be Christians to please their beloved King John, think the whole Christianity thing is a game involving silly hand motions and recitations. When they agree to fight on John's side, they have no idea what they’re in for. To them, war means “mating and keening” and they don’t understand the ancient battle between the Christians, descendants of Abraham’s son Isaac, and the Muslims, descendants of Abraham’s first but illegitimate son Ishmael. When they cross the wall into John’s world, they are shocked at the treatment they receive and the way humans treat each other.
The Folded World is similar in structure to the first novel in Catherynne M. Valente’s PRESTER JOHN series — a monk is alternately copying chapters from three different books (written by Hagia, Vyala the White Lion, and the explorer John Mandeville) and desperately trying to transcribe them before they rot. All the while, he tends to the dying Brother Hiob and attempts to understand what Pentexore means for his own faith.
The greatest impact of The Folded World comes not from its ideas about creation, salvation, eschatology, or faith, but from Catherynne Valente’s powerful presentation of every creature’s struggle to understand the world, its beauty and terror, and his own place in it. I cannot think of another author who can fill one book with so many thoughtful ideas so beautifully spoken:
Love is a practice. It is a yogic stance; it is lying upon nails; it is walking over coals, or water. It comes naturally to no one, though that is a great secret. One who is learned might say: does not a babe in her mother’s arms love? From her first breath does she not know how to love as surely as her mouth can find the breast? And I would respond: have you ever met a child? A cub may find the breast but not latch upon it, she may bite her mother, or become sick with her milk. So too, the utter dependence of a tiny and helpless thing upon those who feed and warm her is not love. It is fierce and needful; it has a power all its own and that power is terrible, but it is not love. Love can come only with time and sentience. We learn it as we learn language — and some never learn it well. Love is like a tool, though it is not a tool; something strange and wonderful to use, difficult to master, and mysterious in its provenance.
If love were not all of this, I would not have devoted my mind, which is large and generous and certainly could have done much else, to it for all these centuries.
If love were not all of this, I would never have known that wretched, radiant little girl, nor let her learn her teeth on my heart, which children can find with more sureness than ever they could clasp the breast, and latch upon it, and bite, and become sick, and make ill, and all the worst of the six ails of loving, which are to lose it, to find it, to break it, to outlive it, to vanish inside it, and to see it through to the end.
The entire book is like this — beautiful nuggets of wisdom on every page.
I listened to Brilliance Audio’s version, which is dynamically read by Ralph Lister who is convincing in all of his human and monster roles. He does a great job and I’ll be reading the third volume of PRESTER JOHN in this format.
The Folded World is highly recommended, but it’s not what you need when you want to read an action-packed adventure story. Save this for when you’re in a pensive and vulnerable mood. It’s incredibly gorgeous.
November 2, 2012
I found this book to be very morose in tone. That affected my rating. As always, Valente is a word-stylist.
Reviewed for Bitten by Books. http://bittenbybooks.com.
Reviewed for Bitten by Books. http://bittenbybooks.com.
June 12, 2012
I didn't let myself believe that The Folded World could live up to The Habitation of the Blessed. But it did. Oh it did.
In my review of The Habitation of the Blessed I said that I needed Pentexore to be a fairyland, and not the imaginative colonization of a geographically and historically real place. I was worried because at the very beginning of The Folded World, there's a map that seems to show Pentexore on the Indian subcontinent. But that map is irrelevant. I could have ignored it, glued those two pages together. Some of the Pentexoreans go on a journey together and come out from their own world near Mosul. But it doesn't really matter where they came from.
Unless I missed it, none of the narrators ever explains what a Folded World is -- so I am free to go on thinking that this phrase means Pentexore is hidden in the fold of a map of our own world -- perhaps in a crease between India and Arabia.
So that was all right, and I was free to drink in all of the marvels of the text, or the several texts that weave so well together. I didn't predict the white lion Vyala, scholar of love, as a narrator, but she is perfect; I love how the younger Hagia, reluctantly telling the story of war, converses with her daughter; John Mandeville's encyclopedia of another Pentexore is charming and funny and then chilling to the bone. I don't think I understand all the details of what happens at the very end, especially on John Mandeville's side, but I think they will become clearer in the third book -- which I will be longing and longing for.
In my review of The Habitation of the Blessed I said that I needed Pentexore to be a fairyland, and not the imaginative colonization of a geographically and historically real place. I was worried because at the very beginning of The Folded World, there's a map that seems to show Pentexore on the Indian subcontinent. But that map is irrelevant. I could have ignored it, glued those two pages together. Some of the Pentexoreans go on a journey together and come out from their own world near Mosul. But it doesn't really matter where they came from.
Unless I missed it, none of the narrators ever explains what a Folded World is -- so I am free to go on thinking that this phrase means Pentexore is hidden in the fold of a map of our own world -- perhaps in a crease between India and Arabia.
So that was all right, and I was free to drink in all of the marvels of the text, or the several texts that weave so well together. I didn't predict the white lion Vyala, scholar of love, as a narrator, but she is perfect; I love how the younger Hagia, reluctantly telling the story of war, converses with her daughter; John Mandeville's encyclopedia of another Pentexore is charming and funny and then chilling to the bone. I don't think I understand all the details of what happens at the very end, especially on John Mandeville's side, but I think they will become clearer in the third book -- which I will be longing and longing for.
March 24, 2013
Prester John has ruled as king of Pentexore for a few years now, spending much of his time trying to reconcile his religious views with the wonders that exist around him. Then he finds himself summoned to Constantinople, where the patriarch has called for his help in a holy war against Islam. John agrees, and brings half the population of Pentexore as his army. But for Hagia and the other citizens of Pentexore, it has been so long since they have seen true war. Now, it is nothing more than a game, and they are completely unprepared for the consequences that await them.
The Folded World is the second book in Catherynne M. Valente's Dirge for Prester John Series. Once more drawing inspiration from medieval Christianity, The Folded World is an imaginative tale filled with wondrous characters, both lovable and strange. Like Habitation of the Blessed, The Folded World is divided into four parts. One of these sections is narrated by Hagia alongside John's warlike daughter Anglitora. A second storyline focuses on the meaning of love, and John's conflicted second daughter, Sepharlet. (I apologize if I misspell any of these names, I listened to the audio version). A third storyline shows us another John, John Mandeville, and his adventures. These are tied together by a frame story centering around one of the translators of these three fantastic texts,
In all honesty, I didn't connect to The Folded World as well as I did with The Habitation of the Blessed. There were times when I found the book to be incredibly beautiful, but I also found that I greatly preferred some narrators over others. My favorite parts would have to be the main story, involving Anglorita and Hagia as they ride off to war. I found the innocence of the Pentexorens to be quite fascinating. They are such old and wise people, yet the concept of war is something so foreign to them. I also enjoyed Sepharlet's story, and found her a character that it was very easy to feel sympathy for. The story lines that worked less for me was the frame story, and John Mandeville's tale. John's story in particular was so rambling that I found it very hard to concentrate on it. I even found myself nodding off while listening to it once (admittedly, this was right before bedtime). This is interesting, because Valente's stories have always had a bit of a rambling quality to them, and I usually don't mind getting lost in them. This is one situation where it just didn't work for me.
Thoughts on the Audiobook: Like Habitation of the Blessed, The Folded World is narrated by Ralph Lister and he does a rather good job at narration. At the same time, I'm not sure if this is the best book for the audio format. The chapters involving Hagia and Anglitora are actually a conversation between the two women, and it was hard to keep track of who was speaking at what times. Also, there is a part in John's chapters that is a question and answer section. The problem here is you get a giant list of questions, followed by a giant list of answers. It doesn't take too long before you forget what questions John is answering.
Final Thoughts: I feel a little guilty giving The Folded World such a low raiting because in truth, I still think it's a decent book. The writing is strong, the world building imaginative, and the characters complex. At the same time, out of the four storylines found in this book, I only really connected with two of them, and quite struggled with the other two. Regardless of this, do I plan on finishing up the series once book three, The Spindle of Necessity, is published.
The Folded World is the second book in Catherynne M. Valente's Dirge for Prester John Series. Once more drawing inspiration from medieval Christianity, The Folded World is an imaginative tale filled with wondrous characters, both lovable and strange. Like Habitation of the Blessed, The Folded World is divided into four parts. One of these sections is narrated by Hagia alongside John's warlike daughter Anglitora. A second storyline focuses on the meaning of love, and John's conflicted second daughter, Sepharlet. (I apologize if I misspell any of these names, I listened to the audio version). A third storyline shows us another John, John Mandeville, and his adventures. These are tied together by a frame story centering around one of the translators of these three fantastic texts,
In all honesty, I didn't connect to The Folded World as well as I did with The Habitation of the Blessed. There were times when I found the book to be incredibly beautiful, but I also found that I greatly preferred some narrators over others. My favorite parts would have to be the main story, involving Anglorita and Hagia as they ride off to war. I found the innocence of the Pentexorens to be quite fascinating. They are such old and wise people, yet the concept of war is something so foreign to them. I also enjoyed Sepharlet's story, and found her a character that it was very easy to feel sympathy for. The story lines that worked less for me was the frame story, and John Mandeville's tale. John's story in particular was so rambling that I found it very hard to concentrate on it. I even found myself nodding off while listening to it once (admittedly, this was right before bedtime). This is interesting, because Valente's stories have always had a bit of a rambling quality to them, and I usually don't mind getting lost in them. This is one situation where it just didn't work for me.
Thoughts on the Audiobook: Like Habitation of the Blessed, The Folded World is narrated by Ralph Lister and he does a rather good job at narration. At the same time, I'm not sure if this is the best book for the audio format. The chapters involving Hagia and Anglitora are actually a conversation between the two women, and it was hard to keep track of who was speaking at what times. Also, there is a part in John's chapters that is a question and answer section. The problem here is you get a giant list of questions, followed by a giant list of answers. It doesn't take too long before you forget what questions John is answering.
Final Thoughts: I feel a little guilty giving The Folded World such a low raiting because in truth, I still think it's a decent book. The writing is strong, the world building imaginative, and the characters complex. At the same time, out of the four storylines found in this book, I only really connected with two of them, and quite struggled with the other two. Regardless of this, do I plan on finishing up the series once book three, The Spindle of Necessity, is published.
January 16, 2012
Not quite sure what to write about this. Catherynne Valente's style is as gorgeous as always: lush, flowing, hovering around that border between prose and poetry, and yet (generally) easily readable.
I love the style, but uncertain of what to make of the substance. Perhaps it's because I've read other novels that deal with medieval myth and myth-making, such as Umberto Eco's Baudolino prior to this, and was not unfamiliar with the story of Prester John or trees that bear strange fruit to begin with. Perhaps it's just that I've been reading it late into the night between health sciences textbooks. Regardless, the blending left me entranced on one hand, and feeling colder or more removed than I would have expected on another. To reverse my critique/complaint, the reveal of who certain characters were at the end of the book had been telegraphed from a long way prior, and yet was done with a disarming and cheerful cheek that still made it a pleasure to move through. Maybe the author has it right there: breaking things (big or small) can be fun.
Pentexore and its population of marvels do seem more broken in this one. In the preceding The Habitation of the Blessed the only things that felt like they were teetering on the edge were John and Brother Hiob. In this book the disorder is more widely spread, as are the injuries suffered, with the possibility of significantly more to come in the third book. Bloody humans: they always seem to upset the apple cart wherever they roam. One of the lessons I took from studying the history of the crusades was that one should never trust a Pope named Pious, Innocent, Urban or anything else innocuous-sounding. After these two books I think I'll add characters named John to that list! Like the one on Mars, they're just trouble.
It's always fascinating to read what others make of the idea of God. I'm certainly not the most orthodox or observant of Christians, and have become more inured to dealing with potentially heretical explorations of the nature and purpose of God over the years, but I suspect that these ones will still prove challenging for some. God is described or puzzled over in a variety of abstract or unflattering ways by the Pentexorans. The confessions of Brothers Hiob and Alaric add a certain flawed but compassionate human perspective to belief; but those small redemptions seem greatly outweighed by the disastrous comings of Johns, the Jewish/Christian/Islamic conflict, and actions of other monks and priests displayed in latter half of the book. In contrast, the author portrays the Pentexorans as being true to their natures (generally, and not without difficulty sometimes) and living the more graceful lives as result - coherent with Prester John's conclusion that they still live in what remains of Eden, and/or are perhaps not affected by Eve and Adam's original sin being something other than 'human'. The similarities and contrasts to the characters and conclusions in Mary Doria Russel's The Sparrow and Children of God on similar issues are interesting to contemplate.
I'm now curious, and worried, to see what Valente will do to all her world and characters in the The Spindle of Necessity, which is perhaps a sign that I engaged with this more than I thought.
I love the style, but uncertain of what to make of the substance. Perhaps it's because I've read other novels that deal with medieval myth and myth-making, such as Umberto Eco's Baudolino prior to this, and was not unfamiliar with the story of Prester John or trees that bear strange fruit to begin with. Perhaps it's just that I've been reading it late into the night between health sciences textbooks. Regardless, the blending left me entranced on one hand, and feeling colder or more removed than I would have expected on another. To reverse my critique/complaint, the reveal of who certain characters were at the end of the book had been telegraphed from a long way prior, and yet was done with a disarming and cheerful cheek that still made it a pleasure to move through. Maybe the author has it right there: breaking things (big or small) can be fun.
Pentexore and its population of marvels do seem more broken in this one. In the preceding The Habitation of the Blessed the only things that felt like they were teetering on the edge were John and Brother Hiob. In this book the disorder is more widely spread, as are the injuries suffered, with the possibility of significantly more to come in the third book. Bloody humans: they always seem to upset the apple cart wherever they roam. One of the lessons I took from studying the history of the crusades was that one should never trust a Pope named Pious, Innocent, Urban or anything else innocuous-sounding. After these two books I think I'll add characters named John to that list! Like the one on Mars, they're just trouble.
It's always fascinating to read what others make of the idea of God. I'm certainly not the most orthodox or observant of Christians, and have become more inured to dealing with potentially heretical explorations of the nature and purpose of God over the years, but I suspect that these ones will still prove challenging for some. God is described or puzzled over in a variety of abstract or unflattering ways by the Pentexorans. The confessions of Brothers Hiob and Alaric add a certain flawed but compassionate human perspective to belief; but those small redemptions seem greatly outweighed by the disastrous comings of Johns, the Jewish/Christian/Islamic conflict, and actions of other monks and priests displayed in latter half of the book. In contrast, the author portrays the Pentexorans as being true to their natures (generally, and not without difficulty sometimes) and living the more graceful lives as result - coherent with Prester John's conclusion that they still live in what remains of Eden, and/or are perhaps not affected by Eve and Adam's original sin being something other than 'human'. The similarities and contrasts to the characters and conclusions in Mary Doria Russel's The Sparrow and Children of God on similar issues are interesting to contemplate.
I'm now curious, and worried, to see what Valente will do to all her world and characters in the The Spindle of Necessity, which is perhaps a sign that I engaged with this more than I thought.
November 1, 2011
“We are all just humans, and most of us fools, and all of us longing for more than we have, to know more than we know- and yet even that is not enough, for if we knew everything we would only be disappointed that there was not one more secret to uncover.” -Catherynne Valente, The Folded World, pg 170
Prester John and Hagia have a daughter, with a sweet mouth on her right hand while a bitter sits on her left, two opposing personalities in one body pulling all the world in one direction. Prester John has another daughter, a crane’s wing where her second arm should be, the result of a fierce and half-forgotten coupling early in his sojourn.
Prester John has an answer to his letter, a plea from Jerusalem for the great king to come to the aid of Christendom with his armies of mythical creatures and magics.
So Prester John takes his wife and fierce crane-winged daughter with him to war, leaving his gentle two-mouthed daughter with a lion who teaches love. While across the diamond wall another human stumbles into lands far stranger than his wildest imaginings and in the dark of the forest a unicorn is lured to the slaughter.
The Folded World retains the mesmerizing air of Habitation of the Blessed, weaving layers of narrative voices that pull together in a rich, decadent tapestry of human emotion and tragedy. Every character is working to sort out their place in a world that is so much larger than any of them had imagined, with pleasures and perils aplenty. It is a book that will reach out to anyone who has ever wondered where they fit in, how to make themselves fit in. From priests to princesses, it is a book about acceptance, on every imaginable level. Valente’s prose is, again, an absolute pleasure to read- rich with sounds and shapes that paints a fascinatingly unique picture sure to leave you daydreaming.
Prester John and Hagia have a daughter, with a sweet mouth on her right hand while a bitter sits on her left, two opposing personalities in one body pulling all the world in one direction. Prester John has another daughter, a crane’s wing where her second arm should be, the result of a fierce and half-forgotten coupling early in his sojourn.
Prester John has an answer to his letter, a plea from Jerusalem for the great king to come to the aid of Christendom with his armies of mythical creatures and magics.
So Prester John takes his wife and fierce crane-winged daughter with him to war, leaving his gentle two-mouthed daughter with a lion who teaches love. While across the diamond wall another human stumbles into lands far stranger than his wildest imaginings and in the dark of the forest a unicorn is lured to the slaughter.
The Folded World retains the mesmerizing air of Habitation of the Blessed, weaving layers of narrative voices that pull together in a rich, decadent tapestry of human emotion and tragedy. Every character is working to sort out their place in a world that is so much larger than any of them had imagined, with pleasures and perils aplenty. It is a book that will reach out to anyone who has ever wondered where they fit in, how to make themselves fit in. From priests to princesses, it is a book about acceptance, on every imaginable level. Valente’s prose is, again, an absolute pleasure to read- rich with sounds and shapes that paints a fascinatingly unique picture sure to leave you daydreaming.
October 12, 2012
This is an immensely sad book - it's the story of the last days of innocence, and the fall is inevitable and tragic and dammit, why isn't the third book out yet? It does a really good job carrying forward the narrative from the first book with some different voices and in different enough ways that it's still very fresh - John Manderville in particular is charming and facile and his stories are delightful up until they turn horrifying. The language is deft and gorgeous - although it's Cat Valente; that hardly needs to be said - and the layers upon layers of allusions are enchanting without requiring the reader to catch every single one.
Goddammit, Cat Valente, you're making me like arty books. Ruining my whole shtick.
Goddammit, Cat Valente, you're making me like arty books. Ruining my whole shtick.
November 8, 2013
So you could call it a fantasy novel. But it isn't really. There are gryphons and monks and something like an angel and the story weaves itself through myth and history like a snake. It's about immortality, death and a loss of innocence, love and growing up, our inability (or unwillingness) to understand each other (to see monsters where there are only differences), about a land that lies between lies, myths and something real (choosing death every time, even after an an eternity of living). There are so many layers to this story. Is it just coincidence that the old woman shares a name with Prester Johns ship? Did any of it happen? Death is a girl, with hair of no particular color, and she holds court in a long, golden field.
February 1, 2012
Just loving this book. A quote, to whet the appetite:
Love is a practice. It is a yogic stance; it is lying upon nails; it is walking over coals, or water. It comes naturally to no one, though that is a great secret.
Another shimmering, lovely book by Valente. When the 3rd one comes out, I'm going to read all three right in a row. I know there was so much I missed by forgetting stuff in the first book.
Love is a practice. It is a yogic stance; it is lying upon nails; it is walking over coals, or water. It comes naturally to no one, though that is a great secret.
Another shimmering, lovely book by Valente. When the 3rd one comes out, I'm going to read all three right in a row. I know there was so much I missed by forgetting stuff in the first book.
September 26, 2017
I knew roughly how this book would end before I even began it. Partly that’s because I’m becoming familiar with Valente’s style of storytelling and partly that’s because there was only one logical directory, one logical conclusion for this novel to reach. I knew it would end tragically for the inhabitants of Pentexore; these immortals, these people who’ve lived the life of paradise, who’ve been so long from experiencing real pain finally experience it and it’s powerful. I felt a wave of emotion pass over me as I read it.
This novel is structured the exact same way as Habitation of the Blessed with the basic threads from the previous book continuing in this one. This book has three plot threads all from books that are being translated by priests and there are occasional intermissions between these plot threads with chapters told from the point of view of Hiob’s good friend from the previous book who is continuing Hiob’s work in translating the texts. As usual with Valente there are some emotionally powerful moments, especially with Jon’s daughter who comes out being a weird Blemmaye-human hybrid. That’s his daughter that you see on the cover of the book; she has a mouth on the palm of each hand and on the back of each hand an eye. Her right hand mouth speaks with the voice of a sweet girl and the left-hand mouth speaks with the voice of a demon and prophesies doom for everyone. This image was very powerful and vivid because John’s daughter is a tortured creature and it’s easy to sympathize with her.
I admit that late in the book I started to lose interest and wondered if Valente would be able to pull this one off. Towards the middle and later parts of the book I became increasingly frustrated by plot threads that didn’t seem to be going anywhere or that seemed entirely useless and by yet more rounds of characters telling each other pointless stories around the fire that didn’t really play that much of a role in the development of the story. I honestly wondered why I was reading this book in the first place. Luckily she assuaged my doubts and delivered a sucker punch ending right into my guts. It was rife with powerful and fraught emotion that has built up over the course of these two books and finally comes spewing out in one climatic moment. I’m glad I was wrong in my doubts. Valente doesn’t always end books well but I felt she ended this one on a high note.
One of the narrators in the story is a traveler cataloguing in some encyclopedia what he learns about the land of Pentexore. He is an entertaining and wonky character with a unique voice but towards the end I started to lose interest in this character as it became increasingly unlikely that his story would fit with the other two narratives. This character seemed like he was filler; like Valente didn’t know what to add so she just threw in this unneeded character to keep the structure of this book virtually the same as the previous one. To some extent I would argue that my original misgivings are correct even though she did manage to tie him in with the overarching narrative, although it was only barely connected with the rest of the book and you only find out in some revelations at the end of the book how his narrative connects to everything else; it would have been nice to have some reason of this beforehand so I’d been given a reason to care.
I enjoyed this series but it’s definitely not Valente’s best work. I still have much by her to read but I’d still have to argue that, that honor goes to In the Night Garden. But overall I still enjoyed the book and again I found myself captivated by Valente’s wondrous imagination. There is supposed to be a third book of the series so I’ll be planning to read and enjoy that whenever it is published.
This novel is structured the exact same way as Habitation of the Blessed with the basic threads from the previous book continuing in this one. This book has three plot threads all from books that are being translated by priests and there are occasional intermissions between these plot threads with chapters told from the point of view of Hiob’s good friend from the previous book who is continuing Hiob’s work in translating the texts. As usual with Valente there are some emotionally powerful moments, especially with Jon’s daughter who comes out being a weird Blemmaye-human hybrid. That’s his daughter that you see on the cover of the book; she has a mouth on the palm of each hand and on the back of each hand an eye. Her right hand mouth speaks with the voice of a sweet girl and the left-hand mouth speaks with the voice of a demon and prophesies doom for everyone. This image was very powerful and vivid because John’s daughter is a tortured creature and it’s easy to sympathize with her.
I admit that late in the book I started to lose interest and wondered if Valente would be able to pull this one off. Towards the middle and later parts of the book I became increasingly frustrated by plot threads that didn’t seem to be going anywhere or that seemed entirely useless and by yet more rounds of characters telling each other pointless stories around the fire that didn’t really play that much of a role in the development of the story. I honestly wondered why I was reading this book in the first place. Luckily she assuaged my doubts and delivered a sucker punch ending right into my guts. It was rife with powerful and fraught emotion that has built up over the course of these two books and finally comes spewing out in one climatic moment. I’m glad I was wrong in my doubts. Valente doesn’t always end books well but I felt she ended this one on a high note.
One of the narrators in the story is a traveler cataloguing in some encyclopedia what he learns about the land of Pentexore. He is an entertaining and wonky character with a unique voice but towards the end I started to lose interest in this character as it became increasingly unlikely that his story would fit with the other two narratives. This character seemed like he was filler; like Valente didn’t know what to add so she just threw in this unneeded character to keep the structure of this book virtually the same as the previous one. To some extent I would argue that my original misgivings are correct even though she did manage to tie him in with the overarching narrative, although it was only barely connected with the rest of the book and you only find out in some revelations at the end of the book how his narrative connects to everything else; it would have been nice to have some reason of this beforehand so I’d been given a reason to care.
I enjoyed this series but it’s definitely not Valente’s best work. I still have much by her to read but I’d still have to argue that, that honor goes to In the Night Garden. But overall I still enjoyed the book and again I found myself captivated by Valente’s wondrous imagination. There is supposed to be a third book of the series so I’ll be planning to read and enjoy that whenever it is published.
September 6, 2019
I devour almost everything I can get my hands on by Catherynne Valente, and while The Habitation of the Blessed isn't my favorite of her works, I still loved its complex yet captivating style and the mythology woven into a creatively realized world. I knew I had to read more, and learn what became of Prestor John, Hagia, Fortunas, Hiob, and the other characters I grew to love in the first novel. And while "The Folded World" leaves several unanswered questions (hopefully to be answered in a promised third novel), it further fleshes out the story of Prestor John and the land of Pentexore, and weaves in further threads to give us a lush tapestry of a story.
Several years into Prestor John's reign as king of Pentexore, a shocking guest arrives -- his illegitimate daughter, bringing a letter from Jerusalem pleading for the aid of John's kingdom in defending the holy city during the crusades. From that starting point, three stories unfold -- a younger, angrier Hagia as she marches alongside her husband, her people, and her husband's daughter to fight in a war she barely understands; Vyala, a lioness charged with watching over John and Hagia's mad-prophetess daughter in their absence; and John Mandeville, a lying traveler who ends up in Pentexore, but on the wrong side of the wall. All these stories are slowly revealed through the eyes of Hiob's apprentice, taking up the pen of transcription in his mentor's absence, and finding himself ensnared in the spell of the books of Prestor John...
Valente's writing is always lush and gorgeous, full of fantastic imagery, brilliant wordplay, and fascinating stylistic choices that nonetheless fit the nature of the story. She's a master of her craft, and weaves mythology and folklore with her own unique ideas to create something magnificent, strange, yet utterly splendid in scope. I admit that I haven't studied early medieval folklore and so was unfamiliar with both Prestor John and John Mandeville before picking up this series, but reading this series makes me want to learn more...
It could have been very easy for Valente to vilify John in this series -- he's certainly set up to be a potential antagonist, a white conqueror trying to "tame" a "savage" land. But John is shown to be a complex and sympathetic character, one who struggles with his own prejudices and demons but is striving nonetheless to be a good man and to overcome his prejudices. Hagia is less the weary but wise soul from the last book, and her voice is younger, more confused, and angrier here, yet she's still shown to be an understanding and loving soul... sometimes loving to a fault. Vyala's sections are interesting, yet I was less invested in her and the princess' story than in Hagia's... and while John Mandeville is somewhat unlikable and an unreliable narrator, his sections are fascinating and eventually tie into the rest of the story in shocking ways.
This book leaves quite a few unanswered questions -- though a few hints are seeded throughout both books to let the reader guess at what might have happened. Still, I sincerely hope we get the third book in this trilogy soon. I'd love to see my questions answered, and to learn the ultimate fates of John, Hagia, Brother Hiob, and all the rest.
Several years into Prestor John's reign as king of Pentexore, a shocking guest arrives -- his illegitimate daughter, bringing a letter from Jerusalem pleading for the aid of John's kingdom in defending the holy city during the crusades. From that starting point, three stories unfold -- a younger, angrier Hagia as she marches alongside her husband, her people, and her husband's daughter to fight in a war she barely understands; Vyala, a lioness charged with watching over John and Hagia's mad-prophetess daughter in their absence; and John Mandeville, a lying traveler who ends up in Pentexore, but on the wrong side of the wall. All these stories are slowly revealed through the eyes of Hiob's apprentice, taking up the pen of transcription in his mentor's absence, and finding himself ensnared in the spell of the books of Prestor John...
Valente's writing is always lush and gorgeous, full of fantastic imagery, brilliant wordplay, and fascinating stylistic choices that nonetheless fit the nature of the story. She's a master of her craft, and weaves mythology and folklore with her own unique ideas to create something magnificent, strange, yet utterly splendid in scope. I admit that I haven't studied early medieval folklore and so was unfamiliar with both Prestor John and John Mandeville before picking up this series, but reading this series makes me want to learn more...
It could have been very easy for Valente to vilify John in this series -- he's certainly set up to be a potential antagonist, a white conqueror trying to "tame" a "savage" land. But John is shown to be a complex and sympathetic character, one who struggles with his own prejudices and demons but is striving nonetheless to be a good man and to overcome his prejudices. Hagia is less the weary but wise soul from the last book, and her voice is younger, more confused, and angrier here, yet she's still shown to be an understanding and loving soul... sometimes loving to a fault. Vyala's sections are interesting, yet I was less invested in her and the princess' story than in Hagia's... and while John Mandeville is somewhat unlikable and an unreliable narrator, his sections are fascinating and eventually tie into the rest of the story in shocking ways.
This book leaves quite a few unanswered questions -- though a few hints are seeded throughout both books to let the reader guess at what might have happened. Still, I sincerely hope we get the third book in this trilogy soon. I'd love to see my questions answered, and to learn the ultimate fates of John, Hagia, Brother Hiob, and all the rest.
June 1, 2021
The Folded World is a great sequel to The Habitation of the Blessed. It seems to be primarily concerned with philsophical questions of love, fate, and the nature of storytelling itself. It's a tragedy, filled with compelling characters yet again, continuing the history of Prester John's fantastical kingdom. But it also has so much heart it's a wonder the book didn't melt in my hands, as I neared the end.
The character of Sefalet is a standout. The monstrous child of Prester John and the blemmye Hagia, she reminds me of the Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth, having a near-useless head and a mouth and eye on each hand. Worse, the mouths war with each other, with one spewing vitriolic (unheeded) prophesy and the other the voice of a normal girl. Her journey to find peace within herself and understand love, through the help of the White Lion Vyala's teachings, is the beating heart of the novel. It's all very Yellow Brick Road-ish now I think about it, which makes the other character, (A different) John the Explorer, something of a farcical wizard...
And then we have the unfortunate march to war, led by John and his beautiful child Anglitora, whose only non-human aspect is having one arm and one beautiful wing. Anglitora is so ready for war, but her understanding of what that is isn't quite the same across the sea of sand.
Watch out for those twins across the wall.
About the only negative thing I've to say is I'm not sure if John the Explorer, who lies about everything, fits in perfectly with the rest of the novel. Much of it is comic relief. Thematically, it fits in very well with the famous Letter of Prester John to Constantinople, on which the whole endeavor is based obviously, and is obviously a giant pack of lies, but maybe I've already just moved beyond the treacherous nature of stories. Keep the knife hidden, please, if you plan to stab me with it. It is a pleasant enough read, though. Ugh, I'm either rambling or very torn on this section, depending on how charitable you are.
Anyway. I wonder if Sefalet has ever high-fived someone, and if it hurt? Whom it hurt?!
In my review of The Habitation of The Blessed, I added a warning about savoring the text. It is cake, fine wine. Meant to be sipped. I should have heeded my own advice, because I find my head whirling a bit after tearing through this second installment. I maintain the advice for this volume.
Highly Recommended - 8.8/10
Hopefully the third installment gets written. It says there will be a kickstarter to fund The Spindle of Necessity in my kindle copy of The Folded World... in 2019. And I can't find much information on it. Regardless whether that one makes it to the shelves, these books are worth your time.
The character of Sefalet is a standout. The monstrous child of Prester John and the blemmye Hagia, she reminds me of the Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth, having a near-useless head and a mouth and eye on each hand. Worse, the mouths war with each other, with one spewing vitriolic (unheeded) prophesy and the other the voice of a normal girl. Her journey to find peace within herself and understand love, through the help of the White Lion Vyala's teachings, is the beating heart of the novel. It's all very Yellow Brick Road-ish now I think about it, which makes the other character, (A different) John the Explorer, something of a farcical wizard...
And then we have the unfortunate march to war, led by John and his beautiful child Anglitora, whose only non-human aspect is having one arm and one beautiful wing. Anglitora is so ready for war, but her understanding of what that is isn't quite the same across the sea of sand.
Watch out for those twins across the wall.
About the only negative thing I've to say is I'm not sure if John the Explorer, who lies about everything, fits in perfectly with the rest of the novel. Much of it is comic relief. Thematically, it fits in very well with the famous Letter of Prester John to Constantinople, on which the whole endeavor is based obviously, and is obviously a giant pack of lies, but maybe I've already just moved beyond the treacherous nature of stories. Keep the knife hidden, please, if you plan to stab me with it. It is a pleasant enough read, though. Ugh, I'm either rambling or very torn on this section, depending on how charitable you are.
Anyway. I wonder if Sefalet has ever high-fived someone, and if it hurt? Whom it hurt?!
In my review of The Habitation of The Blessed, I added a warning about savoring the text. It is cake, fine wine. Meant to be sipped. I should have heeded my own advice, because I find my head whirling a bit after tearing through this second installment. I maintain the advice for this volume.
Highly Recommended - 8.8/10
Hopefully the third installment gets written. It says there will be a kickstarter to fund The Spindle of Necessity in my kindle copy of The Folded World... in 2019. And I can't find much information on it. Regardless whether that one makes it to the shelves, these books are worth your time.
May 14, 2021
Lush and disquieting and imaginative as always. I'll admit that I wasn't as enthralled as in the first book, and the culmination of Hagia and Anglitora's story seemed to have a lot of buildup for little payoff (which is admittedly the point). John Mandeville is also not nearly so intriguing an individual as he thinks he is (again, that is likely the point).
But it's still gorgeously written, with drippings of wisdom and moments of awe scattered throughout. And the ideas and characters are so grand, .
I'm almost glad I let this book sit as long as it did, because I cannot begin to comprehend the impatience of those who read it when it was first published ten years ago when that is how it ended. Whoever ends up starring in the next round of stories, I'm very eager to see how they handle this new development.
But it's still gorgeously written, with drippings of wisdom and moments of awe scattered throughout. And the ideas and characters are so grand, .
I'm almost glad I let this book sit as long as it did, because I cannot begin to comprehend the impatience of those who read it when it was first published ten years ago when that is how it ended. Whoever ends up starring in the next round of stories, I'm very eager to see how they handle this new development.
July 7, 2020
This book is maybe an example of when a concept works beautifully for a single story and no more. Unlike "Habitation of the Blessed" this book has a dark and slightly more realistic tone as it attempts to flesh out Pentexore and connect it with real world history. Unfortunately I found that it really dragged in the middle, in part due to what felt like forced abstraction and heavy-handed symbolism. The ending was satisfying and made meaning of the many strands of story, but ultimately could not fully redeem it.
April 3, 2019
I fell in love with The Habitation of the Blessed, and this is both sequel and prequel to the first book in the Prester John series. The frame takes place after the events of the first book, while the stories themselves take place before.
It's hard to explain, but the world Valente creates, with its myths and theologies and war and gods is exquisite. This is the kind of book I wish I could revisit over and over again for the first time.
It's hard to explain, but the world Valente creates, with its myths and theologies and war and gods is exquisite. This is the kind of book I wish I could revisit over and over again for the first time.
January 16, 2019
4.5
Have I mentioned that I wish all fantasy novels were written like A Dirge For Prester John? They combine all my favorite things: trippy worldbuilding, books, the uncertain nature of history, religious skepticism, and the concept of storytelling. And I am desperately hoping the third book gets published someday.
Have I mentioned that I wish all fantasy novels were written like A Dirge For Prester John? They combine all my favorite things: trippy worldbuilding, books, the uncertain nature of history, religious skepticism, and the concept of storytelling. And I am desperately hoping the third book gets published someday.
June 2, 2019
This was a worthy successor to the first book, and I’m only sad that the third isn’t out yet. This is such a moving tale full of deep emotional and religious and personal themes. I loved Sefalet, and the story of the cathedral interspersed with the Tower. I almost want an entire book about the Tower itself. Beautifully written.
July 8, 2020
Fantastic. Feminist and philosophical, and agnostic and lovely. Just surreal and compelling. Makes your brain paint interesting pictures. Loveable, interesting characters, all of them, so many of them, but not in a confusing- can't remember who's who - kind of way.
I would like a third one.
I would like a third one.
July 20, 2018
While I normally go in for weird, this was a little too out there for me. I enjoyed the weird, but it never felt like it came together with a final story tie-in. It was just so all over the board.
March 28, 2019
Much better than the last one b/c less Prestor John. I liked John Mandeville, had to look him up on wikipedia too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 19, 2020
A very poetic fantasy that really made me think about what my emotions were for in each chapter.
October 8, 2024
Like a tale written under LSD.
January 8, 2012
Also finished The Folded World, the second volume of A Dirge for Prester John, by Catherynne M Valente.
For the background, see my post about the first book.
Extracts of the second book here.
The following contains spoilers for vol.1 and a vague plot summary for vol.2.
At the end of the first book, brother Hiob ate one of the books he was transcribing (or several, it's been a while and I can't find the book right now...), and a plant started growing out of his mouth, and he's unconscious. Thus, brother Alaric takes over as the narrator of the frame story. Again, he is invited to pick 3 books from the tree. In order to be more efficient, he recruits the other two brothers, Reinolt and Goswin, to help with the transcription.
The books he picked are:
The Book of the Ruby:
An account by a younger Hagia of Prester John's campaign to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims, after he's seen the city burning in the magic mirror in front of his palace. The army is led by Anglitora, his daughter by one of the cranes he met when he arrived in Pentexore. (She's mostly human, except for a crane-wing in place of one arm).
The Left-Hand Mouth, the Right-Hand Eye:
Narrated by the white lion Vyala, the mother of Hagia's friend Hadulph, this is the story of Hagia's daughter Sefalet, who, being the daughter of a human and a blemmye, ended up having a featureless head, but eyes and mouths on her hands. The right mouth is normal enough, but the left-hand one is rather nasty and seems to be possessed somehow.
The Virtue Of Things Is In the Midst Of Them:
The account of the traveller and self-proclaimed liar John Mandeville, who travelled to Pentexore, but ended up beyond the Wall, where he met the Hexakyk (6-armed people) Ysra and Ymra, the King and Queen of that part of Pentexore. He writes a kind of encyclopedia of the things and creatures he encounters, and swears that he's not lying this time, as the truth is interesting enough.
In between those chapters, there are the Confessions of Alaric, the frame story, as well as some more extracts of the letter that Prester John sent westwards.
Spoilery review from here!
This volume is just as good as the previous one, although it's much too short. I hope the third one comes soon. The story with the most emotional impact for me is the Book of the Ruby, as it shows how innocent the inhabitants of Pentexore are, despite, or perhaps because of their immortality. They are used to living forever, and war is only a kind of very intense foreplay. The thought of somebody dying and not growing a tree through which he or she will live on and still be with their loved ones is inconceivable to them. Thus, when they go west to deliver Jerusalem, they depart as if for a fun adventure, with their bright banners and their best clothes. Their loss of innocence is heartbreaking. The worst thing is that they don't even get attacked by their perceived enemies, the Muslims. They meet Salah Ad-Din, (mostly known as Saladin over here), and find him to be a very nice, civilised and cultured young man, who has a lot in common with John. Tragically, they are attacked by John's former brothers of a Nestorian convent, who now see him as the infidel and alien, and think that his weird army is demonic. While the ensuing slaughter in the dark means the fall from innocence for the Pentexorians, it also marks the breakdown of John's world and faith. He came to deliver his home, but is attacked by the people he trusted most, and now feels at home neither in the human world nor in Pentexore.
The story about Hagia's daughter Sefalet is also pretty striking. She's an extremely lonely little girl, left behind as her parents go to war, and the only one of her kind in the universe. And possessed by the Fates, which doesn't help her attempts to be loved by others, as her left mouth constantly spouts doomy prophecies that she can't do anything about.
John had declared that in his absence, those left behind at home should construct a cathedral out of the ruins of the Tower of Babel. On that site, they find a tree grown out of the first love-making of Hagia and John, which is pretty much the first creature to be nice to poor Sefalet, so that she clings to it, and refuses to eat or talk to anybody. While the tree is nice, this story shows that the eternal life of the people of Pentexore is not all positive, as fragments of them get trapped in trees of stones, and are doomed to repeat the same actions over and over again, in a semblance of life. Maybe a clear-cut end would be preferable sometimes.
Fortunately, John Mandeville's account is a bit more light-hearted and prevents the book from becoming too gloomy, although all is not love in happiness for him either. Poor unicorn...
I really loved this book. The only flaws it has are being too short, and not containing a summary of what happened before, because I got a bit confused sometimes. As usual, Valente's prose is a feast for all the senses, and the plots are solid and extremely creative. Very recommended.
9.5/10
For the background, see my post about the first book.
Extracts of the second book here.
The following contains spoilers for vol.1 and a vague plot summary for vol.2.
At the end of the first book, brother Hiob ate one of the books he was transcribing (or several, it's been a while and I can't find the book right now...), and a plant started growing out of his mouth, and he's unconscious. Thus, brother Alaric takes over as the narrator of the frame story. Again, he is invited to pick 3 books from the tree. In order to be more efficient, he recruits the other two brothers, Reinolt and Goswin, to help with the transcription.
The books he picked are:
The Book of the Ruby:
An account by a younger Hagia of Prester John's campaign to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims, after he's seen the city burning in the magic mirror in front of his palace. The army is led by Anglitora, his daughter by one of the cranes he met when he arrived in Pentexore. (She's mostly human, except for a crane-wing in place of one arm).
The Left-Hand Mouth, the Right-Hand Eye:
Narrated by the white lion Vyala, the mother of Hagia's friend Hadulph, this is the story of Hagia's daughter Sefalet, who, being the daughter of a human and a blemmye, ended up having a featureless head, but eyes and mouths on her hands. The right mouth is normal enough, but the left-hand one is rather nasty and seems to be possessed somehow.
The Virtue Of Things Is In the Midst Of Them:
The account of the traveller and self-proclaimed liar John Mandeville, who travelled to Pentexore, but ended up beyond the Wall, where he met the Hexakyk (6-armed people) Ysra and Ymra, the King and Queen of that part of Pentexore. He writes a kind of encyclopedia of the things and creatures he encounters, and swears that he's not lying this time, as the truth is interesting enough.
In between those chapters, there are the Confessions of Alaric, the frame story, as well as some more extracts of the letter that Prester John sent westwards.
Spoilery review from here!
This volume is just as good as the previous one, although it's much too short. I hope the third one comes soon. The story with the most emotional impact for me is the Book of the Ruby, as it shows how innocent the inhabitants of Pentexore are, despite, or perhaps because of their immortality. They are used to living forever, and war is only a kind of very intense foreplay. The thought of somebody dying and not growing a tree through which he or she will live on and still be with their loved ones is inconceivable to them. Thus, when they go west to deliver Jerusalem, they depart as if for a fun adventure, with their bright banners and their best clothes. Their loss of innocence is heartbreaking. The worst thing is that they don't even get attacked by their perceived enemies, the Muslims. They meet Salah Ad-Din, (mostly known as Saladin over here), and find him to be a very nice, civilised and cultured young man, who has a lot in common with John. Tragically, they are attacked by John's former brothers of a Nestorian convent, who now see him as the infidel and alien, and think that his weird army is demonic. While the ensuing slaughter in the dark means the fall from innocence for the Pentexorians, it also marks the breakdown of John's world and faith. He came to deliver his home, but is attacked by the people he trusted most, and now feels at home neither in the human world nor in Pentexore.
The story about Hagia's daughter Sefalet is also pretty striking. She's an extremely lonely little girl, left behind as her parents go to war, and the only one of her kind in the universe. And possessed by the Fates, which doesn't help her attempts to be loved by others, as her left mouth constantly spouts doomy prophecies that she can't do anything about.
John had declared that in his absence, those left behind at home should construct a cathedral out of the ruins of the Tower of Babel. On that site, they find a tree grown out of the first love-making of Hagia and John, which is pretty much the first creature to be nice to poor Sefalet, so that she clings to it, and refuses to eat or talk to anybody. While the tree is nice, this story shows that the eternal life of the people of Pentexore is not all positive, as fragments of them get trapped in trees of stones, and are doomed to repeat the same actions over and over again, in a semblance of life. Maybe a clear-cut end would be preferable sometimes.
Fortunately, John Mandeville's account is a bit more light-hearted and prevents the book from becoming too gloomy, although all is not love in happiness for him either. Poor unicorn...
I really loved this book. The only flaws it has are being too short, and not containing a summary of what happened before, because I got a bit confused sometimes. As usual, Valente's prose is a feast for all the senses, and the plots are solid and extremely creative. Very recommended.
9.5/10
July 27, 2024
The sequel to A Dirge for Prester John has John's daughter arrive in Pentexore to tell the inhabitants about the Crusades, and John's subjects go off to fight in Jerusalem for a cause they don't particularly understand. It's rather darker than the first one, with some of the participants killed off for real, as they don't have access to the restorative soil of Pentexore. The story can be difficult to follow sometimes, the conceit being that it's copied from works by three different authors. One of them John de Mandeville, was the alleged author of a highly sensationalized fourteenth-century account of travel to the east as far as China, which included a lot of the weird beings who here inhabit Prester John's country. Saladin, the Muslim leader who was widely respected by Christians, is also a character, and John's subjects also have positive opinions of him. The legendary wall built by Alexander the Great also plays an important role.
February 28, 2012
The premise: ganked from BN.com: When the mysterious daughter of Prester John appears on the doorstep of her father''s palace, she brings with her news of war in the West--the Crusades have begun, and the bodies of the faithful are washing up on the shores of Pentexore. Three narratives intertwine to tell the tale of the beginning of the end of the world: a younger, angrier Hagia, the blemmye-wife of John and Queen of Pentexore, who takes up arms with the rest of her nation to fight a war they barely understand, Vyala, a lion-philosopher entrusted with the care of the deformed and prophetic royal princess, and another John, John Mandeville, who in his many travels discovers the land of Pentexore--on the other side of the diamond wall meant to keep demons and monsters at bay.
These three voices weave a story of death, faith, beauty, and power, dancing in the margins of true history, illuminating a place that never was.
My Rating: Good Read
I know, it's not the normal rating of "Excellent," for a Valente book, but despite some seriously wonderful passages and really vivid and profound moments, the story has a whole does not resonate with me the way Valente's other fiction has. I've heard many say the Prester John series is her best to date, and I feel that this is a set of books that I will re-read some day in the future, as a whole rather than waiting a year between installments. I think, and hope, that the indeterminate date in the future will be a better time for me to connect with the material, as I just can't do it now. That said, it's a glorious, vivid book (both books are, really), and there are things I remember about these books that I cannot remember of my favorites from Valente, so that certainly speaks to the power of her writing. Volume Two for A Dirge for Prester John follows the same structure as Volume One, but it leaves me to wonder if this is it, or if Valente has one more title up her sleeve. Given the ending, I don't see how; yet, given the ending, I feel there's so much more left to talk about.
Certainly, fans of Valente have to get their hands on this. It may not be my favorite, but it's not to be missed. Even if this were truly an "off" book for Valente (it isn't, it's just me), Valente's "off" book would surpass many other writers at their best. And this isn't an off book. It's just not my favorite of hers. :)
All that being said, don't read this without having read A Habitation for the Blessed first, because you will be hopelessly confused otherwise.
Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. If you aren't caught up, don't read the full review. Especially do not read if you haven't yet read The Habitation of the Blessed, because there's spoilers here for that too. But if you've read both books, then you're caught up, so onward! The full review is at my blog, which I've provided the link for below. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.
REVIEW: Catherynne M. Valente's THE FOLDED WORLD
Happy Reading!
These three voices weave a story of death, faith, beauty, and power, dancing in the margins of true history, illuminating a place that never was.
My Rating: Good Read
I know, it's not the normal rating of "Excellent," for a Valente book, but despite some seriously wonderful passages and really vivid and profound moments, the story has a whole does not resonate with me the way Valente's other fiction has. I've heard many say the Prester John series is her best to date, and I feel that this is a set of books that I will re-read some day in the future, as a whole rather than waiting a year between installments. I think, and hope, that the indeterminate date in the future will be a better time for me to connect with the material, as I just can't do it now. That said, it's a glorious, vivid book (both books are, really), and there are things I remember about these books that I cannot remember of my favorites from Valente, so that certainly speaks to the power of her writing. Volume Two for A Dirge for Prester John follows the same structure as Volume One, but it leaves me to wonder if this is it, or if Valente has one more title up her sleeve. Given the ending, I don't see how; yet, given the ending, I feel there's so much more left to talk about.
Certainly, fans of Valente have to get their hands on this. It may not be my favorite, but it's not to be missed. Even if this were truly an "off" book for Valente (it isn't, it's just me), Valente's "off" book would surpass many other writers at their best. And this isn't an off book. It's just not my favorite of hers. :)
All that being said, don't read this without having read A Habitation for the Blessed first, because you will be hopelessly confused otherwise.
Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. If you aren't caught up, don't read the full review. Especially do not read if you haven't yet read The Habitation of the Blessed, because there's spoilers here for that too. But if you've read both books, then you're caught up, so onward! The full review is at my blog, which I've provided the link for below. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.
REVIEW: Catherynne M. Valente's THE FOLDED WORLD
Happy Reading!
November 23, 2015
Finished this yesterday and fell asleep during the last chapter (I don' believe it's technically necessary to go on at this point but I will explain my feelings in great detail, worry not!).
Even after finishing both books in the series in the wonderfully soothing and snoozy audio rendition by Ralph Lister (his voice cures insomnia, I swear it!), I still feel very ambiguous about this series in the sense that I have absolutely no idea what this is supposed to have been about.
I also never started caring, as the few passages which I lucidly recall underwhelmed completely and, in parts, repelled me with their utter religiosity.
While this book isn't preachy and I'm not even sure Valente cares about Christianism beyond any analytical interest, the main religions of the planet just have a way of boring me all the way to slumberland. Listening to this book, however imaginative it might have been in parts, was like sitting in church, and that's not positive.
I always disliked going to church (I like churches, I just dislike listening to preachers and watching other people listening to preachers) and while the bible is in parts just as imaginitve as this book, I never even managed to listen to those stories. So why listen when Prester John explains the world? No reason, really, which is why I just gave in to my natural urges and shamelessly used this "philosophical", "witty", "smart", "lyrical" and "literary" series to help me fall asleep.
Sure enough, this worked better than jogging, yoga, sleeping pills or iron will. I usually fell asleep within a few paragraphs, bored out of my mind and too lethargic to care.
Would I recommend this to anyone? Well, maybe a theology professor with an interest in curiosities, and people with insomnia. For those who liked Fairyland ... well this isn't Fairyland it's Preachlandia, RUUUUUN!!
Even after finishing both books in the series in the wonderfully soothing and snoozy audio rendition by Ralph Lister (his voice cures insomnia, I swear it!), I still feel very ambiguous about this series in the sense that I have absolutely no idea what this is supposed to have been about.
I also never started caring, as the few passages which I lucidly recall underwhelmed completely and, in parts, repelled me with their utter religiosity.
While this book isn't preachy and I'm not even sure Valente cares about Christianism beyond any analytical interest, the main religions of the planet just have a way of boring me all the way to slumberland. Listening to this book, however imaginative it might have been in parts, was like sitting in church, and that's not positive.
I always disliked going to church (I like churches, I just dislike listening to preachers and watching other people listening to preachers) and while the bible is in parts just as imaginitve as this book, I never even managed to listen to those stories. So why listen when Prester John explains the world? No reason, really, which is why I just gave in to my natural urges and shamelessly used this "philosophical", "witty", "smart", "lyrical" and "literary" series to help me fall asleep.
Sure enough, this worked better than jogging, yoga, sleeping pills or iron will. I usually fell asleep within a few paragraphs, bored out of my mind and too lethargic to care.
Would I recommend this to anyone? Well, maybe a theology professor with an interest in curiosities, and people with insomnia. For those who liked Fairyland ... well this isn't Fairyland it's Preachlandia, RUUUUUN!!
March 11, 2012
It is essential to first read The Habitation of the Blessed (read my review here), because The Folded World starts off right where the last book left off. The mythology of this trilogy is thick, and it would be harder to find yourself without reading the first book.
The Folded World follows three more books from the tree, and reveals more of the story of Prester John, particularly his years of being married and being the king of this unknown land. His people are in the midst of the crusades, and that touches this story in various ways.
The same elements I loved in the first one (and in all of Valente) are present here - beautiful writing, a detailed mythical place with its own history and stories, and the clash between worlds.
"Love is like that, you know. It's easy to arouse a person, or make them dream; that's nothing. Permanence is fiendishly hard. Bodies... sizzle and they ache. Loving is aching with your eyes open. You take in all the bitterness and sweetness and remembering and depth of the thing you love, and your body crushes it, distills it, into a kind of lightning that keeps you living."
"We are all just humans, and most of us fools, and all of us longing for more than we have, to know more than we know- and yet even that is not enough, for if we knew everything we would only be disappointed that there was not one more secret to uncover."
"Once two souls have exchanged poetry, they must love one another forever."
The Folded World follows three more books from the tree, and reveals more of the story of Prester John, particularly his years of being married and being the king of this unknown land. His people are in the midst of the crusades, and that touches this story in various ways.
The same elements I loved in the first one (and in all of Valente) are present here - beautiful writing, a detailed mythical place with its own history and stories, and the clash between worlds.
"Love is like that, you know. It's easy to arouse a person, or make them dream; that's nothing. Permanence is fiendishly hard. Bodies... sizzle and they ache. Loving is aching with your eyes open. You take in all the bitterness and sweetness and remembering and depth of the thing you love, and your body crushes it, distills it, into a kind of lightning that keeps you living."
"We are all just humans, and most of us fools, and all of us longing for more than we have, to know more than we know- and yet even that is not enough, for if we knew everything we would only be disappointed that there was not one more secret to uncover."
"Once two souls have exchanged poetry, they must love one another forever."
November 17, 2011
Wow. I am slain.
I didn't start the second part of this tale with the best of auspices. I admit that, while I loved The Habitation of the Blessed, I found it often hard to move through, as if I too were John struggling with a new world.
But this book. I don't know what his book is.
The second part of a trilogy is usually the weakest, being by nature the thread between two worlds, the beginning and the end, the exposition and the resolution, and therefore not exactly a creature on its own. The folded world plays on this, presenting us over and over with the theme of two worlds colliding: Anglitora, the daughter of John and a crane, whose left arm is a wing; Sefalet, the daughter of John and Hagia, with no face but two mouths on her hands and two voices in her heart; the two Pentexore, divided by a Wall, so close and yet so distant; Pentexore and Jerusalem; the past and the future, the past and the now; and so on, and so forth.
In so doing, The folded world manages to be even better than the first book, unfolding in front of us these four stories, which are really just one, giving us barely time to breathe as one chapter rushes into another and our heart gets broken over and over as it all tumbles down towards the end.
I didn't start the second part of this tale with the best of auspices. I admit that, while I loved The Habitation of the Blessed, I found it often hard to move through, as if I too were John struggling with a new world.
But this book. I don't know what his book is.
The second part of a trilogy is usually the weakest, being by nature the thread between two worlds, the beginning and the end, the exposition and the resolution, and therefore not exactly a creature on its own. The folded world plays on this, presenting us over and over with the theme of two worlds colliding: Anglitora, the daughter of John and a crane, whose left arm is a wing; Sefalet, the daughter of John and Hagia, with no face but two mouths on her hands and two voices in her heart; the two Pentexore, divided by a Wall, so close and yet so distant; Pentexore and Jerusalem; the past and the future, the past and the now; and so on, and so forth.
In so doing, The folded world manages to be even better than the first book, unfolding in front of us these four stories, which are really just one, giving us barely time to breathe as one chapter rushes into another and our heart gets broken over and over as it all tumbles down towards the end.
August 2, 2013
I had some idea of where the last book was heading, but I almost regret getting this far into the story. This is the second volume of a trilogy, so we've had a taste of the ruin that is to come, and I fear for this isolated, forever-young world that knows not the pains of war.
It reflects on how people interpret the world around them through the lenses of belief, exploring the confines of religion when it comes face to face with something Other. Some men can find space in their holy scripture while his brothers may not. One man can look at the Pentexorans as our counterparts from a parallel world while another man only sees deformed demons. The former man may embrace them as distant cousins, but the latter may not find that he can bear something that does not belong in his order of the world and feel compelled to eradicate the abnormality. How funny and arrogant that we should label other creatures monsters, as if our unfamiliarity with them can only mean they're unnatural. How easily we look upon others with the same unease and think, "They're wrong because they are not like us."
As much as I fear what lay before me on this story, I will undoubtedly devour the third book as I had its predecessors. How can I resist a book that dances with philosophy in a mythological setting? I only hope there is some small measure of hope in the end for Pentexore and its wonders. Something that the greed of humanity cannot touch.
It reflects on how people interpret the world around them through the lenses of belief, exploring the confines of religion when it comes face to face with something Other. Some men can find space in their holy scripture while his brothers may not. One man can look at the Pentexorans as our counterparts from a parallel world while another man only sees deformed demons. The former man may embrace them as distant cousins, but the latter may not find that he can bear something that does not belong in his order of the world and feel compelled to eradicate the abnormality. How funny and arrogant that we should label other creatures monsters, as if our unfamiliarity with them can only mean they're unnatural. How easily we look upon others with the same unease and think, "They're wrong because they are not like us."
As much as I fear what lay before me on this story, I will undoubtedly devour the third book as I had its predecessors. How can I resist a book that dances with philosophy in a mythological setting? I only hope there is some small measure of hope in the end for Pentexore and its wonders. Something that the greed of humanity cannot touch.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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