Queenmagic, Kingmagic

by Ian Watson

In another world, somewhere in space and time, two countries-Bellogard and Chorny-are locked in perpetual war, conducted by magic. Each of the main members of the two countries' courts-king, queen, prince, bishop, knight and squire-has their own form of magic, and special ways of moving magically. A war may continue for centuries, until one side succeeds in killing the other side's king, at which point the whole world vanishes, only to reappear and have the cycle begin again. . . Pedino is a young Bellogardian who becomes the queen's squire and, as part of his training, is sent into a seedier part of the city to uncover a Chornian spy. During his adventures he meets and falls in love with a whore, Sara, who turns out to be a Chornian bishop's squire. Pedino succeeds in killing the other Chornian bishop-a remarkable achievement for a mere squire; but in the manoeuvres which follow Chorny proves to have outwitted its rival, and Pedino's whole world is threatened with extinction. There have been many stories modelled on chess games, but none so ingenious and enjoyable as Ian Watson's latest novel. And, as one would expect from Watson, the story of Bellogard and Chorny is only the beginning. When Pedino and Sara manage to escape the destruction of their universe, they find themselves in a series of even more bizarre worlds operating under still stranger rules, as they seek to discover the purpose of their existence, and the meaning of their universe. Queenmagic, Kingmagic is Ian Watson in sparkling, exuberant form.

Genres: Fantasy, Chess

195 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Ismael Manzanares · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro original y bastante entretenido. Tremendo el mundo que se imagina el autor para dar pie a la historia y cómo todo encaja de la manera en que lo hace, en particular, desde el punto de vista de la sociedad y de cómo justifica la realidad en base a las reglas del juego. Aunque también hay que destacar el contraste entre las blancas y las negras.... Muy original, sí.

Echo en falta que desarrollara más la historia entre Sara y Pedino, sobre todo al final. La conclusión del libro, aunque se veía venir, es la bomba, me encanta. Un libro brillante y mira, sin necesidad de ninguna trilogía.

[Christy Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

As lovely as the prose is, the book is a bit dry.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming, high-concept fantasy that skips along at a terrific pace before making an unexpected turn in a surprising direction. Characteristically of Watson, this takes an odd idea and then pushes it to the limit. It is not very deep, but it is elegantly witty and a lot of fun.

[Chris Cowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first half of this book quite a lot. The characters felt genuine in its initial fantasy setting. This tails off as the book progresses into the latter fantasy realms as we spend less time with each stage's supporting characters.

[John Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Queenmagic, Kingmagic (1986) 205 pages by Ian Watson

The kingdoms of Bellogard and Chorny are in a magical war which when there is a winner will be the end of existence, but the war is also what brings life to the world. Pedino describes a couple of childhood adventures, the latter concluding with Bishop Slon discovering that Pedino has a full magical soul and is the last of the Bellogard squires. He then studies a couple of years at the palace before going on his first mission where he falls in love with Sara, one of the opposing squires, but acquits himself well by dispatching Bishop Zorn. Four more years pass and he is sent on mission to Chorny.

The characters with full souls are analogues of chess pieces -- Prince, Sir, Squire being a rook, knight and pawn. Those characters have there particular type of magic whether it's straightforward magic, slantwise magic, etc. It gives a flavor to the book.

The other tone that is set is that there are cycles. Pedino visits the bibliotek where Bishop Veck shows him volumes that are blank, and tiny volumes that are filled with miniature writing. Presumably from previous cycles. Watson uses a snake symbol that is a barrier between the universes. Which I assume is an Ouroboros reference.

It's not just a novelty there is a good overall story built upon smaller stories. Pedino grows from a naive boy to a man. Good solid writing.

[Heiden Schwarzherz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm giving it two stars, because the magic system mixed with chess rules seemed interesting at the beginning, at least for a chess player. However, there was like a hundred pages that can be skipped. From that moment to the end, the characters made no sense (some like Koko had no reason or meaning at all for their existence in the story whatsoever) thus I couldn't care about the main characters either. I didn't care as well about the Monopoly arc (if I can call it that) and even less for the last part.
The 4th wall thing was... rare, not bad, but I think it would've made a very nice addition if it were used slightly from the beginning and made more emphasis on it after they reached the second world.

Overall I would've preferred this to be a cheesy romantic story of two star-crossed lovers, instead of this lysergic trip to nowhere, which ends abruptly because the writer ran out of acid.

[Rafał · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brakło mi trochę wyjaśnienia dla tego świata... a im dalej tym mniej zależało mi na bohaterach, a bardziej właśnie na jakimś rozwiązaniu. Sam świat ciekawy, ale nic, o czym chciałoby się pisać fanfiki.

[Nancy Valentino]

The first 2/3 of this book plod along like any normal fantasy novel really. It's pretty good, I can get behind chess-based magical warfare. But then it takes an unexpected twist and the plot gallops along towards the deeply weird but somewhat satisfying conclusion. Weird book, but a good one.