Play Book Tag discussion

An American Joe from Chicago meets the Hero With A Thousand Faces. John Myers Myers published his fantasy novel in 1949, the same year as Joseph Campbell’s study of the archetypal hero on a quest. There is no evidence the two writers were aware of each other’s projects, but the coincidence is striking for the book nerd in me.
Myers is a bit of a one hit wonder, but when that wonder is of the calibre of Silverlock, I think it is enough. I think he was way ahead of his time in his metafictional approach to literature and myth, clearing the way for the arrival of a Neil Gaiman, Italo Calvino or Philip Jose Farmer, all of whom will write about the power of story .

Shandon, who will be soon known in the realm of the Commonwealth as Silverlock for the white streak dividing his dark hair, has a rather conventional start to his adventures: he is the sole survivor of a shipwreck after a storm and we finds a stranger in a strange land. Luckily for him, and for the reader, Shandon drifts into the path of another marooned traveler who goes by many (possibly a thousand) names, such as Widsith Amergin Demodocus Boyan Taliesin Golias. For the purpose of this review, we will stick to Golias. He is a native of this strange land, a bard, an adventurer, a magician, a trickster and more. Most importantly, he appears to know the Delian Law of this strange fictional land that includes Broceliande, Heorot, Avalon, Gotham, the Mississippi, Chateau d’If, the Hippocrene and Dante’s Inferno in a geographical jumble similar to the Riverworld of Philip Jose Farmer. Inside the Commonwealth such things as economic, moral, political, social, theological, sentimental, and scientific laws are vain pretenders to authority. so we must be prepared to expect the unexpected, including the Spanish Inquisition.

This means we actually have in our hands three stories for the price of one: the first a picaresque adventure that is just a fun way to discover the Commonwealth; the second a traditional hero’s quest for a lost love and the third a spiritual journey as per Campbell’s definition. This is a gross simplification on my part, because Silverlock is the main actor and narrator in all three and the plots are intertwined.

I was going to give the book a four star rating, mostly because I couldn’t accept a modern American man like Shandon, with a Master’s degree in business administration could be so clueless about the literary and mythical figures he meets on the road, but in the process of putting my notes in order, in particular the last two quotes (see my full review, too long to include here), I think the project merits a little extra praise from a true book lover.