Book Review: The Dalemark Quartet
I wrote about Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones earlier without discussing the other three books. Think of this more of a "part 2" than a separate review.
Generally I assume all fantasy settings are somewhat equivalent to English history around the year 1000 to 1200 with all the technology available. We don't see steam engines, or cannons, or any other more modern device. It was therefore rather disturbing to see bullets flying at the end of Cart and Cwidder. Bullets? Isn't that a little far fetched for a fantasy?
Yes, the author sets the rules and I submitted myself to Ms. Jones. While it did not fit my ideas, the idea of rifles and bullets seemed to work in the story so I did not mention it previously. It was only after reading the entire set that I was able to see exactly where in time this fantasy takes place.
The Dalemark involved in most of the story is approximately in our late 1700s to early 1800s - far different than my original assumption. The industrial revolution isn't far off and magic is slowly being forgotten. With that bit of information the whole series comes together in a brand new way. You really must read all four books to appreciate the world Ms. Jones has created. The four books are linked and events come together at the very end.
In the series we learn that the Undying, the gods of Dalemark, aren't really gods and never claimed to be so. But Man has worshiped them nonetheless. I don't know if Ms. Jones intended for this to be a comment on our tendency to worship what we should not, but it is true. We never learn what these beings of power truly are, but that's just part of the fantasy, isn't it?
As in Cart and Cwidder, Ms. Jones' style of writing remain the same in Drowned Ammet, The Spellcoats, and Crown of Dalemark. I'll say again that she writes in a dreamy sort of way that conjures up soft, airbrushed images with the harsh edges removed. I don't know how an author does such a thing, but Ms. Jones conjures up that feeling in my mind's eye.
So now that my misunderstanding has been corrected, I can say that this series is even better than I thought when I first wrote about it.
Generally I assume all fantasy settings are somewhat equivalent to English history around the year 1000 to 1200 with all the technology available. We don't see steam engines, or cannons, or any other more modern device. It was therefore rather disturbing to see bullets flying at the end of Cart and Cwidder. Bullets? Isn't that a little far fetched for a fantasy?
Yes, the author sets the rules and I submitted myself to Ms. Jones. While it did not fit my ideas, the idea of rifles and bullets seemed to work in the story so I did not mention it previously. It was only after reading the entire set that I was able to see exactly where in time this fantasy takes place.
The Dalemark involved in most of the story is approximately in our late 1700s to early 1800s - far different than my original assumption. The industrial revolution isn't far off and magic is slowly being forgotten. With that bit of information the whole series comes together in a brand new way. You really must read all four books to appreciate the world Ms. Jones has created. The four books are linked and events come together at the very end.
In the series we learn that the Undying, the gods of Dalemark, aren't really gods and never claimed to be so. But Man has worshiped them nonetheless. I don't know if Ms. Jones intended for this to be a comment on our tendency to worship what we should not, but it is true. We never learn what these beings of power truly are, but that's just part of the fantasy, isn't it?
As in Cart and Cwidder, Ms. Jones' style of writing remain the same in Drowned Ammet, The Spellcoats, and Crown of Dalemark. I'll say again that she writes in a dreamy sort of way that conjures up soft, airbrushed images with the harsh edges removed. I don't know how an author does such a thing, but Ms. Jones conjures up that feeling in my mind's eye.
So now that my misunderstanding has been corrected, I can say that this series is even better than I thought when I first wrote about it.
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