I love stories in which my favorite (or anti-favorite, most despised as opposed to most-loved) fictional characters interact with the real world. It's the counterpoint to imagining myself as a character in a fictional world. Recently I read two very different novels using this technique. Of the two, Raven's Moon is lighter and is self-contained. It helps to have some passing acquaintance with English literature to appreciate the nuances of The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep. On the other hand, if you haven't read David Copperfield, Wuthering Heights, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, or Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford, this is a great time to do that! (You'll recognize a few other friends along the way.)
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, by H. G. Parry (Redhook)
In this literary book lover’s delight, a “summoners” has the ability to “read” a fictional character into real life. And to alter the very fabric of reality. Charles Sunderland is one such, and from the time of his childhood has been accompanied by the likes of Sherlock Holmes. His characters-companions are not literal transliterations but based on his interpretation of them: fiction is not photographic but relies on the understanding and life experience context of the reader.
At the beginning of the book the narrator, Charles’s older brother, attorney Rob, is heartily tired of the whole thing and wishes Charles’s talent would go away, especially when Uriah Heep, the odious villain of Dickens’s masterwork, David Copperfield, makes an appearance, along with the Hound of the Baskervilles. Soon Rob is drawn even deeper into the world of literary creations with his introduction to “The Street,” a secret haven where characters can live safely in a modern world. One of the more amusing touches was the presence of not one Mr. Darcy, but six, since readers of different eras saw him in different ways. Since I am a fan of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford, I took special delight in the occasional appearance of Miss Matty, whom everyone adores as much as I do. Dorian Gray, exquisitely beautiful and just as untrustworthy, teams up with the Artful Dodger. And Narnia’s White Witch can always be depended upon to look out for her own interest.
Soon it becomes apparent that not only the denizens of The Street, but Charles himself, are under attack by another “summoner” whose agenda is nothing less than remaking the entire world into the criminal underworld of Dickens’s London.
As the story progresses and the threat becomes more urgent, Rob peels back layers of the past, facing injustices and resentments – not only others’ but his own. The relationship between the two brothers reveals itself before a background that is no less than a love affair with fiction and its underlying language. Rob says, “I could see all of it. And the city glowing with the light of pure meaning was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.”
What begins as a “your favorite character come to life” romp evolves into a profound examination of how stories make us human, and what that means to those we love.
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, by H. G. Parry (Redhook)
In this literary book lover’s delight, a “summoners” has the ability to “read” a fictional character into real life. And to alter the very fabric of reality. Charles Sunderland is one such, and from the time of his childhood has been accompanied by the likes of Sherlock Holmes. His characters-companions are not literal transliterations but based on his interpretation of them: fiction is not photographic but relies on the understanding and life experience context of the reader.
At the beginning of the book the narrator, Charles’s older brother, attorney Rob, is heartily tired of the whole thing and wishes Charles’s talent would go away, especially when Uriah Heep, the odious villain of Dickens’s masterwork, David Copperfield, makes an appearance, along with the Hound of the Baskervilles. Soon Rob is drawn even deeper into the world of literary creations with his introduction to “The Street,” a secret haven where characters can live safely in a modern world. One of the more amusing touches was the presence of not one Mr. Darcy, but six, since readers of different eras saw him in different ways. Since I am a fan of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford, I took special delight in the occasional appearance of Miss Matty, whom everyone adores as much as I do. Dorian Gray, exquisitely beautiful and just as untrustworthy, teams up with the Artful Dodger. And Narnia’s White Witch can always be depended upon to look out for her own interest.
Soon it becomes apparent that not only the denizens of The Street, but Charles himself, are under attack by another “summoner” whose agenda is nothing less than remaking the entire world into the criminal underworld of Dickens’s London.
As the story progresses and the threat becomes more urgent, Rob peels back layers of the past, facing injustices and resentments – not only others’ but his own. The relationship between the two brothers reveals itself before a background that is no less than a love affair with fiction and its underlying language. Rob says, “I could see all of it. And the city glowing with the light of pure meaning was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.”
What begins as a “your favorite character come to life” romp evolves into a profound examination of how stories make us human, and what that means to those we love.
Raven's Moon, by J.B. Dane (Burns & Lea Books)
Our first-person
narrator wakes to a world of never-before experienced sensations, only to
discover that he is a fictional character brought to life: Bram Farrell, “The
Raven,” the hero of a wildly popular urban fantasy series. His author as well
as the witch who brought him through to the real world wants him to locate her
literary heir, a talented young woman writer to take over the series after the
original author succumbs to the cancer riddling her body. He, on the other
hand, soon sets his own mission: to investigate and make right the murders of
innocent supernatural creatures slain by his fictional self. Aided by a hellhound
demon in the shape of a Dachshund, he begins his search with a group of succubi
working as prostitutes. But the clock is ticking, for Bram’s author has given
him a deadline: Halloween, only four days away.
One of the most
interesting aspects of this fast-paced story is how Bram-in-the-real-world
perceives his fictional antecedent, even as he remakes himself into a different
individual. His appetite for beef – the greasier the better – doesn’t change
(much to the despair of his creator’s health-food vegan-is-better personal
chef), but his ability to judge the ethics of his character’s choices sets him on
a different path -- a path that will be revealed in subsequent volumes.
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