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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Yet Another Unexciting Quest, 18 Mar 2004
Simak was known for his enjoyable ‘simple’ rural characters and settings, which gave many of his stories a level of charm and believability regardless of how odd or unusual the situation was. Unfortunately, this work has none of this trademark. The initial premise of the story is interesting: during the fourth century, when in our world the barbarian hordes were massing on Rome’s borders, in this world the area north of Rome was infested by the Evil, basically all the creatures of fantasy legend, harpies, dragons, even unicorns (who are not so nice in this book). The Evil effectively formed a buffer between Rome and the barbarians, allowing Rome to continue to exist to the present day. As a consequence, the world apparently never had a Renaissance, and is still stuck in a feudal social organization. With this as background, the story details the adventures of a small band of beings, Harcourt, the Knurly Man (who is not quite human), an abbot, and an orphan girl with a talent for wood carving, as they attempt to retrieve a prism said to have the soul of a great saint captured inside and find Harcourt’s lady love, Eloise. This has possibilities, but I found many problems with the actual execution of this work. First is the characterization. The abbot never comes across as more than a set piece to allow Simak to detail some religious viewpoints, rather bluntly satirizing the sometimes rather harsh dictums of the Catholic church. His constant whining and bickering with the Knurly Man (who apparently is more than a thousand years old, and does not follow any religious dictate) quickly becomes irritating. Harcourt is better developed, but his obsession with Eloise, whom he thinks is probably dead and hasn’t seen in seven years, is not made very believable. The most interesting character is the orphan girl, who has a very mysterious past and pops up with odd abilities at crucial junctures, but we never get to really see her as a person. Second is the various encounters the band has with the Evil. As I read through this, I kept feeling that each incident was a stop meant to display another of the various denizens of the Evil – unicorn, harpy, ogre, troll – but there didn’t seem to be any unified cohesion to the incidents. The best section, and the only one that really seemed in evoke a sense of magic, was a dreamlike call to and struggle with the ‘Elder Ones’, clearly a small homage to Lovecraft. Overall, the Evil pretty much remains faceless, without a true element of magical danger that it should have evoked. Third was the resolution to the mystery of why the Evil was so carefully guarding the prism. The provided answer just didn’t seem to be enough reason for the Evil’s continuing effort. In fact, the entire ending seemed weak and not fully satisfying This book is just not on the same level as City or Way Station. --- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
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