#tenthragon

[isfjmel-phleg]

Tenthragon by Constance Savery enters the public domain in the US today!

[fictionadventurer]

Tenthragon! It's a fairy tale! It's a retelling! It's an allegory! It's a psychologically astute portrayal of the effects of sin in a soul and across generations!

[healerqueen]

I've read…so many classic Constance Savery books at this point. And Tenthragon was like a remix of ALL of them, even the obscure ones. Each of them is unique but has her trademark stamp on it. And somehow this was all of them rolled into one, times twenty.

[thelonelybrilliance]

Is Tenthragon really going to just ... end like that?????

[incomingalbatross]

Seven chapters into Tenthragon! Disorganized bullet-point reactions below, by chapter.

Ch. 1-2:

I love the atmosphere so far.

These chapters do well at establishing that Brendan really is doing his best for Patric and cares about him (even if the evidence might not be enough for a small child to find security in that).

Despite that, Brendan also really gives the feeling that there is Danger here—not only that Patric isn't safe here unless he stays within bounds, but that Brendan is in some way constrained. If this were fantasy, there'd be a curse in this house.

(I have a very general idea of what or rather who IS in the "other house," but only very general. I don't know any of the whys or hows or plot developments, really.)

So it SEEMS like there are two Marys, and if so that's really something you need to EXPLAIN to the small child, guys.

Also, I don't like that thing of Mary trying to scare him into behaving by citing Brendan. I've seen that tactic before, and it is both unhelpful and unfair.

Ch. 3:

No, I don't like Mary. That's HIS money. Let him spend it. :(

Oh good. They DID explain the twin thing. Paddy doesn't need that stress.

She bought a SWITCH? It is not her job to buy a switch for a child who isn't hers! Much less to threaten the boy with it when his actual guardian didn't even want it in the house and doesn't know she got it!

Ch. 4:

Even allowing for the fact that this is all being filtered through Paddy's perspective, the list of People I Dislike here is growing. Why do they seem to enjoy scaring children.

Tentatively putting Ludovic Tenthragon (mentioned only) at the head of the list, though.

Ch. 5:

This! Is why you don't make children under your care afraid of you! They're scared to tell you when something goes wrong and then it gets worse. (It's fine, I'm sure this is the ONLY time something like that will happen here…)

Poor Paddy, locking out the dragon. (If I heard strangers partying on the other side of my wall I would ALSO be uneasy. It's bad enough being in a hotel room by yourself at night.)

Brendon gets significant points for this night. But also YES, sir, Paddy is afraid of you. Part of it is just that you all live in a cursed house.

Ah, so Eann Tenthragon was a LITERAL prodigal son.

…Tentatively removing Ludovic from the top of the list. Awaiting further information.

Oh. Oh BOY. Yes, I see someone else owns the coveted top-of-list space.

Ch. 6:

Very glad Paddy is getting along better with Brendon. Sad Brendon can't spend more time with him.

Prue is very good at appreciating music.

Continue to really admire the atmosphere. The way it's not fantasy and yet in every important way, all the fairy tales are true and Paddy's surrounded by them.

Ch. 7:

All right, the dragon is Hugh. ...I can see how that fits in.

(For the record, I would like to state that it is NOT Paddy's fault this house is so confusing. If I saw a house that looked exactly like mine I wouldn't notice it was facing west instead of east either.)

OOF. So he didn't KNOW Paddy was there. Yes, I see the rock and hard place Brendon has been living between.

STOP TERRIFYING THE SMALL CHILD

See, the fact that he's talking to a seven- or eight-year-old who he wants to terrify makes it difficult for me to tell how much of the supervillain monologuing is sincere—but on the other hand, the fact that he's saying it with the intent of being believed is quite bad enough. The malice is real, and it's frightening.

In conclusion: someone save the child. I'm going to stop here for the night, before I get sucked in.

[idratherdreamofjune]

Fortnight of Books: 2022

Day 7:

Most memorable character:

There are even more good candidates than usual this year, I can narrow it down to a few though. Hugh, the extremely conflicted and disturbed initial antagonist of Tenthragon (Constance Savery) is introduced as a straightforward villain, but as his background unfolded the reader begins to pity him and long for his reconciliation. His brother and the rest of the household are all excellent characters in their own rights, but Hugh is the most dramatic, and the one who changes the most. Mr. Land, the miracle-working father of the narrator in Peace Like a River (Leif Enger - again, a book full of finely-drawn people) also deserves notice. He is, ostensibly, the main character, and as one of the most deeply loving fictional characters I’ve ever encountered he gives the tale its heart and impetus. Jonathan Harker (Dracula) gets a mention too, I was fully invested in his story from the beginning and his character growth is truly impressive (though in some ways not positive). He’ll get special attention in the next post. ;D

Most annoying character:

The journalist detective Jimmy London in Calamity in Kent (John Rowland) - he does a fair amount of lying and goes so far as to withhold a lot of information about the murder from the police simply for the purpose of trying to get a scoop. A slimy individual all around.

[fictionadventurer]

Tenthragon is so good, and I can't even be mad at people for not telling me how good it was, because @isfjmel-phleg has been singing its praises for years, and I can't be mad at myself, because I started reading it as soon as it was reasonably accessible, so I guess I have to be mad at the reading public for not appreciating this book and letting it go out of print.

[fictionadventurer]

The ending of Tenthragon was foreshadowed!

The very first chapter shows us that a formative story for Paddy is about Sir Agravaine knocking multiple times on the door of the dragon's house...and the story stopping there.

wherefore he had to stop short at the most interesting place of all, his heart cold with awe and suspense.

So of course Paddy's story has to end right at the opening of a door to a dangerous monster! We may be surprised, but we can't say we weren't warned.

There are a few crucial differences that make this ending less incomplete than Paddy's experience with the Sir Agravaine story.

-Paddy already had his "entering the dragon's house" story with Hugh. We've seen that he endured a lot, but everything turned out well in the end. We can infer that something similar could happen this second time, except with a better outcome, because Paddy has learned from his first experience.

-Quentin is in the Sir Agravaine position of knocking angrily and repeatedly on the door. Even though Quentin is the dragon of the story, Paddy is now in the dragon's position--the position of power, as the one inside the house and opening the door.

-This flipping of positions of the knight and dragon suggests that Paddy might not even have to endure the trials of the first time through the story. The dragon is now entering their domain, where a dragon has already been slain.