Tales of Neveryon

There are elements of traditional fantasy in this book. The world of Neveryon Delaney builds is a complex, intruguing place that combines varieties of geography with a vast diversity of human conditions – from the capital city of Kolhari which changes before our eyes (and through the eyes of several of its inhabitants), all the way to the Ulvayan islands, themselves the home of at least two distinct tribes of people. And there are dragons too, though Delaney uses them very differently from traditional fantasy authors.Yet, apart from the unfamiliar place, Delaney does something amazing. This collection of five novellas reads more like an exploration into alternatives (reflections?) of human history, or even a possible (if lost) part of actual history. It fictionalizes momentous events, such as the invention of writing, or the introduction of money in a barter economy and traces the intricate and small-scale changes of such events that begin at the personal level but that, over time, lead to radical social overhaul.This is my kind of story. At one level, we follow each tale and gradually develop a feel for each of the characters in the story. At another level entirely, we are treated to reflections on human nature, the meaning of life, political intrigue of the most astute and professional kind, and revelations about the nature of love and desire. And quite separately from all that, Delaney’s language is measured and thoughtful, his sentences alternatively sparkling with wit, or meandering through a complex maze, to express thoughts with clarity and vividness that is a true pleasure to anyone who appreciates well-crafted language.To me, this volume offers above all a reflection on slavery as a human condition. Slavery is ubiquitous in each of the tales and forms the narrative arch along which the lives of the characters develop. Each of the tales can be read separately and it would stand on its own. However, taken in the sequence presented, they form a progression that provides depth and allows us to see the growth (or degeneration) of some characters, to experience wonder and triumph and sorrow with them. Gorgik, enslaved as a child and, by mere chance, brought to the palace in Kolhari as the pleasure slave of the Vizerine, eventually gains his freedom. We learn that he becomes rich. We would be tempted to think that this would conclude his tale – a kind of “rags-to-riches,” “slavery-to-freedom” narrative. But Delaney surprises us by tracing a deeper pattern in the soul of the former slave – an unconscious one, perhaps, but a pattern following a beautiful logic. First, he meets his future lover, Small Sarg, whom he originally buys as a slave. In the shortest of the five tales – and the one perhaps most fraught with portents – master and slave become lovers, and Delaney offers a startling reflection on desire and love. When Sarg questions Gorgik on the necessity to keep and use the slave’s collar (even if Gorgik agrees that they can alternate wearing it), Gorgik replies, “There are people I have met in my travels who cannot eat food unless it has been held long over fire; and there are others, like me, who cannot love without some mark of possession.” Later, in a different tale, Gorgik will elaborate, “We are both free men. For the boy the collar is symbolic – of our mutual affection, our mutual protection. For myself – it is sexual – a necessary part in the pattern that allows both action and orgasm to manifest themselves within the single circle of desire.” This middle tale is also the place in which Delaney comes closest to offering an emotional evaluation of a slave’s condition. “I am already dead,” Sarg says to his Master by way of explanation of his behavior. Coming as it does from the mouth of a mere boy, this statement, equating slavery with a form of death is perhaps the most poignant emotional climax of the book.But it does not end there. For Gorgik and Sarg begin a war on slavery. This is the story reserved for the final tale in the book. Aside from the fact that Delaney creates an awesome allegory in which a gay couple (think closet, oppression, a form of slavery to social dogma) leads a rebellion to free others from oppression – and there is a great beauty in that (and parallels to the actual history of the establishment of the first Athenian democracy) – Delaney offers more condemnations of slavery here, from a different perspective. In imploring slaves to be free once he had removed the guards and opened the doors, we can hear the urgency in Small Sarg’s voice, “I want you to understand that you’re free and I want you to move. Fools, fools, don’t you know that to stay slaves is to stay fools?”This then, it a book that begins simply but gradually grows into a full-throated condemnation of slavery and oppression. It accomplishes this while building a complex world and giving us intriguing glimpses of other human lives and conditions. In the process, it also demonstrates how power diminishes and corrupts. Yes, in the expected tradition of fantasy, there is an epic struggle between good and evil. But evil is not personalized here as some demonic individual. Rather, it is diffused, pervasive … almost difficult to identify. Delaney here (remember that this reads like a possible history) creates an uncomfortable parallel with contemporary society where the evils of the system (racial injustice or rigid class barriers) are diffused and seem impersonal. But in this parallel, we also see the value of personal choice, of personal action. Yes, an individual can change history. Yes, even a diffused and impersonal evil can be defeated by love and determination. I like this optimistic vision. I like it a lot.

Samuel Delany has been on my list of authors to read for 30+ years. He's critically acclaimed, he's queer, and by a strange twist of fate, he came to see my senior theatre production when I was an undergrad. (An underwhelming performance of Christopher Durang's Baby with the Bathwater, FWIW.)And yet, I've never been able to get through one of Delany's novels--until this one. Maybe it's because his writing in Tales of Nevèrÿon is less dense than some of the other works I've picked up. Or maybe it's because Tales of Nevèrÿon is fantasy, and I'm more drawn to fantasy than Delany's usual science fiction.Whatever the case, I'm happy to say that I made it through. And I enjoyed it...mostly.I love the characters that Delany has created and the way they reappear over time. I love the way that he signals their reappearance through hairstyles, scars, and masks. (It reminds me of Confederacy of Dunces, where Toole uses that same technique to comic effect.) I love the world that he's dreamed up, a world that's sexually fluid, populated by cultures with radically different worldviews. And I love that the characters who hold those views are real, flesh-and-blood characters, not just talking heads. That's a feat.What I guess I'm missing is an appreciation for the way that the stories in Tales of Nevèrÿon hang together. Because the plot is so fragmented, when I reached the end of the novel, I had a hard time understanding exactly what each character had been through, what had changed, how they'd grown, how the world was a better (or worse) place. I love ambiguous movie endings, but apparently I don't appreciate them quite so much in novels.If and when I have the chance to reread the book, I think the story arc will become a bit clearer. Or, since this is part of a series, maybe it'll do so over the next three books. I'm just not sure how eager am I to pick up book #2 right away.

I first read these books in the 1980s and leant them out- they never came back! Sci-fi? /pre-historical fantasy/ social commentary A writer who makes you think. Just read them- you'll either love them or hate them