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Dreams
of the Compass Rose by Vera Nazarian check out website: www.wildsidepress.com and www.veranazarian.com
'Dreams Of The Compass Rose' tells of fourteen
dreams, the dreams and histories of people that inhabit this strange but awe-inspiring
place, Amarantea. It is a place that is inaccessible by the normal methods of
transport, existing in the realm between realms where dream meets reality and
sleep meets wakefulness.
A Queen that has 'holes for eyes' helps
design and build the Compass Rose, her efforts to show an unwilling and mad ruler
the error of his ways and the truth behind these numerous errors. 'Dreams
Of The Compass Rose' entwines the stories throughout the book to make a whole.
At first, it seems that the tales are unconnected and that this book should really
be marketed as an anthology but every piece is integral to a novel about a place.
That place takes on a personality by the end. It is as if Amarantea has a soul
and a single body. In a way, that is true of any story set in a single country
or world but with this book it is overwhelmingly so. Vera Nazarian
describes this place using highly colourful language, intricate colours of sky,
land and sea paint a picture in the reader's mind's eye of what is unfolding adding
a more three-dimensional composition to the storytelling. The bright vibrant method
of description makes for an uplifting and yet subtly textured landscape that is
plagued by illusion and falsehoods. Not every reader of fantasy will
find this book appealing. It is not an easy read by any means, but it works on
a level that most fantasy has yet to reach. I found myself re-reading some of
the story arcs and finding new meaning behind the individual stories that I may
have missed had I moved on swiftly. Much like Nazarian's recent book,
'Lords of Rainbow', this is written in a modern fable kind of way. It reminded
me of 'Tales Of The Arabian Nights' and had that special kind of magic that as
a child would ignite your imagination and fuel a desire to read more. I believe
that what makes Vera Nazarian stand out from the crowd is the way she makes her
stories into adult fables, ones that big children will want to come back to time
and time again. The storytelling style of writing adds a magical spark
to what is befalling the characters and the story finds a new depth of reasoning
by doing this. The overall sensuality of tales steeped in legends that involve
and consume their protagonists wraps the reader in a blanket of lives that you
want to know more about. It folds over in such tantalising ways you lose yourself
in your own imagination of the place called Amarantea. The characters
are as colourful as their habitat has been described. They are not your usual
characters in that much of the time you neither like to read about them nor want
them to come to peace. Nazarian throws in wild card characters that you really
don't like but come to realise that there is a reason for their flaws and they
should be pitied rather than hated. It never under-whelms the reader but nonetheless it doesn't
try to be something it is not by adding huge set pieces of full-blown action just
for the hell of it. The book takes on a charm and life of its own and again much
like 'Lords Of Rainbow' has the appeal for you to go back to it in the future. The story that I most enjoyed was one about a thief that has stolen death
scythe. It is quite humorous and yet holds a meaningful intent and I liked that
multi-layered direction. It embraces the ideas it contains and meets
them full on. Nazarian has managed to fulfil a hole in the fantasy genre that
had dwindled for so long it had nearly become extinct. Let's hope she continues
to fulfil that daunting task. Donna Jones
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OTHER REVIEWS - December 2003
Other reviews this month Dreams Underfoot by Charles De Lint Spirits In The Wires by Charles De Lint First Rider's Call by Kristen Britain Roma Eterna by Robert Silverberg The Life Eaters by David Brin and Scott Hamilton Midnight Lamp by Gwyneth Jones Dreams of the Compass Rose by Vera Nazarian One Lamp: Alternative History Stories edited by Gordon Van Gelder The Druid King by Norman Spinrad Star Trek: Nemesis novelisation by J.M. Dillard Unto Leviathan by Richard Paul Russo The Sundering by Walter Jon Williams Nylon Angel by Marianne de Pierres Falling Out Of Cars by Jeff Noon The Darkest Part Of The Woods by Ramsey Campbell Lord Of Snow And Shadows by Sarah Ash Tales Of Ten Worlds by Arthur C. Clarke Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale Dante's Equation by Jane Jensen Archform: Beauty by L. E. Modesit Jr
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'The
Compass Rose' binds and involves, two souls so different and yet so similar in
their servitude. Stories about these two illustrate their binding, to illusion
and inescapable truth.
Nadir,
a boy nicknamed by his adoptive grandmother as the 'demon boy',
finds himself making a promise to a princess who really does not
deserve such a promise.
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