Blood and Ivory: A Tapestry

I forget where I first came across mention of Hodgell’s Chronicles of the Kencyrath, but it resulted in me buying an omnibus of the first two books of the, to date, ten-book series. I read the first book, God Stalk, and it wasn’t bad. Very much a secondary world fantasy in the vein of assorted LotR rip-offs or popular fantasy role-playing games. But it had likeable characters and hinted at an interesting back-history.

A few years later, I read the second book. If the first had riffed off Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, the second threw in references to some of the more off-the-wall Conan stories and hinted at yet further world history weirdness than had so far been mentioned. True, this is heartland stuff, so much so it could be a RPG show more campaign supplement, but it’s all just a little bit sideways to the template. In fact, now I think about it, it's sort of like the Wheel of Time - it has all the neat clues to a deep, possibly science-fictional, back-history, it follows the form of the sub-genre in terms of lands and races and characters, but with several changes… But it is definitely not Wheel of Time: it’s competently write for a start, isn’t padded out to shit, doesn’t feature spanking or gratuitous mentions of women’s breasts, or have characters that behave like dim-witted teenagers from smalltown, USA. If you liked Jordan’s flatulent opus, the Chronicles of Kencyrath will blow you away. Um, perhaps a bad choice of words, but you know what I mean.

And so to Blood & Ivory, a collection of short stories which is undoubtedly for fans. I picked up the Meisha Merlin 2002 edition - from Norcon 30 in Oslo, for much cheapness - which includes useful maps and not so useful artwork by Hodgell herself. The stories are a mixed bag. Some were folded into the first two novels, others give useful background on minor characters. A very early story, if not the first, featuring the major characters is interesting, in as much as it reads a sf/fantasy hybrid and nothing like the actual chronicles. Although there’s a hint of it in the novels, the stories here are much more Goth than I expected. There’s also a supernatural Holmes story, which isn’t bad but doesn’t really need to be a Holmes story.

I recommend the series, and I say that as someone who isn’t a fan of epic secondary world fantasy. Unlike the execrable Wheel of Time, Hodgell’s Chronicles of the Kencyrath are not a chore to read and there are Easter eggs, intentional or not I’ve no idea, for a reader well-read in the genre. For a fan, Blood & Ivory is almost essential; for a casual reader, probably not. show less

I'm enjoying it, because I like Hodgell's books, and I'm happy to read more of Jamethiel Priest's-Bane regardless. The stories so far are fairly slight, giving more depth to backstory already established in the series. It's for fans, and I'm a fan, so that works out nicely. It probably wouldn't appeal to someone who hadn't read the series, or to someone who wasn't also interested in how a writer develops a character. Jame has been with Hodgell since her teens or childhood, by the looks of it, and has gone through many settings and incarnations. I had a little thrill of confirmation to see that Tai-tastigon was intentionally a Fritz Leiber setting, because that's what I thought it was back when I first began reading.
As always, I'm vastly show more impressed that Jame escapes Mary Sue status. I don't quite know how, because I'm sure she'd score very high on the test. Perhaps because Hodgell is playing with the tropes, winding them until they snap? show less

A book of short stories from the lady who brought us Dark of the Gods, God Stalk and Seeker's Mask. This was awfully nice for me what with being hooked on the Kencyrath series as some of the stories are based in the same world. Even better; you get flashes of the past and the future, unfolding mysteries and hints of a complex and intriguing future.

Am still utterly in love and shall pimp to all my friends. Endured puppy eyes and whimpers from ascetic_hedony and cricketk and shall save my second read until I pry it back out of their reluctant hands.

A collection of short stories from P.C. Hodgell, all but one of which are in her Kencyrath universe. The collection includes three more recently written back-story stories, one story contemporary with "God Stalk", and one further forward in the timeline than the novels. It also includes the short story, "A Matter of Honor", that evolved into "God Stalk", and Hodgell's first Jame story, "Child of Darkness", set in a future, post-apocalyptic Earth; this one is not considered canon in the Kencyrath universe. The final story is a Sherlock Holmes story that originally appeared in an anthology of such.

If you're a fan of the Kencyrath novels, you should definitely read this, although you should read all the novels first; one of the stories is show more something of a spoiler for events in "To Ride a Rathorn", and is best read after that book.

For everyone else, don't buy this now; buy "God Stalk" and see if you like it. Once you've devoured the novels, you'll want this.

Dedicated fans may also enjoy the Kencyr Wiki at http://kencyr.wikia.com/ which is working toward the goal of a comprehensive encyclopedia of Hodgell's world. show less

These are short story remnants, mostly centered on Jame, from Hodgell's Godstalk series. One is very odd, setting her in a dystopic Earth future. There is also a strange little Sherlock Holmes story and a collection of maps and drawings, letting you know how much time the author has spent living with her character.

A bunch of short stories. They appear to be reveals that were a big deal at the time, but all the data was later expounded on in full novels.   So I was 30% through and it was all reruns. So I quit. "

A couple Jame background stories, a couple God Stalk inspired, one odd one and the last having nothing to do with the Kencyrath. I liked the background ones the best—