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The Ozark Trilogy (previously published in 1981, Doubleday) is a widely acclaimed fantasy/science fiction story with, as the title suggests, very strong ties to the Ozark region. Twelve Fair Kingdoms, The Grand Jubilee, And Then There'll Be Fireworks -the books that comprise the trilogy-chronicle life on the planet Ozark and its Confederation of Continents, which are appropriately named Arkansaw, Oklahomah, Mizzurah, Tinaseeh, Kintucky, and Marktwain. However, the story told here involves show more much more than a mere transplant of Ozark culture and heritage onto a new planet. While this new Ozark culture maintains and even intensifies many of the "real" Ozark traditions and customs (for instance, "Grannys" hold significant, stabilizing social roles and are important sources of wisdom), the planet Ozark combines many new, fantastical elements with traditional ways. Mules on Ozark fly, and the wise "Grannys" also work magic. The protagonist of The Ozark Trilogy, Responsible of Brightwater, appears at the center of Ozark society, a society she must save from evil magic, civil war, and, ultimately, alien invasion. As Responsible travels from continent to continent in an attempt to discover and squelch the evil magic and calm the civil unrest, we are witness to many dangerous and sometimes comical adventures along the way, including a spectacular flying Mule crash and a magic duel with a Granny gone bad. Elgin has created a fantastic world infused with the folk traditions, social and familial hierarchies, and traditional dialect of the Ozarks. While parallels might be drawn between, for example, the break-up of the Confederacy of Continents on planet Ozark and the American Civil War, Elgin comments on aspects of Ozark history and tradition in a non didactic way. The trilogy, with its strong heroine and witty engagement of tradition, is a classic of Ozark literature. show lessTags
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Ok, the covers are both horrible. The feminist message is a bit strident. The trilogy is linked, and no one book stands alone "atall" as the Grannies would say. The world-building and the strategies (not war, not masculine style political intrigue, but efforts towards the Confederation despite rivalries and despite those who lust for power) are so rich that I could not fully immerse myself in the epic, but had to be fully aware of the details as I went along.
But oh what a creative, refreshing world. A bit like a Sword&Sorcery epic but actually very different.
For example, I absolutely loved the subtle differences in language/ formspeech that indicate what position the speaker holds. The Grannies have a speech mode most traditional, show more most like the 'hillbillies' of Earth from a millennium back. The Magicians of Rank speak most correctly. But almost everybody says 'of' instead of 'have' as in 'We would of liked more time.'
If you can get a copy, and the time to read it, and aren't a thin-skinned male, I do recommend this original, clever story. But I won't go so far as to push if you're not interested. show less
But oh what a creative, refreshing world. A bit like a Sword&Sorcery epic but actually very different.
For example, I absolutely loved the subtle differences in language/ formspeech that indicate what position the speaker holds. The Grannies have a speech mode most traditional, show more most like the 'hillbillies' of Earth from a millennium back. The Magicians of Rank speak most correctly. But almost everybody says 'of' instead of 'have' as in 'We would of liked more time.'
If you can get a copy, and the time to read it, and aren't a thin-skinned male, I do recommend this original, clever story. But I won't go so far as to push if you're not interested. show less
these books are laugh out loud funny (and I don't laugh out loud at many books, even all those Gaiman, etc that everyone urges on me) -- and perceptive about things more formally raised in books about the differences in how men and women talk, etc. Probably the funniest feminist series I've ever run across. If you can laugh at yourself, read these. If not ... please find a sense of humor and then read them.
For a connected fourth in the trilogy, check out "Yonder Comes the Other End of Time", my nominee for one of the best titles of all time.
For a connected fourth in the trilogy, check out "Yonder Comes the Other End of Time", my nominee for one of the best titles of all time.
Responsible of Brightwater, young "Granny" on the planet of Ozark, must complete a quest to discover whence comes the evil magic plaguing the Confederation of Continents (Arkansaw, Oklahomah, Mizzurah, Tinaseeh, Kintucky, and Marktwain). Mounting her trusty flying mule, she sets off on a tour of the kingdoms.
This is an entertaining series, well worth the bother of tracking down a copy.
This is an entertaining series, well worth the bother of tracking down a copy.
1981, Nelson Doubleday, BC edition, Dust Cover has Flying Mule
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Suzette Haden Elgin was born Patricia Anne Wilkins on November 18, 1936 in Missouri. She received a PhD in linguistics from the University of California at San Diego in 1973. She taught there from 1972 to 1980, when she retired to focus on her writing full time. Her books include The Communipaths, Furthest, At the Seventh Level, Yonder Comes the show more Other End of Time, Twelve Fair Kingdoms, The Grand Jubilee, A First Dictionary and Grammar of Láadan, Peacetalk 101, and Native Tongue Trilogy. She founded the Science Fiction Poetry Association in 1978. The organization's Elgin Award, for best poetry book and chapbook of the year, is named in her honor. She wrote The Science Fiction Poetry Handbook. She was also widely published as a linguist. Her works include the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense series. She died on January 27, 2015 at the age of 78. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- The Ozark Trilogy
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