One For The Morning Glory

Charming fantasy novel. Has all the proper cliches, and the characters calmly point them out. A lot of fun with language: 'she had realized that her friend was a force in the world like wind, truth, gravity, or levity.' They also eat piecemeal biscuits. While all the upfront foolishness is taking place, I was still was swept up in the story and the characters.

Four strange guardians come to young Prince Amatus after the prince loses half of himself -- the left half -- in a magical accident. Contending with monstrous disturbances and a looming war, Amatus and his Companions are conscious of being inside a story, but they all disagree on what kind of tale they comprise.

One for the Morning Glory is a gleeful exercise in epic quests and meta-narratives. It begins cleverly, and then it develops into something deep and genuinely moving, and then it...loses all momentum midway through and becomes a long, tedious slog. (But man! That first half!) Part of the problem is that One for the Morning Glory feels no need to wrap up plot points. Amatus' story is merely a lone thread in the middle of many show more other stories, but those other stories belong to other people and other books, and their beginnings-middles-ends only intrude incidentally on One for the Morning Glory. (Case in point: the Companions all have complicated secret motivations, and each of these complicated secret motivations receives one (1) dark allusion before dropping out of the story entirely.) Which would be fine and dandy were it not for the reader's nagging suspicion that Amatus' story is surely the most boring of all possible options. show less

Yes, this book is definitely in the "favorites" category. The idea of a Kingdom and what it takes to be a Good King to rule it, and the power of friendship and Story. And the Wine of the Gods. While the reviews reference "The Princess Bride," I found the feel of this book more in keeping with "Once and Future King" as well as writings by Neil Gaiman. But I digress.

The story is one of a young boy who drinks the Wine of the Gods, which is never supposed to be tasted until one is an adult, and loses his left side. Barnes describes the work that goes into making the Wine as part of setting the stage for the events of that day and the role of the Companions that come into the young Prince's life shortly afterwards. For Amatus learns from show more them and from his friends what a Young Prince must do, especially since he is destined to rule the Throne. He learns good lessons and hard ones, and they are described with an appreciation for fantasy as a genre as well as a bit of tongue in cheek humor.

Add in four friends to the four Companions who are with Prince Amatus through nearly every adventure, and the sad reality of what the Companions are there to do in the Prince's life that provides the balance of not just happy endings. The friends and Companions find this out when they undertake the first Quest, while Amatus later learns humility and the value of friendship afterwards.

The mysterious Waldo, who is the nemesis to the orderly Kingdom, becomes less a mention and more and more of a threat, until he invades the Kingdom with an army of Undead and Living and Goblins. And as in any good fantasy battle, there are lessons to be learned, swashes to be buckled, and heroics to be performed. Which they are, and characters come into their own place in the story in the most unexpected of ways. show less

This is more of a fairy tale/quest tale. If you don't love fantasy, you probably won't like it. But I do love fantasy, so here it is. All of the required elements are present and accounted for. Heroic prince (or, at least, half of one)? Check. Loyal companions? Check. Do the loyal companions have mysterious backgrounds? Check. A little bit of romance? Check. Seemingly impossible tasks that require great sacrifice? Check. It's all here, but don't get the idea that it's a retelling of every other fairy tale known to man. It's well-written and different enough to make it well worth the read.

It started out as an amusing adult fairy tale. Somewhat akin to The Princess Bride, but with edgier humor. The last quarter or so of the book, however, just withered away.

Kind of a hard-to-categorize book... as a fantasy, it drifts between grown-up fairy tale and more "serious-minded" epic, with a liberal dash of Princess Bride-style humor. At the end, you're left with a lot of questions, but they aren't necessarily bad ones.

I've read this at least twice. Something in its voice is unique and wonderful.