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Imagine John Lennon met Mick Jagger around 1968, really hit it off, went through the collapse of modern civilisation together, and changed from rockstars into genuine heroes. And came out on the other side ruling England. And imagine they were both in love with the same girl, and this gorgeous babe they both adored turned out to be . . . But this story isn't actually set in 1968, it's an alternate Now, and Fiorinda is no hapless sixties rock chick, but a formidable power in her own right: a show more child of our times and a timeless heroine. Bold As Love is an evocative Arthurian fantasy in which cultural icons (rock and roll stars) are cast as man of destiny, peerless warrior companion at his side, with a band of faithful companions, a princess in jeopardy, battle scenes, fancy dress, Celtic mythology, true romance, a wicked magician, the Holy Grail . . . More magical than the classic Divine Endurance, more exciting and moving than the award-winning White Queen: Bold As Love is a shamelessly romantic fantasy about England that asks what would happen to the rock nobility if all those protest songs and idealist opinions were put to the test . . . show lessTags
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https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3639413.html
I read the first part of this when it first came out in Interzone, way back in the day, and thought I had read the rest since, but this was mostly new to me. I generally enjoyed it, which is a relief because I bounced off a couple of other books by Gwyneth Jones that I tried in the meantime. I also suspect that I would not have enjoyed it as much when it first came out; the disintegration of the United Kingdom's structure of government doesn't seem either as improbable or as unwelcome as it did in 2001. The setting is a near-future England where Scotland and Wales have become independent and Ireland has reunited, and the counterculture takes over the government so that senior political figures show more are also playing in their own bands, and if anything a bit better known for the latter than the former. Our heroine, Fiorinda, undergoes a gruesome sexual initiation in the first section of the book and one of the plot strands is her personal quest to come to terms with it; other strands involve the machinations of various factions, some more believable than others. It's a really impressive vision of what a future England could look like, even if it's now twenty years old; slightly dystopian but also with a tinge of optimism. show less
I read the first part of this when it first came out in Interzone, way back in the day, and thought I had read the rest since, but this was mostly new to me. I generally enjoyed it, which is a relief because I bounced off a couple of other books by Gwyneth Jones that I tried in the meantime. I also suspect that I would not have enjoyed it as much when it first came out; the disintegration of the United Kingdom's structure of government doesn't seem either as improbable or as unwelcome as it did in 2001. The setting is a near-future England where Scotland and Wales have become independent and Ireland has reunited, and the counterculture takes over the government so that senior political figures show more are also playing in their own bands, and if anything a bit better known for the latter than the former. Our heroine, Fiorinda, undergoes a gruesome sexual initiation in the first section of the book and one of the plot strands is her personal quest to come to terms with it; other strands involve the machinations of various factions, some more believable than others. It's a really impressive vision of what a future England could look like, even if it's now twenty years old; slightly dystopian but also with a tinge of optimism. show less
[b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495] and sequels were formative during my late teens; [b:Castles Made of Sand|2910238|Castles Made of Sand (Bold as Love, #2)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1352313082l/2910238._SY75_.jpg|352899] is one of my all-time favourite novels. The series has stayed with me since I first read it - even physically, as I've kept a copy of [b:Castles Made of Sand|2910238|Castles Made of Sand (Bold as Love, #2)|Gwyneth show more Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1352313082l/2910238._SY75_.jpg|352899] in my very limited personal library through more than fifteen house-moves and countless book clearouts. I decided it was time for a reread in 2023, as the series seems increasingly relevant. Almost spookily so, as the situation at the start includes the impending dissolution of the UK into separate nations, loss of trust in institutions, islamophobia and xenophobia, economic collapse, worsening environmental breakdown, political polarisation, the combination of both breeding extremes of techno-optimism and eco-fascism, and a flailing government looking to media celebrities for support. Specifically, reading about the rise of eco-fascism in [b:White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism|56708410|White Skin, Black Fuel On the Danger of Fossil Fascism|Andreas Malm|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1623412638l/56708410._SY75_.jpg|88659555] (most frightening book of 2023!) reminded me of this series, as it contains the most thoughtful examination of green fascism I've come across. On page 27 of [b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495], which was published in 2001, I read this and shivered:
Then a few pages later:
In this plausible near future, the reader is introduced to teenage rockstar Fiorinda and her musician friends, who join a counterculture think tank organised by the teetering government. The unstable political situation explodes into violence, within which Fiorinda, her guitarist sometime-boyfriend Ax, and her laddish techno-wizard best friend Sage attempt to do what good as they can. Rockstars inadvertently become an important part of the government at a time of chaos. [b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495] asks: can music can console a whole country during the collapse of capitalist civilisation? Perhaps, as the narrative suggests, it is the least worst consolation available. Not enough fiction deals with the cultural, almost mystical importance of music to bond people together and make hard times bearable. Jones has an incredible ability to invent and describe all kinds of rock, pop, and techno that I can imagine listening to. I'm sure this was a significant part of the book's appeal to me as a teenager who constantly listened to electronica on her walkman while reading and daydreaming.
Fiorinda, Ax, and Sage, the Triumvirate, are such fascinating and appealing characters. They are brilliantly vivid Arthurian archetypes, flamboyant rockstars, and traumatised, fucked up people doing their best in bad circumstances. I fell in love with them twenty years ago and it's never really worn off. Their wider friends group are brilliant too and often provide amusing commentary on events. The ethos of this series is tough but hopeful; utopian in spirit but pragmatic in practise. The Rock n Roll Reich saves what can be saved. There is a lot of bleakness and horror, not least in Fiorinda's backstory, but also a great deal of joy, pleasure, and absurdity.
The first time I read [b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495], it was after picking up [b:Castles Made of Sand|2910238|Castles Made of Sand (Bold as Love, #2)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1352313082l/2910238._SY75_.jpg|352899] in the library and being blown away by it. However I do not recommend that reading order at all. The first scene of [b:Castles Made of Sand|2910238|Castles Made of Sand (Bold as Love, #2)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1352313082l/2910238._SY75_.jpg|352899] continues from the last scene of [b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495]. The two novels make so much more sense read in the intended order and together. [b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495] sets up the characters, relationships, and world-building brilliantly. It has an excellent self-contained plot, while also laying the groundwork for [b:Castles Made of Sand|2910238|Castles Made of Sand (Bold as Love, #2)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1352313082l/2910238._SY75_.jpg|352899] to be even more involving. There is nothing else quite like this wonderful series. Hopefully the recent SF Masterworks edition of [b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495] will encourage more people to read it and love it too. I was delighted to see in Gwyneth Jones' introduction to this edition that there is still one more book to come in the series. I look forward to the further adventures of Ax, Sage, and Fiorinda. show less
The suits' leader started to make a standard sort of speech, as far as he could be heard above the hecklers.
"We're going to make England great again," he shouted (against a loud, determined anti-car chant from back in the stacks). "But we need your help, your ideas, your input."
"You mean you need to cut a deal with the Counterculture!"
Then a few pages later:
The government had to make a deal with the so-called Counterculture. The current GM related crop failures, and home-wrecker floods in previously unaffected venues, hadn't improved a situation that was getting rapidly out of hand. The UK's share of the world's weather and food disasters weren't killers (if you wanted to be really scared, look at the multi-drug resistent TB and viral pneumonia deaths!), but they'd brought public morale to the tipping point. It was I told you so time, and the Extreme Greens, the Hardline Counterculturals, whatever they called themselves, were making the most of it, reaping the whirlwind.
In this plausible near future, the reader is introduced to teenage rockstar Fiorinda and her musician friends, who join a counterculture think tank organised by the teetering government. The unstable political situation explodes into violence, within which Fiorinda, her guitarist sometime-boyfriend Ax, and her laddish techno-wizard best friend Sage attempt to do what good as they can. Rockstars inadvertently become an important part of the government at a time of chaos. [b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495] asks: can music can console a whole country during the collapse of capitalist civilisation? Perhaps, as the narrative suggests, it is the least worst consolation available. Not enough fiction deals with the cultural, almost mystical importance of music to bond people together and make hard times bearable. Jones has an incredible ability to invent and describe all kinds of rock, pop, and techno that I can imagine listening to. I'm sure this was a significant part of the book's appeal to me as a teenager who constantly listened to electronica on her walkman while reading and daydreaming.
Fiorinda, Ax, and Sage, the Triumvirate, are such fascinating and appealing characters. They are brilliantly vivid Arthurian archetypes, flamboyant rockstars, and traumatised, fucked up people doing their best in bad circumstances. I fell in love with them twenty years ago and it's never really worn off. Their wider friends group are brilliant too and often provide amusing commentary on events. The ethos of this series is tough but hopeful; utopian in spirit but pragmatic in practise. The Rock n Roll Reich saves what can be saved. There is a lot of bleakness and horror, not least in Fiorinda's backstory, but also a great deal of joy, pleasure, and absurdity.
The first time I read [b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495], it was after picking up [b:Castles Made of Sand|2910238|Castles Made of Sand (Bold as Love, #2)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1352313082l/2910238._SY75_.jpg|352899] in the library and being blown away by it. However I do not recommend that reading order at all. The first scene of [b:Castles Made of Sand|2910238|Castles Made of Sand (Bold as Love, #2)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1352313082l/2910238._SY75_.jpg|352899] continues from the last scene of [b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495]. The two novels make so much more sense read in the intended order and together. [b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495] sets up the characters, relationships, and world-building brilliantly. It has an excellent self-contained plot, while also laying the groundwork for [b:Castles Made of Sand|2910238|Castles Made of Sand (Bold as Love, #2)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1352313082l/2910238._SY75_.jpg|352899] to be even more involving. There is nothing else quite like this wonderful series. Hopefully the recent SF Masterworks edition of [b:Bold as Love|1118463|Bold as Love (Bold as Love, #1)|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327928608l/1118463._SY75_.jpg|1105495] will encourage more people to read it and love it too. I was delighted to see in Gwyneth Jones' introduction to this edition that there is still one more book to come in the series. I look forward to the further adventures of Ax, Sage, and Fiorinda. show less
I've always struggled a bit with Gwyneth Jones' writing, but I've had Bold as Love on the shelf for years because people whose opinions I respect have called her work Significant. Part of my problem is probably that I've been guilty in the past of rushing her books; now, as a retired person, I don't have that excuse.
But to start with, I found the premise and characters in this novel not to my liking. I've always had something of a semi-detached relationship with the counterculture; and I suppose I identified as a Young Fogey back in the days when I was still young, although my knowledge of and contact with the counterculture was always sufficient for me to know about it, identify those places where I was in tune with it, and smile show more indulgently at everything else. That also meant that sometimes, I picked up on issues that others didn't immediately see, and my grasp of stuff sometimes confounded people who'd think things like "How does tweedy Robert know so much about lesbian symbiology?", which amused me. But hey, I've been to festivals and slept under canvas. My political alignment helps, too.
And yet, to begin with I was reading the novel and thinking "I don't identify with these characters." There's one character who looks and behaves like a walk-on nihilist grunge villain from Gotham. The novel, published around 2000, throws us into a near-future scenario that is now on a wholly divergent timeline. And Jones' idea of what Whitehall civil servants and politicians were like was perhaps ten years out of date in 2000; Tony Blair's "Cool Britannia" seems to have either passed her by or been treated as mere window-dressing, whereas that generation of politicians and officials were more in touch with the counterculture than people realise - even some of those supposedly in the loop, such as certain SpAds (special advisors), who put out an appeal for "weirdos and misfits" to join government whilst overlooking those already working away under their noses. Well, I've written about that before (https://robertday154.wordpress.com/2020/01/18/weirdos-and-misfits/), so enough said.
I was certainly contemplating not finishing the book if I didn't get any better vibes off it by the 50-60% point. But then some friends assured me that coming to terms with the characters was something of a slow burn; and sure enough, I found myself warming to the central triumvirate: Fiorinda, Ax Preston and Sage. Someone else pointed out that the book was subtitled A near future fantasy and had certain Arthurian themes; and that I could see, also. Perhaps i should have taken more notice of that, as fantasy isn't really my thing, especially if the writer is trying to combine it with a more ostensibly "realistic" setting at the outset.
There are also some other things I found problematical. There's a major thread in the book of rock musicians and child abuse. The attitude in Bold as Love seems to be "Everyone knew but no-one said." I'm sure that's true; it's what people said about Jimmy Saville (after the event). Sadly, that rather holes the argument about it being "fantasy" under the waterline, and some coming to this book now may want to reject it on those grounds. There is also some overt Islamophobia that goes directly unchallenged despite the question of Islam in Britain being addressed positively later on. The same goes for trans issues; Gwyneth Jones' treatment of themes which might resonate unfavourably with some readers twenty years later perhaps just goes to show how far we have come.
So: an important book from a major writer, to be sure; but some readers will have to work hard at it before they begin to get returns. There is an irreverent humour at play throughout the novel, and Jones knows her fantastic literature well enough to pepper the text with in-jokes. And the Gollancz hardcover is a lovely thing with an Anne Sudworth cover. show less
But to start with, I found the premise and characters in this novel not to my liking. I've always had something of a semi-detached relationship with the counterculture; and I suppose I identified as a Young Fogey back in the days when I was still young, although my knowledge of and contact with the counterculture was always sufficient for me to know about it, identify those places where I was in tune with it, and smile show more indulgently at everything else. That also meant that sometimes, I picked up on issues that others didn't immediately see, and my grasp of stuff sometimes confounded people who'd think things like "How does tweedy Robert know so much about lesbian symbiology?", which amused me. But hey, I've been to festivals and slept under canvas. My political alignment helps, too.
And yet, to begin with I was reading the novel and thinking "I don't identify with these characters." There's one character who looks and behaves like a walk-on nihilist grunge villain from Gotham. The novel, published around 2000, throws us into a near-future scenario that is now on a wholly divergent timeline. And Jones' idea of what Whitehall civil servants and politicians were like was perhaps ten years out of date in 2000; Tony Blair's "Cool Britannia" seems to have either passed her by or been treated as mere window-dressing, whereas that generation of politicians and officials were more in touch with the counterculture than people realise - even some of those supposedly in the loop, such as certain SpAds (special advisors), who put out an appeal for "weirdos and misfits" to join government whilst overlooking those already working away under their noses. Well, I've written about that before (https://robertday154.wordpress.com/2020/01/18/weirdos-and-misfits/), so enough said.
I was certainly contemplating not finishing the book if I didn't get any better vibes off it by the 50-60% point. But then some friends assured me that coming to terms with the characters was something of a slow burn; and sure enough, I found myself warming to the central triumvirate: Fiorinda, Ax Preston and Sage. Someone else pointed out that the book was subtitled A near future fantasy and had certain Arthurian themes; and that I could see, also. Perhaps i should have taken more notice of that, as fantasy isn't really my thing, especially if the writer is trying to combine it with a more ostensibly "realistic" setting at the outset.
There are also some other things I found problematical. There's a major thread in the book of rock musicians and child abuse. The attitude in Bold as Love seems to be "Everyone knew but no-one said." I'm sure that's true; it's what people said about Jimmy Saville (after the event). Sadly, that rather holes the argument about it being "fantasy" under the waterline, and some coming to this book now may want to reject it on those grounds. There is also some overt Islamophobia that goes directly unchallenged despite the question of Islam in Britain being addressed positively later on. The same goes for trans issues; Gwyneth Jones' treatment of themes which might resonate unfavourably with some readers twenty years later perhaps just goes to show how far we have come.
So: an important book from a major writer, to be sure; but some readers will have to work hard at it before they begin to get returns. There is an irreverent humour at play throughout the novel, and Jones knows her fantastic literature well enough to pepper the text with in-jokes. And the Gollancz hardcover is a lovely thing with an Anne Sudworth cover. show less
Re-read this because of the global economic meltdown and thoughts of what sort of thing that meltdown could potentially precipitate. No, I don't seriously predict a techno-pagan post-Dissolution England run by a very fucked triumvirate of rockstars, but it reads well.
I like this and it's weird, and has echoes of what extreme changes we could potentially come to face. In that way it's a bit like Octavia Butler's Earthseed books; less unremittingly grim but just as much about carving a new world out in ways we'd never had to think about before.
***
Re-read Nov 2013. Grimmer than I'd remembered, not just with politics and environmental catastrophe but with sexual abuse. The bit towards the beginning where RO'N strokes Fiorinda's hair made me show more put it down for a spell while I got over it.
Not very sure at all on this re-read about stuff like the way Islam is treated or Roxanne the "ex-man". Or indeed some of the gender politics. All this despite the feeling that GJ's heart is almost certainly in the right place and a lot of what makes me uncomfortable is done by her on purpose. show less
I like this and it's weird, and has echoes of what extreme changes we could potentially come to face. In that way it's a bit like Octavia Butler's Earthseed books; less unremittingly grim but just as much about carving a new world out in ways we'd never had to think about before.
***
Re-read Nov 2013. Grimmer than I'd remembered, not just with politics and environmental catastrophe but with sexual abuse. The bit towards the beginning where RO'N strokes Fiorinda's hair made me show more put it down for a spell while I got over it.
Not very sure at all on this re-read about stuff like the way Islam is treated or Roxanne the "ex-man". Or indeed some of the gender politics. All this despite the feeling that GJ's heart is almost certainly in the right place and a lot of what makes me uncomfortable is done by her on purpose. show less
Very disappointing.
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- Original title
- Bold As Love
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- 2001
- People/Characters
- Ax Preston; Fiorinda Slater; Sage Pender; George Merrick; Chip Desmond; Kevin Verlaine (show all 9); Allie Marlowe; Dilip Krishnachandran; Rufus O'Niall
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