Viriconium nights

3.5 stars

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

I was in Viriconium once. I was a much younger woman then. What a place that is for lovers! The Locust Winter carpets its streets with broken insects; at the corners they sweep them into strange-smelling drifts which glow for the space of a morning like heaps of gold before they fade away.

Viriconium Nights is the last book in M. John Harrison�??s VIRICONIUM epic. Itƒ??s a collection of these seven short stories set in and around the city of Viriconium:

-- ƒ??The Lamia and Lord Cromisƒ? ƒ?? tegeus-Cromis, a dwarf, and a man named Dissolution Kahn travel to a poisonous bog to destroy a dangerous Lamia.

-- ƒ??Viriconium Knightsƒ? ƒ?? Ignace Retz, a young swordsman show more and treasure seeker, discovers an old man who has a tapestry which shows Retz at different times in Viriconiumƒ??s history.

-- ƒ??The Luck in the Headƒ? ƒ?? In the Artistsƒ?? Quarter, the poet Ardwick Crome has been having a recurring dream about a ceremony called ƒ??the Luck in the Head.ƒ? He wants these disturbing dreams to stop, so he goes looking for one of the women in the dream. (BTW, thereƒ??s a graphic novel based on this story.)

-- ƒ??Strange Great Sinsƒ? ƒ?? A man from the country goes to Viriconium, falls in love with the ballerina Vera Ghillera, and wastes away. This story looks at the city of Viriconium from the perspective of outsiders who know that those who go there either are, or will become, decadent and self-absorbed.

-- ƒ??Lords of Misruleƒ? ƒ?? tegeus-Cromis visits an estate outside the city of Viriconium which is under threat of invasion and wonƒ??t survive if Viriconium wonƒ??t help.

-- ƒ??The Dancer From the Danceƒ? ƒ?? The ballerina Vera Ghillera from ƒ??Strange Great Sinsƒ? visits Allman's Heath where strange things are afoot.

-- ƒ??A Young Manƒ??s Journey to Viriconiumƒ? ƒ?? This final story, set in our world, explains that Viriconium is a real place and tells you exactly how to get there, in case you want to go. The doorway is a mirror in a bathroom in a caf?? in England.

The stories in Viriconium Nights contain some of the characters weƒ??ve met in the previous VIRICONIUM books (e.g., tegeus-Cromis, Ansel Verdigris, Audsley King, Paulinus Rack, Ashlyme) and include many allusions to recurring events and motifs: mechanical metal birds, tarot cards, locusts, the fish mask, big lizards, the Mari Lwyd, etc. Each story stands alone but focuses on the city of Viriconium and particularly the bohemian residents of the Artistsƒ?? Quarter. All of Viriconium is decaying, but this part of the city feels especially bleak, probably because itƒ??s peopled with brooding artistic types whose desperation results in freakish hedonistic behavior.

Though there are recurring characters in the VIRICONIUM works, we never get to know any of them very well. The haunting, weird, incomprehensible city is the main character. M. John Harrison has explained that he didnƒ??t want Viriconium to be ƒ??tamedƒ? or ƒ??controlled,ƒ? so he has confused and disoriented the reader by making it impossible to understand what it would be like to live in his world: ƒ??I made that world increasingly shifting and complex. You can not learn its rules. More importantly, Viriconium is never the same place twice.ƒ? I think this is more successful in the last three parts of VIRICONIUM ƒ?? the first novel, The Pastel City, is almost a traditional quest fantasy.

VIRICONIUM is one of those works that I feel like I should give 5 stars just because itƒ??s original and M. John Harrisonƒ??s prose is brilliant. Harrison is a master of style and his writing is superior to most of whatƒ??s offered on the SFF shelves.

However, the truth is that though I recognize Harrisonƒ??s genius, I canƒ??t say that I enjoyed every moment of VIRICONIUM, which may be a reflection on me more than on the work itself. Spending so much time in a city thatƒ??s unknowable and decaying resulted, for me, in an overwhelming feeling of disorientation and hopelessness. The characters and the plot, which feel like they are there only to support the role of the city, donƒ??t make up for this. A month from now, I probably wonƒ??t remember any of the plots in Viriconium Nights. But I will remember Viriconium.

If you decide to read VIRICONIUM, I highly recommend the audio version produced by Neil Gaiman Presents. Simon Vance's performance is excellent. show less

'Nocturnos de Viriconium' recoge algunos de los cuentos ambientados en esta ciudad. (En España se han publicado por separado, repartiéndose entre los volúmenes 'Caballeros de Viriconium', 'Tormenta de alas' y 'Nocturnos de Viriconium'; hay que añadir también que faltan dos cuentos que sí están incluidos en la edición americana de 'Viriconium Nights'.)

Estos cuentos son magníficos y dejan un grato sabor de boca. Además, en ellos nos reecontramos con algunos de los personajes que aparecen en las novelas, como es el caso de tegeus-Cromis. Pienso que podría hablarse de fantasía crepuscular, haciendo una analogía con el western crepuscular, ya que ambos comparten esa estética melancólica, en la que se recuerdan momentos mucho show more mejores, y en la que se intuye que algo se está acabando para dar paso a otra época diferente. Como comenté en los anteriores libros de la secuencia de Viriconium, lo mejor de Harrison no son las historias que nos cuenta (que son excelentes), ni los personajes (que son memorables), sino las imágenes que logra crear en tu imaginación.

Estos son los siete relatos de la edición española:

- CABALLEROS DE VIRICONIUM. En las noches de la Ciudad Alta, hay un juego en el que se baten dos combatientes. Lo que no sabe Ignace Retz es lo que le deparará su lucha contra Osgerby Practal.

- SEÑORES DEL DESGOBIERNO. El Greba de Yule tiene por invitado a Cromis, al que le mostrará la región en la que vive, y al que intentará convencer de la necesidad de ayuda para su protección.

- GRANDES Y EXTRAÑOS PECADOS. Una niña ha muerto y el comepecados es reclamado a su lecho de muerte. Poco trabajo tiene con la pequeña, así que les contará a los desdichados padres su historia.

- LA DANZARINA Y LA DANZA. Extraña historia esta, la de Egon Rhys, un asesino, y su enamorada Vera Ghillera, famosa bailarina, que junto al enano Morgante, se embarcan en la búsqueda de una extraña criatura por el inhóspito Breñal de Todos los Hombres.

- LA SUERTE EN LA CABEZA. A Ardwick Crome le persigue un extraño sueño del que no puede librarse. El encuentro con una misteriosa mujer con una máscara de insecto puede darle la solución a su problema.

- LA LAMIA Y LORD CROMIS. Por tradición familiar, tegeus-Cromis ha de acabar con la Lamia, que además está asesinando a gente de la comarca de Duirinish. Para ello contará con la ayuda del enano Morgante y de Disolución Khan.

- EL VIAJE DE UN JOVEN A VIRICONIUM. Este relato transcurre en nuestro mundo, más concretamente en York, donde el joven protagonista conoce al señor Ambrayses, que le habla de la existencia de otro mundo llamado Viriconium. Lo que en un principio parece una fantasía, puede convertirse en algo más al conocer al extraño doctor Petromax. show less

Read as part of 'Viriconium' omnibus. See 'In Viriconium' entry for edition information.

*note to self. Copy from A. (different cover and edition, scan later when read)