Tag Archives: The Untold Tale
Today I Read..The Forgotten Tale
Posted on November 15, 2016 by wadingthroughbooks
Today I read The Forgotten Tale by J.M. Frey, book 2 of the Accidental Turn trilogy.
After leaving behind the land of Hain, Forsyth Turn and Lucy Piper have returned to her world to settle down and live more-or-less happily ever after with their daughter Alis. It hasn't been easy, with Forsyth getting used to a new land and a new culture and a new language, where he is no longer the rich and respected Lordling of Turnshire, no longer the powerful Shadow Hand of the King, no longer a brother or a friend to anyone. And worst of all, Alis will grow up never knowing his contribution to her heritage–she will not know the songs and stories from Hain, she will not have her place in society as the beloved daughter of a Lordling, she will not know his friends and family as her own. But they are together, Forsyth and Pip and Alis, and that is a comfort.
But there is a problem which will not go away–Elgar Reed, the author of The Tales of Kintyre Turn series. He is fascinated that his character has come to life, and will not understand that Forsyth does not want to have anything to do with this careless man who created him with so little thought, who put him through so much heartache and hardship, and who reminds Forsyth so much of his long-dead and unmourned abusive father.
Back in Hain, the famous heroes Kintyre Turn and his loyal friend Bevel Dom have done the unthinkable–they have retired and settled down (mostly) into a comfortable life together ruling Turnshire, as the Lord and his Paired. Until some long-lost family starts turning up unexpectedly. Family…and some enemies.
J.M. sent me an e-book ARC in return for a review. Well, she sent me two copies–we had an entertaining lesson on converting files with 2 pages per pdf page into epub vs concerting files with 1 page per pdf page into epub. For entertainment, I'll post a sample at the end.
This is the second book in the trilogy, and comes after The Untold Tale and Ghosts: An Accidental Turn Novella. I would definitely recommend reading The Untold Tale before reading The Forgotten Tale, as it does rely fairly heavily on what has gone before. Ghosts is more of a bonus–you'll get by without having read it, but you'll recognize more if you read it first, especially since it is where Bevel Dom really has a chance to shine.
This book is a great example of how "and they all lived happily ever after" is a cop-out, a phrase that glosses over the reality of what it really takes to make it happy day after day. Yes, both of the Turn brothers have married the loves of their lives, and had children, and settled down into a second line of work that they reasonably enjoy. They are also finding out that love is hard work, and that it requires constant work to stay a happy marriage. For all that Forsyth and Kintyre are very different people who married very different spouses, sometimes they can be remarkably similar, and make similar mistakes with their families which they need to recognize and correct to be both happy and healthy as a family. They are not alone at fault–their family members also need to learn to communicate their needs and listen to what Kintyre and Forsyth need. Pip condemns Forsyth's anger instead of listening why he is frustrated, and Kintyre's newest family member causes a great deal of trouble when he glorifies Kintyre's past adventuring over his daily life of running the Chipping.
They also see the dark side of families, when they meet a relative of an old enemy who threatens their world, out of love for the villain. I won't give away too much here, but just remember that the best bad guys never stay dead for long. As Buffy Summers told Dracula, "You think I don't watch your movies? You always come back."
Forsyth's interactions with Elgar Reed are particularly fascinating to read. For Forsyth's point of view, he and everyone he knows from Hain are people–flawed, complicated, fully developed people. Reed keeps being surprised as he learns about Forsyth–there are things he never thought about, things that he included as throwaway lines or as convenient plot points, that were never supposed to mean much. He never considers how such things affect people's lives. Reed comes from the place of ultimate privilege–he is literally the creator of the world of Hain and everything in it. However, he is also a careless creator, who never once considered that his creations might have their own thoughts and feelings and desires, because he thought they were fictional. He is absolutely gobsmacked when he discovers just how far past Forsyth is from what he intended. For example, Forsyth points out that he was written as a scholar and a polyglot, with a knack for learning languages–in Pip and Reed's world, this means that he picks up very quickly on programming languages for computers and becomes an accomplished hacker for CSIS. How does a fantasy world character react to the modern real world? By using his skills as best he can and relating his new life to his old one, and learning to adapt and survive.
One more thing I realized upon reflection of this book–J.M. once more demonstrated her talent for making me think about fictional conventions and my own reactions. There is a character from The Untold Tale who shows up again with their nonhuman partner, and who seems to be flirting with a new character (I don't want to give too much away.) Both characters are presented as make, but I asked J.M. if the returning character is going to be revealed as a girl in disguise, because they seem to be a new love interest in the early stages. Specifically I said "Pretty sure [X] is a girl is disguise…Well, [Y] is a hero in training, and you've killed his first love interest to prove the situation is serious and torture him a little, so he needs a new love interest that he can forget about by the time the next book begins. And knowing you, she'll make him work for it and won't be that forgettable. But there's something." J.M.'s reply was "It's like you study this stuff or something". Which, yes, I do. But that can also trip me up. Why should [X] be a girl in disguise? That's actually pretty heteronormative of me to assume. Why can't they both be male and flirt? Just because [Y]'s first love interest is a girl, doesn't mean that [Y] can't be bi, or pan, or whatever they call it in Hain. I confess to accidental bi-erasure, and I apologize J.M. You caught me again. You always do make me think, and I can't really give a higher compliment.
And one last thing–anyone in the Toronto area, the launch party for The Forgotten Tale is happening tonight on Tuesday, November 15, 2016, at 7:00 PM at the Hard Rock Cafe Toronto. This will be the very first chance to buy the book, in advance of the release date on December 6, and a great time to get it signed by the author as well. Hope to see you there!
With words tasting of bitter almonds, I say: "I hack."
Reed's sadness dissolves into confusion. "Hack what?"
"Whatever the Canadian Security Information Service tells me to," I answer with a shrug, being deliberately glib. "I learned of hacking quite early upon my arrival here, and it was easy enough to read the many volumes available regarding coding. I am a polyglot, you recall—you wrote me that way. JavaScript and C++ are just another set of languages to perfect. And it was the easiest way to set myself up with a legal identity."
"But . . ." Reed blusters. "Computers?"
"Of course. It is not so different from the work I did as the Shadow Hand," I sneer, raising my hands to indicate the walls covered with wires and screens, and the small bookshelf overflowing with programming books, Alis's favourite board books, and stuffies. On the wall above my main console, Smoke has been hung on a cherry wood plaque board. "I investigate, I read, I synthesize data, and I return recommendations and command actions. And just as before, I have found a way to ingratiate myself to the governing body of this nation."
Reed's jolly fat cheeks drain of color. "But you're a scholar."
"And in this world, libraries are digital and computers are books," I say, stunned by his lack of comprehension. I scowl. "I was no mere book-mouse," I push. "You know that."
Reed staggers back a step, reaching out blindly behind him and crashing into the wall, clutching at my desk chair to remain upright. "I don't . . . I didn't . . ." He gasps for air, sweat pearling on his forehead.
His reaction startles me. Derision, I expected, but not this shocked horror. Unless . . .
"Reed . . ." I say slowly, horrified in my own right. For how, how can a Writer create a character and not know all of their nuances? How could he have . . . put this in motion and not realized it? "You do recall that I was the Shadow Hand, do you not?"
"I . . . I do," he mutters. "I just . . . when I set it up, it was a . . . a bit of a throwaway, really. It was such an offhand comment. I didn't . . . I didn't expect you to . . ."
A throwaway? The most important aspect of my life, the only part of me that I felt made me worthy, and honorable, and good, the thing of which I was proudest and which redeemed me from being, I felt, a spoilt younger son, and my creator tells me it was a throwaway? Barely remembered, hardly thought about?
Insulting! Beyond the pale!
"What I do here, it is the same!" I insist. I cannot . . . this is untenable! "This is meaningful."
"But . . . computers," he repeats. "I just . . . I expected more . . . I don't know . . . bafflement?"
"I have lived in this world for nigh on two years," I snarl. "How simple must you think me? I am no Kintyre, to bash around, and bull ahead, and understand nothing."
"Hey now," Reed says, rising to defend his greatest literary achievement.
"Spying is the same no matter where it happens. I can learn all I need about a target by following their social media accounts, tracking their IP, watching their online spending habits. It is identical to my old duties, only I need to send out no Shadow's Men, write no blackmail expense slips, take no in-person meetings with the king. Here, I need not even don the Shadow's Mask, or Cloak. Here, I need not even change out of my sleeping clothes, if I so desire," I add with a derisive snort.
My dark amusement rubs Reed the wrong way, and his hackles rise. "But being Shadow Hand wasn't important! It was such a secondary feature of your character that I . . ." He trails off, eyes falling to his feet, shamed and confused. "I only put the Shadow Hand in one book."
"Secondary. Secondary?" I hiss. "After Lewko the Elder was tortured by Bootknife, you chose me for Shadow Hand because, what? It was convenient? Because I was nearby? Being the Shadow Hand of Hain was my whole life! It was the only thing that was mine, truly mine!"
"Forsyth, I—" He swallows hard. "You're just Kintyre's little brother. You're not supposed to—"
"Ah!" I snap. "And there is the crux of the problem! I am no hero, and so I cannot have a passion, have a desire to help? I am a citizen of Canada now, am I not? Do I not owe it to my kingdom to serve her best interests?"
"But it's beneath you!" he shouts, his ire rising to match mine.
His disapproval surprises me. I expected him to understand. I don't know why I did, because every conversation I've ever had with him has given me evidence enough to assume that he would not. Call it blind hope. Maybe, I thought, if I could make him understand, make him see it from my perspective, maybe we could have . . . reconciled our differences. Maybe we could have found the friendship he so clearly wants. Maybe, secretly, deep within the part of my soul that was born of his typewriter, I had wanted. . . . Ah, but it is pointless to wish for that which one cannot have. Reed will never understand how much he doesn't know about what he has created.
From the mixed-up files of Wading Through Books (not an actual quote), for your entertainment:
Elgar Reed, unfortunately, is. He sent us a very large nose, and Pip's Asian facial structure. But the look in her bouquet of flowers and some celebratory wine, along gaze when she is plotting mischief is all Kintyre Turn. with a startlingly large painting of Turn Hall looking, Right now, Alis is bouncing gleefully in a romper well, exactly as it ought. It was signed in the bottom attached to the lintel of my office doorway, smashing a corner by one of those fellows who worked on the Lord sodden Library against the edge of the harness each time of the Rings film designs, and was Reed's first, but sadly her chubby little feet leave the carpet, and practicing not his last, foray into breaching the tight-knit tapestry three of the four words she has— book, Da, and no. Ma is of our family.
Posted in Adult Fiction	| Tagged Accidental Turn trilogy, An Accidental Turn, book launch party, Book Review, family, fantasy, fantasy tropes, ghosts, J.M. Frey, LGBTQ, meta stories, problems with converting files, quotes, romance, The Forgotten Tale, The Untold Tale, Today I Read (book reviews)	| 2 Replies
Today I read…The Untold Tale
Posted on December 20, 2015 by wadingthroughbooks
Today I read The Untold Tale, the first book in the upcoming Accidental Turn trilogy by J.M. Frey.
Forsyth Turn knew exactly who he wasn't. He wasn't the hero. He wasn't big or brave or strong. He wasn't bluff and hearty and called friend by men from every land under the sun. He wasn't handsome and smooth and accounted a skilled lover by women from sea to sea. He wasn't the man the bards sang of. He wasn't his brother Kintyre Turn.
Lucy Piper knew exactly who she was. She was a normal woman with a normal life. And just like many other people, she was a fan of the wildly popular The Tales of Kintyre Turn series by author Elgar Reed. In fact, she wrote her thesis on the books. But they were just books.
Two very different people from two very different worlds. And they are about to discover that they are both very, very wrong.
First, I'm really sorry J.M. that this review is so late, but I've been working in a library (yay!) and have less time to write (boo!).
J.M. sent me an ebook ARC to review some time ago, and I did read it, but I haven't been able to write my review until now. But now the paperback and the ebook are both available for all you lovely readers to go out and buy, so yay! The Toronto launch party was December 10th at the Amsterdam Bicycle Club, with hosting duties by author Adrienne Kress and entertainment provided by Chantal Barette.
Adrienne Kress (at mic) and J.M. Frey (sitting)
Whenever I finish reading a new J.M. Frey book, I send her an initial thought before I sit down to write my full review. (Okay, that's a lie, first I cry a little and wonder why I keep letting her play with my heart like bubble wrap, but after that I message her.) For Triptych I told her "I hate you a little for killing my favourite character. But thank you for not bringing him back." For The Untold Tale I told her that it was "A horribly uncomfortable story that everyone needs to read. And yes, that's a compliment."
Forsyth is…familiar. He is the voice in your head, telling you that no matter what you do it will never be good enough. That you aren't pretty enough, smart enough, charming enough, working hard enough, resourceful enough, considerate enough, talented enough. That those whom you care for regard you with pity, not love. That you are tolerated, not respected. That the Other–your sibling, parent, friend, peer–is so much greater than you are, and that all who know you both compare you and find you lacking. That whatever you try, you will fail. Forsyth is depression and fear and insecurity. And then he meets the mysterious Pip, who he loves without feeling worthy of her, and she says such strange, wrong things. That Forsyth is handsome, that he is clever, that he is responsible and loved by his people. That his brother Kintyre is not better than him. Things he would love to believe, but just can't.
And Pip, who has loved the books for so long, and who is starting to realize that sometimes fantasy worlds are better as fantasies. That they can be incredibly problematic for people who don't fit the dominant narrative–that people of colour, or who are queer, or who don't fit nicely into little gender role boxes, or who are anyone other than the brawny hero and those in his direct orbit, don't really get their stories told. That maybe the brawny hero is pretty darn tired of sleeping with random maidens and getting soaked in blood, and sometimes just wants to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea. That the love interest has a story, and the sidekick, and the villain, and the innkeeper, and the maidservant. That the story that the Author tells about the characters is not necessarily the story that the characters wish to tell about themselves.
There are other things I could talk about–the romance that does more than merely nod towards the concept of consent certainly comes to mind, and the way that Pip and Forsyth navigate their way through both rape and rape culture and how it affects them both, and not in a superficial way. They suffer, and they think, and they (eventually) talk to each other.
And as a fangirl, the thought of a fictional character attending a convention and seeing what fans think of their world is…both delicious and cringeworthy. There is a scene where Forsyth, dressed as Forsyth Turn from the Elgar Reed books, meets a female cosplayer in a genderbent Kintyre Turn costume who proceeds to hit on him, not caring that a) Kintyre and Forsyth are brothers and Forsyth is clearly not into incest, and b) Forsyth says no. Cosplay is not consent people… Well, read it.
Frey has a knack for writing books that are incredibly hard to describe properly. It's a fantasy, but a very real and aware one, which examines the tropes and both celebrates and criticizes them, and thus proves it's love. You can't really love something if you only love the good parts–you have to look and know the bad, and acknowledge it, and love it anyway without washing the bad away. I recently read A Game of Thrones for the first time (yes, I'm behind, my to-read list is in the triple digits at this point). I posted on social media when I finished that I thought it was compelling yet highly problematic for the female characters. I raced through reading it–it was one of those books that you just can't put down. But in my opinion there wasn't a single well-rounded female character. Frey comes from an academic background, and she's a fangirl through and through. She's used to analyzing her beloved fandoms and figuring out why she loves them, but also where the problems are.
The Untold Tale is the first in a new trilogy. The story feels complete as it is, and at first you wonder how there can be more. But then you start thinking about what happens after 'and they lived happily ever after.' That too is another untold tale. The second book will be The Forgotten Tale, and the last will be The Silenced Tale, and I'm sure that both of them will make me think about the title and what it really means just as much as The Untold Tale has.
Oh, and J.M.? You're going to break my heart again, right? Please?
Chantal Barrette performing at the Untold Launch
When Bevel has imbibed enough liquid courage—I don't know what his gauge is, but he seems to have met it—he stands and sways over to Pip's side.
"Sorry he hurt you," Bevel slurs gently. He's not quite too drunk to be clear, but his lips are tumbling over the consonants.
Dismissively, Pip answers, "Kintyre should be apologizing, not you. You're not his keeper."
Bevel laughs. "Oh, but I am."
"And aren't you sick of it?" Pip challenges.
Bevel shrugs. "That's just Kintyre. You get used to it. It doesn't bother me."
"Well it bothers me," Pip returns. "Actually, no, you know what bothers me? It's not that he doesn't know the social cues and common practices of politeness. What bothers me is that he observes them around him every day and has decided, however unconsciously, that they aren't anything he needed to bother himself with. That learning to communicate and interact with other human beings was beneath him. That everyone would just recognize his superiority and marvel, and obey. That is what bothers me."
I am so stunned by the boldness of her words that my tongue seems to be blocking up my throat. My heart is there, beating alongside it, hard and loud and painful. I have never, ever heard anyone challenge Kintyre this way.
Bevel isn't certain how to respond. "Listen," he says. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. You're a pretty little girl–" he doesn't seem to catch Pip's incredulous look at the insulting diminutive "– so why don't we just jump ahead to the end of the evening, hm? We promise we'll be very gentle with you, won't hurt your back at all."
"And what happens at the end of the evening?" Pip asks, wary.
I cover my face with my hands. I cannot watch this. Either Bevel will insult and embarrass himself, or Pip will say yes, which will be worse. Either way, I do not want to see her face when it happens. I couldn't bear it.
Bevel leans in close and whispers filth into her ear.
"What? Both of you?" Pip yelps, and her face twists in disgust. Bevel leans close and says something else, and Pip physically shoves him back. "No! No, I'm as happy to have a threesome with two hotties as any red-blooded girl, but you guys are complete sleazes. Get off me."
She shoves him hard enough that Bevel knocks my chair and I have to look. He is stunned. I don't know if he's ever been turned down before. And Pip looks like fury incarnate.
On the other side of me, Kintyre raises himself from his indolent slouch and scoffs. "So I suppose it will be to Forsyth's bed you go tonight, then?"
Pip goggles at him, eyes wide and mouth a scandalized 'o'. "Hey, how about I go to nobody's bed because, one, I am in pain because of you, you stupid behemoth, and two, because I'm not a prize that's meted out at the end of dessert. Here's a startling and revolutionary idea: maybe I just don't want a fuck!"
Ah, so that's what that expletive means.
"Maybe you're just a frigid bitch," Kintyre snaps.
Pip rocks back in her seat, stunned. "Oh my god! I cannot even believe I used to look up to you! You're incredible! You're nothing like Forsyth!"
"So that's what this is about," Kintyre snarls, his bright blue eyes snapping over to me. "Forssy's already got his scrabbly little fingers and flaccid little prick into you."
Pip pushes up to her feet and leans over me, her face puce with fury, to get up into Kintyre's. "Don't talk about your brother like that! He's a good man! Better than you'll ever be!"
"Oh, and now you let your woman talk for you, too, brother?" Kintyre sneers, rising to his own feet. "Perhaps she's the man between you? Does she stick it to you? Do you think you're in love, just because she hasn't run away from you yet?"
I shrink down in my seat, too mortified to even get my tongue to stop fluttering against the roof of my mouth. I could never even make words like this.
"And is there something wrong with taking it up the arse?" Pip challenges. "Does it make you less of a man? Because Bevel seems to like it!"
Bevel and Kintyre both go pale and stagger. Bevel clutches at his chair. "How did you know?" he hisses.
"Silence!" Kintyre booms.
"Oh my god!" Pip says, exasperation written into every feature. "What does it matter what you two do together? Bevel's disgustingly in love with you, you ridiculous moron! He always has been! It's barely even subtext! He sets up threesomes for you just so he can touch you! Is that what all this macho manly shit is about? Cause there's nothing wrong with loving who you love!"
"Nobody loves Forsyth Turn," Kintyre snarls.
"Qu-qu-quiet!" I snap, standing and pushing Pip and Kintyre away from one another. "E-e-enough!"
"Not here," Pointe snaps, his voice just loud enough for us to hear, but quiet enough that music keeps his words from reaching my guests. He crosses behind my chair to lay hands on Kintyre's shoulders. "You're not doing this here, Sir Kintyre. You're drunk and shaming yourself. Master Bevel, get him into Forsyth's study."
But Kintyre is incensed. He is insulted. He pushes the Sword of Turnshire away and holds a hand out to stay Bevel. "I am shaming myself? Me? You're the one shaming the Turn name, brother! You are pathetic," Kintyre sneers. "Deciding that the first woman to show a grain of interest in you is actually infatuated with you? Look at you. What in the world could she find attractive about you? You saved her, that's all. She's being nice to you because you saved her, not because she likes you. And everyone here knows it."
Faces frozen with shock all around us narrow and shut down. Nobody, not one guest, makes a sound in my support. Of course. They are laughing at me, silently, inside. Laughing at foolish Forsyth Turn, who thought he could make this woman fall in love with him.
"Now," Kintyre says. "You are going to apologize and sit down and act like a proper lady, or I will leave you here to rot and never take you home!"
"Kintyre…" Bevel starts, plucking at his sleeve, but Kintyre is embarrassed and feeling cruel and pushes him away hard enough that he slams into the table. Bevel turns hurt, dark eyes up at my brother and goes silent, biting so hard on his lower lip that the flesh turns white.
All the breath rushes from my body. Oh, incredible, Pip was right. Bevel Dom is in love with my brother and I never noticed. Poor Bevel. I hate the hedgehoggy little lackey, but to be in love with my brother and Kintyre so in love with women's bodies… how cruel this Elgar Reed is. Poor, poor Bevel.
"Sit!" Kintyre repeats, pointing to the chair magnanimously, and Pip throws her own finger into the air, the middle one. It is clearly a rude gesture, but its exact meaning is unclear.
"I am not some docile dog you can order around," Pip screams. "You are an asshole and a bully, Kintyre Turn, and I don't want your help!"
The whole room falls into a screeching hush.
Kintyre goes very, very still. I can't help the involuntary step back as his fingers twitch into a fist. It seems the survival instincts of childhood are still deeply ingrained.
"Good," he grunts, fury in every line of his face. "As you will not be receiving it."
"Kin!" Bevel squalls. "You can't just turn down a maiden in distress."
"I can and I have."
"I'm not a maiden in distress," Pip snarls, rounding on Bevel, who is utterly unprepared for his own tongue lashing and stumbles back into my brother's arm. "I'm a woman and I am damn well capable of rescuing my own damn self, thank you very much."
"Let us hope so," Kintyre rumbles. "For your sake."
And then he pushes past Pointe and storms out of the hall, Bevel quick on his heels.
Mine, all mine!
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book-related Events, Today I Read (book reviews)	| Tagged A Game of Thrones, Accidental Turn trilogy, Adrienne Kress, book launch party, Chantal Barrette, conversations about consent, cosplay is not consent, Elgar Reed, fantasy, fantasy tropes, J.M. Frey, LGBTQ, magic, meta stories, minor characters, quotes, rape culture, romance, sci-fi convention, sibling relationships, stuttering character, the hero is kind of a dick, The Tales of Kintyre Turn, The Untold Tale, Untold Launch, villains	| 6 Replies