Forging Real Worlds Beyond Our Own
April 25, 2004 | 12:00am
One of the foremost reasons that people read books is to be entertained and to escape. And what better way than to read a novel where anything and everything is possible? Yet a lot of people don’t like the fantasy genre, maybe because to them it seems somewhat unrealistic and inapplicable to real life. Most prefer inspirational books that touch hearts and bring tears, or whose events mirror everyday lives. I like those too, but the opposite is just as convincing.
Imagine that you lived in a strange world. For starters, man isn’t the only intelligent creature on the planet – there are elves, dwarves, ogres and so much more. You don’t know whether or not the gods that everyone believes in truly exist. And at an early age, your half-sister approached a mage (magician or wizard) passing through town and asked him if you could study magic. Your mother is half-crazy, your father is a penniless woodcutter and you have a twin brother who is everything you’re not: robust, well-loved, friendly and happy.
Obviously, this isn’t Harry Potter. It’s not as serious as Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, but it’s not as light as the Disney fairy tales. This is the world of Krynn from the Dragonlance series created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and the story I’m telling you about is one of the best books about it that I have ever read: The Soulforge.
The novel narrates the childhood and youth of someone who would be Krynn’s most famous (or infamous) mage. At the prime of his life, he would discover the old gods, ally himself with one of them, and be instrumental to ending a terrible war. He would travel back in time, enter the abyss to allow an evil goddess to come to the world, then change his mind and try to destroy her so that he can become a god himself. He’ll be famous for these and more.
But that is far into the future. As a child, Raistlin Majere was weak, sickly and couldn’t even go out to play with his brother. He didn’t have friends of his own because of that; his brother’s friends didn’t really like him because he saw and understood too much about them. His half-sister knew that he would have to fend for himself when he grew up, and decided that he should study magic. So he did. Most of his classmates were children of parents who didn’t know what to do with them, and didn’t care if they did well in school or not. He was considered an outcast, and prey for the bigger, meaner kids. His sponsor to the school admired his gift, but feared his admittedly questionable motivations for developing it.
But all of that didn’t matter, because Raistlin found one thing he was truly good at. He wanted to learn, and no amount of trouble would keep him from it. He learned so much so quickly, applied it to situations where a lesser young man would not have dared, so that he was called to take the Test when he was only 18. The Test determines the future of all aspiring mages; it is dangerous and occasionally fatal. Those who pass it are never the same again.
Such was the case with Raistlin. He became even weaker, his body wracked by awful coughing spells, unable to walk far. And most striking were the golden skin and hourglass eyes that made him unmistakable and unforgettable. And there were emotional changes as well. Because in the Test (and I’m sorry to those who might consider this as a spoiler) he killed his own brother. It was just an illusion, but whether or not he knew this doesn’t matter, because he thought of it as real. And his twin saw it all.
In spite of this, his brother Caramon became even more devoted to him. Why?
In all their lives, Caramon had always had everything that his brother did not: friends, lovers, strength of body. All that Raistlin ever had was his magic. In the illusion of the Test, Caramon had the magic as well. And this, Raistlin could not accept anymore.
That is the beauty of the entire novel. It’s not about a hero who overcomes the trials of his childhood to become the world’s savior. It’s not about a young man who finds his mission in life and goes forth to meet it for the greater good. It is not about a character whom everyone but the vilest and most evil would love. It’s not about a hero at all, but about one who is most probably the epitome of the villain according to our knowledge: clever and sly, single-minded and cold, somewhat self-absorbed and very deadly; the story told from his own point of view. And that in itself is unique.
I’m not trying to justify his actions to you. To us, killing could never really be justified. What the novel does is allow us to understand him, and to understand the reasons for his actions. We are horrified by what he has done, but at the same time we empathize with him. At some point, we might even wonder if we could have acted differently in his place.
And this is my gauge for saying that a novel, even one so clearly fantastical as The Soulforge, has succeeded. When it makes the characters real for us, so real that we could almost see them standing in front of us, hear them speaking, feel their emotions as vividly as they do. Raistlin works his magic and has half-elves for neighbors, but he is very real and very human, with the same desires and weaknesses that we do. He faces the same battles that we do: against poverty, ridicule, failure and sin. He wins against some and loses to some, as do we. And he faces his greatest challenge, the same one that every one of us does at one point or another – the challenge of knowing and accepting himself.
Because of this central character, I have come to love The Soulforge. But there’s more.
First, there are other characters whom we see from Raistlin’s point of view and eventually from our own. Some people (like my older sister) adore the mischievous kender named Tasslehoff, who "borrows" everyone’s things and heralds the town with tales of his "famous Uncle Trapspringer." There is the stoic Sturm Brightblade, who dreams of becoming a knight. Or Flint Fireforge, the crusty dwarf who thinks ale cures everything and abhors water unless it’s for drinking and bathing. Tanis, the half-elf rejected by his own race, was my favorite in the original stories (before I read the Soulforge). Then there is Kitiara, the twins’ half-sister, ambitious and daring. And of course we have Caramon Majere, strong but gentle friend, understanding and devoted brother. We will admire him for his loving and forgiving nature in the face of the greatest betrayal possible. And we would feel sorry for him, yet at the same time understand him in the same way that we understand Raistlin.
Second, there is the plot itself. Any story could be written about a boy growing up. But here, events come together and flow into the stream of the characters’ lives to bring out their individual personalities. If a single adventure or experience had been removed, the entire plot would be undermined. As it is, the events move in a sequence that makes it seem as if no other occurrence could come before or after each.
And there’s the ending itself. It’s not your conventional "they all lived happily," leaving you with the question of whether any of them were happy at all after everything is over. You might even become so intrigued with what happens next as to read the other novels about Raistlin, Caramon and the rest of this band of friends.
And finally, it is the message that the book imparts. All books have something to say, and this one speaks to me about determination to conquer the worst of trials, courage to test my limits and reach beyond them, acceptance of those who are different and don’t seem to belong, forgiveness of the greatest sins, love for family and friends that asks nothing in return. Most of all, it tells me not to judge people, because sometimes the things they do and the reasons they do them for are ones that I myself might do if I were in their place. We are only human after all, and because we are all human, it is up to us to understand, help and forgive each other.
Life is not a fantasy. But the truths in this novel are the same ones that exist here and now. This genre is not merely for escape and entertainment but for us to see our own world and life in a different light. It allows us to exercise our imagination yet stay rooted in the realities of all things.
If this were the first story you would read in the Dragonlance series or even the fantasy genre, you know it gets the thumbs-up from at least one person. From the many books I have read and owned in my life, whether fantasy or not, this is definitely one of my most favorite.
Imagine that you lived in a strange world. For starters, man isn’t the only intelligent creature on the planet – there are elves, dwarves, ogres and so much more. You don’t know whether or not the gods that everyone believes in truly exist. And at an early age, your half-sister approached a mage (magician or wizard) passing through town and asked him if you could study magic. Your mother is half-crazy, your father is a penniless woodcutter and you have a twin brother who is everything you’re not: robust, well-loved, friendly and happy.
Obviously, this isn’t Harry Potter. It’s not as serious as Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, but it’s not as light as the Disney fairy tales. This is the world of Krynn from the Dragonlance series created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and the story I’m telling you about is one of the best books about it that I have ever read: The Soulforge.
The novel narrates the childhood and youth of someone who would be Krynn’s most famous (or infamous) mage. At the prime of his life, he would discover the old gods, ally himself with one of them, and be instrumental to ending a terrible war. He would travel back in time, enter the abyss to allow an evil goddess to come to the world, then change his mind and try to destroy her so that he can become a god himself. He’ll be famous for these and more.
But that is far into the future. As a child, Raistlin Majere was weak, sickly and couldn’t even go out to play with his brother. He didn’t have friends of his own because of that; his brother’s friends didn’t really like him because he saw and understood too much about them. His half-sister knew that he would have to fend for himself when he grew up, and decided that he should study magic. So he did. Most of his classmates were children of parents who didn’t know what to do with them, and didn’t care if they did well in school or not. He was considered an outcast, and prey for the bigger, meaner kids. His sponsor to the school admired his gift, but feared his admittedly questionable motivations for developing it.
But all of that didn’t matter, because Raistlin found one thing he was truly good at. He wanted to learn, and no amount of trouble would keep him from it. He learned so much so quickly, applied it to situations where a lesser young man would not have dared, so that he was called to take the Test when he was only 18. The Test determines the future of all aspiring mages; it is dangerous and occasionally fatal. Those who pass it are never the same again.
Such was the case with Raistlin. He became even weaker, his body wracked by awful coughing spells, unable to walk far. And most striking were the golden skin and hourglass eyes that made him unmistakable and unforgettable. And there were emotional changes as well. Because in the Test (and I’m sorry to those who might consider this as a spoiler) he killed his own brother. It was just an illusion, but whether or not he knew this doesn’t matter, because he thought of it as real. And his twin saw it all.
In spite of this, his brother Caramon became even more devoted to him. Why?
In all their lives, Caramon had always had everything that his brother did not: friends, lovers, strength of body. All that Raistlin ever had was his magic. In the illusion of the Test, Caramon had the magic as well. And this, Raistlin could not accept anymore.
That is the beauty of the entire novel. It’s not about a hero who overcomes the trials of his childhood to become the world’s savior. It’s not about a young man who finds his mission in life and goes forth to meet it for the greater good. It is not about a character whom everyone but the vilest and most evil would love. It’s not about a hero at all, but about one who is most probably the epitome of the villain according to our knowledge: clever and sly, single-minded and cold, somewhat self-absorbed and very deadly; the story told from his own point of view. And that in itself is unique.
I’m not trying to justify his actions to you. To us, killing could never really be justified. What the novel does is allow us to understand him, and to understand the reasons for his actions. We are horrified by what he has done, but at the same time we empathize with him. At some point, we might even wonder if we could have acted differently in his place.
And this is my gauge for saying that a novel, even one so clearly fantastical as The Soulforge, has succeeded. When it makes the characters real for us, so real that we could almost see them standing in front of us, hear them speaking, feel their emotions as vividly as they do. Raistlin works his magic and has half-elves for neighbors, but he is very real and very human, with the same desires and weaknesses that we do. He faces the same battles that we do: against poverty, ridicule, failure and sin. He wins against some and loses to some, as do we. And he faces his greatest challenge, the same one that every one of us does at one point or another – the challenge of knowing and accepting himself.
Because of this central character, I have come to love The Soulforge. But there’s more.
First, there are other characters whom we see from Raistlin’s point of view and eventually from our own. Some people (like my older sister) adore the mischievous kender named Tasslehoff, who "borrows" everyone’s things and heralds the town with tales of his "famous Uncle Trapspringer." There is the stoic Sturm Brightblade, who dreams of becoming a knight. Or Flint Fireforge, the crusty dwarf who thinks ale cures everything and abhors water unless it’s for drinking and bathing. Tanis, the half-elf rejected by his own race, was my favorite in the original stories (before I read the Soulforge). Then there is Kitiara, the twins’ half-sister, ambitious and daring. And of course we have Caramon Majere, strong but gentle friend, understanding and devoted brother. We will admire him for his loving and forgiving nature in the face of the greatest betrayal possible. And we would feel sorry for him, yet at the same time understand him in the same way that we understand Raistlin.
Second, there is the plot itself. Any story could be written about a boy growing up. But here, events come together and flow into the stream of the characters’ lives to bring out their individual personalities. If a single adventure or experience had been removed, the entire plot would be undermined. As it is, the events move in a sequence that makes it seem as if no other occurrence could come before or after each.
And there’s the ending itself. It’s not your conventional "they all lived happily," leaving you with the question of whether any of them were happy at all after everything is over. You might even become so intrigued with what happens next as to read the other novels about Raistlin, Caramon and the rest of this band of friends.
And finally, it is the message that the book imparts. All books have something to say, and this one speaks to me about determination to conquer the worst of trials, courage to test my limits and reach beyond them, acceptance of those who are different and don’t seem to belong, forgiveness of the greatest sins, love for family and friends that asks nothing in return. Most of all, it tells me not to judge people, because sometimes the things they do and the reasons they do them for are ones that I myself might do if I were in their place. We are only human after all, and because we are all human, it is up to us to understand, help and forgive each other.
Life is not a fantasy. But the truths in this novel are the same ones that exist here and now. This genre is not merely for escape and entertainment but for us to see our own world and life in a different light. It allows us to exercise our imagination yet stay rooted in the realities of all things.
If this were the first story you would read in the Dragonlance series or even the fantasy genre, you know it gets the thumbs-up from at least one person. From the many books I have read and owned in my life, whether fantasy or not, this is definitely one of my most favorite.
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