Black Dog Laughing

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn-L7zjIYfI)

Last time, I wrote about the popularity of war as a plot element in fantasy, but there are a number excellent novels that break with this tradition.

Before I can discuss this further, however, I have to define what I mean by military plot elements. This is important, because different readers may draw the line in different places, or differ in what they see as militaristic. I mentioned last time that a friend and I disagree about whether Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pernbooks are, at their heart, military stories, because I see the combat between the dragons and the thread as an "against nature" sort of context, but he has a point when he says that the dragon weyrs have many of the characteristics of a military, such as support via a system of tithes and a hierarchical rank structure.

For this reason, I've attempted to separate these ostensibly non-military fantasy novels into two broad categories: books where combat itself plays no significant role in the plot at all, and books where there are skirmishes and armed conflict at times, but it exists in a context that is personal or disorganized. In both cases, any "action," such that it is, is either incidental or a consequence of other plot elements, not what drives the main plot overall.

Original paperback edition of The Last Unicorn. Cover art by Gervasio Gallardo

One fantasy classic I can think of that is an example of the first kind of story is Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn (Viking Press, 1968). This stand-alone story is a well-beloved tale about a unicorn who suddenly realizes that she is the last of her kind and must find her missing brethren.

Another non-military fantasy I read quite recently is Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor(Tor Books, 2014). This is a fantasy of manners about mixed-race prince, raised away from court, who unexpectedly ascends the throne of Elfland and must learn to hold his own in the backstabbing world of politics.

Barbara Hambley's Stranger at The Wedding (Del Rey, 1994) is another story that could be described as a fantasy of manners. Its protagonist is Kyra, a young wizard who must crash her sister's wedding and surreptitiously use her meager assortment of spells to disrupt the nuptials and save her sister's life.

Mervyn Peake's Gormenghasttrilogy (originally published by Eyre and Spottiswoode between 1948-1959) is about as non-military as a fantasy story can be. This is a gothic fantasy, one that's actually lacking in magical elements, with a plot that centers around machinations and jostling for position within a family. The characters don't even step outside their castle until the third book.

Mary Robinette Kowal's regency-style Glamourist History series (published by Tor books between 2010-2015) are set in a Regency-era world that is reminiscent of Jane Austin's stories, but one where ladies of quality are expected to be magicians.

Marie Brennan's Lady Trent novels (Tor books 2014, 2015) take place in a fictitious world with very Victorian sensibilities and follows the adventures of a "lady naturalist" who becomes her country's most celebrated expert on dragons.

Although the above novels are very different, they do share two things--little to no combat or "action" in the sense that many fantasy readers mean the term, and plotting where the stakes are highly personal, even if a deeper conspiracy is discovered as the story unfolds.

The second group of novels are more violent than the previous ones, and may contain some skirmishes and bloodshed, but larger-scale military conflicts don't drive the plot in any meaningful way.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. (BBC Books, 1996). Based on the TV show by the same name that he co-wrote with Lenny Henry. Gaiman's stories get emotionally intense, violent and scary at times, but armies, pitched battle, and military campaigns aren't factors.

The Earthsea cycle by Ursula K Le Guin (first volumes published in 1968 by Parnassus Press) are a classic high fantasy where the stakes start out personal and expand until Ged and his companions save the world from the damage caused by magic. A raid on the protagonist's home village serves as plot catalyst at the beginning, but after that, there's little combat aside from one-on-one wizard's duels.

Patrick Rothfuss's The name of the Wind (Penguin Group, 2007) has a nasty fight with a bunch of giant spiders in the opening chapter, and a battle with a giant lizard near the end, but military engagements are notably absent. As of the end of the second book in the series, however, it appears that a larger-scale armed conflict is on the horizon.

The Harry PotterNovels by JK Rowling (Scholastic Books, 1997-2007) have plenty of physical conflict, and no few deaths, throughout the series. But there really isn't anything that could be described as a battle until the end of the last book. And that didn't take place in any kind of military context.

Fran Wilde's Updraft(Tor, 2015) is set in a world where people live in bone towers and fly with silk wings. While one-one-one combat between characters is important, the antagonists in her world resemble a secret police force, not an army.

The Gentleman Bastardsseries by Scott Lynch (Bantam Spectra, 2006-present) is filled with cloak and dagger and intrigue aplenty, along with some good old fashioned swashbuckling action, but as of the latest installment, the focus hasn't been on military conflicts.

I could keep listing examples, but if I did, I'd be writing all night. Many of Terry Pratchett's satirical Discworld novels focused on fantasy elements besides war (it really depended on which tropes he was taking a poke at). Same for many books by Patricia McKillip and Robin McKinley. And while Mercedes Lackey's Velgarth books usually contained a battle, and her heralds represented an elite group of officers, her Elemental Masters novels are simply fairy tale retellings that are, at their hearts, love stories.

So even though the fantasy genre (especially  fantasy taking place in secondary worlds) has the reputation for plots that center around the mustering of armies and the fighting of epic battles, there are a number of authors who have created individual novels, even series, where the plots are driven by relationships, intrigue, smaller-scale conflicts, personal goals, and political machinations. While many of these stories have stakes that are intensely personal, some do end up impacting the fate of entire kingdoms or worlds.

The take home message is that fantasy is a diverse genre with ample room for character driven stories that encompass a broad range of topics.

Warfare plays an important role in the fantasy genre. Many of its most iconic works embrace military themes, either as a central plot element or as a disruptive force that's more in the background but still creating obstacles and conflict for the protagonists.

Sometimes the military is front and center, as in Elizabeth Moon's Deed of Paksennarion novels or Django Wexler's Shadow Campaign. Other times battles occur intermittently throughout the series where much of the focus is on something else, as in Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy, and other times, war is completely in the background but still influencing the story, as in Carol Berg's Lighthouse Duology.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Caton_Woodville's_The_Battle_of_Towton.jpg

I've wondered why this is. Many people look at the genre as escapist, and war is one of life's less pleasant realities. Few of us really want to live in its shadow as civilians or soldiers, and painstaking descriptions of military training, tactics, camp life, not to mention indignities such as dysentery, can be quite dull. Conflict, change, and stakesare necessary plot elements in any story, and war can certainly create these, yet other genres of fiction find ways to test their characters and introduce change without a focus on sieges, battles and military strategies or tactics. It's possible to create stories with compelling stakes that have nothing to do with war. This is the norm in many genres

When I put this question to some of my fellow fantasy readers and writers, one explanation was that historical epics, such as Gilgamesh and The Iliad focused heavily on battles and wars. Fantasy as a genre often attempts to recreate or evoke the tropes presented in these traditional tales, which often contained magical or supernatural elements.

The success of Tolkien's work is also a possible explanation. While he didn't dwell on the nitty gritty day-to-day life of soldiers, or even on military tactics, no one can argue that war was an important part of both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

Given Tolkien's influence on the genre, it's hardly surprising that many writers adopted his approach. A focus on enemies who are unilaterally evil and under the control of a dark figure that must be stopped certainly does turn war into something that's more appealing from an escapist perspective.

I can't help but wonder how much of fantasy's sometimes idealistic portrayal of war was shaped by the two world wars in particular. Tolkien fought in WWI and lived through WWII as well. He claimed that his work was not meant to be allegorical, but it's hard not to see parallels between fascism and the minions of Sauron.

And Tolkien aside, those of us who were born and came of age in the decades following WWII had our consciousness shaped by the cultural memory of a war that really was against an implacable evil that could have destroyed civilization as we know it. Few would argue in hindsight that a more pacifistic approach would have been the best one in that particular instance. Could the warlike nature of late twentieth and early twenty-first century fantasy represent a collective desire to escape to a world where moral ambiguity was (in hindsight, at least) less than it is today? This is certainly possible, though I can't think of a way to test, or falsify such a hypothesis.

Another thing to consider is that war stories are often anti war stories at their heart. All Quiet on the Western Front is an iconic example here, but there are plenty of others. Fantasy novels are notably absent from this list, but I don't think fantasy writers always portray war in a positive light. TH White's The Once and Future King is a retelling of Mallory's version of the Arthurian legend, a heroic epic, yet some feelit was inspired by his own pacifismand misgivings about nationalism as he came to terms with a war (WWII) where the enemy clearly had to be stopped.

Other fantasy writers like Moorcock, and more recently Abercrombie, have also sought to deconstruct some of the tropes popularized by Tolkien and other fantasy writers from the earlier part of the 20th century. Moorcock's Elric saga, and the Abercrombie's novels are very violent and war-centered, yet neither glorifies war or presents it as something that improves the world.

And there are plenty of other explanations why war is so commonly portrayed in fantasy novels. It's often stated that in the early-to-mid 20th century at least, fantasy was traditionally aimed (with some noteworthyexceptions) at young, male readers. This is a demographic that is often drawn to tales of adventure, heroics, and self-sacrifice, and while war isn't necessary for stories to embrace such themes, it certainly lends itself well to them.

It's also possible to overstate the prevalence of war in fantasy, as there are a number of popular and iconic fantasy tales, many very recent, but some quite old, that have no military, battle, or war in them at all, or if they do, it's so much in the background that it has little to no impact on the plot. One thing that's really hard to do, given the thousands of trade-published titles (not to mention all the self published work that's become available more recently), is to actually tally up the books published during a given period to see if there are certain plot elements or themes which become more or less prevalent.

The diversity of the genre itself becomes problematic here. How does one define a war-focused story to begin with? Are Rowling's Harry Potter books war focused because the last book in the series had the siege of Hogwarts in it? I'd say it really isn't, but some might not agree.

Swords and Scoundrels, by Julia Knight. Published by Orbit Books.

This story centers around Kacha and Vocho, a sister and brother who have been exiled from the Duelists Guild because Vocho killed a man he had been hired to protect. They're making ends meet as highwaymen until they rob the wrong carriage and are plunged into a conspiracy. This story is set in a flintlock and Rapier world where people worship a clockwork god and live in a city where the buildings rearrange themselves at set intervals. It's a really fun read, filled with plot twists, conspiracies, and divided loyalties that will keep the reader guessing until the end. The tale continues in the sequels, Legends and Liars and Warlords and Wastrels. Black Wolves, by Kate Elliot. Published by Orbit Books.

Set in the same universe as her Spirit Gate Trilogy,  this novel stands alone and does an excellent job of pulling a new reader into the author's rich and complex world, which centers around a kingdom called The Hundred. It has several pov characters, but the connections between these characters keep the story from meandering the way some fantasy epics do. It's not easy to give a thumbnail sketch of this book, but it centers around the power struggle between the current King of the Hundred, his wives, their sons, and their various allies. A major theme in this book is change within a society and conflict between cultures. And don't let the cover and blurbs that focus on male characters fool you. Three out of five of the protagonists are women, and the author does an excellent job of portraying women, even ones who are from cultures that cloister them, as major players with agency and goals. I'm looking forward to the next installation. Dust and Light, by Carol Berg. Published by Roc Books.

Set in the same universe as her Lighthouse duology, this book book can be easily read by someone unfamiliar with Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone (though those are well worth reading as well). Magic is hereditary in Berg's world, and sorcerers occupy a privileged, yet constrained position, as the use of their magic is controlled and contracted by the restrictive pureblood registry. The story centers around young Lucian de Remeni-Masson, a pureblood sorcerer who has been stripped of half his magic for unseemly conduct with an "ordinary." He and his sister are struggling to survive after the rest of their family was murdered by savage Harrowers. When he's forced to accept the contract of Bastien, master of the local dead house, Lucien's talent for creating portraits that tell the truth about the dead lands him in a world of trouble.  Like with Berg's earlier books, the narrative is in first person and she does a fine job of portraying the voice and personality of her protagonist and making the reader care about him and his problems. The second book in this duo, Ash and Silver, was released in December, and I plan on reading it soon.

Finn Fancy Necromancy, by Randy Henderson. Published by Tor Books. I don't read a lot of urban fantasy, but this author came to my attention when I attended the Cascade Writer's Conference in 2014. The protagonist, Finn Gramaraye, was framed for the crime of dark necromancy 25 years ago, and the story begins as he ends his exile from his body to the Other Side (an ethereal place of existence populated by the fey) and returns to his body, which has been helpfully occupied by a changeling to keep it alive during Finn's sentence, in the mortal realm. But the person who got him in trouble last time doesn't want him back in the mortal world, and Finn, with the help of his eccentric family, are going to have to find out what really happened and prove it to the Arcane Enforcers. The story has got a great voice and plenty of dark humor. The next book in the series, Bigfootloose and Finn Fancy Free, is coming out in February. The Waking Engine, by David Eddison. Published by Tor Books.

To update, we settled on a car last weekend. A local Toyota dealer still had some 2015 Rav4s, and they were willing to go well below invoice price on them. Since there's not much difference between the 2015 and 2016 models, and I couldn't get an outback or Forester for anything close to the price I was able to get on this Toyota, we went with it. The fuel efficiency isn't quite what I would have liked, but there's enough space in the back for the dog crates, and it's got the other features I was hoping to get in a new car. As an added bonus, it's red (not the easiest color to find among the endless parade of silver, white, charcoal, and brown cars everyone seems to prefer these days). My first two vehicles, both light pickups, were red, so I was always a bit disappointed that the best color I could get for my 2001 Legacy wagon was boring whit (the only other color any local dealers had back then was a sort of alligator-colored gray green). So I'm reasonably pleased so far. I'm hoping that it proves to be reliable and all the fancy electronic features they have on new cars won't be a thorn in my side as the car ages. Only time will tell there.

The new wheels

Austin and Wiley's crates from the rear

Flick's from the right passenger door

Magnetic doggie "decals" duly installed

I've had my Subaru Legacy Wagon for almost 16 years, and it's time to replace it. It's served me well for the most part, but it's definitely got some issues that are going to cost more to repair than they're worth. And I can't deny that I've got a hankering for a car with the newer bells and whistles (my Legacy has a cassettedeck and no hands-free smart phone interface or anything), and I'm sick of dealing with a manual transmission too. I want driving to be a little more fun, or at least less of a chore.

Room for Flick's, Wiley's and Austin's dog crates is non-negotiable

But it's the car I use to take my dogs to agility in, so I have to be able to fit their crates in its replacement. I can fit three med crates in the back of this little wagon by placing one sideways facing the passenger side door, and the other two facing the back. This leaves about 18" of space between the crates and the lift gate for other gear, plus it's sort of a "buffer" between the back of the car and the rear. It means my dogs' crates (and more critically, my dogs) are less likely to be crushed in a rear-end collision.

Most crossovers have a shorter, taller, and wider cargo box, so I'd have to check if the three crates would still fit in any replacement candidate (the exact dimensions of the cargo areas is something car manufacturers are very coy about, I've noticed). Extra "headroom" above, and space to the sides of the crates is of less use to me than a somewhat longer, but not so tall and wide cargo area.

Another thing I'd like is to get a car that gets better than the 24 mpg my current vehicle averages. I'd really hoped that there would be a selection of small wagons, minivans and crossover SUVs by now that averaged, if not the 40 mpg of my husband's Ford Focus hybrid, at least somewhere in the mid thirties. My car is the dog mobile on the weekends, but it's the car I use for commuting and driving to work the rest of the time.

The vehicles I've been considering include:

Prius v Wagon. Higher mpg, above 40 average. Very sluggish performance compared to the other vehicles on my list (and compared to the Ford Focus hybrid), but maybe worth it to save fuel costs and to help the planet. Not sure if the cargo space is sufficient for my crates, though, and that would be the real deal breaker.

Honda CRV. Decent fuel efficiency and the cargo space looks good on paper (about 71 cubic feet behind the front seats). Generally a well-reviewed little mini SUV. But I've a feeling the cargo area is too short and tall for my crates.

Subaru Forester. A bit worse than the CRV for mpg, and maybe a bit better space wise. A well-regarded car overall, but it may still be the wrong dimensions for the dog crates.

The Subaru Outback. Similar mpg to the Forester with a bit more omph and a slightly higher price tag. Similar to my Legacy Wagon, but taller. The cargo area is longer with less headroom than the Forester.

Toyota Rav 4 hybrid. Brand new, so there's that buying something when it first comes out thing. Plus it's kind of pricey, and there are the same possible space issues as other crossover SUVs.

All-gasoline Toyota Rav 4. The 2015 was panned by reviewers, but rumor has it there are some improvements with the 2016 model. I've noticed the 2015 models are being priced dirt cheap on clearance right now--same price I paid for my wagon 16 years ago. Might be a good deal if the 2015 model isn't a complete pig.

Honda Odyssey. The best minivan on the market, according to many sources. Also rather pricey and cruddy mpg (better than most other minivans, but still no improvement over my current car). It has tons of space, but is rather large for day to day driving and parking.

Honda Pilot. The next crossover step up from the CRV. It costs about the same as the Odyssey and gets similar mpg but has less cargo space (though a lot more than the CRV). So not sure why I'd buy one instead of the minivan.

Ford Transit Connect wagon. It comes in two wheelbases and has more space than a crossover SUV but less than most minivans. It's cheaper than the pilot or Odyssey, more comparable in price to small crossover suvs. But it's ugly as sin (really just a very small work van with windows and kitted out for passengers) and probably klunkier to drive and park than a crossover or smaller wagon. And it gets terrible mpg.

So, the sad truth is, there's nothing on the market right now that really fits my desired criteria: room for three dogs crates with a bit to spare, over 30 average mpg (preferably higher), and affordable (as in less than, say, 28k). So I'll have to compromise on something. The next step is to start test driving. And of course to bring a tape measure to investigate the cargo space dimensions.

It's been a rough week or so on the home ownership front. A little more than a week ago, I accidentally flushed a washcloth down the hall toilet. Don't ask, but it was in the bucket of mop water. The plunger didn't get it out, nor did the snake. The loo was well and truly plugged. It was either pull the toilet or call a plumber.

So, I got this bright idea; since we've been meaning to replace the old water hog with a more environmentally friendly model, why not go to Lowe's and pick up a new toilet? One was duly researched and purchased.

But when we pulled the toilet up and scraped away the remains of the old wax ring (one of the most disgusting home repair jobs in existence), we discovered that the iron flange was cracked on the right side. So it's not possible to bolt the toilet down on both sides without doing a repair. We made an appointment for a plumber to come by to repair the flange and install the toilet.

This furnace is 37 years old.

 Then the furnace broke. Not a great thing this time of year. So we researched repair companies, and called one with the requisite rave reviews and ratings. He was able to get it working again, but unsurprisingly, he discovered that the heat exchanger is starting to develop a crack. Turns out our unit dates back to 1978, so it's at almost twice its life expectancy. It's not dangerous yet, but it's only a matter of time. So we're now researching and taking bids on a new heating and air conditioning system. We also need to replace the ducts and put more insulation in the attic.

This isn't going to be cheap.

And to make things more exciting, the plumber came when we were talking to the furnace repairman, and he said he's not allowed to repair the damaged toilet flange. All he can do is replace the whole flange for 700 bucks (this involves crawling under the house and cutting the cast iron pipe and welding a new one in place), or we can do our own easy repair with a flange plate from Lowe's or Home Depot on our own.

The bolts would be in the wrong place here.

 We opted for the latter, but we soon discovered that the flange repair plate from Home Depot didn't line up with the holes in the cast iron flange (which were at exactly 12 and 6) in a way that allowed the slots on the side to be in the correct position for tightening the bolts. There's no way to screw the flange repair plate in the correct position.

So I went to Lowe's this time and found a different plate with different hole positions, but it still didn't work. I did manage to take advantage of a post-Thanksgiving sale to purchase a new washing machine to replace the one that was in the process of dying (no longer draining water properly), so the drive wasn't a total loss.

When I got home, I went online to Amazon and found a flange plate that had the holes in the right place. I purchased it (the hall bathroom has been sans toilet for over a week now), and two days later, the thing arrived and it was the wrong one--identical to the plate I'd already purchased from Lowe's that didn't work. It was not the one pictured (instead looked like this product, which is a different shape and has holes in a different position). So I returned it and asked them to send me the product pictured, and they sent me the same one again! At this point, I gave up and asked for my money back. Clearly they had the wrong picture displayed for the product they were selling.

These two products are not equivalent.

I finally found a different product on Amazon that looked like what I wanted. This time, they sent me what I ordered, and hallalujah, it was the correct one and the holes lined up.

Except now we can't screw the plate cover to the flange, because the holes in the cast iron aren't threaded, and the wood underneath is old and in cruddy condition with what must be old water damage, probably dating back to when previous owners replaced the house's original toilet with ye olde 70s-era water waster (something else that will need repairing/replacing in the future and may push up the date for our projected bathroom remodels). So the whole plate wobbles. Not a good thing unless we want a rocking toilet.

So we're doing what we'd hoped to avoid all along. Drilling holes in cast iron, a very slow process. And it involves another trip to Home Depot tomorrow to purchase some self-tapping metal screws tomorrow.

All in all, it's been an expensive and harrowing week. It doesn't help that this all started right before Thanksgiving, and it's the busiest time in the semester for us, and it's my birthday week (all I want for my birthday is a working hall bathroom and a new and much more energy efficient furnace/air conditioning unit).

It looks like we're having the kind of fun people who own older homes do sometimes. This house was built in 1958, and it's very solid in most ways, but we've had to do repairs over the years--a new roof a few years back, and a replacement sewer main three years ago. Now we have the dying furnace and some issues with ancient plumbing.

And my car is on its last legs too in that it will soon need repairs that are so expensive that we're better off getting a new one, so the search for a replacement is in the works. That nice, secure feeling people get when they actually have savings for a rainy day is rapidly dissipating. This relentless parade of expenses is cleaning out the bank accounts.

Austin is settling in nicely. He's an energetic, active young dog with a personality that is far more border collie than cattle dog. He's getting on well with Flick and Wiley and shows a lot more ball fanaticism than any dog I've had so far. Flick loves playing ball. It's FUN, and tossing a tennis ball on a rope at the end of an agility training sequence is a definite motivator. But for her, part of the fun is playing a little keep away at the end. Bite, bite, giggle. Come and get it if you can.

You're going to throw that, right?

Here's a picture of a Mount Vernon turkey my husband and I saw a few years back when we visited the home of our country's first president. They didn't let us get too close, but somehow they seem like a fitting picture for today's holiday.

When Roxy passed, I wondered if I was up for getting another dog in the near future. With Wiley and Flick, we are hardly dogless. And with my late-night writing schedule, I've been kind of bleh about dragging my butt out of bed before dawn on weekends for agility trials lately. And there's no question that walking two dogs is much easier than walking three.

Then Doug started to ask when we were going to get another dog. And I realized that some of the reason I've been less than enthusiastic about agility lately is that Wiley's getting older and slowing down quite a lot lately, and Flick (who is a hyper vigilant dog who occasionally decides she just doesn't like someone or other) will never be the kind of dog I can just relax with in noisy, chaotic trial environments.

Still, I wondered if it was the right time to start looking. School's kicking my butt this semester, and some nagging and vague health issues have robbed me of my energy and motivation lately. And the universe seemed to be telling us to wait too. We narrowly missed out on a couple of prospective dogs at our local shelters (Other people beat me to the adoption). And while perusing petfinder for kelpies, border collies  and their mixes, I realized that the canine population had really shifted in our state. Herding breeds are increasingly rare (it's nearly all bully breeds and Chihuahua mixes all the time there for some reason).

Not that I'm complaining. It's nice to know that the owners of herding breeds are getting more responsible in our neck of the woods. A friend suggested a McNabb breeder to me and the person who hooked me up with the shelter that had Wiley back in 2006 said she'd recommend me to them. But I wasn't quite sure I was up for buying a dog. I really want to save a life, or at least clear up a slot in one of our local rescue groups that keep dogs out of shelters. So maybe it would be best just to wait for a while.

Then I saw a picture of a 1.5-year-old border collie/Australian cattle dog mix on petfinder. He was at the Wags and Whiskers rescue group down in Modesto, and he sounded very promising. Our application was accepted, and the people were very nice about agreeing to hold him for us on Saturday, so we could drive down without worrying about losing out to someone who got there right before us again. He interacted nicely with Flick and Wiley, and is really just an awesome boy. Evidently, his original owner purchased him from a breeder of what are sometimes called "Texas Heelers," because they intentionally cross cattle dogs with border collies or Australian shepherds for ranch work down there.

Flick seems to like Austin a lot so far

So we adopted him and named him "Austin," in honor of his Texas roots. He's really sweet. Energetic and loves to play ball, but he has an off switch and is willing to lie quietly and chew on a toy too. He's got a nice, sound structure, and he's got a touch of that border collie focus and eye without the over the top edge that some of that breed have, yet he's softer and more biddable than many purebred cattle dogs. When he gets interested in something, like another dog or a cat, he redirects easily. Flick loves him so far (which was a worry I had), and Wiley is slowly coming around to the notion of no longer being the only boy dog.

Doug and I just made a very hard decision today--releasing our beloved Roxy from her failing body. It's not the first time we've had to say goodbye, but this choice was especially hard because there wasn't a sudden crisis or catastrophic diagnosis. She was just growing increasingly feeble, and the arsenal of drugs and therapies we had at our disposal were slowing the decline, but not halting it. She had bad days when she could barely walk, and good ones where she wanted to go out and sniff, but the latter were growing fewer and further between.

Roxy: Feb 2000-Oct 2015

 It's hard to know exactly when to say goodbye to an animal that's probably not in severe pain, yet is growing progressively weaker and takes joy in fewer and fewer aspects of  her daily life. But it was at the point where Doug and I agreed she was becoming a shell of her former self and wasn't having any fun. Roxy was the first dog Doug and I adopted after we got married. We jumped the gun a bit and went to the Sacramento County animal shelter after we closed on our house but before we'd actually moved into it. Our lease only allowed one dog (Astra), so we fudged a bit on the adoption agreement (it asked if you owned your home, and in fact we did), so we didn't have to get permission from our landlord. We brought Roxy home, and one week later we found Simon. So we moved into our new home in November of 2000 with three dogs and four cats.

One of Roxy's first trials in Carson City.

Roxy was a very special dog, but I'm too broken up right now to describe all the ways. Suffice it to say that she was gentle, loyal, and willing to do anything I asked of her. She was my agility partner for many years, and we earned a NATCH and a CATCH title, but as she got into middle age, she lost much of her enthusiasm for the sport, so I retired her. She's the dog who convinced me to commit to positive-reinforcement based training and to expunge "corrections" and coercion from my training toolbox. I still made mistakes. She was such a sensitive creature, even a sharply indrawn breath on my part felt like a leash jerk to her. But I think our relationship made me a kinder, more patient person overall. She had a good, long life, but damn, it never seems like enough. Roxy is gone, and she's taken a piece of me with her. My scientific world view has never given me a lot of reason to hope there's anything waiting on the other side, but if there is, I hope she's with her old pals Astra and Simon now, and with my dad and his beloved dog, Florence.

Roxy, Simon and Astra

Roxy running at WAG in Elk Grove

Roxy at the Huntington Dog Beach

This is a continuation of my forgotten classics series (the first installment is linked here) , and it includes some more fantasy novels and series that seem to have fallen (undeservedly, in my opinion) off the cultural radar in recent years. I've tossed in some newer fantasy novels that I think are very good as well. If these entries lead anyone to read and enjoys a book or author they wouldn't otherwise have heard about, then I'll be very pleased.

1. Dragon Prince series (Dragon Prince, The Star Scroll, Sunrunner's Fire) by Melanie Rawn. Published between 1988-1990 by DAW books, these books were well reviewed and popular, and set the stage for a host of intrigue-heavy fantasy with large casts of characters who fall along a broad spectrum in terms of morality.

The story's desert environment doesn't feel like a quasi-Europe, the story has a lot of action, and while gender roles are pretty traditional, the women have agency and goals of their own and aren't just there for the men. The story even shows some of the men through a female gaze, which was unusual back in the 80s, even for female authors. And Rawn does a better job than most authors of her era at exploring the implication of living in a world with large, intelligent predators.

2. The WatergiversTrilogy (The Last Stormlord, Stormlord Rising, Stormlord's exile) by Glenda Larke. The author is Australian, which might be why these books aren't as well known in the US as they should be. They were published by Ace Books in the US between 2010-2011. Set in a secondary world, these novels focus on the power struggles within a society that relies on water-manipulating magic for survival. The core conflict centers around a base born boy who may be the last person alive with this talent and on his attempts to master his unreliable magic and to resist being manipulated.

The story is set in a culture that doesn't feel like it's based on anything that's simply lifted whole-cloth from our world, and the story's two main protagonists are both people of color. There are several pov characters, including some interesting women, and some LGBTQ characters, but it is not in any way an issue story.

3. Chosen of the Changeling duology (The Waterborn and The Blackgod) by Gregory Keyes. Published in 1996-1997, they've recently been reissued for kindle. The story focuses on Hezhi, a princess from a magical family. It contains many traditional fantasy elements, but the author's attention to world-building detail and his knowledge of linguistics and fencing, give this story a depth and authenticity many lack.

4. Rojan Dizon Trilogy (Fade to Black, Before the Fall, Last to Rise) by Francis Knight, published in 2013-2014 by Orbit books. A secondary world fantasy noire, the story's setting, the magic tech city of Mahala, is a bit reminiscent of Blade Runner. The city is ruled by priests and has a rigidly hierarchal class system. Among its many themes story explores outsider issues and the disconnect between the religion practiced by the privileged wealthy and the impoverished masses.

The reluctant hero (a snarky womanizer who must hide his magical talent) is evocative of many well-loved UF protagonists, but his costly magic and social ineptitude keeps him from ever approaching the wish fulfillment archetype. The pace is brisk and the twisty, turning plot keeps the reader wondering how the story will end.

5. Wayfarer Redemption series by Sarah Douglas. This consists of six books (Wayfarer Redemption, Starman, Sinner, Pilgrim, Crusader) that were published in the late 1990s by Harper. They are very popular in the author's home country of Australia, but they've never gotten the attention they deserve in the US. Unfortunately, Ms. Douglass passed away in 2011, which might be another reason they haven't been promoted as aggressively as they should be over here.

The novels meld elements of SF and fantasy, as they incorporate space travel, stargates, and demons known as Timekeepers, but it takes place in a pastoral, non industrial world When a plague of monsters threaten their homeland, a noblewoman and a military leader must learn the truth about the history of their world.

6. Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward. This stand-alone book was published in 1996 by Tom Doherty Associates. This humorous novel subverts many familiar tropes, as it centers around a band of traditional fantasy villains (an assassin, a thief, an evil sorceress, and a dark knight) who must save the world from a fatal imbalance after evil is banished.

As far as I can tell, Forward has only written one other novel (by this name, at least), Animist, which read like the start to a promising series that never materialized. It's a shame, because she is a good writer who has a knack for twisting familiar tropes.

7. In a similar vein, though written with a different style and execution, Grunts, by Mary Gentle. First published in the UK in 1992 by Bantam Press, it was reprinted in 1995 by Roc books. This satirical book takes place in a cliche-ridden fantasy world based on the basic D&D mode. The plot revolves around a band of orcs preparing for the last battle between good and evil, one they're destined to lose. Things change when they find an artifact that turns them mentally into 20th century US soldiers.

The book is filled with camp and over-the-top humor and references to tropes that should appeal to anyone who ever played fantasy games or simply got tired of tired rip offs of JRR Tolkien's works.

8. Vows and Honortrilogy (Oathbound, Oathbreakers, Oathblood) by Mercedes Lackey published in novel form between 1988-1998. These books tell the tale of Tarma and Kethry, who make a cameo appearance in at least one of her Heralds of Valdemar books. These books are unusual in fantasy, because they focus on the friendship between two female adventurers who are seeking to avenge the slaughter of Tarma's clan. It's fun to see a good old fashioned "mismatched" buddy S&S-style adventure fantasy told from a female perspective. And the acerbic "Need" is probably the coolest take I've seen on the sentient sword trope.

8. Alan Garner's the Weirdstone of Brisingamen is considered to be a children's novel, but it has plenty to offer adult fantasy fans too. It was well-received when it first came out, but fell into relative obscurity, perhaps because the author decided he didn't feel it was a very good book.

First published in 1960, this novel is based partially on a Cheshire legend tells the story of two children, Colin and Susan, who are staying with some friends while their parents are overseas. Susan owns a bracelet that contains the weirdstone of the title. The minions of the dark spirit Nastrond who, centuries before, had been defeated and banished by a powerful king, wants this item back.

9. Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy (Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance, Oath of Gold), published in 1988-1989, were the first volumes in the Paksennarion series. It is fairly classic high fantasy, set in a quasi medieval world with elves, dwarves, and paladins. The story follows the character of Paks as she joins the army to flee an arranged marriage. This may be why it's faded from view in spite of being popular in its day--the Tolkien and D&D-inspired high fantasy of the 70s and 80s has largely run its course. But the excellent characterization and well-developed religious themes (unusual in a genre where characters often have the mindset of citizens of 20th century secular democracies) make it stand out from its peers. The author's military experience shows as well.

10. The Morgaine Cycle(The Gates of Ivrel, The Well of Shiuan, The Fires of Azeroth, Exile's Gate) by CJ Cherryh. Published by DAW books between 1978-1988. I discovered these on my parents' bookshelves when I was a kid, and they helped foster my lifelong love for speculative fiction. Strictly speaking, these are SF, as the author has stated that they are set in the same universe as her Union-Alliance novels. But the stories have a sword and sorcery/quest fantasy feel, and the characters travel on horseback for most of the series. CJ Cherryh is one of my favorite authors, and she was one of the first SFF writers to employ a closer, character-focused narrative style in SF and F.

Though Morgaine is the plot-driving character, the story is told through the narrative perspective of Vanye, a disgraced bastard. Outcast for accidentally killing his brother, he accepts food and shelter from Morgaine, and is bound to assist her in her quest to close the travel gates left behind by a star faring empire. The Gate of Ivrel is Cherryh's first novel, but the world building and characterization are phenomenal. Why these don't end up on any of those "best and influential SFF lists" is beyond me.

11. Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword. Published in 1954 by Abelard-Schuman (currently available in the US for Kindle from Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy. This is another fantasy novel  remember finding on my parent's bookshelves when I was a kid. Michael Moorcock declared The Broken Sword superior to Tolkien (though that's not saying a lot, since Moorcock isn't the biggest Tolkien fan in the universe), calling it “a fast-paced doom-drenched tragedy in which human heroism, love and ambition, manipulated by amoral gods, elves and trolls, led inevitably to tragic consequences.”

The web is a great place for learning about books and authors, but sometimes it seems like there's a "rich get richer" element to the various "must read" and "best of" or "top" lists that get linked on various sites. The same books and authors we've heard of already tend to come up. So I thought I'd toss some books out there that were either well-liked in their day but have fallen off the cultural radar or had a cult following of sorts but never made it into the fantasy "mainstream" (whatever that might be for the genre). In order to keep this from being just a list of my own unsung favorites, I've been picking the brains of my fantasy-loving friends as well, and some of their suggestions are included. This is not a complete list by any means, and I've got many more titles I'd like to discuss, maybe in a future entry.

1. Deryni Rising and sequels, by Katherine Kurtz. Published by Ballantine Books in 1970, reissued by Ace books in 2004. This was the first book in her Deryni series, which was fairly popular with fantasy geeks in the 70s and early 80s, but even though she is credited with influencing authors like Guy Gavriel Kay and George RR Martin, this novel and series are rarely included on "recommended" or "Must Read" lists today. Set in the fictitious kingdom of Gwynedd, the fantasy society Kurtz created is much closer to a historically accurate medieval setting than is typical in epic fantasy. The stories focus heavily on magic, intrigue, and politics as Prince Kelson seeks to learn the truth about the not-so-accidental death of his father, his own magical heritage, and to put down the plot to steal his throne by sorceress and pretender Carissa.

2. Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn, Riverhead Books, 2003-2005. (Across the Nightengale Floor, Grass For His Pillow, Brilliance of the Moon). This story takes place in a world inspired by feudal Japan. The protagonist, Takeo, a member of a persecuted religious group, is nearly killed when his village is destroyed. He's saved by the Otori clan an falls into a world of intrigue, magic, and warfare. This novel is actually fairly popular, but it doesn't seem to be well known in fantasy circles. It seems to be shelved with general fiction in bookstores, in spite of its magical elements and alternative world setting. The first book in the series takes an unusual approach to narrative viewpoint, with one point of view character being shown in first person, and the other in third

3. White Crow Sequence by Mary Gentle. First published in the UK by Bantam in 1990, it's not easy to find a paper version of these books in the US, aside from used books. Kindle editions of the series (Rats and Gargoyles, The Architecture of Desire, Left to His Own Devices, and White Crow). This story is about Valentine the White Crow, a scholar-soldier who has fled from her suitor to a vast city at the centre of the world. The city's humans are ruled by an aristocracy of humanoid rats, which are themselves subject to immensely powerful gods who mostly sleep but are growing restless. Aided by various allies, Valentine must face the gods, defuse the conflict between humans and rats - and decide how she really feels about her suitor. Gentle writes beautifully, and her world and story are far from run-of-the-mill fantasy.

4. Jack Whyte's Dream of Eaglesseries, six books in all. Published between 1992 and 2005 by Forge books. It's the authors take on the Camelot legend. It's sometimes billed as historical fiction, but falls more into historical fantasy. He's a wonderful writer with a fabulous command of language and a penchant for researching to the nth degree. Want to know how to forge a sword using Dark Ages techniques? He's got it. The series starts with the first person account of a character named Pubilus Varrus as he retells his own history and that of the Roman withdrawal from Britain, but new characters narrate the later books in the series, which ends with the fall of Camelot.

5. The WitcherSeries by Andrzej Sapkowski. Not actually novels, the first book in this series was originally published as a collection of five short stories by Wiedźmin, in 1990. Four of the five have since been translated from Polish released in an English-language edition, The Last Wishin 2008. Other story collections in the series include The Blood of Elves, Sword of Destiny, and Baptism of Fire.

Many Americans were introduced to Sapkowski's world and character via the video games by this name. The stories center around the character of Geralt, a monster hunter struggling to maintain his own ethics while operating in a very "gray" universe that should appeal to people who like darker fantasy. The stories are very influenced by the legends and mythology of Eastern Europe and are filled with subtle humor.

6. Lighthouse Duology (Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone) by Carol Berg, published in 2008, 2009 by Roc books. This story takes place in a fairly typical early-renaissance sans gunpowder fantasy world, but the writing and characterization are phenomenal in my opinion. The protagonist is a rebellious mage who has been hiding from his family for more than a decade, which is a big deal, because in this world, magi are pampered chattel, controlled by their families and expected to live by rigid set of rules. His situation is complicated by a strange malady that's afflicted him since boyhood, which he self medicates with a forbidden magical ritual that is as addictive as it is agonizing.

The story has a slower start than is typical for modern fantasy, but the author introduces information about the world and the protagonist's situation in a way that keeps the reader guessing until the end. I think it should appeal to fans of writers like Robin Hobb, but it has a tone and style that's all its own.

7. The Book of Words Trilogy by J.V. Jones (The Baker's Boy, A Man Betrayed, Master and Fool). Published by Aspect Books in 1995-1996. The story centers on the adventures of a young woman who refuses to be a pawn in a political marriage and an apprentice baker who has powerful but uncontrolled magical abilities, and it incorporates many familiar fantasy tropes--evil twins, scheming sorcerers, and idealistic knights. But the world building, dialog, and intrigue elevate it beyond run of the mill fantasy. A fun read. The paper book appears to be out of print, but it's still available as a kindle edition.

 8. Tamir Triad by Lynn Flewelling (The Bone Doll's Twin, Hidden Warrior, The Oracle's Queen). These novels take place in the same world (in the land of Skala) as her long-running Nightrunner series, but centuries earlier. They tell the story of Tamir, Skala's greatest Queen, who was magically disguised as a boy at birth in order to hide her from her Usurping uncle. Although the novel uses "prophecy" and "chosen one" tropes, it handles them an interesting perspective--the cost of assuring that they come to fruition.

Though there are several viewpoint characters, Flewelling focuses on the character of "Tobin," who is a shy, lonely, and somewhat peculiar boy who is haunted by the ghost of his twin brother. Flewelling writes compelling and fascinating characters, and the ones in this book have stayed with me longer than most. The main flaw (one I didn't not think so much about the first time I read it), is she missed an opportunity to explore the issues faced by transgender children and teens in more depth.

9. Barry Hughart.  The Bridge of Birds, Del Rey, 1984.  It's a novel of ancient China that never was - but ought to have been.  There are two sequels ( Eight Skilled Gentlemen and The Story of The Stone), but this novel stands alone with no trouble at all.  When the children of his village are afflicted with a mysterious plague, Number Ten Ox heads to the city and recruits a sage to help find a cure, and together they go on a quest. Along the way, they discover they are stuck in the middle of a plot by the Heavenly Emperor of Jade himself.

The book is written in a lyrical, fairy tale style that should delight lovers of classics like The Princess Bride and The Last Unicorn.

10. A Crown of StarsSeries by Kate Elliott: This seven book series (starting with King's Dragon) was published between 1997-2006 by DAW books. It is set in the fictitious land of Novaria, and story follows the stories of two young adults, Alain and Liath, as they are drawn into the war that starts when their home is invaded by an inhuman race called the Eika, who had nearly destroyed the world more than 2000 years before.

The author based her world and cultures on real-world medieval kingdoms. The excellent writing and epic scale of the conflict should appeal to fans of Tolkien and George RR Martin.

11. The Witch World series by Andre Norton (first novel Witch World, 1963). Andre Norton was a brilliant writer of both SF and F (the first woman to be awarded the SFWA's Damon night Memorial Grand Master status). and for reasons unknown, she seems to have fallen off the cultural radar in SF and F circles and her books are rarely included on the lists of classics. It's possibly because she was such a prolific writer that no one book or series stands above the others. She was a consummate world builder who often melded SF and F elements. This could also be a reason why her work is often overlooked--people aren't always sure where to categorize it. She also was one of the first speculative fiction writers to include LGBT characters in her work.

If the title of this post isn't a warning, I'm talking about a very unpleasant topic today, one that can be a trigger for some people.

Rape is an unfortunate and disturbing facet of human behavior. In a world where a significant percentage of women (and a number of men too) have been subjected to one form of sexual assault or another, it makes sense that it would make its way into fiction, including fantasy.

It is a real thing, for both men and women. It happens in war, in prisons, on the streets, and even in people's homes and private lives (in fact, with most sexual assaults, the victim knows their assailant). I don't think it should be off limits, either as a story focus or as a plot device. I learned about how horrible it was by reading some stories where characters were raped (a couple were even issue books, aimed at teens) and also learned something about the problems victims have with shame and self blame and so on. These novels dispelled some myths about rapes, gave me some information about how to protect myself from it, and helped me develop more empathy for victims. However, it's a topic that is rife with misconceptions, and it is often handled badly in fiction.

In the first draft of the novel I'm querying now, my female main character was a rape victim. It felt so natural to do this. My story isn't set in a sugar-coated fantasy world. I wanted a bit of grit and realism. Plus, a past sexual assault gave her a reason to be hyper-vigilant, focused on her work, and leery of intimacy. And it gave her a traumatic past that would allow her to empathize with the male main character's outsider status.

But then I started to think about my choice in more detail, and I began to wonder if my unthinking gravitation to rape as backstory for this character wasn't problematic. Here's why: 1. It's the ultimate crime of erasure and un-personing, and it's just about the worst thing a person can do to another without killing or mutilating them. It is a very powerful thing, and it shouldn't be trivialized. Yet is often is in fiction. Did I want to make the issue of rape a specific focus of this novel? No, I really didn't, but if it's handled in passing, then it suggests I think it isn't all that weighty.

2. Adding insult to injury, rape (or other indignities) committed against a female character are often used as a motivator for a male character. It's not about her, it's about the "real" character, who happens to be her lover, husband, father, brother or whatever. It's a form of the infamous "women in refrigerators" trope first identified in superhero comics, but also in movies, video games, and books. Was her rape really there to be something the male main character would have an emotional reaction to later? I didn't like the answer to that question.

3. It's often used as a cheap way of showing how evil someone is: cardboard villain rapes character (or threatens her with rape). It's just been done so darned many times. Same for using it to show how dark and unjust one's fantasy society is. But aren't there other ways I can make a villain thoroughly unpleasant or show the reader how gritty things can get in my world? 4. There are a lot of real, live people walking around who have been victims of sexual assault. Reading about it in a book can cause them to relive their own experience. My character's rape was "off screen," and of course every victim processes his or her experience differently, but even so, did I want to dredge up those emotions in some readers if it wasn't necessary for the story at hand? Not really.

When so many of one's potential readers have been a victim of sexual assault, it's a good idea to consider how it's portrayed, because it will affect them. Graph from Sarah Kliff's Blog.

5. It's often misunderstood. It's a planned crime of violence, humiliation and control, not lust that got carried away. This has been known since I was a kid at least, yet many people haven't gotten the memo yet. Rape is sometimes portrayed as something raiders or soldiers do simply because they haven't been with a woman for a while. It's also one of the only crimes where the victim is routinely blamed. I did address victim blame, both self blame and blame by others, as problems for the character in the story. But did I really want to explore how that would play out and spend the time to make it clear this rape was a crime of control and anger, not misplaced passion, even if most of the characters didn't realize it? Again, the answer was no.

6. If a character who is meant to be sympathetic rapes or is accessory to a rape, then he/she will cease to be sympathetic to a large number of readers. If the writer wants a redemption arc for a rapist, their work is cut out for them. I call this the Thomas Covenant problem. It wasn't relevant in my case, since the proposed rapist was a villain, but it's definitely an issue in some stories. It's not impossible to make a rapist relatable to a high percentage of readers, even if he isn't on a redemption arc (Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange is a great example of this, as is Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns), but it's a hard needle to thread. 7. Rape portrayals might be titillating or erotic to some readers, or at least read like they're meant to be. This is a particular problem when the assault is shown as part of an actual scene, rather than summarized or recounted as back story. This wasn't really an issue for me in this particular story, but it's another thing that can come up. And more problematically, what's horrific for one reader might be titillating for another.

8. Men get raped too. It's actually quite common in warfareand torturesituations, yet rape of adult men seems to be omitted from most stories where authors justify female rape for its realism. Funny how my "go to" rape victim was female. I had actually considered rape of a male character at one point, but I abandoned the idea, because I feared it would make him too unsympathetic or unmanly in the eyes of some readers. Why is this, and why didn't I fear the same thing might be true for my female character? The answer is pretty uncomfortable.

9. And it's been used by so many writers (especially in fantasy) in such lazy, clichéd ways as the life-defining trauma for female characters. Or it's presented as a sort of comeuppance or life lesson for adventurous, naive, or "careless" female characters who presume to go out and risk themselves in a man's world. "Silly girl! Don't you realize all these rules and restrictions that hamper your freedom and agency are really there for your protection? So now you've been raped (or threatened with it). Hope you've learned your lesson and find a man to protect you!" I absolutely, positively did not want to send anything approaching that message. For all these reasons, I realized that even careful and realistic portrayals of the rape trope can feel (to female readers, at least, but maybe to some male ones too) like being poked over and over in the same patch of deeply bruised flesh.

I decided it might be fun to write a story where the main female character has some other past trauma or dark secret for once

And I really think the one I ended up going with actually works a lot better for her as a character and for the way things unfold between her and the male main character.