Book Review - The Tower of Fools - by Andrzej Sapkowski

My Rating - 4 out of 5 Stars

The first thing I want to point out is that this is a translated book coming out almost twenty years after its initial publication. I've seen a few comments from other readers with advance copies struggling to get to grips with character names etc. and levelling that as criticism, which I find hugely unfair. It's set in a historically grounded location - the rest of the sentence might be translated into English but names / place names won't be. It wasn't written for an English speaking audience so of course there'll be some unfamiliarity, and whilst that made it a little hard at times to keep track of the characters and their causes there's more than enough context to figure out why a person appearing again proves significant, a half beat or so later than those reading the original at most.

I think the original date of publication plays into the naivety of the main character as well. He's a red blooded young male led by romantic obsession. As the lead perspective you can expect world views and attitudes to largely fall in and around that bubble. The characters themselves are not unaware of this, and the lead even calls himself out for it later (characters should be allowed to grow after all). I don't know that there'd be much call for this mindset if it were written recently, but with the Witcher series gaining a huge spike in interest due to the recent adaptation for Netflix somebody was probably looking to capitalise on the author's other works. I don't know what time the decision was made for either undertaking but they are suspiciously close together. It's a successful one too - I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of a choice of books and picked this one specifically because I was intending to dip into Witcher at some point on the back of playing one of the games, and am now confident I'll take to the style of writing. Just be aware that this dated attitude is quite prevalent, right from the off.

I think this book took a little while to get going but I thoroughly enjoyed it by the end. The layers of mystery deepen beyond the somewhat vapid start, with pieces laid out early coming together in a satisfying way as the situational crises worsen. As the first in a trilogy it's always worth bearing in mind how the first third of the first book is going to be paced to account for later escalation. It's a book that grants you POV into an opposing entity (very briefly) so it falls into that category of knowing more about the bigger situation than the characters do with them playing catch up, which is a delicate balance that I found a little bit wearing at times. Though a sign of a good book to me is one that leaves my writing pad brimming with inspiration, and I certainly picked up a few ideas here!

When it comes to character I didn't quite gel with Reynevan. He only really caught my attention when he was doing something irritating. I accept him more as the avatar holding the camera that enables us to meet everybody else, and that's where I think the strength of the book is, in the people that Reynevan pulls around him.  It's suspiciously effective. Scharley, the real star in my opinion, COULDN'T work as well as he does if  we were granted POV insight. He operates exclusively outside of our understanding. That's not to say that Reynevan is a passive lead - the opposite in fact. We're dragged around entirely by his whimsy, the trick I think the book pulls off is to construct reasonable narrative on a case by case basis as to WHY (or a good amount of intrigue as to why ACTUALLY) the characters accept him as the lead protagonist. Though I will admit to several hard eye rolls at the advent of a recurring phrase that highlight just how much benefit being the main character grants you should the plot demand it... there's a little bit too much chance / coincidence that contributed to me being unable to give the book any more than four stars.

I don't read blurbs where I can help it. I was surprised upon reading it after the book that Reynevan is mentioned as a magician upfront. I found the slow unveiling of that fact one of the better points of intrigue. One last thing that irked me then was how another great character, Samson, received his physical strength. I found it a cheap gimmick and unnecessary given that magic is an established part of the world - especially considering his origins. I'll likely carry on the adventure at some point, but I'm more interested in taking on The Witcher before then.

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'The Tower of Fools' by Andrzej Sapkowski - https://bit.ly/3nPfc3h

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Update - 19/10/2020

Hey,

Time, eh? Good... I'm glad that's covered. Anyway I just wanted to assure you that writing is still very much what I want to do, despite everything. I think and plan every day and am drowning in notes for projects that may yet happen. I feel like I've grown so much as a writer even if I have nothing tangible to show for it, and am still very excited to share my fiction at some point down the line!

One of the things I have been up to in the meantime was to try something external. My friend Theresa Jacobs writes at a phenomenal pace so I knew she'd likely have something in the works as a discovery writer / pantser. With my own projects getting very heavy work I felt like I needed a bit of a break, and so reached out to ask if I could maybe get involved somehow in one of her latest Horror offerings. To my delight she was kind enough to show me her latest work, Handsome, that was in development. It was a departure as she was trying her hand at writing for the Crime genre, which in itself felt like a bit of a sign to me that I could maybe bed in as part of that point of change.

 

It didn't really pan out as I was expecting. But I am so, so, grateful for the experience. Without me outlining a clear plan I was unable to stick to the brief and both under and over delivered as my role changed - and where I was going into it hoping that some of her speed may rub off on me, it actually went the other way with me holding her up unfairly as I dragged her down to my level. It became painfully clear that editing for someone else is not something you can easily walk into just because you write yourself. In fact that was probably the biggest failing as I fell into the trap of trying to mould it into my own image - the kind of editor that all the advice screams to avoid avoid avoid. I'm just sorry that I was unable to clock it happening, and mostly that coming from a position as a friend likely complicated how easy it would be to turn me away earlier in the project.

 

The best thing to come out of that experience is that Theresa held firm. The book is entirely hers, save for an inoffensive tweak here and there on the back of what we agreed would instead be more of an Alpha Reading role. It's reviewing well, and distinctly feels like SHE wrote it - the former being the best compliment to the latter. The story follows detective Marcy Gagon's efforts to protect Toronto from a serial killer acting out of resurfaced trauma, against the complexities of the new chief of police's reluctance to acknowledge the threat so soon in the wake of the shadow cast by the real life misfortunes of the city, and the strain that putting herself at risk causes to her relationship with tight-laced Krista; holding Marcy back as a result of harbouring a little trauma of her own. 

I'd encourage you to have a look for yourself and maybe pick up a few more titles from her back catalogue, as it's interesting to essentially track her tangible development as a writer. I'm very invested to see how far she'll progress with each title in the future! It was great for me to get a taste for finishing something I was involved in, a level of detachment that I'm very short on... and the level of my writing certainly took a leap on the back of it. Thankfully things remain positive between us, and I certainly feel better equipped should there be an opportunity for some kind of collaboration in the future.

That said I've not resurfaced this time with something specific in mind in terms of my own output. I've been absorbing a lot in my time away and have finally come to the resolution to start reviewing books that I enjoy. I've always been hesitant as I don't feel like it's my place to be critical of others in my field, but the events surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement in the summer really forced me to think and take notice of the privileged position I inhabit.

 

I think the comfort of privilege for me has been that I've excused myself from secondary thinking. 'I want in', I think whilst reading and writing, pushing my way through a noisy crowd with my blinkers fastened tightly and my hands mostly covering my ears as I stride (or stumble in my case) towards my goal. I can still see the people ahead of me, knowing they'll be the ones I'm bouncing off my hips shortly as they fall behind and I can stop thinking about them. I can still hear the murmur, the conversation and debate for change has always been there - I was born with my ears open, I've put my hands in that position because it's easier to disengage without the definition. I feel like I've been handed a sheet and told I can use it to dress up as a ghost, basically, and that so long as I'm careful not to bump too hard into anybody the whole world will play along as they're too polite or tired to check under every white blur that moves through them for good intentions. The general understanding is that ghosts pick and choose when they participate in corporal affairs after all, and that encapsulates my mind set.

 

It's not on others to tell me that my feet are showing, it's on me to realise that the sheet only fit me as a child. I don't feel I have the strength of character or personal conviction to help aid the change that is required on a larger scale, but I can't knowingly go on wearing it now that I've caught sight of my reflection. I'm exposed now, others can see me for what I am and judge me for how I act. At the same time I've got to acknowledge my peripheral vision without believing myself ethereal until it suits me. I might not be able to change the world, but it is on me to be an active participant to those on the path around me. If we're journeying toward the opportunity to share our fiction then I should acknowledge that that sheet I was handed can now be repurposed as an occasional tool I can share with others, and to be more human in helping push forward as a collective unit. A race would have ended by now, so there's no harm in taking time to make sure more of us get to reach our destination.

 

Thus... reviews. It's a small way to help and requires me to get uncomfortable in the process as a kind of faux accountability for personal growth. Hopefully it encourages me to engage further in future, but for now it's a start. I'm turning it into a bit of a process that mixes in with expanding my reading list to be more inclusive generally. You can read more about the thinking / practicality of that on the new Book Reviews page that will be added to the site soon for more info.

 

On that note I just want to give you a heads up that I'll be stripping the site back a bit, removing some of the old features like the 'Three Words' writing prompts and the 'Artists' page etc. They are being reverted to draft rather than deleted, so it's possible they could return at a later date if I have the motivation to refresh them.

 

Also in terms of catching up with a bit of admin, there are the stories that I wrote as part of my time writing for Short Fiction Break's competition. I didn't follow through on getting some artwork to go with them so they never made it to the site. I know it's not new content, but they've long passed their period of exclusivity now so I'll probably set about bringing them home over the next few weeks in case anybody missed them the first time around.

 

That's pretty much that! I'm still plugging away on my own works though there's not much sight of a horizon at present. Hopefully committing to the occasional reviews will also encourage me to be more proactive generally... but I won't make any promises given my track record! So look out for the short stories if you missed them, and I'll be adding the first review shortly. I'll be starting off with 'The Tower of Fools' by Andrzej Sapkowski of Witcher fame, having been lucky enough to get hold of an ARC ahead of its release on the 27th, inadvertently helping me out by setting me a bit of a deadline... 'What's that? Paul? You're ahead of the curve for once?' It would appear that way wouldn't it? Except, true to form, I actually finished reading / reviewing it back in June.

 

Until next time, buh-bye!

 

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Discover Theresa Jacobs - https://bit.ly/3dHhgp2

 

Purchase Theresa's book 'Handsome' - https://amzn.to/3kaGMWs

 

'The Tower of Fools' by Andrzej Sapkowski - https://bit.ly/3nPfc3h

Follow me on Twitter - www.twitter.com/PaulJIsaac