Again, as with the previous book, it's almost impossible to describe the events taking place here or giving real justice to its in-depth exploration of God, innocence, war, and love.

However, I can point to the mythical land of medieval beasts that Prester John converts to Christianity, the events of the first book that make John their king, how he becomes immortal, loves, has a family, and how all these beasts just humor him good-naturedly. They're Edenic and this magical land is pretty much Eden already.

But then we get a call to arms to save the Seat of the Holy Roman Empire against the Saracens and who raises the flag, along with all the innocent immortals who may or may not be angels? John Prester.

It's simple in the way I say it, but believe me, there's nothing simple going on inside the pages. We've got multiple PoVs... from John, his immortal and monstrous wife, and a famous explorer on the outside. They all have their own concerns and takes on reality and it's truly fascinating to behold.

Valente does no less than build a cosmos, a philosophy of living, of learning, and of loss of innocence on a grand scale. We are caught in traps of our own devising and we love with pure grace and we discover that we've changed too much to ever come back. It's really beautiful.

However, my personal enjoyment beyond the outright appreciation was kinda lacking. I can absolutely love what she tries to accomplish here and really get thrilled by the complex scaffolding of the chapters and structure and execution, her love of the language and the wordcraft, but overall, I wasn't personally awed by the story or the message. I can admit that I was (and am) awed by Valente's writing.

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Weird and wonderful and beautifully sad, if not quite as good as THE HABITATION OF THE BLESSED. ( )

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Prester John has been king in Pentexore for many years now, aided by his wife Hagia the blemmye. He loves the creatures he rules and has spent his time teaching them about Jesus Christ and trying to reconcile the creation story in Genesis with his new knowledge of the world. When one of John�??s daughters brings a letter from Constantinople, asking John to bring his army of monsters to fight the Muslims in Jerusalem, he decides that theyƒ??ll go. Although he is happy with his new life in Pentexore, he is still a faithful Christian and he feels that itƒ??s his duty to clear the sacred city of infidels.

The creatures of Pentexore, though they claim to be Christians to please their beloved King John, think the whole Christianity thing is a game involving silly hand motions and recitations. When they agree to fight on John's side, they have no idea what theyƒ??re in for. To them, war means ƒ??mating and keeningƒ? and they donƒ??t understand the ancient battle between the Christians, descendants of Abrahamƒ??s son Isaac, and the Muslims, descendants of Abrahamƒ??s first but illegitimate son Ishmael. When they cross the wall into Johnƒ??s world, they are shocked at the treatment they receive and the way humans treat each other.

The Folded World is similar in structure to the first novel in Catherynne M. Valenteƒ??s PRESTER JOHN series ƒ?? a monk is alternately copying chapters from three different books (written by Hagia, Vyala the White Lion, and the explorer John Mandeville) and desperately trying to transcribe them before they rot. All the while, he tends to the dying Brother Hiob and attempts to understand what Pentexore means for his own faith.

The greatest impact of The Folded World comes not from its ideas about creation, salvation, eschatology, or faith, but from Catherynne Valenteƒ??s powerful presentation of every creatureƒ??s struggle to understand the world, its beauty and terror, and his own place in it. I cannot think of another author who can fill one book with so many thoughtful ideas so beautifully spoken:

Love is a practice. It is a yogic stance; it is lying upon nails; it is walking over coals, or water. It comes naturally to no one, though that is a great secret. One who is learned might say: does not a babe in her motherƒ??s arms love? From her first breath does she not know how to love as surely as her mouth can find the breast? And I would respond: have you ever met a child? A cub may find the breast but not latch upon it, she may bite her mother, or become sick with her milk. So too, the utter dependence of a tiny and helpless thing upon those who feed and warm her is not love. It is fierce and needful; it has a power all its own and that power is terrible, but it is not love. Love can come only with time and sentience. We learn it as we learn language ƒ?? and some never learn it well. Love is like a tool, though it is not a tool; something strange and wonderful to use, difficult to master, and mysterious in its provenance.

If love were not all of this, I would not have devoted my mind, which is large and generous and certainly could have done much else, to it for all these centuries.

If love were not all of this, I would never have known that wretched, radiant little girl, nor let her learn her teeth on my heart, which children can find with more sureness than ever they could clasp the breast, and latch upon it, and bite, and become sick, and make ill, and all the worst of the six ails of loving, which are to lose it, to find it, to break it, to outlive it, to vanish inside it, and to see it through to the end.

The entire book is like this ƒ?? beautiful nuggets of wisdom on every page.

I listened to Brilliance Audioƒ??s version, which is dynamically read by Ralph Lister who is convincing in all of his human and monster roles. He does a great job and Iƒ??ll be reading the third volume of PRESTER JOHN in this format.

The Folded World is highly recommended, but itƒ??s not what you need when you want to read an action-packed adventure story. Save this for when youƒ??re in a pensive and vulnerable mood. Itƒ??s incredibly gorgeous. ( )

This is an immensely sad book - it's the story of the last days of innocence, and the fall is inevitable and tragic and dammit, why isn't the third book out yet? It does a really good job carrying forward the narrative from the first book with some different voices and in different enough ways that it's still very fresh - John Manderville in particular is charming and facile and his stories are delightful up until they turn horrifying. The language is deft and gorgeous - although it's Cat Valente; that hardly needs to be said - and the layers upon layers of allusions are enchanting without requiring the reader to catch every single one.

Goddammit, Cat Valente, you're making me like arty books. Ruining my whole shtick. ( )

The premise: ganked from BN.com: When the mysterious daughter of Prester John appears on the doorstep of her father''s palace, she brings with her news of war in the West--the Crusades have begun, and the bodies of the faithful are washing up on the shores of Pentexore. Three narratives intertwine to tell the tale of the beginning of the end of the world: a younger, angrier Hagia, the blemmye-wife of John and Queen of Pentexore, who takes up arms with the rest of her nation to fight a war they barely understand, Vyala, a lion-philosopher entrusted with the care of the deformed and prophetic royal princess, and another John, John Mandeville, who in his many travels discovers the land of Pentexore--on the other side of the diamond wall meant to keep demons and monsters at bay.

These three voices weave a story of death, faith, beauty, and power, dancing in the margins of true history, illuminating a place that never was.

My Rating: Good Read

I know, it's not the normal rating of "Excellent," for a Valente book, but despite some seriously wonderful passages and really vivid and profound moments, the story has a whole does not resonate with me the way Valente's other fiction has. I've heard many say the Prester John series is her best to date, and I feel that this is a set of books that I will re-read some day in the future, as a whole rather than waiting a year between installments. I think, and hope, that the indeterminate date in the future will be a better time for me to connect with the material, as I just can't do it now. That said, it's a glorious, vivid book (both books are, really), and there are things I remember about these books that I cannot remember of my favorites from Valente, so that certainly speaks to the power of her writing. Volume Two for A Dirge for Prester John follows the same structure as Volume One, but it leaves me to wonder if this is it, or if Valente has one more title up her sleeve. Given the ending, I don't see how; yet, given the ending, I feel there's so much more left to talk about.

Certainly, fans of Valente have to get their hands on this. It may not be my favorite, but it's not to be missed. Even if this were truly an "off" book for Valente (it isn't, it's just me), Valente's "off" book would surpass many other writers at their best. And this isn't an off book. It's just not my favorite of hers. :)

All that being said, don't read this without having read A Habitation for the Blessed first, because you will be hopelessly confused otherwise.

Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. If you aren't caught up, don't read the full review. Especially do not read if you haven't yet read The Habitation of the Blessed, because there's spoilers here for that too. But if you've read both books, then you're caught up, so onward! The full review is at my blog, which I've provided the link for below. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Catherynne M. Valente's THE FOLDED WORLD

Happy Reading! ( )