Intriguing and enjoyable collection of three inter-connected novellas, telling the stories of three generations of women who have a unique relationship with the world of Faerie.

Bitter experience has taught me to be wary of novels that are expansions of novellas and short stories. Up until now, I can't think of one hasn't left me with the sour feeling that, not only the author hasn't managed to successfully expand their original idea, but that they've managed to diminish or spoil what I enjoyed about the original story

I'm glad to say that my poor track record has changed, with Ian McDonald's King of the Morning, Queen of the Day. his 1991 novel based on his 1988 novella of the same title. The secret to McDonald's success where others have failed miserably, imho, is that he his strategy wasn't just to pick up where the novella left off, or carry on explaining his original idea in excruciating detail, but instead he skips across the generations, telling the almost-stand-alone stories of the daughter and granddaughter of Emily, the Irish teenager whose uncanny ability to create reality from her imaginings results in tragedy for herself and her family.

The stories of Jessica and Enye, whose stories begin as they discover the mixed blessings of the powers they have inherited from Emily, not only round out the story of the original novella, and clarify what went on, but also effectively bring the story forward into present day, and present concerns, as Emily, Jessica and Enye reflect the development of Ireland from the last gasp of the Victorian era, during the pre-Revolution days of 1913, to a new nation in the 1930s, to a modern, vibrant, secular society in the 1990s.

In fact, if anything, McDonald's rewrite of the novella for the opening section greatly improves on it -- taking better advantage of the epistolary format of letters, diary entries, newspaper clipping and transcripts of interviews, showing greater faith in the ability of the reader to "get it," without explaining too much, too soon, and making Emily's romantic obsession with Faerie seem as enticing to us as it is to her.

I thought the two companion stories stood up very well -- I loved Jessica and Enye, with their powers inherited from their ancestor, and their very different responses to the challenges they brought, and I loved the friends and enemies they encountered on their journeys (particularly, Jessica's protectors Tiresias and Gonzaga, two Gentleman Knights of Faerie, who put a whole new spin on the predicament of two other slightly down-at-heel gentlemen, Vladimir and Estragon of Waiting for Godot. ( )

A rare fantasy from predominantly-SF writer McDonald, set in Ireland and spread across three generations. It's one of his earliest books, but all of his best traits as a writer are on display here: it's bold and intelligent, he plays with language as few writers can, he gives his female characters depth and individuality, the narrative structure is clever, with each of the three sections having a very distinctive feel, and he captures the various time periods very well. I felt that the conclusion to the third section was slightly too pat, but other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed it. ( )

At the time I first read this, I was unaware of Ian McDonald; so looking at the blurb, the packaging and the fact that here was a UK-Irish writer only (then) published in the USA, I was expecting preciousness and Oirishness. I'm pleased to say I got neither, even though the book gives proper acknowledgement to Ireland's vibrant myth-scape. But there was much more than these things in it, including a 19th-century first contact story that was well-drawn and worked from a totally different cultural background. ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/476487.html

It is good. There was, of course, a famous real observatory in County Sligo, built by the Coopers of Markree Castle in Collooney a few miles south of the fictional Edward Garret Desmond, and I'm sure that he had it in mind. The Coopers had built what was at the time the largest refracting telescope in the world (the largest telescope in the world was the reflecting telescope of the Earls of Rosse at Birr Castle, a hundred miles or so to the south), and discovered an asteroid as well as various other less exciting breakthroughs (it does tend to rain in County Sligo). The fictional observatory is pretty close to the Drumcliffe cemetery where Yeats lies, so I found it pretty easy to buy into the sense of place.

Indeed, I think this is one of the things I like about his writing, and the writing of many of my favourite authors; the strong sense of place. King of Morning, Queen of Day is set very firmly in three distinct times and places: Sligo (mainly, with a bit of Dublin) in 1913-14; then Dublin (with a little bit of Slieve Gullion and nearby places) in the 1930s; then Dublin again in 1989. All three settings are richly imagined and in fact re-imagined, with an interleaven of creatures breaking through from the Otherworld. The other thing that springs out is that all three central characters are women, indeed three out of four generations; Emily is Jessica's mother, and Jessica is Enye's grandmother. McDonald uses female main characters a lot, and IMHO generally does it pretty well.

The three sections are somewhat different in presentation. The first bit combines diary entries, letters and newspaper cuttings a la Dracula, with the best bits being Emily's engagement with the Otherworld (mapping her father's engagement with the aliens from another planet he imagines to be approaching Sligo). The second section leans (a little self-consciously in places) on Ulysses and Waiting for Godot. The third section seemed to me to be pretty straight narrative, though no doubt there are nuances I missed. I loved the character whose real name was Anne-Marie, but her Ulster accent meant everyone called her Omry. Anyway, I liked it.

One final point of trivia. The middle section has a disparaging reference to Errol Flynn. At the time the Professor of Zoology at the Queen's University of Belfast was his father, Theodore T Flynn. Not a lot of people know that. ( )

http://www.schlaikjer.net/reviews/119.htm ( )