Disappointment in the World of Mithgar

City of Jade by Dennis L. McKiernan. Reviewed by Steve on January 25, 2009.

Dennis McKiernan is one of the most talented fantasy authors I have read, and he is widely known for his Mithgar series, which seemed to be coming to a close with the publication of Silver Wolf, Black Falcon in 2001. The author stated in the foreward to the aforementioned novel that, "This is perhaps--perhaps--my last Mithgar novel." As a fan, I was incredibly saddened by the news that one of my most beloved fantasy series was coming to a close.

Then, in the beginning of December, I stumbled across some news--Dennis McKiernan had published another book! And guess what? It was a Mithgar novel! The way I had come across this news should have alerted me that something was amiss, but my excitement ruled the day, and I eagerly went to the bookstore to purchase a copy.

Let's just say that I was supremely disappointed.

The novel is about the adventures of one rather famous hero of Mithgar, an Elf named Aravan, as he embarks on another quest to explore lands unknown. A tale of a mysterious City of Jade has circulated the lands of Mithgar, captivating the attention of all who hear it. After fighting a long series of battles against Gyphon (the god of evil) and his followers, Aravan seeks refuge with his love, Aylis, at Arbalin Isle, where his ship, the Eroean, and his crew await. Although tired from the war with Gyphon, Aravan is restless with his desire to once again sail in the Eroean, and the rumors of the City of Jade only provokes him further.

After repairing and outfitting the Eroean and its crew, Aravan sets out to discover the City of Jade and untangle myth and legend from truth, if possible. They only find a small, carved jade statue with a short, prophetic poem upon it and a fragmentary reference to the City of Jade in the annals of the royal library. As they follow the source of the legend, they encounter pirates, Rucks, Hloks, Trolls, and other dark powers that seek to destroy Aravan and his crew.

While I had looked forward to reading this new Mithgar novel and reacquaint myself with its heroes, what I found was that this story critically lacked the drive and force of previous stories of Mithgar. At its essence, the tale meanders aimlessly, spending a great deal of time on mundane affairs (like spending a third of the novel on repairs, idle conversation between characters, and other "normal," boring, everyday occurrences) without truly hooking the readers interest. As a case in point, you have to read about halfway through the novel before getting to the plot hook (i.e. the rumors of the City of Jade and Aravan's desire to explore said city).

Additionally, the force that propels us to this point is extraordinarily weak, and you find yourself progressing through the narrative only because the sentences flow from left to right and you wonder when it will "get good." There are little bits of humor and some tiny gems for the diehard Mithgar fan, but these become trite and redundant rather quickly. The farcical humor of Binkton and Pip (two warrows, which are basically halflings or hobbits) is quite amusing at first, but this comedic device is greatly overdone and the humor rapidly degenerates into simply being annoying. Think Jar-Jar Binks from Star Wars: Episode 1--it was funny for the first two minutes, but after that, you'd had quite enough out of Jar-Jar.

What was most atrocious to me was the fact that so many of the characters in this novel were flat, type-casted characters. The two warrows mentioned above are one such pair, but the novel is abound with others. The main antagonist, for example, is the typical evil-wizard-with-dark-machinations-of-world-domination. There seems to be no effort to complicate or break the monotony of this stereotype, which is a real tragedy for such a talented writer as Dennis McKiernan.

Perhaps this is what disappointed me the most--the fact that one of my favorite authors, who had inspired me with his creative genius and his epic storytelling, had written a novel that failed to be, well, novel. Unfortunately, a bulk of fantasy literature tends to suffer from this. There is a huge realm of fantasy literature that simply uses an unoriginal, basic story formula and hits "repeat." I call this plug-and-play fiction: you could basically just insert new characters into the equation and it always comes out the same; it's very cookie-cutter and unremarkable.

Before I read this novel, I had unshakable confidence in the power of McKiernan's stories and his ability to entertain, inspire, and move the reader. But I fear that his fame is becoming an obstacle to the success of his stories. I do not mean to say that McKiernan is arrogant, self-loving, or overconfident. Everything about McKiernan suggests that this is most certainly NOT the case. Even a cursory glance over his website and his media attention would confirm this; the website is rather modest and simple, and McKiernan does not go on world-wide or nation-wide tours. What I am saying is that I think the editors at Roc are relying too much on McKiernan's name to sell the novel. Any editor worth his salt should have encouraged McKiernan to steer away from the blatantly stereotypical character traits, as evinced by the aforementioned wizard and warrows, and to further develop the characters and plot in City of Jade. I would rate this novel at one star, and would strongly recommend that you NOT read this novel, particularly if you are interested in experiencing Mithgar, which is an otherwise very well-crafted and literary series.