Customer Reviews

Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first read the premise of this story, it intrigued me. How would the Catholic church deal with non-human sentient species? Do they have souls? How would they fit into God's eternal scheme of things?

Beale is a masterful storyteller who really does create a rich and fascinating world. The characters are rich and likeable and I can honestly say I didn't see a major twist coming.

But what really upset me and brought this book down was the rushed ending. Beale summed up the most pivotal moment of the whole story in one sentence. It deserved a lot more.

With the recent launch of upstart publisher Marcher Lord Press, I couldn't wait to get my hands on one of their speculative fiction titles. All three of their debut books looked intriguing, but I'd read a novel years ago by Theodore Beale, and so I chose his newest, "Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy." With a title like that, I just had to know more. The ordering process went smoothly, the book arrived earlier than expected, and the cover and layout looked fantastic. Thankfully, the story lived up to the packaging and hype.

A young man, Marcus Valerius, finds himself on the unlikely mission of traveling to the elvish lands of Elebrion to determine if the elves have souls. He has been sent off by the ruling religious class, and he's accompanied by mysterious men of the cloth, as well as warriors, an elf, and a dwarf. Not all have his best intentions in mind, and the treachery will soon reveal itself.

Along the way, there is much discussion about the possible military conflict with the elvish king, should it be decided that elves are simply a higher form of animal without a soul. This debate turns lively at points and is bolstered by its parallels to actual church history, as well as by its connections to current theological issues and even the question of whether fiction with a biblical worldview has a place on the shelves of fantasy readers.

All that said, I was waiting for a bit more action to speed things along. At the point I thought the book would be a long dialogue on said subject, it picked up the pace and raced toward a great conclusion. Any reader who skips over the "Appendix Aelvi" in the last third of the book is missing on some more great stories. In "Master of Cats," we find out more of Bessarias' time among the elves, including a cataclysmic confrontation between good and evil. We also read more of the intrigues and battles centered around Quintus Tullius, in "Birth of an Order."

Beale has added something fresh to speculative fiction, something not only deep in its musings but page-turning in its telling. Despite a few typos in the text, the book is beautifully laid-out and nicely edited for story content. Marcher Lord Press has taken a huge step toward establishing itself as a publisher to watch for years to come, and their website includes great teasers for other titles. I, for one, am looking forward to much more.

It is generally a good idea to read any Author's Note one comes across, but in this case it is absolutely critical to understanding what you have just read, which turns out to be all that was salvaged from a planned epic philosophical trilogy that apparently couldn't be made to work. Given such a genesis, it is amazing just how good it turns out to be!

Theodore Beale has arguably returned high fantasy to its origins, which was a medieval world dominated by a rich and powerful Roman Catholic Church. The utter separation of church from most modern fantasy has resulted in a number of idiocies that fail to withstand scrutiny: Divine Right of Kings without a Divine, priests without gods, etc. The result is one of the most fascinating fantasy worlds I've ever visited, and one I'd like to revisit again in future sequels. Mr. Beale has also given us a fascinating cast of characters that I'd like to hear more from: Marcus Valerius the still-wet-behind-the-ears scholar, Lodi the dwarf, Caitlys the Lady Shadowsong, Brother Grimfang the you-won't-believe-it-until-you-read-it, and especially Bessarias the convert. One hopes that with time Mr. Beale will see his way to producing a sequel or two, perhaps with a bit less philosophy and a bit more adventure.

Defects? Well, the ending is more than a bit abrupt, acceptable assuming a future continuation, but giving every evidence of having been rushed. The lack of a map is also sorely felt; I found it virtually impossible to visualize the geography without it. The two short stories, "Birth of an Order" and "Master of Cats", which were brief historical episodes providing important background information in addition to being exciting reads, were nicely referenced in the main text at the point where they should be read, but giving the actual page number would have been more helpful. Finally, I noticed more typos than I expect to find in a professionally published book.

Still, these are minor quibbles in a truly different sort of fantasy story that disappointed me only by ending too soon. I'm sorely tempted now to seek out Mr. Beale's previous The War in Heaven Trilogy: Eternal Warriors, The World in Shadow, and The Wrath of Angels. I'm also thinking to take a chance on more of the fantasy offerings from Marcher Lord Press, which audaciously intends to prove that Christian speculative fiction can be be the very best speculative fiction: Hero, Second Class and By Darkness Hid.

Like one of the reviews already said, the author sums up the main argument and plot element of the novel in a sentence. But this can be forgiven as tight and well paced writing make up for it. I have read Beale's other novels and I have to say this may not be his best story, but it is a great example of quality prose. I usually do not read much fiction, but I do look for excellent writing and Beale delivers.
Also, it is good to see the Catholic Church, especially the Church of the Middle Ages, portrayed in a positive light. This book is a great starting point for delving into the history of Theology and Church history.
The Appendix displays, I think, the author at his best storytelling.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy, history and especially quality writing.

In Theodore Beale's Summa Elvetica, young nobleman Marcus Valerius is sent with a delegation to Elebrion to help settle the debate among church scholars as to whether or not elves have souls. The task is no simple matter since a holy was hinges on the outcome of his assessment.

On the long journey to the Elf kingdom, Marcus befriends those in the delegation including several warrior-priests, an elf, and his new dwarf bodyguard. He learns much from these men through historical war accounts. When the party arrives in Elebrion, the Elf king treats them to dinner where Marcus discovers a shocking betrayal.

I enjoyed reading Summa Elvetica. The storyworld was fascinating as were the characters. Marcus is honest, smart, and naïve toward the ways of the world, which made him very likeable despite his wealth and lofty status. His adventure entertained me until the last page. I wished there were more to the story. Recommended.

This is one of the best fantasy books I have read in a while. Putting the Christianity back into this genre was well over due. I must warn you though the pacing in this book is horrible. It starts out at a snails pace then the last few chapters it speeds up and the story feels cramped. But this is a great start to what I hope becomes a series of books and short stories.

In any other fantasy novel the question of whether elves have souls would be silly, but in Beale's world it is profound question which has lasting repercussions. The question works because the medieval Roman Catholic Church is the one asking.

Most fantasy worlds have a facsimile of the Roman Catholic Church without the Roman and Catholic part. Outside of the addition of the RCC the fantasy world is very familiar to anyone who knows the genre. Tough, taciturn, stoic dwarfs and tall, beautiful, arrogant, magical elves live a world with orcs, goblins, lycanthropes, and demons. Beale succeeds in combing these elements into a lively and believable land.

We are brought through this strange fantasy world by following young Marcus Valerius and his assigned task to discern the truth of the matter. Marcus' wonder at the world around him as he travels to the elvish kingdom, deals with the politics and intrigue which surrounds him, follows the reader's journey through the unusual world. The story itself is fine with twists and turns to keep it interesting. Though the beginning drags on for a bit too long and it doesn't really get very exciting until they are on the road to the elves. The characters are believable and appealing, though besides Marcus very few get enough face time to be well developed. Where Beale particularly shines is in dialogue as this is what separates good authors from the rest. Adding the medieval RCC to a story means the author must know his history well and Beale does.

There are a few problems with the book. First it is too short of a story given the premise. The pacing of the story is a little off as it takes a while to get interesting and when it does it is over. Fortunately there is second book coming out. I almost gave this book five stars because of the inclusion of two excellent short stories at the end, but the slightly muddled manner of the main story prevents me from doing so. Overall it is a good read and I recommend it to anyone looking for a solid fantasy story.

I love fantasy and science fiction. Science fiction is often plagued by the problem of being on the outside edge of know science. Author's often struggle with how much reality they can forgo in order to weave a story.

Fantasy, or High Fantasy to be more specific, is not plagued by the issue of reality as much. However it is plagued by history. "Summa Elvetica" seeks to take High Fantasy and a little dose of history and blend it. The Author aims high and admits he misses. But it is a brilliant miss. Seeing the interaction between Elvin magic and the power of faith is something that is very interesting and gives you the hint of "Well maybe their really were elves in the past that have long succumb to the world of man." or maybe the livey among us now but have lost their splendor.

This book also tackles ideas that many fear to acknowledge given the real world implications. The Elves are the Elite but their is a hollowness to them. To barrow from C.S. Lewis they are "Men Without Chests".

All in all this is a great book. The author has lofty goals and I hope to see more work in this vain of thought and style.

Truth be told I was very motivated to read this book: The vision promulgated by Marcher Lord Press is one to which I am very sympathetic. And since Beale's novel was billed as the flag-ship it was the one I read first. Being into covers, yes I judge books by them, I liked immediately. And the title and all the Latin is quite provocative: a hefty intellectual thrust married to complete artistic whimsy: Do Elves have souls.....

Comtemporary fantasy is so indebted to Lewis and Tolkien that its explicitly Christian origins should be openly, albeit perhaps grudgingly, accepted by all--the acolytes of Eddison and Peake are obviously on the wane. Looking over the comments I am pleased for they seem sincere and I concur with the essence of most all of them. Honestly, this Casuistry is hardly a pot-boiler. But with such a title did you really expect it to be?

I would like to humbly bring just one point to light: Expressed in the author's note is the following: "This novel did not proceed according to plan." We are told that the philosophical stances of the various and sundry medieval scholastics would be embodied within the tropes of conventional high fantasy "races" and that this dream-ship floundered for lack of a viable narrative structure! Can an author win kudos for mere ambition? How many of you out there can honestly claim: "Aw man, he stole MY idea!" The fact that the creative team at Marcher Lord felt confident they could in turn sell it, failed concept or not, to the masses shows an equal amount of chutzpah.

More than the Inklings or Russell's Sparrow or even Miller's Canticle for Liebowitz, what Beale's novel reminds me of is the 1986 collaborative effort Bordertown: A Chronicle of the Borderlands. It was the mental admixture of two antagonistic imaginative vistas: Tolkien's Elves riding about on motorcycle street hogs running on magic and motor oil. Here it is imperial Rome and Tolkien's Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs.

Complaints about a boring story-line, though true to a point, after all a tale made up of different character's stories are the essence of medieval literature, are ultimately I think irrelevant as strange as that sounds for what this novel presents is a novel ambient feel: A hot and sour soup for your mind. And just like the eventual Borderlands series, the real point is the continual feeling--this is so cool--that you get from mixing the Catholic church with High Fantasy and all that each entails.

I for one would like to see several more short stories taking place in this particular borderland, the appendix is a wonderful start: The Master of Cats steals the show really.

For all readers, and writers, with more than a casual interest in seeing Christian Speculative fiction live long and prosper I would argue that this Casuistry is a mandatory read. For cracking minds wide open if nothing else.

On a more whimsical note, not being a Christian I left the book curious as to why Elven magic is so innately evil? I must admit I just didn't get it. Perhaps some reader can help another reader out....

I do not often write reviews of books, but Summa Elvetica struck me as worthy of a review. It may come as a surprise to some but I like science fiction and fantasy novels. I really enjoy them when they have a Christian bent or worldview. So when I found out one of my favorite bloggers Vox Day was writing a new fantasy novel built around an analog of the catholic church I was excited. The book, which is now available for purchase, is published by a new publishing house called Marcher Lord Press is also available for free download from Vox's site.

Because I am cash-strapped, I downloaded his free e-book version when it came out, and I got quickly engrossed in the vibrant world of men, dwarves, and elves he was creating. Others have compared it to "The Hobbit" or to "The Lord of the Rings", but I am not sure I am willing to go that far yet, but I can see the promise in his writing. Unlike other novels of this sort, I liked that he engaged the mind as the story line was more of a thinking man's story than the typical slash and burn kill fests that so many fantasy novels turn out to be. The "hero" in the story is a mild mannered intellectual who aspires to be a priest. He is from the pampered upper class of a society much like the Roman empire, and has all of the advantages of being so. He could quite frankly be someone you would learn to dislike if not for his apparent innocence, humble attitude, and seeming keen insight into what is transpiring around him. This is part of the brilliance of the authors writing. He is able to take you into the world of his characters and have you see through their eyes and truly be there with them in their adventures and follies. You get the feeling you are right there with them as part of the group and actively involved as a fellow adventurer in what appears to be a well thought out complex world.

The vibrant world and engrossing characters also happen to be the problem with this book. He has built a world so engrossing so inviting and it seems the story is just really getting started and then it is over. The ending is so abrupt it is jarring, almost as if he had to hurry and finish the book before his deadline. The final battle seemed more like a skirmish, a prelude to the war to come so to speak. I really did enjoy this book right up until the end where it just seemed to go flat. All in all I would recommend reading this book and I would encourage the author to build upon this world he has created. It has the potential to become like "The Hobbit" if he does write more stories based upon this world, but if it is left alone as a single book then I would say the story is incomplete and leaves you wanting for more and in the end unsatisfying in fulfilling that want.