Customer Reviews

A Tapestry of Magics

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gosh, I liked his writing so much. But I really liked the world of Tapestry, even more than Coramonde. It gave a cool reasons for wierd stuff to show up that didn't necessarily "make sense" and had this deep sense of history and mystery that made the Coramonde novels special. There were a lot of little touches so characteristic of BD, e.g., the space shuttle heat tiles and the arrival of Count Cagliostro. Yes, I recall reading snippets of sequel. Too bad, though the book does end complete.

Get it. :)

I bought this book at a garage sale and enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, it was supposed to have a sequel. A sequel that now looks as though it will never be published. In the copy that I have it seemed the sequels release was eminent. It even went so far as to have a small sample of the upcoming tale. Still it is a well-written and engaging tale. So I say read it anyway, but be prepared to never know the rest of the story.

Huh, didn't know about that.

Well. This was actually the 3rd book I read from Brian Daley, after the Coramonde books. I picked it up at a used book store not knowing anything about it. This is the only other fantasy book he wrote or published (to my knowlege...who knows what he has stored up in his attic? Maybe the sequel?), and it's not quite as good as his other two. But it's still really good.

The story's about Crassmor, a knight who lives in the Singularity, which is the single focal point for all other realms, like the center of a wheel. All realities are connected to the Singularity by the Beyonds, a barren wasteland, where time and distances are different from solid realities. There seems to be a lot of rifts between different realities, the Beyonds, and the Singularities. Many people cross over without knowing how they did it or where they are. There were several famous/infamous historical figures/organizations, like NASA, a part of the Nazi-German army, Blackbeard the pirate, etc. Crassmor becomes a knight and saves the Singularity from several mishaps that could have led to its destruction.

It does explain some of the physics of the realms better, like why most people use swords, bows, etc. It seems that complicated weapons like guns, etc. that have many moving parts, are more liable to stop working for one reason or another.

Brian Daley was continuing to develop his unique writing style, and the book reflects this, having sort of a sarcastic feel to it, but not as much as his Fitzhugh/Floyt trilogy. I didn't know about there being a sequel before reading one of the other reviews, but it doesn't really show. The book ends well, it doesn't leave you hanging, so the sequel would be more of an addition to the story, not a completion. It's a shame they didn't publish it, but maybe some day they will....

Tapestry of Magic has some of the most beautiful imagery in fantasy. The Coramonde books have a more closely written story but the pictures that Daley paints here are haunting.

It feels like Brian Daley wrote three different short stories and thought "Hmmm, how can I combine these into a novel?"

The first story is slow-moving and unexciting to read. The little development spent on the main character casts him as a hesitant second child who seems a bit out of place in the field of battle.

In the second story, the main character suddenly takes on the personality and antics of Han Solo (yes, I thought this even before I read the author's bio; it turns out that he writes the Han Solo Chronicles).

The third story takes him back to his homeland and the author tries unsuccessfully to make the two previous personalities mesh into one character. Although the plot and setting of this third story will seem original to anyone who has not read Zelazny's "Nine Princes of Amber", if you have read Zelazny's tale you'll find this one a shadow of that much more entertaining book.

Ultimately, I recommend the middle tale. It is a highly entertaining little romp with very humorous moments and delightful surprises. However, the other two tales are not entertaining enough to be worth reading, so the book fails overall.

Cursing: None that I remember, but there may have been a bit.
Gore: Multiple characters die in the story, but nothing is told in any gory detail.
Sexual Content: Nothing detailed, but the main character does spend the night with a woman twice during the tale.