The sad death of Peter Dickinson (age 88) just before Christmas has prompted me to reread some of his books. He was undoubtedly one of the great children's writers producing a wonderful canon of enormously rich and varied fiction throughout the later half of the last century and into this one. Although I have seen this achievement fully acknowledged in several obituaries, his work had perhaps fallen a little out of the eye of today's young readers, which is a great shame as most of his books are still as relevant and downright readable as ever. I was pleased to see that his groundbreaking, early trilogy The Changes and several other great titles have recently been relaunched by US based 'Open Road Media'. Hopefully this will reawaken more general interest. Amongst many other remarkable works of his, my personal favourites include the startlingly imaginative The Kin, which gives four individual perspectives of the lives of the very first hominids, and Eva, a devastating book about the most extreme 'medical' intervention and the relationshp of human beings with (and to) other animals. His books cover a most eclectic range of genres and styles, although few are less than wonderfully original, thought provoking and engrossing. Not many of them are fantasy, though, at least not in the sense of magical fantasy. However, in the later 2000s, when well into his seventies, he did write a handful of high fantasy novels, which therefore do qualify as Magic Fiction Since Potter, even though they show no particular influence of J K Rowling; Peter Dickinson was always totally his own writer.
The first of this little clutch of fantasies is one I read several years ago, The Ropemaker. It was followed by a much shorter but far more challenging read, The Tears of the Salamander (about which I shall perhaps write in detail in a furture post). Both are well worth seeking out.
This book, Angel Isle is actually a sequel to The Ropemaker, although either could be read independently. It takes up the world of The Ropemaker, but several generations later, when the earlier narrative has become a folklorish tale to the later inhabitants. It therefore has a completely new set of principal characters, with the exception of the Ropemaker himself, who is one of those archetype wizard/magicians who live a very extended lifespan.
As in The Ropemaker, many of the key tropes for the world of Angel Isle are drawn from the 'Arabian Nights' tradition, rather than Celtic or Norse sources, giving the fantasy a refreshingly different 'Eastern' feel. Here winged horses, a Roc, turbaned magicians and huge demons populate the magical reality. However the creation in its entirety is far from derivative, and far from simple. The topography and politics involve a nested situation where a particular valley, kept largely isolated and safe, sits within a magic dominated 'medieval' empire, itself an enclave within in a world which is essentially non-magical but has much more advanced technologies. This is further extended and complicated by alternative universes constructed in entirely different and incompatible dimensions, but which have 'touching points' with the world of the narrative. The Magic is rich and complex too, as is the ability to perform it. There are magicians of various levels of skill, from those performing lowly, everyday 'hedge magic', to those of high rank and astounding talents, others who simply possess particular magical abilities and many others with only that level of natural magic which emanates from all human beings. There are also objects and talismans which have powers of their own and can endow these to humans who otherwise have none. Then there is Maja, the principal protagonist of this tale, who has no powers of her own, but is incredibly sensitive to magic around her. Alongside all these are to be found demons, bound or otherwise, and enigmatic creatures who exist in more than one universe at the same time.
Threats to this magical world are presented by the corrupted magicians, the 'Watchers', who rule The Empire, and also by non-magical, warmongering 'pirates' invading it from outside. Yet the core storyline is not in itself complex. It is basically a 'there and back again' quest, where Maja and a small group of magical and non-magical companions travel a long and adventurous journey to find the Ropemaker, seek to rid the Empire of the ' Watchers' and try to save it from invasion.
There are several senses in which this is an old person's book. That is to say, not one aimed particularly at an old readership, but one written by an author and human being of long and rich experience. It is perhaps a self indulgent book, with much detail and description of place, thoughts, feelings and actions during the protagonists' long journey; a book which might have received much more severe editing had it been from a less experienced writer. Yet, for the right reader, this works very much to its benefit; it is a book in which you can get lost, live long, come to know the characters well and commit to sharing every up and down of their quest. For high fantasy fans it is a wonderful wallow of a book.
The masterly writing of Angel Isle also demonstrates the age and experience of its author. The novel is certainly the product of someone who has honed his craft as a storyteller, and as a manipulator of our language. It is essentially Maja's story and told from her perspective. But Peter Dickinson eschews a first person narrative, which limits its scope to what the protagonist experiences or knows about. Even more pertinently he eschews the potentially tedious 'historic' present tense which seems to have become so trendy of late. (Sally Green, in their brilliant Half Bad sequence, is the only contemporary children's/YA writer I have yet experienced who really pulls this off with aplomb.) Yet, he still succeeds in taking us, for much of the time, right inside the thoughts, feelings, and indeed the sensory perceptions of Maja. One of the finest examples of this is the way he successfully allows us to share Maja's experience of being a rag doll. (What? It's a long story. You will have the read it for yourself.) Very clever. It is amazingly effective - and affecting.
Peter Dickinson's age also shows in his wisdom, his understanding of life and people. This is a fundamentally moral and humane book, without ever being in the least sanctimonious. It also much concerned with death and endings, without ever being morbid or gloomy. It contains many passages that are simply beautiful. Its depiction of the death of the Ropemaker* may be romanticised but it is nevertheless moving and uplifting. Many of its descriptions of magic are quite magical, which is not always the case in fantasy. And, if its depiction of a person from a five dimensional universe trying to understand the experience of a seven dimensional one is rather baffling, then it would be wouldn't it? It is ethereal and mystical too, as it should be.
Late in the book, when Maja's adventure is over and she is is flying home on her winged horse, she sees, passing below her, many fascinating places whose stories she will now never know. Clearly the author is thinking of stories that still lurk somewhere in his head, but which he may never write. Similarly we can reflect on all the other potential books from Peter Dickinson's wonderful and original imagination which we shall now never read. It is a very poignant passage. However we are fortunate that so many of his children's novels are left to us.
Angel Isle is perhaps the pinnacle of Peter Dickinson's fantasy writing. Young people who have developed reading stamina, and any older readers, who enjoy losing themselves in a rich, complex, thought provoking and rewarding fantasy are strongly recommend to seek it out.
* I don't think mention of this is really a serious spoiler, as it is presented as predictable and indeed inevitable for much of the story.
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