Lyonesse Trilogy
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The Lyonesse Trilogy of fantasy novels by Jack Vance consists of three novels of approximately 350 pages each.
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Books
In order of plot chronology:
- Lyonesse (subtitled Book I: Suldrun's Garden on the title page)
- The Green Pearl
- Madouc
Setting the scene
The trilogy is set in the European dark ages, in mythical Elder Isles west of France and southwest of the British Isles, a generation or two before the birth of King Arthur. An Atlantis meme haunts the story, though the Isles do not sink during the course of the trilogy.
The Isles, formerly a great kingdom, are now divided into several competing principalities, with the ruler of each scheming to get ahead as best he may. The most ambitious of all, Casmir of Lyonesse, schemes to re-unite the Isles under his own rule.
Other parties have other plans...
A family tree in Book I reveals that most of the petty kings of the Elder Isles are distantly related, all descendants of a certain Olam Magnus who first united the isles long before. The genealogy also links the world of Lyonesse to the real world (e.g., "Belwig the Goth", "Sollace of Aquitaine") and to familiar real-world legend ("Arthur I, King of Britain"). The primary protagonist and antagonist of the series are both presented as distant relatives of Arthur.
Magic and the supernatural are active in the trilogy, though often subordinated to other elements of the stories. Spells are cast only by fairies and members of a college of wizards and witches who live apart from society and mostly remain aloof from the struggles of the main characters — pursuing struggles among themselves instead. The spells are mostly effected by exotic, whimsical entities with wills of their own and a propensity for logic chopping.
Magical devices sometimes make magic available to ordinary folk, and artifacts such as The Mirror Persilian and the table Cairbra an Meadhan play important roles in the overall story.
There is a kingdom of fairies hidden away in the midst of the Elder Isles, and they play an important role in the story through their seemingly minor entanglements with various humans.
The Elder Isles are also plagued by incursions of the Ska, a dour nation loosely based on the Vikings, but presumed to have arisen millennia earlier. Possibly this is a reference to Euskadi, or Basque.
The stories include a few weak hints that the world of Lyonesse is the same fictional Earth of Vance's Dying Earth novels (e.g. Shimrod's quest to retrieve IOUN stones, which figure prominently in Rhialto the Marvellous), albeit at a much earlier period.
Main characters
Key households
- Aillas
- Youthful king of Troicinet and other principalities; primary protagonist of the trilogy
- Casmir
- Sleazebag King of Lyonesse; primary antagonist of the trilogy
- Sollace
- Casmir's wife
- Suldrun
- Wistful, willful daughter of Casmir and Sollace
- Cassander
- Son of Casmir and Sollace; Suldrun's younger brother
- Dhrun
- Dischronated son of Aillas and Suldrun
- Madouc
- Fairy-child commonly thought to be the daughter of Aillas and Suldrun, and thus a member of Casmir's household; main protagonist of the third book
- Glynneth
- Girl who escapes an ogre with Dhrun and joins Aillas' household
- Cargus
- Prisoner of the Ska, along with Aillas and Yane, later; a member of Aillas's spy network.
- Yane
- Essentially the same as Cargus.
Other royal houses
- Throbius
- King of the Fairies
- Bossum
- His Queen
- Twisk
- A fairy "maiden"
- Falael
- A playground bully
Magicians
- Murgen
- Dominant sorcerer of the Elder Isles
- Shimrod
- Originally an avatar of Murgen; now an independent person and common visitor to Aillas' household
- Tamurello
- Effete, yet cogent magician, perpetually working at Murgen's (and by extension, Aillas's) downfall
- Desmëi
- A powerful, vengeful witch
Other key players
- Faude Carfilhiot
- a creation of Desmei's. One of the key enemies of the first book, a megalomaniac.
- Melancthe
- a creation of Desmei's. A beautiful, yet empty-minded woman. Created by Desmei as a revenge against men. Has a secret purpose not revealed until the the last book.
- Tatzel
- Ska woman who catches Aillas' fancy
- Torqual
- Notorious Ska bandit
- Visbhume
- An ambitious, amoral scoundrel
- Brother Umphred
- An ambitious, amoral scoundrel, a missionary/priest seeking to introduce Catholicism to Lyonesse kingdom by Casmir's royal fiat.
The story
Lyonesse (aka Suldrun's Garden)
...here...
The Green Pearl
General coverage (several of these threads are interleaved):
- Prolog: Desmëi and the green pearl
- Adventures of Sir Tristano, Aillas' kinsman and agent
- Machinations of Aillas and Casmir
- Shimrod and Melancthe
- Adventure of Aillas and Tatzel
- Adventure of Visbhume and Glyneth
...more here...
Madouc
In the genealogies of the preceding two books, it shows the family tree of the royal house of Lyonesse. It clearly depicts Cassander succeeding Casmir as King of Lyonesse as Cassander V, yet in Madouc, Cassander falls in battle with Dahaut, before Casmir's capture.
Editions
...more here...