Family Matters: Family Relationships in Three Recent Speculative Novels by Lisa Timpf
1100 words, ~5 minutes reading time
Issue 5 (Summer 2024)
There’s something to be said for books that build resonance and complication by tossing family relationships into the fray. Some science fiction and fantasy works focus on a solitary protagonist with few or no emotional ties, leading to an action-driven or internally-focussed story. On the other hand, works in which the lead characters are forced to balance family obligations, ties, and expectations with their own goals and desires can offer different levels of richness, depth, and complexity. Recent novels by Canadian authors Susan Forest, Arlene F. Marks, and Jes Battis all feature family relationships that further the plot, create points of conflict, and enable the reader to connect with the characters.
Gathering of Ghosts, the third book in Susan Forest’s “Addicted to Heaven” series, is set in a world called Shangril. The book’s main character, Rennika Falkyn, is a magiel, which means she is capable of performing magic. At the outset of Gathering of Ghosts, magiels have largely fallen out of favour, and are viewed with suspicion by many citizens. The story’s protagonist, Rennika, is one of three powerful magiel sisters who have gone underground. Though Rennika and her sisters Meg and Janat spent time as members of a rebel group known as the Uprisers, Rennika withdrew from that life and married a farmer/tradesman named Jack, who does not know of her true nature. When Janat and her son Iden go missing, Rennika reluctantly agrees to help Meg search for them, knowing that in doing so she is risking the quiet life she fought so hard to build for herself. Despite philosophical conflicts between Rennika and Meg, affection and respect born of long familiarity also surface from time to time.
Arlene Marks’ The Earthborn is set on Earth, with the early action taking place near Toronto. Thanks to their ability to travel through a rift which periodically opens and closes, long-living shapeshifting vampiric beings called the Nash’terel do their best to fly under the radar. The story’s protagonist Bilyash lives with his irritable and imperious Uncle Maury, a move necessitated by the fact that Bilyash’s parents were killed when he was young. While Maury urges caution, Bilyash wants to live his own life and resents his uncle’s meddling. Long familiarity doesn’t help—Nash’terel have an enormous life span, and Bilyash and Maury have known each other for hundreds of years. When he learns that assassins from their home planet have come through the rift to hunt the Nash’terel, Bilyash is forced to submit to some, at least, of his uncle’s recommendations—primarily because they just might save his life.
Like The Earthborn, The Winter Knight by Jes Battis is set on Earth—in this case, Vancouver. The premise of The Winter Knight is that knights are continuously reborn—“myths stuck on repeat.” Valkyries are also part of the picture, although their powers have lessened through the ages. Their modern role is to keep knights out of trouble and solve crimes. The main characters in The Winter Knight are a Valkyrie named Hildie and a young, untried knight named Wayne (the current iteration of Gawain). In The Winter Knight, Wayne’s Uncle Arthur is in jail, and his Aunt Vera Grisi (Guinevere) and Uncle Gale (Galehaut) are important figures in his life. Wayne lives with his father Lot, a musician who takes other jobs to make ends meet. The Winter Knight adds another layer to the notion of the family familiarity. Here, the same myths, with some variations, are re-enacted time and time again, giving a greater-than-usual depth to some of the relationships.
One of my favorite speculative trilogies is Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Fionavar Tapestry. I’ve sometimes wondered why I like it so much, and have concluded that one important factor is my ability to identify with the main characters. In Kay’s book, five friends from Toronto are brought to another world by a mage. Much of the action revolves around these five individuals, providing a familiar connection point for readers. In Gathering of Ghosts, The Earthborn, and The Winter Knight, family relationships serve some of the same purpose. Though I don’t know what it’s like to be a magiel, a shapeshifting Nash’terel, or a Valkyrie, I do know what it’s like to have family.
Mother figures, both present and absent, are important in Gathering of Ghosts and The Winter Knight. Rennika’s mother, who had been one of the most powerful people in Shangril prior to a political upheaval, is dead. While Rennika has some happy memories of childhood, her mother was largely emotionally absent. It’s an example Rennika doesn’t want to repeat with her own children. In The Winter Knight, Wayne’s mother Anna left when he was a boy, and he longs for her return, though he realizes this is unlikely. Wayne re-reads letters his mother sent him, seeking an answer to the question of why she left. Hildie’s mother Grace is very much alive, and Grace and Hildie butt heads frequently. Part of the conflict is caused by Hildie’s reluctance to serve as her mother’s successor in the role of First Valkyrie. In both novels, the mother characters and the protagonists’ feelings about them build reader empathy.
The protagonists’ ability to choose their own path through life is complicated by family expectations. Rennika is conflicted about her decision to help Meg, because she is forced to leave her children behind in the care of her sister-in-law. She also worries that if she is unveiled as a magiel, her husband Jack might reject her. Rennika is caught between the demands of two different families: the one she was born into, and the one she married into. At the outset of The Earthborn, Bilyash wants to forge a life for himself within human society, rather than staying in hiding. Thanks to his long-time fascination with the movie industry, Bilyash pursues a career as a makeup technician. As the book progresses, he develops an emotional connection with a human woman. His career choices, and his choice of partner, engender push-back from his Uncle Maury. Bilyash’s right to autonomy is something he continually defends. In The Winter Knight, though Wayne’s mother wanted to shield him from the knightly world, his Aunt Vera and Uncle Gale attempt to teach him skills he will need to fulfil his destiny as a knight. Wayne feels conflicted about the path he should take, and asks himself whether there are other ways of being, rather than simply going along with ill-fitting expectations. In all three novels, the protagonists’ attempts to balance their own desires with family expectations adds conflict and complexity. In some cases, finding the courage to defy expectations leads to unexpected rewards.
Gathering of Ghosts, The Earthborn, and The Winter Knight would all have been different stories without the presence of family. The authors use sisters, parents, uncles, aunts, and other family members to spark conflict, engender empathy, and provide support systems for the protagonists, demonstrating how the portrayal of family relationships can imbue depth and breadth of feeling.