by Brian Kunde
This was sparked by a book I just bought. Though it goes on to wander all over the map, really.
Who ever buys a book completely on the strength of the introduction? Few, perhaps. I’m sure we’ve all judged books by their covers, especially Frazetta covers, purchased them accordingly, and, alas, often been burned. (They did slip a few stinkers behind his paintings.) Me, I’ve often gone to the introduction, if there is one, and neither the front cover painting nor the back cover text quite succeeded in hooking me. I can’t tell you how many books I bought, back in the day, solely due to a Lin Carter introduction, whether or not he also wrote the book to which it was attached, and regardless of whether I decided to actually take the next step and read the dang book. Now that man could write an intro!
This morning I happened on a new(-ish) book by Robert Jordan (James Oliver Rigney, Jr.) that I had not previously seen, in a bargain book box at my local Winco. The cover definitely didn’t draw me into this one, being of the generic modern variety that just screams “We can’t be bothered to give books decent covers anymore, just be grateful we’re still willing to publish them!” It was the author’s name that prompted me to give it a look. Big, bold, right at the top, and over an unfamiliar title (Warrior of the Altaii), which struck me as odd, because unfamiliar titles by Jordan are not a thing any more.
So I was intrigued enough to pick it up and leaf through it, mainly because “Why haven’t I heard of this one?” and “Bargain bins are for new(-ish) books they printed too many of, and hasn’t Jordan been dead, for, well, quite a while?” The answer to the first question is, maybe I had, but wasn’t paying attention—or maybe I really hadn’t, because, in either instance, I’ve never really been into Jordan, that whole Conan business and his big Wheel of Time series of doorstoppers notwithstanding. The answer to the second set of questions is yes. Yes, the book was published in 2019, which still makes it newish, in my eyes, particularly considering how the 2020 Pandemic stopped, or at least compressed, time, making everything since just “the present” and whatever preceded it still the immediate past. And, yes, Jordan died back in 2007, which was indeed quite a while ago, even by my COVID-skewed sense of time.
So. Despite not really being into Jordan, he’s genre, and you don’t see much genre in the bargain boxes. The last one I encountered, I believe, was Mike Resnick’s The Master of Dreams, his penultimate novel, first in a trilogy he didn’t live to finish. Also published in 2019, coincidentally, but it went to the boxes well before the Jordan. Supposedly Resnick’s daughter Laura was going to wrap up the trilogy and write the third book, but the second came out in 2020 at the start of the seemingly endless present, and so far, nada. But I digress. Back to Jordan.
My curiosity was enough to make me pick up the book. The back dust cover called it “an untold tale by the master of epic fantasy,” which said to me, yeah, newish book, and also that the blurbist had either never heard of Tolkien, or the phrase “master of epic fantasy,” like our currency, has devalued over the decades. Neither the rest of the back cover blurb nor the endflaps, however, provide further enlightenment, though they do attempt to coax me into the plot.
And fill me in a bit about Jordan. Hmm. Died of amyloidosis (same as my mom). Didn’t know that. Though the blurbist thinks it’s a rare blood disease, which it isn’t. Rare, yes, blood, no. Amyloidosis is the buildup of misfolded amyloid proteins in the body tissues. (The blurbist oversimplified. Jordan did have amyloidosis, but as a complication caused by multiple myeloma, a plasma cell cancer. Both are horrible, and death sentences, though the myeloma, at least, can be treated. He got treated. It just didn’t help.)
Okay, bad blurbist. Still don’t have the story behind the book. Opened it. Hmm. Full color maps on the endpapers, both front and back. Jordan may be dead, but he still rated, even twelve years after his decease. The publisher (Tor Books) doesn’t seem to have expected this puppy to remainder.
Press on. There’s an introduction! Okay, actually a foreword. What’s the difference, you ask? Well, since you asked… introductory matter comes in various types, each with its own technical name! (as does endmatter, for that, um, matter.) Gets kind of fiddly. Short version: a foreword is an intro written by someone other than the author, generally a friend, family member, or scholar of the author’s work that puts the book in a wider context or sets up the reader for what they’re (hopefully) about to read in the book part of the book. As opposed to intros that do get written by the author, such as a preface, prologue, or introduction so-called, the last of which is only supposed to apply to non-fiction. All of these have slightly different functions, and all such material is completely optional. Many, many books go without some or all of it. I would tell you all about it in excruciating detail, but that’s too tangential, even for me.
This foreword is by the late author’s wife and editor, Harriet P. McDougal, and in three succinct pages she does just what she’s supposed to do in a foreword. She paints the picture of her husband’s writing career and her relationship with him, interweaving the fortunes of the book. We learn that it was his first novel ever, and was sold to publishers not once, but twice during the author’s lifetime—and yet never published prior to the edition we’re looking at. He sold it to DAW Books in 1977, got the contract, which he requested changes to, and … instead had the contract withdrawn. Bummer. Guess DAW didn’t like it that much.
Meanwhile, Jordan met Harriet, who had connections, specifically with Ace Books as an editorial director, though she had since gone independent, sort of. We get the story on that. She read his manuscript in 1978, decided it rocked, and referred it to Ace publisher Tom Doherty, who evidently agreed. Doherty bought it in 1979, sending Jordan a contract in 1980. Then Ace, which was getting corporate-takeovered and bidding Doherty goodbye, dropped the ball. Revisions were asked for. Jordan asked what revisions were wanted. No response—ever. Finally, in 1983, Ace too returned the rights.
Meanwhile yet again, Jordan, on the strength of his still unpublished and now unwanted first novel, was commissioned to write three historical novels for Ace (which he did, as “Reagan O’Neal”). He also married Harriet, and through her got the nod from Tom Doherty, now running his own show at Tor Books, a.k.a. Tom Doherty Associates, to pen Conan novels. Tor had just secured the rights to the character from Conan Properties, but needed a writer. The orphaned Warrior of the Altaii (and Harriet) convinced Doherty that Jordan could be that writer. Jordan didn’t want to do it. Doherty worked on him through Harriet. He did it.
Then he wrote the Wheel of Time series, also published by Tor. Obviously happy with Tor, Jordan stuck with the firm the rest of his life. It soon took over publication of his historical trilogy too, as well as a new, unrelated historical, issued under yet another pseudonym, that Harriet doesn’t even mention. But Warrior of the Altaii … somehow slipped through the cracks. We’re not told why. Possibly because Wheel occupied Jordan all his remaining days, and after (it was completed from his outlines and notes by Brandon Sanderson). Yet, finally, after the Wheel stopped rolling, Altaii was resurrected for posthumous publication, again by Tor Books. The first was made the last, to paraphrase Jesus. Thus spake Harriet McDougal. Or wrote, anyway. And I was happy, as my curiosity was satisfied.
Happy enough to buy the book. Hey, it was remaindered for $3.98, a practical steal! (It originally retailed at $27.99.) But, also hey, I still wouldn’t have bought it but for that great intro! Mind you, I’m still not really into Jordan. Will the power of the preface rope me into actually reading the book, and possibly into investigating the author’s Conans and Wheels? Well, maybe. I have the Conans because once upon a time I collected all things Conan, whether moved to read them or not. And I have some of the Wheel of Time books because, hey, fantasy, and my folks knew I was into fantasy, and birthday and Christmas gifts were a thing.
Now, wait a minute, you say. Aren’t you going to review Warrior of the Altaii? Isn’t that what we’re here for? What you set out to do? Um, no. Haven’t read it yet. Not sure I’m going to. Weren’t you listening? What I set out to do is tout the attraction and persuasive power of a good intro. I haven’t read all the Lin Carter-edited books I bought on the strength of his intros back in the day, either.
But I did find out things about Robert Jordan I didn’t know before. Such as, apparently, that his stint as Conan scribe had little to do directly with L. Sprague de Camp, who had managed the character prior to the formation of Conan Properties, and more to do with Harriet McDougal and Tom Doherty. De Camp, it seems, only became re-involved when Jordan moved on, and new authors had to be recruited and approved. Which he and his wife Catherine did—until Jordan returned to the property, no longer as an author but as overseer in succession to the de Camps. I’ve always been curious as to how the Tor Conans came to be and what went on behind the scenes. The history of the character and the management thereof from the Weird Tales days through the Gnome, Lancer, Ace, and Bantam eras has always been fully transparent, having been recounted by de Camp. The Tor era … much less so. So, it’s nice to learn another bit.
And that’s really all I have to say, here.
Bonus Review: Warrior of the Altaii
by Gary Romeo
I went out and bought Robert Jordan’s Warrior of the Altaii based on Brian’s non-review! Something about our resident professional librarian’s article prompted me to seek out my own copy.
I’m glad I did even though I didn’t completely enjoy this book. It is entertaining enough, and it is a fast read, but it didn’t bowl me over. It was clearly meant to be the start of a series and I feel a bit cheated by that. If a new author were to continue the series and explain some of this novel’s mysteries, I’d probably pass, unless reviews were exceptional.
The cover art is by Gregory Manchess, who illustrated The Conquering Sword of Conan published by Ballantine (Del Rey) Books. Tor Books, most likely, preferred this silhouette of a “fanghorn” to a muscular barbarian with a “conquering” sword. Toxic masculinity and all that.
Jordan, obviously with his connection to Conan, does well writing about hairy chested alpha barbarians. But he achieved greater success with his Wheel of Time series. I haven’t read any of those books yet. But I’ve seen the streaming series and having read this particular book, I think it is safe to say he knows how to write powerful female characters as well. And I’ve no doubt that is part of the key to his success.
This novel is told in the first person. The narrator is Wulfgar. He is the adopted son of Bohemund, King and Warlord of the Altaii, and brother (in all but blood) to Harald, the King’s son. The Altaii are nomadic barbarians and presented as a noble guileless people. Jordan does well at world building. We also learn of the great city, Lanta. And of an inferior barbaric tribe called the Morassa.
We also learn of the “Sisters of Wisdom.” These women can perform various forms of magic. They are not a united force. The Altaii have their “Sisters” and the city of Lanta has their own Sisters. A battle between the Altaii and Lanta is the main plot of the book.
There are plenty of well-done action/battle scenes that REH fans will appreciate. Most of the book reads like sword and sorcery. Wulfgar is on his own in several scenes. (Sadly, these scenes feel a little like padding in this 363-page novel, even though it stays interesting. Jordan is a fast read for me.) Wulfgar is jailed, tortured, survives, and escapes. Very Conan like. There is even a Zenobia type character who aids him. I’ll stand out on a limb and say REH was clearly an influence. Jordan’s genius (if you want to call selling tons of book that) was including plenty of high fantasy and women characters as well as strong male characters.
Wulfgar even looks like Conan: blue-eyed (“I don’t think I’ve ever seen eyes so blue before. Like ice from a glacier…”) appealing to women (“Not as handsome as I could wish,” she said, “but there are other things.”), and he is uncomfortable with magic (“Magic is a thing foreign to the male, and therefore disquieting.”). Later in the novel he acquires some enhanced powers but initially he is pretty much a Conan type. It is easy to see why someone thought Jordan (James Oliver Rigney, Jr.) would be a natural to write Conan adventures. And for the most part he was. His Conan novels were entertaining enough at the time to sell well and as editor he kept the series going for dozens of more books.
(Jordan, of course, became famous for his Wheel of Time series and I doubt very many “Wheel” fans are “Conan” fans but I’m sure there are some. “Jordan Cons” are held in Atlanta every April, and I plan on going to one eventually. I don’t know if the current Conan IP holders ever tried to make inroads with Jordan fans or not. I’d like to see how a Conan fan is treated at one of these conventions.)
Now back to this book… There are mysteries aplenty along the way. Several of them seem more science-fiction than fantasy. There are the “Most High” who try to control the destiny of this world and “Wanderers” who are women from a modern world (one had a gun) who pop up out of the blue to complicate things. The “Sisters” method of teaching her Atlaii language smacked a bit of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Barsoom. “Fanghorns” are scary beasts who form a background threat and “Runners” are mindless killers traveling in herds of a thousand or more. There is a magic system involving “spell-stars,” “sky-stones” and iron and steel that I didn’t quite grasp. (Brandon Sanderson is better at these things than Jordan, IMHO.)
All in all, an enjoyable but not great book. There is a forlorn theme of the ending of barbaric life that had power and was conveyed with an artful metaphor about water. The book has a great background cast for future adventures that will probably never occur. But it had potential. I’ll give it that.
spraguedecampfan 