Sean Williams Dicusses Books of Change
"A meditation on our sense of place and a hymn to the secret landscapes of its author's heart."
James Bradley
************************
“An alchemical blend of elemental magic, tragic romance and the coming of age of a young boy ... poised between Earthsea and Mad Max, where the magic of fantasy meets the wonder of science fiction”
Jonathan Strahan
***********************
Like a lot of readers, I was entranced at an early age by J.R.R.Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I’ve been reading fantasy enthusiastically ever since. It takes me to other places, to imaginary landscapes where mythic conflicts and battles unfold. Over time, however, it came to feel to me that the many different locations in which these stories occur were actually the same place, and it’s a place almost anyone would recognise--one of high, ice-capped mountains and dense forests, of rolling, grassy plains and dangerous swamps.
The Stone Mage & the Sea is the first fantasy novel I ever wrote. When I started, the natural thing to do was to set my story in that place. After all, I had visited there many times; I felt that I had come to know it well. I soon discovered, however, that I couldn't honestly picture these sorts of places because I'd never been there. I’m Australian; I have no conscious memory of snow or wild forests or raging rivers. I did travel a lot as a child, but only through the Northern Territory and to nearby Asian destinations like Singapore and Manila. I knew--and still know--nothing about Europe except second-hand.
As I hadn't visited a forest or a glacier, I couldn't appreciate their reality except in terms that I had read about in other fantasy works--and those terms tend to be rather polarised. Forests are either light and soothing or dense and threatening; ice is associated with dangerous mountain passes or northern wastelands; deserts are lifeless barriers in which bandits are frequently found; and so on. Like a lot of writers, I wanted to portray both sides of the story. The sea can be beautiful, yes, but it's also very dangerous. A desert is not as obviously fertile as a forest, but it does contain a rich variety of life. There are two sides to every vista, just as there should be to characters, and in order to make my fantasy novel work for readers I felt that I had to portray those sides as authentically as possible.
If I couldn't set the scene, how could I expect to carry off a full-length novel?
The answer was to make the genre fit the landscape. I turned for inspiration to the vistas of my youth--of the far north and the west coast of South Australia--and the result is a story set in a world many Australians know intimately--one of beaches and sand dunes, of deserts and barren hills, of scrub and stony plains--subtly changed and enlivened by the fantastic.
The changes this required ran deeper than just swapping the compass bearings on the map so the cold regions were to the south, not the north. The sort of landscape I’m used to would have camels rather than horses, for instance, and it's hard to imagine a hero in the mould of Aragorn slouching to the rescue on the back of such a rough beast. In the world I knew there would be vast distances to cross that would, for the most part, contain little of interest to humans. So no Shire, that’s for sure. There isn't a forest in sight, not a single snowflake, and no rivers; instead, there's the sea, the sun and the sand; there's space and dryness and the terrible struggle to survive.
But it's not Australia, either. One of the great things about working with your home in the genre of speculative fiction is that you change it as much as you like--or even destroy it, as I've done several times in other works. This is a fantasy world I know well, to which I instinctively respond. I’ve certainly returned to them often enough: ten books now; several short stories and novellas; over a million words of fiction, and this is where it all started.
The Stone Mage & the Sea was nominated for the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel of 2001. Subsequent Books of the Change have gone on to win the same award, been nominated for the Ditmar, and have been recommended by Locus magazine as one of the best young adult fantasies of 2002, alongside work by Clive Barker, Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman and Isabel Allende.
****************************************
Reviews of The Stone Mage & The Sea and the Books of the Change
"The Stone Mage and the Sea is not simply a clone of plot devices that have gone before, or simply the struggles for identity and insecurities that typify the usual coming of age story. Throughout these tropes Williams has interwoven an unfolding mystery that remains unresolved at the end, the hints at its identity only partially revealed, lingering tantalizingly just out of reach. This mystery is framed within a mysticism that lends itself to the naturalism of its setting, a world of the spirit whispered upon the breeze, the hiss of sand across a dune, the raucous call of gulls, or the pounding drum of surf. Within a stark and empty landscape, stillness is but the soundless echo of as yet unheard life, just as shadows suggest the presence of light. Something stirs just beyond sight, felt only as a vibration upon the skin, a barely perceived hum, a fugitive odour upon the air. There is a sense of pregnancy building within this story, much as yet out of sight, but no more diminished, no less real because unseen...
"The Stone Mage and the Sea is a welcome and assured debut that understatedly blends elements from both fantasy and science fiction in a way bound to intrigue and engage the interest and imagination of most readers, be they young or old. Immediately setting out its own territory, and written with a realism and appreciation of descriptive detail and characterization that generates a great degree of vitality, this opening narrative may well herald a new series already on its way to gaining the author a wider, more international audience. This first book is certainly deserving of notice."
(William Thompson, SF Site)
***********************************
"...original, unconventional and imaginative. The Stone Mage & The Sea is no pseudo-medieval romance with a few dragons and wizards thrown in for color. It is a far future fantasy of Australia that Jonathan Strahan described being "poised between Earthsea and Mad Max". Different? You bet."
(Cheryl Morgan, Emerald City)
*************************************
"Stark South Australian landscapes imbued with Tolkienesque flavour"
(Colin Steele)
*************************************
"Spare, allegorical and haunting in its evocation of the world it depicts, The Stone Mage and the Sea is at once the story of a young boy's coming of age, a meditation on our sense of place and a hymn to the secret landscapes of its author's heart."
(James Bradley)
*************************************
"Williams has developed a world of magic in a setting that breathes the atmosphere of the southern Australian coast, with a menacing sea at its edge... The Stone Mage & the Sea has much appeal for fantasy readers..."
(Stella Lees, ViewPoint)
*************************************
"The novels have been described as a synthesis of Earthsea and Mad Max. I'd add Tolkein and something of the unexpected mystery of Kafka - that is if Kafka had been well informed about the social and political conditions of Australia in the 21st century. The tropes of city and the bush are hauntingly there in the Strand and the Interior, and the novel traces recognisable but allegorical spaces. Similarly, the haunted city serves as a metaphoric centre of the country while 'the sea is its heart'. The land's vast regions are under constant surveillance and like the early writing of Peter Carey, this mix of realistic and surreal elements destabilises certainties causing the reader to interrogate the workings of the known world anew. Interestingly, these epic parables involving powerful and magical elites are similarly counter-balanced by demonstrations of the transformative power of love and individual belief."
(Lyn Jacobs)
************************************************
"The Stone Mage and the Sea is remarkable for its lyrical openness to landscape and the natural world; the sea swirls like a backdrop, heaving and restless. After the earlier Williams novels, reading this book is like tuning to the outdoor action of Water Rats after the claustrophobically darkened settings of The X-Files or Burnside.
(Van Ikin, Sydney Morning Herald)
***********************************************
"What makes the story worthwhile, and what makes The Stone Mage and the Sea worthwhile, is what Williams had added to it: a convincing cast of characters taking meaningful actions when faced with difficult choices, set in a detailed world that is at once reminiscent of some of the post-apocalyptic Australias that have featured in recent science fiction, and yet has the aura of classic fantasy. The Stone Mage and the Sea makes it clear that Williams is an increasingly adept storyteller who is getting better and better, and is only beginning to hit his stride."
(Jonathan Strahan, Locus)
************************************************
"Williams continues to move comfortably around the wide possibilities of science fiction and here has come to rest in a blending between the ideas of sci-fi and fantasy.... It's a tribute to Sean Williams' emerging power that he keeps a powerful tone of mystery and the flavour of the landscape uppermost in this interesting book."
(Tim Lloyd, Adelaide Advertiser)
************************************************
"Sean Williams' The Stone Mage and the Sea is an alchemical blend of elemental magic, tragic romance and the coming of age of a young boy who is yet to come into his own power which exists, poised between Earthsea and Mad Max, where the magic of fantasy meets the wonder of science fiction. It is one the most rewarding genre novels to come out Australia this year."
(Jonathan Strahan)
**************************************************
"Magical and mesmerising, The Stone Mage and the Sea is a story to disappear into, whether you're 15 or 50."
(Kim Wilkins)
***********************************************
"A wonderful, magical fantasy set in a landscape that is both eerily familiar
and strangely alien, and peopled with mages and villains and heroes that
keep the story pounding along."
(Simon Brown)
***********************************************
"A stunning new fantasy - a world where Sky Wardens and Stone Mages wield
unthinkable power. And caught in the middle, between the forces of Air, Water, Cloud, and Earth, Sun, Fire, is a young fugitive whose own raw talent for magic is the greatest risk of all. Williams has a sure touch: he invents a future that feels as real as today."
(Janeen Webb)
*************************************************
"[Williams] has delivered a Fantasy story that has a texture and vibrancy that captures, enraptures and carries the reader along on a journey they will not wish to end... The tension builds well and the pages turn easily. [Williams] delivers poetical images of a world where imagination is still the vital key to existence. And beneath the harshness of the landscapes of the world, of life and its changes weaves a softer tale of developing love, understanding and acceptance. This is a book all will enjoy."
(Robert Stephenson)
***********************************************
"Sean Williams is one of the most successful and amazingly prolific science fiction and fantasy writers in Australia. He has written or co-written everything from exquisitely crafted short horror stories to galaxy-spanning trilogies, including best-selling Star Wars: New Jedi Order novels. The Storm Weaver & The Sand is the final book in his Books of the Change trilogy, a wonderfully inventive fantasy and coming-of-age story that has already been compared to LeGuin's Earthsea books, set against a future Australian landscape as fascinating as that of Terry Dowling's Rynosseros tales....
"Every character in the novel has his or her own voice and own agenda, and the relationships between father and son, and student and teacher, are explored with a depth and insight that is rare in genre fiction.
The strongest point of the series, however, is the setting. Instead of the usual pseudo-medieval European background of Tolkien imitators, Williams has created a new world of deserts and beaches, camel caravans and bone ships, Stone Mages and Storm Weavers, ghosts and golems, man'kin's and strandbeasts. There are no swords, but plenty of sorcery; no dragons, but some great dungeons.
"The Storm Weaver & the Sand is a superior Australian fantasy novel, but more than this; it is simply superior fantasy."
(Stephen Dedman, The West Australian)
*************************************************
"Why are Sean Williams’ books such page-turners?
"Easy: because they engage and intrigue the reader on every level and at every turn.
"For instance: in Williams’ hands, setting becomes a vital force. His landscape, welcomingly familiar and open, yet charged with exoticism, takes on a character of its own as it stands against the dark and brooding threat of the sea. The tension between these two key elements of Book One is wrapped by a powerful mystery that drives the story relentlessly – and spills forward into the Interiors of Book Two. In this regard, Williams wastes nothing. From book to book, the scale of his vision never falters.
"But he is at his best with his characters. Sal and Shilly, the main protagonists, are young. They are brave and vital, but with all the insecurities of the young. Williams balance of the forces acting on them is assured. Reactions and decision-making, be they by major characters or minor, heroes or villains, seems always to be real. And the characters grow, as they should, be they the young, coming of age both within the commonality of their day-to-day lives and also the epic tale that ebbs and flows around them, or be they the lesser players, finding their personal light within the swirl of emotions and events.
"These stories are for everyone, from the very young to the very old. They tread the line between SF and fantasy – but use those elements purely to engage. These are no ordinary tales. Sean Williams is a young writer who’s already mastered his trade.
"And yet he keeps getting better and better. He’s on his way – and at high velocity – to being the Best genre writer this country has ever produced."
(Peter McNamara)
****************************************************
Aurealis Award Judges' Report for the Storm Weaver & the Sand (the Third Book of the Change), winner of the 2002 Best Fantasy Novel category
"Sean Williams' conclusion to his Change trilogy...is an impressive and assured work, a coming-of-age novel in the true sense, which eschews the usual dramatic confrontation between good and evil for shades of grey, as the protagonist is thrust into adulthood and the complexities this entails. Williams shows an impressive maturity and courage in offering us a novel that doesn't fall back on sword battles or the wizard version of gunfights, but instead focuses on the mind of a young boy as he explores an unfamiliar world. The fact that this doesn't result in an anticlimax, but rather in a thought-provoking and emotionally involving conclusion, is testament to Williams' talent."
************************************************
Reading Notes
Topic 1: Fantasy vs Science Fiction vs Mainstream
What is fantasy? What is science fiction? Is The Stone Mage & the Sea science fiction or fantasy, or a mixture of both? What makes The Stone Mage & the Sea fantasy, as compared to realist fiction, and what (if anything) makes it science fiction? Is it set in the future of our world or a completely different world altogether?
The Books of the Change have frequently been compared to Ursula Le Guin's classic Earthsea series. The Stone Mage & the Sea has also been compared to early Peter Carey. What other influences are visible in the text?
(See the references to Edgar Allen Poe and post-apocalyptic writing below.)
The magic of The Stone Mage & the Sea is very different to that seen in other fantasy novels, such as the Harry Potter books and The Lord of the Rings. How is it different, and how does that affect the story?
What is the relationship between landscape and the Change? What are the laws governing the use of both?
Given that The Stone Mage & the Sea is set in an Australian landscape and deals with many themes familiar to Australian readers, should it be on "Australian Literature" course lists as well as the "Fantasy & Science Fiction"?
Speculative Fiction novels are often actually about the world of the author, disguised as sci-fi or fantasy. Are there any connections between The Stone Mage & the Sea and the world in which we live?
Topic 2: Story
The Stone Mage & the Sea and the rest of the Books of the Change are a coming of age story. Sal and Shilly (and other characters) take significant steps through the course of the story along the road to become both independent and adults. Does this make The Stone Mage & the Sea a Young Adult novel or could it be read by people of all ages?
Given the post-apocalyptic setting of The Stone Mage & the Sea, is it a pessimistic novel, depicting the depths to which humanity can descend after falling from technological highs, or an optimistic novel, showing our capacity to rebound and recover from any catastrophe?
How does the fact that The Stone Mage & the Sea is set in an Australian landscape (unlike much traditional fantasy) change the nature of the story?
The Stone Mage & the Sea does not refer to native Australian myths for stories. This was a deliberate attempt by the author to avoid claims of appropriation. Is that a valid concern for an Australian writer? How does the absence of Aboriginal myth affect the novel's "Australian-ness"?
The Stone Mage & the Sea leans heavily on [19th Century British author] Edgar Alan Poe for inspiration. As well as the lines from "A Dream Within A Dream" quoted on p.269, there are references to "The Tell-Tale Heart" in the story of Polain the Butterfly Merchant and "The Purloined Letter" in Lodo's attempt to hide Sal. Is this appropriation, or an honest means of seeking inspiration?
Topic 3: Setting
The Stone Mage & the Sea is set in a very Australian landscape. There are no mountains with snow on them, or lush forests, or wide rivers. It is based loosely on Cowell, a town south of Whyalla, on Eyre Peninsula. (The map at the front of the novel is simply a section of that coast reversed.) The Sky Wardens have elections and censuses. In what other ways is it like our world?
The Stone Mage & the Sea does not source mediaeval European history for landscapes and settings. Other fantasy novels (such as The Lord of the Rings) do just that. In what other ways do they differ from The Stone Mage & the Sea?
Post-apocalyptic fiction is a well-known sub-genre of science fiction and fantasy. Two are John Wyndham's The Kraken Awakes and Stephen Donaldson's The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. What others are readers reminded of when they read The Stone Mage & the Sea?
Topic 4: Characters
Is anybody in The Stone Mage & the Sea completely good or completely evil? Are Kemp and his father, Alder Sproule? Are the people who kidnapped Sal's mother while he was still a baby? Is Tom's brother, Tate, for betraying Sal in order to gain favour with the Alcaide? Sal's decision to defy the Sky Wardens cost him his adopted father, and Shilly her home and mentor. Sal's parents cuckolded Sal's real father, and ran away with his child. Do the characters feel more real for being so ambiguous? Does it make The Stone Mage & the Sea feel less like normal fantasy and more like real life?
Are Sal and Shilly friends, or enemies, or potential boyfriend-girlfriend? He has something that she desperately wants (the Change) but that same thing has caused them untold grief. Where might that lead them in future books? (The answer can be found in the Books of the Cataclysm.)
Sal's father turns out not to be the man Sal thought he was. How does this affect Sal's relationship with his adopted father? Should it have any affect at all?
Topic 5: Themes
Sal has light-coloured skin and stands out among people with dark skin. The dark-skinned people of the Strand inhabit the coastal regions of his world, while light-skinned people inhabit the Interior. This is a reversal of the existing situation in Australia. In what sort of light does this reversal encourage the reader to look at racial relationships?
Both the Strand and the Interior impose a strong sense of law and government on their people, yet they are otherwise very different cultures. How are they different? How do they each attempt to impose order on chaos? Is this an important theme of fantasy, or all mainstream fiction?
There are many degrees of community infusing Sal's world. That of Fundelry (a small, isolated fishing town) is fundamentally different to that of the Strand (a vast, centrally governed nation). How does this affect the relationships between Sal and the people around him? Is there a difference between the Alders of Fundelry and the Sky Wardens from the Haunted City?
The setting of The Stone Mage & the Sea is a post-apocalyptic one: there are various relics of a lost civilisation in evidence, and a story of ancient times sounds very much like the world in which we live. Such writing often emerges as a reaction to the times in which it was written, e.g. the Depression or the Cold War. What current events might the author of The Stone Mage & the Sea have been responding to? (It was written in 1998.)
Topic 6: Structure
The Stone Mage & the Sea contains several stories within its central storyline. The most obvious example is that of Polain the Butterfly Merchant, told to Sal by his father. What other examples are there? How does the way these stories (or histories) told reflect the culture in which they are told?
James Bradley
************************
“An alchemical blend of elemental magic, tragic romance and the coming of age of a young boy ... poised between Earthsea and Mad Max, where the magic of fantasy meets the wonder of science fiction”
Jonathan Strahan
***********************
Like a lot of readers, I was entranced at an early age by J.R.R.Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I’ve been reading fantasy enthusiastically ever since. It takes me to other places, to imaginary landscapes where mythic conflicts and battles unfold. Over time, however, it came to feel to me that the many different locations in which these stories occur were actually the same place, and it’s a place almost anyone would recognise--one of high, ice-capped mountains and dense forests, of rolling, grassy plains and dangerous swamps.
The Stone Mage & the Sea is the first fantasy novel I ever wrote. When I started, the natural thing to do was to set my story in that place. After all, I had visited there many times; I felt that I had come to know it well. I soon discovered, however, that I couldn't honestly picture these sorts of places because I'd never been there. I’m Australian; I have no conscious memory of snow or wild forests or raging rivers. I did travel a lot as a child, but only through the Northern Territory and to nearby Asian destinations like Singapore and Manila. I knew--and still know--nothing about Europe except second-hand.
As I hadn't visited a forest or a glacier, I couldn't appreciate their reality except in terms that I had read about in other fantasy works--and those terms tend to be rather polarised. Forests are either light and soothing or dense and threatening; ice is associated with dangerous mountain passes or northern wastelands; deserts are lifeless barriers in which bandits are frequently found; and so on. Like a lot of writers, I wanted to portray both sides of the story. The sea can be beautiful, yes, but it's also very dangerous. A desert is not as obviously fertile as a forest, but it does contain a rich variety of life. There are two sides to every vista, just as there should be to characters, and in order to make my fantasy novel work for readers I felt that I had to portray those sides as authentically as possible.
If I couldn't set the scene, how could I expect to carry off a full-length novel?
The answer was to make the genre fit the landscape. I turned for inspiration to the vistas of my youth--of the far north and the west coast of South Australia--and the result is a story set in a world many Australians know intimately--one of beaches and sand dunes, of deserts and barren hills, of scrub and stony plains--subtly changed and enlivened by the fantastic.
The changes this required ran deeper than just swapping the compass bearings on the map so the cold regions were to the south, not the north. The sort of landscape I’m used to would have camels rather than horses, for instance, and it's hard to imagine a hero in the mould of Aragorn slouching to the rescue on the back of such a rough beast. In the world I knew there would be vast distances to cross that would, for the most part, contain little of interest to humans. So no Shire, that’s for sure. There isn't a forest in sight, not a single snowflake, and no rivers; instead, there's the sea, the sun and the sand; there's space and dryness and the terrible struggle to survive.
But it's not Australia, either. One of the great things about working with your home in the genre of speculative fiction is that you change it as much as you like--or even destroy it, as I've done several times in other works. This is a fantasy world I know well, to which I instinctively respond. I’ve certainly returned to them often enough: ten books now; several short stories and novellas; over a million words of fiction, and this is where it all started.
The Stone Mage & the Sea was nominated for the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel of 2001. Subsequent Books of the Change have gone on to win the same award, been nominated for the Ditmar, and have been recommended by Locus magazine as one of the best young adult fantasies of 2002, alongside work by Clive Barker, Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman and Isabel Allende.
****************************************
Reviews of The Stone Mage & The Sea and the Books of the Change
"The Stone Mage and the Sea is not simply a clone of plot devices that have gone before, or simply the struggles for identity and insecurities that typify the usual coming of age story. Throughout these tropes Williams has interwoven an unfolding mystery that remains unresolved at the end, the hints at its identity only partially revealed, lingering tantalizingly just out of reach. This mystery is framed within a mysticism that lends itself to the naturalism of its setting, a world of the spirit whispered upon the breeze, the hiss of sand across a dune, the raucous call of gulls, or the pounding drum of surf. Within a stark and empty landscape, stillness is but the soundless echo of as yet unheard life, just as shadows suggest the presence of light. Something stirs just beyond sight, felt only as a vibration upon the skin, a barely perceived hum, a fugitive odour upon the air. There is a sense of pregnancy building within this story, much as yet out of sight, but no more diminished, no less real because unseen...
"The Stone Mage and the Sea is a welcome and assured debut that understatedly blends elements from both fantasy and science fiction in a way bound to intrigue and engage the interest and imagination of most readers, be they young or old. Immediately setting out its own territory, and written with a realism and appreciation of descriptive detail and characterization that generates a great degree of vitality, this opening narrative may well herald a new series already on its way to gaining the author a wider, more international audience. This first book is certainly deserving of notice."
(William Thompson, SF Site)
***********************************
"...original, unconventional and imaginative. The Stone Mage & The Sea is no pseudo-medieval romance with a few dragons and wizards thrown in for color. It is a far future fantasy of Australia that Jonathan Strahan described being "poised between Earthsea and Mad Max". Different? You bet."
(Cheryl Morgan, Emerald City)
*************************************
"Stark South Australian landscapes imbued with Tolkienesque flavour"
(Colin Steele)
*************************************
"Spare, allegorical and haunting in its evocation of the world it depicts, The Stone Mage and the Sea is at once the story of a young boy's coming of age, a meditation on our sense of place and a hymn to the secret landscapes of its author's heart."
(James Bradley)
*************************************
"Williams has developed a world of magic in a setting that breathes the atmosphere of the southern Australian coast, with a menacing sea at its edge... The Stone Mage & the Sea has much appeal for fantasy readers..."
(Stella Lees, ViewPoint)
*************************************
"The novels have been described as a synthesis of Earthsea and Mad Max. I'd add Tolkein and something of the unexpected mystery of Kafka - that is if Kafka had been well informed about the social and political conditions of Australia in the 21st century. The tropes of city and the bush are hauntingly there in the Strand and the Interior, and the novel traces recognisable but allegorical spaces. Similarly, the haunted city serves as a metaphoric centre of the country while 'the sea is its heart'. The land's vast regions are under constant surveillance and like the early writing of Peter Carey, this mix of realistic and surreal elements destabilises certainties causing the reader to interrogate the workings of the known world anew. Interestingly, these epic parables involving powerful and magical elites are similarly counter-balanced by demonstrations of the transformative power of love and individual belief."
(Lyn Jacobs)
************************************************
"The Stone Mage and the Sea is remarkable for its lyrical openness to landscape and the natural world; the sea swirls like a backdrop, heaving and restless. After the earlier Williams novels, reading this book is like tuning to the outdoor action of Water Rats after the claustrophobically darkened settings of The X-Files or Burnside.
(Van Ikin, Sydney Morning Herald)
***********************************************
"What makes the story worthwhile, and what makes The Stone Mage and the Sea worthwhile, is what Williams had added to it: a convincing cast of characters taking meaningful actions when faced with difficult choices, set in a detailed world that is at once reminiscent of some of the post-apocalyptic Australias that have featured in recent science fiction, and yet has the aura of classic fantasy. The Stone Mage and the Sea makes it clear that Williams is an increasingly adept storyteller who is getting better and better, and is only beginning to hit his stride."
(Jonathan Strahan, Locus)
************************************************
"Williams continues to move comfortably around the wide possibilities of science fiction and here has come to rest in a blending between the ideas of sci-fi and fantasy.... It's a tribute to Sean Williams' emerging power that he keeps a powerful tone of mystery and the flavour of the landscape uppermost in this interesting book."
(Tim Lloyd, Adelaide Advertiser)
************************************************
"Sean Williams' The Stone Mage and the Sea is an alchemical blend of elemental magic, tragic romance and the coming of age of a young boy who is yet to come into his own power which exists, poised between Earthsea and Mad Max, where the magic of fantasy meets the wonder of science fiction. It is one the most rewarding genre novels to come out Australia this year."
(Jonathan Strahan)
**************************************************
"Magical and mesmerising, The Stone Mage and the Sea is a story to disappear into, whether you're 15 or 50."
(Kim Wilkins)
***********************************************
"A wonderful, magical fantasy set in a landscape that is both eerily familiar
and strangely alien, and peopled with mages and villains and heroes that
keep the story pounding along."
(Simon Brown)
***********************************************
"A stunning new fantasy - a world where Sky Wardens and Stone Mages wield
unthinkable power. And caught in the middle, between the forces of Air, Water, Cloud, and Earth, Sun, Fire, is a young fugitive whose own raw talent for magic is the greatest risk of all. Williams has a sure touch: he invents a future that feels as real as today."
(Janeen Webb)
*************************************************
"[Williams] has delivered a Fantasy story that has a texture and vibrancy that captures, enraptures and carries the reader along on a journey they will not wish to end... The tension builds well and the pages turn easily. [Williams] delivers poetical images of a world where imagination is still the vital key to existence. And beneath the harshness of the landscapes of the world, of life and its changes weaves a softer tale of developing love, understanding and acceptance. This is a book all will enjoy."
(Robert Stephenson)
***********************************************
"Sean Williams is one of the most successful and amazingly prolific science fiction and fantasy writers in Australia. He has written or co-written everything from exquisitely crafted short horror stories to galaxy-spanning trilogies, including best-selling Star Wars: New Jedi Order novels. The Storm Weaver & The Sand is the final book in his Books of the Change trilogy, a wonderfully inventive fantasy and coming-of-age story that has already been compared to LeGuin's Earthsea books, set against a future Australian landscape as fascinating as that of Terry Dowling's Rynosseros tales....
"Every character in the novel has his or her own voice and own agenda, and the relationships between father and son, and student and teacher, are explored with a depth and insight that is rare in genre fiction.
The strongest point of the series, however, is the setting. Instead of the usual pseudo-medieval European background of Tolkien imitators, Williams has created a new world of deserts and beaches, camel caravans and bone ships, Stone Mages and Storm Weavers, ghosts and golems, man'kin's and strandbeasts. There are no swords, but plenty of sorcery; no dragons, but some great dungeons.
"The Storm Weaver & the Sand is a superior Australian fantasy novel, but more than this; it is simply superior fantasy."
(Stephen Dedman, The West Australian)
*************************************************
"Why are Sean Williams’ books such page-turners?
"Easy: because they engage and intrigue the reader on every level and at every turn.
"For instance: in Williams’ hands, setting becomes a vital force. His landscape, welcomingly familiar and open, yet charged with exoticism, takes on a character of its own as it stands against the dark and brooding threat of the sea. The tension between these two key elements of Book One is wrapped by a powerful mystery that drives the story relentlessly – and spills forward into the Interiors of Book Two. In this regard, Williams wastes nothing. From book to book, the scale of his vision never falters.
"But he is at his best with his characters. Sal and Shilly, the main protagonists, are young. They are brave and vital, but with all the insecurities of the young. Williams balance of the forces acting on them is assured. Reactions and decision-making, be they by major characters or minor, heroes or villains, seems always to be real. And the characters grow, as they should, be they the young, coming of age both within the commonality of their day-to-day lives and also the epic tale that ebbs and flows around them, or be they the lesser players, finding their personal light within the swirl of emotions and events.
"These stories are for everyone, from the very young to the very old. They tread the line between SF and fantasy – but use those elements purely to engage. These are no ordinary tales. Sean Williams is a young writer who’s already mastered his trade.
"And yet he keeps getting better and better. He’s on his way – and at high velocity – to being the Best genre writer this country has ever produced."
(Peter McNamara)
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Aurealis Award Judges' Report for the Storm Weaver & the Sand (the Third Book of the Change), winner of the 2002 Best Fantasy Novel category
"Sean Williams' conclusion to his Change trilogy...is an impressive and assured work, a coming-of-age novel in the true sense, which eschews the usual dramatic confrontation between good and evil for shades of grey, as the protagonist is thrust into adulthood and the complexities this entails. Williams shows an impressive maturity and courage in offering us a novel that doesn't fall back on sword battles or the wizard version of gunfights, but instead focuses on the mind of a young boy as he explores an unfamiliar world. The fact that this doesn't result in an anticlimax, but rather in a thought-provoking and emotionally involving conclusion, is testament to Williams' talent."
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Reading Notes
Topic 1: Fantasy vs Science Fiction vs Mainstream
What is fantasy? What is science fiction? Is The Stone Mage & the Sea science fiction or fantasy, or a mixture of both? What makes The Stone Mage & the Sea fantasy, as compared to realist fiction, and what (if anything) makes it science fiction? Is it set in the future of our world or a completely different world altogether?
The Books of the Change have frequently been compared to Ursula Le Guin's classic Earthsea series. The Stone Mage & the Sea has also been compared to early Peter Carey. What other influences are visible in the text?
(See the references to Edgar Allen Poe and post-apocalyptic writing below.)
The magic of The Stone Mage & the Sea is very different to that seen in other fantasy novels, such as the Harry Potter books and The Lord of the Rings. How is it different, and how does that affect the story?
What is the relationship between landscape and the Change? What are the laws governing the use of both?
Given that The Stone Mage & the Sea is set in an Australian landscape and deals with many themes familiar to Australian readers, should it be on "Australian Literature" course lists as well as the "Fantasy & Science Fiction"?
Speculative Fiction novels are often actually about the world of the author, disguised as sci-fi or fantasy. Are there any connections between The Stone Mage & the Sea and the world in which we live?
Topic 2: Story
The Stone Mage & the Sea and the rest of the Books of the Change are a coming of age story. Sal and Shilly (and other characters) take significant steps through the course of the story along the road to become both independent and adults. Does this make The Stone Mage & the Sea a Young Adult novel or could it be read by people of all ages?
Given the post-apocalyptic setting of The Stone Mage & the Sea, is it a pessimistic novel, depicting the depths to which humanity can descend after falling from technological highs, or an optimistic novel, showing our capacity to rebound and recover from any catastrophe?
How does the fact that The Stone Mage & the Sea is set in an Australian landscape (unlike much traditional fantasy) change the nature of the story?
The Stone Mage & the Sea does not refer to native Australian myths for stories. This was a deliberate attempt by the author to avoid claims of appropriation. Is that a valid concern for an Australian writer? How does the absence of Aboriginal myth affect the novel's "Australian-ness"?
The Stone Mage & the Sea leans heavily on [19th Century British author] Edgar Alan Poe for inspiration. As well as the lines from "A Dream Within A Dream" quoted on p.269, there are references to "The Tell-Tale Heart" in the story of Polain the Butterfly Merchant and "The Purloined Letter" in Lodo's attempt to hide Sal. Is this appropriation, or an honest means of seeking inspiration?
Topic 3: Setting
The Stone Mage & the Sea is set in a very Australian landscape. There are no mountains with snow on them, or lush forests, or wide rivers. It is based loosely on Cowell, a town south of Whyalla, on Eyre Peninsula. (The map at the front of the novel is simply a section of that coast reversed.) The Sky Wardens have elections and censuses. In what other ways is it like our world?
The Stone Mage & the Sea does not source mediaeval European history for landscapes and settings. Other fantasy novels (such as The Lord of the Rings) do just that. In what other ways do they differ from The Stone Mage & the Sea?
Post-apocalyptic fiction is a well-known sub-genre of science fiction and fantasy. Two are John Wyndham's The Kraken Awakes and Stephen Donaldson's The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. What others are readers reminded of when they read The Stone Mage & the Sea?
Topic 4: Characters
Is anybody in The Stone Mage & the Sea completely good or completely evil? Are Kemp and his father, Alder Sproule? Are the people who kidnapped Sal's mother while he was still a baby? Is Tom's brother, Tate, for betraying Sal in order to gain favour with the Alcaide? Sal's decision to defy the Sky Wardens cost him his adopted father, and Shilly her home and mentor. Sal's parents cuckolded Sal's real father, and ran away with his child. Do the characters feel more real for being so ambiguous? Does it make The Stone Mage & the Sea feel less like normal fantasy and more like real life?
Are Sal and Shilly friends, or enemies, or potential boyfriend-girlfriend? He has something that she desperately wants (the Change) but that same thing has caused them untold grief. Where might that lead them in future books? (The answer can be found in the Books of the Cataclysm.)
Sal's father turns out not to be the man Sal thought he was. How does this affect Sal's relationship with his adopted father? Should it have any affect at all?
Topic 5: Themes
Sal has light-coloured skin and stands out among people with dark skin. The dark-skinned people of the Strand inhabit the coastal regions of his world, while light-skinned people inhabit the Interior. This is a reversal of the existing situation in Australia. In what sort of light does this reversal encourage the reader to look at racial relationships?
Both the Strand and the Interior impose a strong sense of law and government on their people, yet they are otherwise very different cultures. How are they different? How do they each attempt to impose order on chaos? Is this an important theme of fantasy, or all mainstream fiction?
There are many degrees of community infusing Sal's world. That of Fundelry (a small, isolated fishing town) is fundamentally different to that of the Strand (a vast, centrally governed nation). How does this affect the relationships between Sal and the people around him? Is there a difference between the Alders of Fundelry and the Sky Wardens from the Haunted City?
The setting of The Stone Mage & the Sea is a post-apocalyptic one: there are various relics of a lost civilisation in evidence, and a story of ancient times sounds very much like the world in which we live. Such writing often emerges as a reaction to the times in which it was written, e.g. the Depression or the Cold War. What current events might the author of The Stone Mage & the Sea have been responding to? (It was written in 1998.)
Topic 6: Structure
The Stone Mage & the Sea contains several stories within its central storyline. The most obvious example is that of Polain the Butterfly Merchant, told to Sal by his father. What other examples are there? How does the way these stories (or histories) told reflect the culture in which they are told?
Labels: Books of Change, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Sean Williams
