The advertising for J.M. McDermott’s debut novel Last Dragon has the following plug from Jeff Vandermeer:
"Relentless, dark, and dangerous … A rare kind of clarity inhabits McDermott’s prose … the entire novel is a breath of fresh air."
Before I read the book I thought it was a bit heavy-handed to have such a long quote from Vandermeer. Now that I have read it, I’m disappointed that Vandermeer didn’t give Last Dragon the full credit it deserves.
But I shall do what I can to correct that deficiency.
This book is a masterful first novel. All the more impressive considering all the experimentation and stylistic risks, and yet there are no missteps. Last Dragon manages to be both highly readable and also humbling in its (shall I say it?) postmodern rigor.
But first to explain what the book is.
Last Dragon is an epistolary novel, a series of recollections, that tell the story of a warrior woman from a remote northern village who must go on a quest to revenge the murder of her family. One doesn’t normally think of barbarians as being big on written correspondence, but this proves to be a beguiling take on the high fantasy genre. Each section is a memory, recorded by the heroine from the end of a long life. Sometimes the memory is several pages long, and sometimes it is only a few sentences. And with the perfectly replicated tempo of memories hastily scratched out before they are forgotten, they follow a rambling chronology, linked by associations and personal prejudice. Events are sometimes told several times, with different emphasis. And they are rarely told in standard narrative order.
It’s a curious chimera of a novel. On the one hand it is a deeply personal and subjective work with all the high-falutin trappings of great literature, including recurring symbols (ants and spiders, in case you’re wondering). On the other hand it has all the elements of a fantasy epic, which let’s face it, is the lowest literature in the world. There’s warrior women, dragons, mercenary armies, zombies, and a ragtag band of adventurers.
Again, I am deeply impressed that McDermott was able to juggle these competing elements, and write such an engaging and technically perfect book.
So basically, Last Dragon is aimed at people who are both discerning consumers of literature, and fans of exciting sword-opera. I’m not sure if that’s likely to expand the fanbase, or contract it to just me and you, the discerning reader of this blog.
