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FINAL Current Developments at the Intersection of British Children ONLINE VERSION
5.2.3
An exemplary comparison of different secondary world models As we have already seen in chapter 5.2, Saxby suggests five possibilities for the design of a literary secondary world. This practical division shall be retained for the following analysis and comparison of secondary worlds in selected corpus novels, which distinguish themselves by their originality and creativity in that respect. Accordingly, the first group of corpus novels to be analysed are those in which the secondary world is “a well-defined entity” with its own characteristics. It coexists with a primary world, albeit without immediate physical contact, and engages in direct contact with it. Brennan’s Faerie Wars, The Purple Emperor and Ruler of the Realm are exemplary for this category. In Brennan’s novels, two world models clash on the day that the boy Henry, who lives in the primary world, i.e. reality, finds a faery 191 in Fogarty’s garden. It turns out to be Pyrgus Malvae, the heir to the throne of the faery realm. After the first surprise, Henry and Fogarty are interested in the faery realm, and Fogarty manages to build a portal of his own. Two-way traffic is possible again between the two worlds, as the pensioner and Henry prove by following Pyrgus to his realm. Unfortunately, Pyrgus uses the portal Mr Fogarty created without it having been thoroughly tested or calibrated. So instead of returning home into his world, the prince finds himself in Hael. Pyrgus’ world distinguishes itself from the primary world by various pronounced characteristic features. Above all, its life forms are not human. Not only faeries, but also beings like the orange dwarf Kitterick, animals like lie-detecting endolgs or psychotronic spiders populate the secondary realm. Its otherness is furthermore expressed by exotic means of locomotion. In the realm, magic is a law of nature. Naturally combined with a touch of religion and science, it is not only used by the technician priests who maintain the portals but also by the other faeries, who can use spells as weapons. The twin moons of the realm 192 underline the world’s otherness against the primary one. As in novels such as Pratchett’s Discworld series or Rowling’s Harry Potter, reinterpretations of phenomena occur. In Ruler of the Realm , Henry is abducted in his own world by a flying saucer or so he believes. However, it turns out that the UFO is not manned by aliens, but by demons from a parallel world to Henry’s own as well as the faeries’, namely Hael. 191 It can be observed that the spelling of the word “faery” differs from the normal “fairy”. This phenomenon is no isolated case in current British fantasy novels for children. It seems very likely that authors who follow this practice want to distance themselves and their work from the cliché-laden word “fairy”, which is intimately linked with “fairy tales”. In his essay “On Fairy Stories”, Tolkien also uses the “faerie” spelling. 192 Brennan, Faerie Wars, p. 195. 156 It is worth noting that the outcome of the social and power-political conflicts in the realm are decisively influenced by the appearance and the active intervention on the part of the boy Henry, and, less directly, by Fogarty. Without their arrival in the realm, the conflicts between the faeries themselves on the one hand and the demons on the other hand would certainly have led to a different result. So in these novels, the existence of the portals and the possibility for travel and exchange between various worlds is vital for the solving of conflicts by means of otherworldly input and different ideas and strategies. Novels of the second group feature physically adjacent worlds, 193 where transition takes place via gates or mirrors. From our corpus, His Dark Materials fulfils these requirements in the style of Carroll’s two Alice-novels, Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia or Ibbotson’s The Secret of Platform 13. A prime example for fantasy novels of this kind is Nix’ The Keys to the Kingdom heptalogy. Even though the author is not British but Australian, his work matches Saxby’s definition very closely. Consequently, we are going to take a glance over the rim. Nix’ novels are bestsellers in Britain, not least because he introduces innovative ideas. With the creation of the House the author gives an impulse to the genre by demonstrating a new possibility for the form of a secondary fantasy world. On the first day at his new school, the main character Arthur Penhaligon is given a strange key and a notebook by a man just as strange. From this moment onwards in which the House has made contact with Arthur, his encounters with unusual beings occur more and more often. Having come into possession of both the Key and The Atlas, Arthur is now closely connected to the House. The latter manifests itself in the form of a huge, ancient- looking building 194 somewhere in town, where Arthur is sure it only appeared very recently. Its unusual mix of many architectural styles on the exterior mirrors the diversity of its various areas, denizens, rulers and their style of leadership. It transpires that, from the viewpoint of the House and its inhabitants, Arthur’s world is a secondary realm; for Arthur it is just the other way round. From the Architect’s Will and by studying the Compleat Atlas, Arthur learns about the origin, structure and the self-image of the House. Built from Nothing by the Great Architect, it houses Her servants and the entire administration and its purpose is to record and observe 193 Saxby, Books, p. 236. 194 Nix, The Keys to The Kingdom. Mister Monday, p. 59. 157 Her work. 195 Within the House, illness, hunger and thirst are unknown, so as to permit the denizens to fully concentrate on their tasks. Also the fact that the denizens live for hundreds or even thousands of years means that time plays a far less important role than in Arthur’s world. In more than one sense, the House therefore is subject to differently measured dimensions. It can be observed that it takes up a current trend in British fantasy novels for children, namely the occupation with and discussion of biblical models, motifs and stories by a growing number of authors. In this respect, Nix’ heptalogy takes its place among Taylor’s doomsday atmosphere, demons and angels, Almond’s angel Skellig, Nicholson’s The Wind on Download 1.22 Mb. 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