Speculative Fiction Junkie

The latest super-hyped fantasy novel is Spellwright by Blake Charlton, a debut author whose inspiring life journey saw him go from being literally a dyslexic special education student to becoming a novelist, Yale graduate, and medical student. How hyped was this book, you ask? So hyped that even though it was released just this month, as early as August of last year Pat of Pat's Fantasy Hotlist was able to declare that he had it "on good authority that this book will be in contention for best first fantasy novel ever." While Spellwright shows Mr. Charlton to be a promising author, I do not believe that the book is worthy of the hype it has received.

The relationship between his dyslexia and Mr. Charlton's love of reading are at the heart of Spellwright. The protagonist, Nicodemus Weal, is an apprentice to Magister Agwu Shannon, who was once a politically savvy wizard but has since been exiled to the backwater of Starhaven academy where he continues his research and looks after the scorned group known as cacographers. Cacographers are those who have the power to create the runes that comprise spells but who are unable to cast spells themselves because they misspell every magic text they touch. While cacographers are scorned by the rest of the wizard class, Magister Shannon looks after them and believes that one of them, Nicodemus, may be the wizard foretold by prophecy who will prevent a cataclysmic war that would destroy all human language. Unfortunately, because he is a cacographer Nicodemus can't cast spells. The plot begins to unfold when a rival of Magister Shannon is murdered and he is suspected.

In my opinion, the best thing about Spellwright is the strong characterization. Nicodemus and Shannon are fleshed out and likeable characters as are several members of the supporting cast. The second best aspect of this book is its unique magic system. In Spellwright, spells are made of text that is physical. These texts in turn are made of runes which are formed in the muscles of the caster. This is an innovative idea that leads to some interesting things (e.g., a character creates a club out of text and brains another guy with it, etc.). Even so, I found it to be less compelling, and less well executed, than similarly innovative magic systems, such as those found in the novels of Brandon Sanderson.

The first fundamental problem with this book is that it completely lacks any sense of atmosphere. Mr. Charlton seems to be so focused on describing his magic system that he neglects to give Starhaven, where most of the book takes place, a sense of place and feeling. It's not a failure of worldbuilding so much as it is a failure of buildingbuilding.

The second problem is magnified by the first: the story is so awash in fantasy tropes, and trope-laden plot twists, that its lack of atmosphere cannot support its weight and the whole thing crashes in on itself. There's nothing wrong with continuing to use the time-tested tools of fantasy, as the work of writers like Michael J. Sullivan demonstrates. But in the case of Spellwright it's simply too much. The book is full of completely undisguised archetypes: "monsters," "wizards," "demons," "spells," and "prophecies" populate its pages. These are inserted into numerous plot twists that are difficult to explain and in the end revealed to be the sort of stuff that only the fantasy genre can produce, much to its ridicule. Developments like "the monster had to touch the magic crystal to the obelisk every three years to replenish its power" abound. Against a backdrop completely devoid of atmosphere, it just doesn't work.

I have no doubt that Mr. Charlton will have a bright writing career, and I wish him well. But I cannot join the nearly universal praise being heaped upon Spellwright.

Spellwright was first published by Tor in March of 2010.

[This review was based on a review copy]