I
know only one prayer.
Whatever
gods are in this maze, may you suffer as we have suffered. May our
prayers leave you ill and dying, as you have left us.
I
like bizarre, complicated stories. The kind that warp and wrap
themselves into intricate designs of opaque obscurity and leave you
scratching your head and rereading the same paragraph thirteen times
to be sure what you think happened really did just happen and not the
other thing that you suspect may have occurred and holy fuck what is
the deal with that guy who just did the thing he shouldn’t be able
to do? When I’m in the right mood, I get a kick out of those and I
was certainly in the mood when I picked up Maze.
Maze
isn’t so much a single, cohesive story as it is four separate
stories of the lives of people who live within the titular structure.
Some, like Maia Station and Joseph were born on other worlds and in
other times, ripped from their homes into a terrifying and violent
new existence. Others, like Wang Xin and Jenny Station were
born there. Each story overlaps and interweaves, while revolving
around the compromises they must make to survive among rampaging
Trolls, Minotaurs, Harpies, Stone Cows, Cavemen and the ravages of
nature without being able to take advantage of the conveniences we
take for granted. Sacrifices of body, hope, fate and faith will be
required of all.
I’ve
complained before about the dearth of imagination put into much
science fiction and fantasy, but there is no problem with that here.
McDermott takes both tropes and myths we think we are familiar with
and spins them into new yarn. This world and the creatures that
inhabit it feel wholly new and vibrant, in their own brutal way. J.M.
then uses our expectations of these myths and tropes as misdirection
to get us looking up when he pulls the cloth from beneath our feet.
It’s a nice trick and it’s used to marvelous effect in bending
minds.
At
the same time, everything seems very organic. The society we
experience exists and operates the way it does as a direct result of
the way the world is constructed. They are people adapting to their
surroundings and it fits seamlessly. The world building is
outstanding here.
Similarly,
the arcs and conflicts of the characters were quite engaging. A woman
struggling to survive, alone, in an alien world. A man trying
desperately to hunt down and save someone he doomed to this existence
by his own sad attempts to end his isolation. Another man pushing to
reconcile the world he exists within and the one expects. A young
woman struggling between the expectations of society and her own
needs. None of these are simple problems, none result in simple
solutions and no one get the happily ever after treatment.
However,
there were some problems with readability. The writing style is very
clunky and uncomfortable, especially when it comes to dialogue. Take
this bit of dialogue as an example: “Joseph, I have to tell you
this, Joseph, and I want you to not forget this. You have your
children and had your great love. I have had none. I am in love with
this woman.” It is technically grammatically correct, but hits the
tongue all wrong. I get the strong feeling that this was a stylistic
choice, and I respect that, but it pulled me out of the narrative and
kept me from being able to settle into the story. That could very
well be an experience killer for many people. It certainly made the
whole less enjoyable for me.
By
and large, I was left with a story full of interesting ideas, an
intriguing central philosophy and complicated characters facing
complicated situations that was nearly destroyed by the way it was
told. If you can power through the style choice, there is plenty to
love here, but it asks quite a bit in return.
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