The Thursday feature "Tough Traveling" is the brainchild of Nathan of Review Barn, who has come up with the excellent idea of making a new list each week based on the most common tropes in fantasy, as seen in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynn Jones. Nathan has invited anyone who is interested to come play along, so be sure to check out the first link for more information. Compulsive list-maker that I am, I'm very excited to take part!
This week's tour topic is: Hidden Kingdom
Usually reached through CAVERNS or after an arduous trek into the heart of the central masssif, this is often the object of the Tour QUEST…I'll be honest, when I saw this week's topic, I drew a big blank. There are plenty of hidden worlds I can think of, but most of those involve jumping through portals and planes existing on completely different realms. A lot of the ones I can think of that are hidden beneath the earth or in a mountain are actually ruins or untamed "lost worlds" that aren't exactly kingdoms. Maybe I'm overthinking things, but I was only able to come up with a few this week. Hey, just be glad I didn't whip out Otoh Gunga from The Phantom Menace novelization!
The first book I thought of when I saw this topic was of course Hollow World, a cross-genre novel about a man with a terminal disease traveling into the future to find a cure. What he finds is an earth overgrown, seemingly devoid of much activity on the surface. But then he is brought below ground into a hollow world, where the denizens of the time had created an impressive civilization beneath the earth, complete with its own solar source.
Stolen Songbird is a book I recently read that fits the theme. Though later we find out that Trollus isn't completely hidden, since some merchants know the way to trade there, but for the most part the existence of the troll city is but a mere rumor. This kingdom was buried under the ruins of Forsaken Mountain five hundred years ago by a witch's curse, and since then the trolls have been bound to this place beneath the earth and rock. The main character Cécile was kidnapped and brought here through an underwater passage and a series of confusing caverns. This one totally counts!
Dammit, now I'm second guessing myself. Does this book really count? I know in this latest installment of the Gaunt and Bone series our dynamic duo have to travel far to the west to find the mythical land of Xembala. These books have a bit of a surreal quality to them, so it was a bit hard to follow exactly how our heroes actually managed to make it to Xembala. But it is a kingdom and it did actually exist and it was well-hidden. That, and because I'll only have a paltry two entries otherwise this week is why I'm gonna count it!
Your last entry counts for me! The way I see it, if you have to find something then it is hidden.
ReplyDeleteYes and Nathan just helped me remember they flew a balloon into it! I have been vindicated, LOL! :P
DeleteYa, how did they get into the city? At first it seemed like the secret camouflaged path a la Indian Jones, but I am pretty sure others just flew their balloons in.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right too. I agreed with your review that there were some confusing parts, and that was one of them! How they managed to find Xembala is still a blur :)
DeleteI've not read any of your choices (though, I started Hollow World, but didn't make it far enough to get to see him do any travelingI regret passing on Stolen Songbird, sounds really enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI quite enjoyed Hollow World, I'd be interested to hear what you think if you do decide to continue. And Stolen Songbird was a pleasant surprise, one of the best Strange Chemistry books I've read in a while!
DeleteYay for hidden cities
ReplyDeleteYay for a tough topic, lol...
DeleteI read Stolen Songbird and also picked that - it's perfect for this week's topic! I came up with a few others but I couldn't cheat them onto the list! This was tough to be sure! Looking forward to the Immortals - we should all have a few of them methinks.
ReplyDeleteLynn :D
Oh yeah, next week's should be a piece of cake. The problem is narrowing them down! I think I'll have to limit myself again :)
DeleteI had a really hard time thinking up hidden kingdoms, as well - I would have thought they were all over the place in fantasy books!
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of The Silk Map before, and now I saw it on two lists. I have to look into the Gaunt and Bone books, it seems.
Yeah you'd think they'd be all over fantasy books! :D I had a lot of possibles I ended up having to scratch off the list when I realized they were all from other realms/through portals and not exactly hidden, lol. I think there would be a lot more if those counted, but I think that might actually be another tough guide entry.
DeleteI totally need to read Hollow World and The Silk Map so cool that you happened to read two wait no all three this year that meet the criteria.
ReplyDeleteMakes me wonder if there are more and we are just forgetting about them cause our brains are getting old.
I know that is definitely a possibility! I notice a lot of the books I use for these lists are more recent as well, probably because I hadn't really kept good records of my shelves or reviews until about a year ago. And yeah I have the worst memory!
DeleteI'm forced to resort to my all standby--Wheel of Time. Rhuidean is just about the coolest hidden kingdom I can think out. Except for Tabitha's Stardust ;)
ReplyDeleteI wish I had read more than the first book of Wheel of Time, seems like there are loads of these Tough Guide themes that can apply to that series :)
DeleteLooks like my first attempt to post failed...
ReplyDeleteRivendell was hidden from the forces of darkness. Does that count?
Shangri-La.
There are a lot of these in pulp adventure novels, like "She" by H. Rider Haggard.