Highly Recommended Reading: 'The Escapement' by K.J. Parker

Filed by: Darren on February 21, 2008 at 22:57
Filed In: Books

I've been a huge fan of K.J. Parker's work since I read The Colours in the Steel, part one of the Fencer Trilogy, back in 1998.

At the time, the qualities that really stood out were the obvious intelligence and inventiveness of Parker's non-linear, non-predictable plotting and the way in which the author experimented not only with the conventions and tropes of the fantasy genre, but with my experience and expectations as a fantasy reader as well; something that's developed into a major theme for my reading preferences nowadays.

These qualities were developed further and displayed to quite marvellous effect in Parker's second series, the Scavenger Trilogy. In Shadow, Pattern and Memory the age-old missing-memory / mystery identity scenario was explored from every conceivable angle and in so convoluted and twisted - yet utterly coherent and delightfully entertaining - a manner that I was left absolutely flabbergasted by the literally unbelievable intricacy with which Parker had constructed the - apparently chaotic but ultimately quite superbly structured - narrative arc of the series. It remains one of the most fascinating pieces of writing that I've enjoyed to-date and I definitely intend to go back and re-read it one day, if only to spend more time examining how Parker pulled off quite such an impressive feat.

In the Engineer Trilogy, Parker takes things in a slightly different direction again. I'm no trained literary critic, so I can only explain it as I experienced it, but to my mind, it seemed as though the series was - in part, and on at least one level - an examination of the concepts of story-construction and the driving forces that work to influence narrative direction and flow. To undertake this examination, Parker develops a narrative machine; an intricate, precise mechanism for processing (telling) the raw elements (characters, ideas, setting) of story into an engineered output (a trilogy of novels): quite literally, Parker constructs a 'plot-device'.

And once set in motion, this literary word-mill proceeds to blend concepts such as freedom, choice, compulsion, destiny, good and evil, along with emotional motivators like love, hate, duty, fear, patriotism and self-interest, to produce a tale in which events, once set in motion by what turns out to be an incredibly simple trigger mechanism, then power forwards with all the inevitability of a clockwork fate that has no off-switch.

Yet at the same time, the series is by no means governed by a linear, predictable sequence of cause and effect. There is method throughout, certainly, but as you read you begin to discover just how intricate a mechanism Parker has constructed and how much of the motive power is generated from deep within; it's by no means obvious exactly what the overall shape of the thing will turn out to be, because this particular writer is highly adept at springing surprises on the reader - something else I most definitely relish - and showing you what you may think is the blueprint for the entire saga whilst keeping a crafty thumb over the box in the corner that reads 'sheet one of several...'

There is a central and fairly obvious drive-shaft that powers the plot: Engineer Ziani Vaatzes' quest for revenge (possibly) or at least restitution (well, maybe) is the most obvious element in the plot-mechanism's construction. But then there's also an incredibly complicated gearing system of sub-plots and minor arcs that act, quite unpredictably, to shift the balance of the story from one moment to the next. Added to that, the interplay between the book's principle and supporting characters (again, it's never quite or immediately obvious who, exactly, is driving this thing, although Vaatzes is usually the chief suspect) is just terrific to watch and almost impossible to predict.

The whole thing is then wrapped in layers and layers of engineering metaphor - both mechanical and social - as well as a good thick plating of a philosophical exploration of the human condition - very skilfully bolted-on, mind, no shoddy work here - that's then glossed with some superbly droll word-play; burnished just nicely in turn by a quite lovely ear for convincingly under-played dialogue which provides just enough of a patina of age and writerly experience to prevent it all from seeming too shiny and work-shy.

The series is a thoroughly intriguing read throughout. One quick caveat, though: Devices and Desires and The Escapement are perhaps just a little more readable than middle volume Evil for Evil. I'm afraid the second instalment in the series is rather... long. It's as if the machinery that Parker initially sets in motion, having built up an impressive head of steam, then bursts a secondary gasket, runs low on pressure as a result and has to go back to the shop for a while so its operator can adjust a few valves, add some more fuel to the boiler, top up the water and get everything ready for another run at the home stretch. Part II involves plenty of plot-building and character development, but most of it seems to be the sort of tinkering that - whilst assuredly necessary and all very essential in the great scheme of things as they eventually turn out - isn't necessarily quite as interesting as it could be to watch at great length.

But you really should stick with it, because in The Escapement (incidentally, and in relation to a clockwork mechanism: "the part of the movement which controls the release of the motive power") Parker really cranks the revs back up and gets everything moving along again at a fair old clip, sweeping smoothly towards what turns out to be an extremely satisfying and gratifyingly well-rounded denouement.

One side-product of the whole process that I experienced was yet another bout of gob-smacked marvelling on my part: not least at the sheer amount of mental effort that must have gone into conceptualising and designing all the many interlocking parts of this incredible narrative, as well as the very obvious skill with which the author actually assembled the tale: combining in a few hundred thousand words into a configuration of amazing artifice; one that then delivers as its end-product a feat of apparently effortless story-telling. Surely another masterpiece from a writer working at the very height of their powers.

In conclusion: if you consider yourself to be any kind of a connoisseur of well-written, intelligent, mind-stretching, trope-defying fiction (in all nine quite unashamedly fantastical novels to-date I'm pretty sure I haven't spotted so much as an iota of magic, nor a hint of supernatural forces at work, and not so much as a hair of an elf or a scale of a dragon) then you simply must give K.J. Parker's books a go.

And personally, I simply can't wait to see what this incredible wordsmith is going to come up with next.

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5 Responses to 'Highly Recommended Reading: 'The Escapement' by K.J. Parker'

Ed on February 22nd, 2008 10:32 pm

Like I need any more book recommendations.
Darren on February 23rd, 2008 9:25 am

More on the way old boy :)
Ed on February 24th, 2008 11:39 pm

The price you have to pay for freebie books :)
Beefeater on March 17th, 2008 7:01 pm

I loved the Escapement - in fact it's sitting on the corner of my office desk as I write this, having been favoured lunchtime reading for a couple of days.

No mention of Parker is complete without noting the stark, hornswoggling depression it can inspire though. It's like he or she set out to make every single book an object lesson in MISERY and the LAW of UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES. In block capitals, yes. Parker deserves the Jane Austen/Aileen Chang award for cruelty to unsuspecting characters. To that extent, I'm surprised that the Richard Morgan got a health warning on this blog but Parker doesn't.

All in all I thought the Engineer series more rewarding to the reader than Parker's previous two series - both very clever, both very grim. From one solicitor to (I think) another, the misanthropy's pretty familiar, but the rest of us restrict it to the comments page of 'Legal Week'...
Aaron Baker on June 23rd, 2008 7:05 pm

Well, I've just finished DEVICES AND DESIRES, and I'm starting EVIL FOR EVIL, and I have to say this is one of the best written fantasy series I've ever encountered. I'm a little astonished that more people haven't heard of this very talented author.

Some minor linguistic quibbles, though:

First, it's never explained how all the characters over this large stretch of geography can immediately understand one another. Is "Mezentian" perhaps a lingua franca known to all and sundry? It could well be. It should be recalled, however, that the Mezentians come from across the ocean, so their language should have no more in common with Vadanian or Eremian than Spanish has with Nahuatl or Quechua. Why then, do Mezentians, Eremians, and Vadanians all have such similar names?

Which brings me to a second problem with the names, though they are picturesque: almost every character has a Byzantine or pseudo-Byzantine last name; but most of the first names are Romance or pseudo-Romance. Leave aside for amoment the odd fact that everybody has this kind of name--how did this bizarrely hybrid nomenclature evolve?

Quibbles, I admit. If you're less hung up on linguistic verisimilitude than I am, you probably won't care about this sort of thing at all.