Where's My Sword?

by Kris

I’m late coming to the party, since millions of others have already made this discovery, but the most exciting books I’ve read lately are the two published books in The Fourth Realm Trilogy by John Twelve Hawks, The Traveler and The Dark River.

So many people have recommended The Traveler to me. I must confess that after hearing about the first chapter, it didn’t appeal to me, so it never made my TBR list. I only decided to give it a try when my husband and a friend couldn’t stop raving. And I still had to push past the child-in-jeopardy opening. But once I read beyond the opening of The Traveler, I couldn’t put it down.

Although marketed as science fiction/fantasy, I would describe The Traveler as a modern-day thriller with slight futuristic elements. Set in a post-9/11 society, a secret organization known as the Brethren uses the fear of terrorism to justify invasive surveillance, which allows them to control the world’s population. Opposing them are the few remaining Travelers, who are able to travel to other realms to discover lost truths, and the last of the Harlequins, fierce fighters whose mission it is to protect Travelers.

The Traveler is the first book in what will be The Fourth Realm Trilogy. The second book in the trilogy, The Dark River, came out in paperback this summer. I read that one just as fast.

John Twelve Hawks is a pseudonym for the anonymous author of these books.  According to legend, no one knows who he really is. What is known, through phone and internet interviews as well as information released by his publisher, Random House, is that he is not Native American, but is living “off the grid,” a term from his books that implies he is invisible to the network of surveillance and authority that he writes about — no address, no bank account, etc.

Though I regard it as a clever ruse, I’m too cynical to buy that anyone so successful can fully live off the grid. How does he get his advances and royalties? Does his agent meet him in a dark alley and pass over a suitcase full of cash? Could happen, I guess, but it’d have to be quite a suitcase. Yet that doesn’t lessen the power of his novels’ message, nor the passion with which he writes.

Internet speculation about Twelve Hawk’s true identity includes the possibility that he is physicist Stephen Hawking, authors Peter Gutteridge, F. Paul Wilson, Thomas Pynchon, and even Dan Brown. Most likely, he’s none of these.

I must say his writing style doesn’t remind me of anybody else I’ve read. While a skillful storyteller, he is still developing. Among my few quibbles is the fact that POV is sloppy in the first book, but better managed in the second. I also take issue with the fact that some characters’ underpinnings tend to morph into something else as needed. Neither those issues, nor others, was enough to lessen my enjoyment, though.

This series does for our world what Orwell’s 1984 did for his time and the era of his prediction. Frankly, the themes in these books scare me silly, but that’s what makes them such great thrill rides. I can’t wait for the third.

And as I face my daily challenges, I can’t help thinking how much more effective I’d be if I had a Harlequin’s power. That’s my new secret fantasy — I want that sword! Then again, being a Traveler would be pretty great, too. Anytime books capture the imagination like that, they're doing something right.

Comments

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

Oh, Kris. You got me. This sounds terrific.

Remember Bob Woodward's book "The Brethren?" About the U.S. Supreme court? Huh. Interesting that's what Twelve Hawk names the bad guys.

What's more, my husband, a lawyer,has handled cases which prove the invasion of privacy and increasing survellance ("justified" by the war on terrorism) is disturbingly pervasive. So I hear about this at home every day.

I'm now trying to see if the author's name is an anagram.

And I'm definitely getting the books.

[Susan]

Kris:

Your posting made me smile. Like you, I loved both of John Twelve Hawks' books. And when I'm at the grocery store and the person in front of me pulls out her coupons -- has the checker ring them up -- and then CHANGES HER MIND -- ahhh, yes, I really want Maya's sword.

[Joe]

Check out his web site:

www.randomhouse.com/features/johntwelvehawks

[krisneri]

Ooh! An anagram. What a clever idea, Hank.

[krisneri]

I hear you, Susan. To be honest, though, I know my tolerance is way too low to have Maya's sword.

[krisneri]

Joe, what an amazing website! Thanks.