| God is in the details. In fantasy fiction, God has traditionally been the male, full of sweat and muscled men, wielding weapons that represent a garden of Freudian fecundity: sword as penis, arrows as penetration.
Not anymore.
Marie Jakober kisses fantasy fiction on the throat, and gives it a seductive twist. Her novels The Black Chalice (1999) and the recent Even the Stones aren’t about battlefield heroics – they examine authoritarian religion and the way it serves the patriarchy. Chalice has some particular elements that Jakober says many Christians would find offensive. But the novel is not a diatribe – it’s a critique.
"No one knows what’s out there," says the veteran Calgary author. "Who are we to claim knowledge of the details of God?"
Stones spelunks similar caves, but also mines the depth of a queen who must battle religious and political hierarchies that have subjugated women.
"Both books recognize the value of sensuality and sexuality as a legitimate part of life,’ says Jakober. "They recognize that certain forms of patriarchy have tried to crush sensuality. Sensuality has been used to control people in general. But the women use sensuality and sexuality as a form of liberation. In the process, they liberate the men whom they love."
It’s cool to hear Jakober talk about the necessary bond between mind and body – and that’s why she analyzes Christianity, because it sees the world as a necessary burden. But Jakober doesn’t consider the world a burden. In fact, she writes that one can’t just take from the world, one also has to trade with the world. Chalice and Stones embody sensuous writing, with a quality that makes lovers of fiction salivate.
Those familiar with her fantasy fiction will wonder why Jakober doesn’t pursue presses that deal with the likes of Margaret Atwood or Guy Gavriel Kay. A native Albertan who grew up on a farm in the Peace River area, she was a finalist in the 1974 Search for a New Alberta Novelist Competition for her first novel, The Mind Gods, which was subsequently published by Macmillan. But both Chalice and Stones have been published by Edge, a small Calgary press.
"I have more editorial control with a smaller press," she explains. "I’ve heard horror stories of writers dealing with larger publishers, where editors expect outrageous changes. Edge promotes their books better than some big publishers, and make beautiful covers."
Jakober adds that the publishing game is becoming more difficult. "More publishers are involved with multinational corporations, and are more interested in a product rather than a real story. Some writers stick only to one genre as a result."
Jakober, however, branches out, skipping from the sci-fi of Mind Gods to the fantasy of Chalice and Stones to her current project – historical fiction based on the U.S. Civil War. She suffers no illusions. She’s been nominated for awards and published several successful novels, and yet it’s still sometimes difficult to get a publisher.
"When the writing’s just a manuscript and sitting on someone’s desk, it’s seen as something else," she says. "But when it becomes a book and has respectability, things change."
And perhaps that reflects one’s first approach to Jakober’s fantasy fiction. It may not be as well known as some others, but read one of her books – the details speak for themselves. |
Copyright ©2004 FFWD. All rights reserved.