Title:

The West Passage

Author:

Jared Pechaček

Category:

Science Fiction

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

December 26, 2024

he West Passage is a wholly original fantasy novel. Pechaček has created a vast, crumbling palace, dominated by five huge, ancient towers: Red, Yellow, Blue, Black and Grey. This is not the standard fantasy novel, there are no elves, knights, spells or ordinary-seeming characters who are actually of noble birth. Instead, Pechaček has created a wildly inventive world with populated with strange creatures, bizarre cultures, and unique settings. The West Passage is like the unusual worlds that Jack Vance was so fond of creating, (though Pechaček writes without Vance's flamboyant vocabulary). For example, some characters have twigs and leaves instead of hair. Lying around in the towers are discarded "miracles", which seem to mostly be a nuisance, though some can be dangerous. There are god-like Ladies, who stand many feet tall and possess tremendous magical powers. Everywhere there are characters, some only partially human, who labor at tasks that seem whimsical or fanatical.

The storyline alternates between two young protagonists: Kew, who was apprentice to the Grey Guardian (named Hawthorn), and Pell, a young woman in service to the Grey Mother (named Yarrow). Both Kew and Pell end up embarking from the Grey Tower and journeying to the other towers - this allows the reader to see all the inventive surprises that Pechaček has dreamed up. The book begins with the strange funeral of the Grey Guardian (her body is consumed by crows at the end). Unfortunately, she died before making Kew her successor. Thus, Kew lacks the Guardian knowledge and Guardian powers that are essential for defeating the Beast. Kew decides his only hope to achieving Guardian-hood is to venture to the Black Tower and explain his plight; surely one of the powerful Ladies will recognize the danger that exists if there is no Guardian. It is a long and dangerous walk to the Black Tower, and Kew is beset by ravenous hyenas. Fortunately he is rescued by a sparrow-headed man named Fourteen Sparrow who travels along the Passage wall in a machine that he controls with whistles. Kew and Fourteen Sparrow become friends, but the hyenas prove to be relentless, and Kew is soon traveling alone again.

Meanwhile, back in the mostly empty cloisters of the Grey Tower, the rising of the Beast causes a heavy non-seasonal snowfall to descend. The Yarrow slips on the ice, hits her head, and soon perishes. Young Pell finds herself promoted to Grey Mother - she is named the new Yarrow (there are only three girls left in service to choose the next Yarrow from). When Pell (now called Yarrow) discovers that Kew has taken the green mask with him, she is angered by his desecration of a sacred religious artifact, and resolves to set out after him to retrieve it. Unfortunately, she exits the Grey Tower via the wrong door and instead of finding herself in the passage to the Black Tower, she is instead headed toward the Yellow Tower. But there is no turning back, the door has locked behind her.

The five towers have all seen better days. Grey Tower is almost completely deserted, while the Blue and Yellow towers are also greatly reduced in population. Grey Tower doesn't even have a Lady controlling it. But Pechaček never explains why the giant palace has been so diminished. Like all the best fantasy worlds, Pechaček's towers do have a sense of history and culture, but somehow I missed reading any reason for the palace slipping into a decaying ruin.

Each chapter has a small piece of artwork above the chapter title, this stylized artwork was drawn by Pechaček himself, and I liked it. The West Passage is partitioned in eight books, and there is a full page piece of art at the start of each book. The art at the beginning of book 7 is actually a map of the five towers and palace. I wish that Pechaček had placed the map at the beginning of the book instead of near the very end, I would have referred to it multiple times.

I loved the creativity that Pechaček displays when he created this world. The only reason I did not award this novel five stars is because there is a lack of tension building to the climax. Kew and Pell don't display any urgency in their quests. The Beast is rising, which ought to be frightening, yet somehow the book did not turn into a page-turner racing toward a gripping finish. Pell and Kew continue to encounter bizarre people performing strange deeds, and the cultures that Pechaček has conjured up make for interesting reading, but The West Passage lacks a dramatic conclusion. Yet I still liked the book and will be on the lookout for whatever else Pechaček might write.