The Birthgrave Explained

The Birthgrave: Birthgrave Trilogy: Book One
Author:Tanith Lee
Cover Artist:George Barr
Country:United States
Language:English
Followed By:Vazkor, Son of Vazkor
Genre:Science fantasy
Published:June 1975 (DAW Books of America)
Oclc:21206180
Pages:408

The Birthgrave is a 1975 science fantasy novel by British author Tanith Lee. The novel was Lee's first published novel for adults, and also the first novel in The Birthgrave Trilogy. Inspired by Lee's own personal dreams from her early twenties, the story follows a nameless protagonist through various towns on a journey to discover who she really is and what she is capable of. The Birthgrave received mostly positive reviews and was nominated for the 1975 Nebula Award for best novel.

Setting

The book opens in the heart of a dormant volcano and takes place in a brutal ancient world transformed by genocidal pestilence, war, fierce beauty, and cultural devastation.[1] [2] This world has an early medieval culture with “decadent imperial civilizations,” small city states, nomadic groups, constant little wars and skirmishes and conquests, swords and primitive cannons, multiple religions worshipping various deities, and powerful but mysterious magic.[3] [4] Although the main setting is mostly medieval, Karrakaz's world is later revealed to be just one of many planets visited by the mysterious “hollow star” exploration spaceship.

Synopsis

The novel begins with the unnamed narrator awakening inside a volcano with no idea who she is. The story follows her quest to discover her past and her true identity.[5] Compelled by a mysterious entity called “Karrakaz,” the narrator sets off in search of a glistening jade that may hold answers to her questions.[6]

After emerging from the volcano, the narrator encounters a village that reveres her as a goddess due to her healing powers and her inhuman face, which she considers hideous. The leader of this village, a bandit-king named Darak, persuades the narrator to join him on his expeditions to raid a merchant caravan, trade for weapons, explore a cursed, ruined city, and compete in a deadly chariot race, leading to Darak's demise.

She continues to the cities of the White Desert and becomes the goddess of a decadent civilization fighting for the deceitful sorcerer-conqueror Vazkor, who uses the narrator as his instrument of power. However, thanks to Vazkor, the narrator learns about her people, a long-lost omnipotent civilization of Old Ones who once ruled the world as cruel, arbitrary gods. In the end, she also kills Vazkor.

Leaving the cities, she is enslaved by a tribal krarl, gives birth to Vazkor's son, wanders onward, battles a dragon, and encounters a spaceship from a distant advanced civilization. The spaceship computer reveals the narrator's forgotten past. Karrakaz, the entity that spoke to her in the volcano, is actually part of herself—her lost name—and she was a princess of the Old Ones, who were wiped out by a plague at the height of their power. She sought refuge within a volcano temple and lay dormant for 16 years. Ultimately, her guilt at the evil of her race caused her to create Karrakaz as an alternate personality commanding her to destroy herself. In the end, at peace with herself, Karrakaz discovers the jade she sought in her own forehead, and learns that behind the mask, her face is not hideous, but unimaginably beautiful.

Characters

Background

When writing The Birthgrave in 1975, Tanith Lee changed her genre to adult fiction and focused on planetary romance. The novel was inspired by Tanith Lee's experience of waking up from a dream in her early twenties haunted by mental images of a white female curled up inside of a live volcano, images which led to a fascination with the protagonist and later to the opening paragraph in the novel.[7] [8] With the publication of The Birthgrave by DAW, Tanith Lee entered the science fiction field, and her career rapidly took off thanks to the emotional depth of her narrative and her female protagonists.

Writing process

The Birthgrave was written by Tanith Lee around the age of 22; her mother typed the manuscript.[9] Much of the novel is based on Lee's own dreams where she was in the place of its narrator, which she describes as, ”we rose from fire and from death, fell deep into passions of love, raced the chariots…and withered and regained our destiny." When she first dreamed of the book's heroine, Lee described her as “white as ice, unknown to me as the back of the moon".[10] Lee usually doesn’t plan out her stories, often starting with creating the characters and “just writing” the story around their personalities.[8] The process of writing, Lee stated in a 2009 interview, usually takes about two weeks for her novels.[11] Tanith Lee's influences when writing mainly come from music, literature, film, and prominent public figures.[12] The Birthgrave was Lee's first adult novel, but was initially rejected by many publishers until it was picked up by DAW Books of America, launching her career[9] After reading fantasy novelist Jane Gaskell's “The Serpent” and noticing that she didn’t stick to the typical Real World setting, Lee was influenced to do just the same. She was also very fascinated by Gaskell's take on sexual romance and psychology and how she flowed the two different writing styles into one [14]. DAW was very interested in her story and chose to publish her, which turned out to be quite the success[15].

Creation

Lee had just finished a year at art college and had been taking minuscule jobs, such as waitressing and shop work. She had been in a bookstore, looking through books published by DAW, whom she admired. She then had a thought of why not taking a chance and sending one of her own stories to DAW to be published. That story was “The Birthgrave” and its creation came from her very own imagination. The opening scene was formed from the mental image of a woman being curled up in a ball inside a volcano, which was based on a strange awakening Lee had in her early twenties[10] After reading fantasy novelist Jane Gaskell's “The Serpent” and noticing that she didn’t stick to the typical Real World setting, Lee was influenced to do just the same. She was also very fascinated by Gaskell's take on sexual romance and psychology and how she flowed the two different writing styles into one[13] DAW was very interested in her story and chose to publish her, which turned out to be quite the success.[14]

Critical reception

Following its publication in 1975, The Birthgrave was met with favorable reviews, and continues to be widely praised today[15] [16] .[17] Critics have praised its “genius”, emotional depth, uniqueness[15] and Lee's immense talent at creating a fluent and imaginative map for the reader through a sword and sorcery epic plot.[16] "Many of exciting conventions included show blood-and-thunder pulp fantasy without making the reader feel cheated. That is, I did not feel as if I'd been lied to -- being promised a sword-and-sorcery story and then given something else entirely." Critics reveal that the author effortlessly sustains both ultramodern and primeval genre's integrity of the world she has created, no matter how unusual or unique her writing approach may be. Its literary elements succeed within the service of The Birthgraves story and its authentic characters, which embellish her cross-genre ability.[5] Although some have objected that the plot is repetitive and predictable,[5] critics are near-unanimous in praising the prose[17] and the memorable female protagonist, who is the first in a series of widely praised protagonists in Lee's writing.

Themes

Critics have noted numerous themes in The Birthgrave, particularly the theme of power. Within the different societies the narrator encounters, the image of a healer recurs. The narrator takes on the role of the healer in these societies and then abuses her ranking and her use of power to control the societies.[11] While the narrator travels through the different societies, gender issues affect the narrator while she stays in these societies. The narrator also struggles with self-discovery, trying to find out who she was and how her race became extinct. The Washington Post noted Birthgrave as novel featuring "vigorous heroines, often a warrior or a sorceress” who eventually finds herself as she travels on her quests.[18]

Writing style

Critics have highly regarded Tanith Lee's writing style; her style crosses new boundaries in a fantasy setting. Lee's writing focuses mainly on fantasy and science fiction.[19] Her writing features very complex writing and emotions.[20] Her books often show a “sword and sorcery” genre with battling for oneself and battling for love.[19] Her style is able to capture the reader and is often described as having “the talent and ability for painting with words”.[21] Readers and viewers have also described Tanith Lee's writing, especially for The Birthgrave, as having “hidden humor”.[21] The Birthgrave’s symbols are most prominent as a “sword and sorcery.”[22]

Publication history

Notes and References

  1. Book: The Birthgrave Hardcover. 1 November 2010. 978-1607620792. It’s filled with adventure and beauty, rich alien names, half-sketched barbarian societies, ruined cities, decadence and wonder. A nameless woman, knowing only that she is under a curse, comes out of the heart of an extinct volcano..
  2. Web site: The Birthgrave by Tanith Lee. 2015. FictionDB. 5 October 2015. She comes forth into a brutal ancient world transformed by genocidal pestilence, fierce beauty, and cultural devastation .
  3. Web site: All Tomorrows: The Birthgrave. Forbes. David. 17 August 2009. Coilhouse Blog Archive. 13 October 2015. For Lee’s (at first) nameless heroine awakes with nothing but questions, as the eruption of a volcano shakes her from a seemingly endless sleep with memories of hidden power, tragedy and a bottomless sense of guilt..
  4. Web site: The Birthgrave by Tanith Lee. Williams. Anthony. 23 May 2008. Science Fiction & Fantasy. 5 October 2015. The story is set on another world, with an early medieval culture; small city states, nomadic groups, constant little wars and skirmishes, swords and primitive cannon, and multiple deities..
  5. Web site: Pulp Fantasy Library: The Birthgrave . Maliszewski . James . 27 June 2011 . Pulp Fantasy Library. 2 October 2015 . Everything one expects in the genre, whether it's mysterious lost races, decadent civilizations, or dark magic are on display here and compellingly so..
  6. Web site: "The Birthgrave" by Tanith Lee . 2015 . Compelled by a mysterious entity called “Karrakaz”, the narrator sets off in search of a glistening jade that may hold answers to her questions.
  7. News: Tanith Lee, Fantasy and Horror Novelist, Dies at 67. Roberts . Sam . 2 June 2015 . The New York Times . 5 October 2015 . The Birthgrave was inspired by Tanith Lee’s experience of waking up from a dream in her early twenties haunted by mental images of a white female curled up inside of a live volcano.
  8. Web site: The Object of Desire -- Our interview with Tanith Lee. Edgerton. Teresa. 5 May 2014. Chronicles Science Fiction and Fantasy. images which led to a fascination with the protagonist and later to the opening paragraph in the novel..
  9. Web site: Excerpt: Introduction and Author's Note . Penguin Random House Canada . 22 June 2018.
  10. Web site: Interview: Our Interview With Tanith Lee . Edgerton . Teresa . Nov 2004 . Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles . 20 October 2015 . The awakening from the volcano was based on a strange awakening she had had from sleep in her early twenties. .
  11. Web site: Interview: Tanith Lee. 17 November 2009 . Innsmouth Free Press . 6 October 2015 . The process of writing, Lee stated in a 2009 interview, usually takes about 2 weeks for her novels .
  12. Web site: Interview: Tanith Lee Innsmouth Free Press. www.innsmouthfreepress.com. 2015-10-29.
  13. Web site: Interview: InterGalactic Interview With Tanith Lee. Scheitzer. Darrel. InterGalactic Magazine. 20 October 2015 . She was also very fascinated by Gaskell’s take on sexual romance and psychology and how she flowed the two different writing styles into one .
  14. Book: Lee. Tanith. TheBirthgrave. 2015 . DAW Books . 5 . DAW was very interested in her story and chose to publish her, which turned out to be quite the success.
  15. Web site: Best Fantasy Trilogy you've never read?Try this one.. Forbes. David. 2007. Daily Asheville Planet. 29 July 2019.
  16. Web site: Paul DiFilippo Reviews Tanith Lee. DiFilippo. Paul . 2013. LocusPublications. Immensely talented, immensely prolific, intrinsically fluent and fluid, writing all over the imaginative map.... 29 July 2019.
  17. Web site: Fantasy Literature and Science . Scheidler . Tim . 15 July 2015 . Fantasy Literature Reviews . 6 October 2015 . It’s repetitive, it’s all predicated on a prosaic twist that’s kept overly mysterious, and when the big reveal finally does come, it’s via one of the most blatant examples of deus ex machina I’ve ever seen..
  18. News: Women Warriors and Earth Mothers . The Washington Post . 6 October 1985.
  19. Haase, Donald. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2008. Print.
  20. "Book Review: The Birthgrave Trilogy." Milliebot Reads. N.p., 19 July 2015. Web. 05 Oct.2015.
  21. Scheidler, Tim. "The Birthgrave: Pretty Good." Fantasy Literature Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews RSS. Fantasy Literature, n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
  22. Gidney, Craig L. "Morbid Outlook - Delirium's Mistress: The Weird & Beautiful Fiction Of Tanith Lee." Morbid Outlook - Delirium's Mistress: The Weird & Beautiful Fiction Of Tanith Lee. Morbid Outlook, n.d. Web. 2 October 2015.