One For the Morning Glory
Encyclopedia
One For the Morning Glory is a fantasy
novel
by John Barnes
, published 1996. It is a fairy tale
where the characters know that they are in a fairy tale. The novel has a humorous tone similar to William Goldman
's The Princess Bride
— quite different from Barnes' usual science fiction
. It forms the second part of a three book series whose first and third parts are not yet written.
A year and a day later, four strangers arrive in the kingdom. This is a magical time, and noted by all as being very auspicious. The strangers are hired by the king and become known as the prince's Companions.
The rest of the tale deals with Amatus's growth into manhood, kingship, and love. It is filled with adventure, laughter, tragedy, unexpected reunions and royal pomp.
s: Barnes takes unusual English words and uses them with utterly different meanings. Characters wear swash
es, in which they keep their fencing escrees and dueling pismire
s; and meet in small drinking establishments known as taboret
s and stupor
s. One character is named Pell Grant
. Many of the place names, such as the Isought Gap
, are philosophical references.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by John Barnes
John Barnes (author)
-Writing:Two of his novels, The Sky So Big and Black and The Duke of Uranium have been reviewed as having content appropriate for a young adult readership, comparing favorably to Robert A. Heinlein's "juvenile" novels...
, published 1996. It is a fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
where the characters know that they are in a fairy tale. The novel has a humorous tone similar to William Goldman
William Goldman
William Goldman is an American novelist, playwright, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.-Early life and education:...
's The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride is a 1973 fantasy novel written by William Goldman. It was originally published in the United States by Harcourt Brace, while in the UK it is/was published by Bloomsbury Publishing....
— quite different from Barnes' usual science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
. It forms the second part of a three book series whose first and third parts are not yet written.
Plot summary
There is a saying in the land that someone who drinks the Wine of the Gods before he is ready is only half a man thereafter. Amatus, the prince, manages to swig down a significant amount of the Wine of the Gods, and his entire left half vanishes. His father, the normally gentle King Boniface, orders the executions of the four people responsible for this travesty—the maid, the alchemist, the witch, and the captain of the guard—and then begins the long and arduous process of interviewing to fill these four positions.A year and a day later, four strangers arrive in the kingdom. This is a magical time, and noted by all as being very auspicious. The strangers are hired by the king and become known as the prince's Companions.
The rest of the tale deals with Amatus's growth into manhood, kingship, and love. It is filled with adventure, laughter, tragedy, unexpected reunions and royal pomp.
Vocabulary
The novel is written with playful malapropismMalapropism
A malapropism is an act of misusing or the habitual misuse of similar sounding words, especially with humorous results. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".-Etymology:...
s: Barnes takes unusual English words and uses them with utterly different meanings. Characters wear swash
Swash
Swash, in geography, is a turbulent layer of water that washes up on the beach after an incoming wave has broken. The swash action can move beach material up and down on the beach, which results in the cross-shore sediment exchange. The time-scale of swash motion varies from seconds to minutes...
es, in which they keep their fencing escrees and dueling pismire
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s; and meet in small drinking establishments known as taboret
Taboret
A taboret refers to two different pieces of furniture, a cabinet or a stool.The popular sense refers to a small portable stand or cabinet, with drawers and shelves for storage. It is used as a method to bring organization to a work area. This name for a portable cabinet is common to artists...
s and stupor
Stupor
Stupor is the lack of critical cognitive function and level of consciousness wherein a sufferer is almost entirely unresponsive and only responds to base stimuli such as pain. This is often mistaken for delirium and treated with Haldol and or other anti-psychotic drugs...
s. One character is named Pell Grant
Pell Grant
A Pell Grant is money the federal government provides for students who need it to pay for college. Federal Pell Grants are limited to students with financial need, who have not earned their first bachelor's degree or who are not enrolled in certain post-baccalaureate programs, through participating...
. Many of the place names, such as the Isought Gap
Is-ought problem
The is–ought problem in meta-ethics as articulated by Scottish philosopher and historian, David Hume , is that many writers make claims about what ought to be on the basis of statements about what is...
, are philosophical references.