The Morgaine Stories
Encyclopedia
The Morgaine Stories, also known as The Morgaine Cycle, are a series of science fantasy
novels by science fiction
and fantasy
writer C. J. Cherryh
, published by DAW Books
. They concern a time-traveling heroine, Morgaine, and her loyal companion Nhi Vanye i Chya.
The first book in the series, Gate of Ivrel
(1976), was Cherryh's first published novel, and was followed soon thereafter by Well of Shiuan
(1978) and Fires of Azeroth
(1979). These three works have been subsequently released in omnibus editions under various titles, including The Book of Morgaine, The Chronicles of Morgaine, and The Morgaine Saga. In 1988, Cherryh published the fourth book in the series, Exile's Gate
.
In the 1980s, Jane Fancher
began a graphic novel
adaptation of Gate of Ivrel in close collaboration with Cherryh. Although it was never completed, Fancher self-published one segment of the work with a color cover and black and white interior art entitled C. J. Cherryh's Gate of Ivrel No. 1 (1985). Two parts of the adaptation were subsequently published as full color versions by The Donning Company
under its Starblaze Graphics
imprint: Gate of Ivrel: Claiming Rites (1986) and Gate of Ivrel: Fever Dreams (1987). In 1987, Tor Books
published an interactive novel
set in Morgaine's universe, The Witchfires of Leth.
This series has been identified as being set in the Alliance-Union universe
, as it is stated that Morgaine was sent on her quest by the "Union Science Bureau".
. Cherryh has cited the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs
and Andre Norton
as influences in the development of her gate system.http://www.cherryh.com/www/list.htm
Because of the temporal paradoxes involved in time travel, the gates are a threat to universal causality
and therefore to the future of innumerable worlds. In fact, as presented in the backstory of the Cycle, unwise use of the gates' temporal properties has already decimated at least one highly advanced civilization, the qhal. To prevent additional such calamities, Morgaine is engaged on a centuries-long quest
that takes her from world to world via the gates, setting each gate to self-destruct
just after she has used it to move on to the next. It is not clear from the storyline how long Morgaine has been traveling, but it is spelled out that she was sent by the Union Science Bureau as a member of a task force one hundred strong given the mission of destroying the gates. There has been attrition over time, with an act of treachery prior to the first novel leaving Morgaine the sole survivor.
The gates and other items in the stories are based on advanced technology, and there are no magical or supernatural elements presented, so the works can be properly classified as science fiction. But the books feature several tropes
common to fantasy, including medieval-type settings and low levels of technology on the worlds depicted in the novels, a feudal
-like relationship between the main characters, and medieval-style warfare
and weaponry.
The device Morgaine uses to destroy the gates, for example, though it incorporates advanced technology, has the appearance of a sword. In the tradition of heroic-epic swords, it has its own name, Changeling. This blending of technology and elements more common to fantasy often results in the books being labeled as works of "Science Fantasy." Indeed, on the author's own Web site she lists them under the heading of "Fantasy Novels," not "Science Fiction."http://www.cherryh.com/www/univer.htm The stories have also been identified as Heroic Fantasy
, and earned Cherryh membership in the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA)
, a literary society that recognizes notable achievements in heroic fantasy fiction.
at the expense of others is seen at first as a kind of ultimate horror, but it emerges that there can be a contest of wills within the host body, one personality becoming dominant, but retaining the memories and skills of the others. The first three books form a trilogy
linked by the pursuit of Morgaine’s ancient qhal betrayer Liell, who takes the body of Vanye’s cousin Chya Roh and flees from her via the Gates from world to world. Roh’s personality gradually subsumes the evil Liell; when Morgaine finally catches him, she spares him for both Roh and Vanye's sake. The fourth book is a sequel to the first three but in narrative terms is independent.
Another theme is the status of the ruined alien
race, the qhal (the name and its derivatives are spelled differently on each world Morgaine visits: e.g. qujal, khal) in relation to human beings. The qhal had been the dominant species, but were ruined by their misuse of the Gates. (The Gates themselves are relics of a more ancient, vanished race, of which it is revealed in the fourth book of the tetralogy, Exile's Gate, Morgaine is a descendant through her father.) All the worlds described have both qhal and human inhabitants, and are at a quasi-medieval level of development (travel is by foot or on horseback, for instance), with advanced technology present but more or less hidden. It is not always explained where the human populations have come from. In Gate of Ivrel, among the ruined human principalities of Andur-Kursh, qhal are hated and feared and few survive, though they remain powerful. In the slowly drowning landscape of Well of Shiuan the qhal are the dominant, cultured society and humans live in miserable squalor. In the forest world of Fires of Azeroth, qhal and some humans have learned to live in mutual respect, carefully tending their environment
(which includes another sentient race, more obviously alien): this paradisial arrangement is threatened by the irruption of the aggressive qhal-human host of refugees from Shiuan. In the world of Exile’s Gate, a dominant qhal society keeps the human-populated areas subject through qhal governors - the exiles from the Lord's court - who have been forced to take human form.
A third theme is the mystery of Morgaine’s own species
identity. She resembles the qhal, being tall and slender with long fair hair and pale eyes and skin, but maintains she is not qhal. She finally admits to her companion Vanye in Fires of Azeroth that she is a half-breed, with a human mother and a father from the race preceding the qhal, who built the gates. She may have killed her father, perhaps as an early part of her mission. Isolated members of this immensely ancient race still survive, such as the Lord of the world of Exile’s Gate.
Chief among those who observe her, and receive a slow series of revelations on these matters, is her faithful vassal and companion, Nhi Vanye, the bastard son of one of the lords of Andur-Kursh, and therefore a man whose original culture makes it hard for him to comprehend the advanced technology with which, and against which, Morgaine makes war. Outcast as a brother-slayer from his own land, he is ilin, a masterless, homeless warrior akin to the Japanese ronin
, when they first meet. By accepting food and shelter from her, according to an ancient Kurshin rite
, he is obliged to provide a year of service to her. The stubbornness and exaggerated sense of honor associated with his people prevents Vanye from breaking his commitment, even when she makes seemingly impossible demands of him.
Though she frees him from his servitude at the end of Gate of Ivrel, he follows her through the gate to Shiuan, and their relationship strengthens and deepens. They come to love one another, but the experience is often painful and confusing. Unlike most genre fantasy, the narrative dwells much on the exhaustion, discomfort, pain and fear of their presumably endless quest. At an early stage, Vanye begs not to be told many things Morgaine would be willing to communicate to him, which retards the pace of revelation further. In all four novels, Vanye is separated from Morgaine and has to fend for himself among enemies, not knowing if she is still alive or will pause to come back for him, with a concomitant increase in dramatic tension. Vanye’s uncertainties are one of the chief strategies Cherryh employs to keep the reader in a parallel state of uncertainty.
. Reprints and UK editions have different cover artwork, for example an armoured portrait of Morgaine by John Higgins
for the 1989 Methuen Mandarin omnibus edition of The Chronicles of Morgaine. Jane Fancher drew the cover art for the three graphic novels, and the cover art for The Witchfires of Leth was done by Doug Beekman.
Science fantasy
Science fantasy is a mixed genre within speculative fiction drawing elements from both science fiction and fantasy. Although in some terms of its portrayal in recent media products it can be defined as instead of being a mixed genre of science fiction and fantasy it is instead a mixing of the...
novels by 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...
and fantasy
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...
writer C. J. Cherryh
C. J. Cherryh
Carolyn Janice Cherry , better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is a United States science fiction and fantasy author...
, published by DAW Books
DAW Books
DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company therefore claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted exclusively to science fiction and fantasy." The first DAW Book published was...
. They concern a time-traveling heroine, Morgaine, and her loyal companion Nhi Vanye i Chya.
The first book in the series, Gate of Ivrel
Gate of Ivrel
Gate of Ivrel is a 1976 science fiction novel written by C. J. Cherryh and was her first published work. It is the first of four books composing the Morgaine Stories, chronicling the deeds of Morgaine, a woman consumed by a mission of the utmost importance, and her chance-met companion, Nhi Vanye i...
(1976), was Cherryh's first published novel, and was followed soon thereafter by Well of Shiuan
Well of Shiuan
Well of Shiuan is a 1978 science fiction novel written by C. J. Cherryh. It is the second of four books composing the Morgaine Stories, chronicling the deeds of Morgaine, a woman obsessed with a mission of the utmost importance, and her warrior companion, Nhi Vanye i Chya.-Plot summary:Mija Jherun,...
(1978) and Fires of Azeroth
Fires of Azeroth
Fires of Azeroth is a 1979 science fiction novel written by C. J. Cherryh. It is the third of four books composing the Morgaine Stories, chronicling the quest that drives an obsessed Morgaine and her warrior companion, Nhi Vanye i Chya, ever onward...
(1979). These three works have been subsequently released in omnibus editions under various titles, including The Book of Morgaine, The Chronicles of Morgaine, and The Morgaine Saga. In 1988, Cherryh published the fourth book in the series, Exile's Gate
Exile's Gate
Exile's Gate is a 1988 science fantasy novel written by C. J. Cherryh. It is the fourth of four books comprising The Morgaine Stories, chronicling the deeds of Morgaine, a woman consumed by a mission of the utmost importance, and her chance-met companion, Nhi Vanye i Chya.It is tenuously set in her...
.
In the 1980s, Jane Fancher
Jane Fancher
Jane S. Fancher is a science fiction and fantasy author and artist.She currently lives in Spokane, Washington with fellow science fiction writer C. J. Cherryh...
began a graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
adaptation of Gate of Ivrel in close collaboration with Cherryh. Although it was never completed, Fancher self-published one segment of the work with a color cover and black and white interior art entitled C. J. Cherryh's Gate of Ivrel No. 1 (1985). Two parts of the adaptation were subsequently published as full color versions by The Donning Company
The Donning Company
The Donning Company is a specialty book publisher based in Virginia Beach. It was first established in the mid-1970s to publish a pictorial history of the founders' hometown. Its imprints included Starblaze Graphics.In 1985, Donning became a wholly owned subsidiary of Walsworth Publishing Company...
under its Starblaze Graphics
Starblaze Graphics
Starblaze Graphics was an imprint of The Donning Company, a publishing company established in 1978 to publish illustrated books. Notable Starblaze publications include Robert Asprin's MythAdventures series, as well as a graphic novel based on the first book...
imprint: Gate of Ivrel: Claiming Rites (1986) and Gate of Ivrel: Fever Dreams (1987). In 1987, Tor Books
Tor Books
Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...
published an interactive novel
Interactive novel
The interactive novel is a form of web fiction and interactive fiction. While authors of traditional paper-and-ink novels have sometimes tried to give readers the random directionality offered by true hypertexting, this approach was not completely feasible until the development of HTML...
set in Morgaine's universe, The Witchfires of Leth.
This series has been identified as being set in the Alliance-Union universe
Alliance-Union universe
The Alliance-Union universe is a fictional universe created by science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh. It is the setting for an epic future history series extending from the 21st century out into the far future....
, as it is stated that Morgaine was sent on her quest by the "Union Science Bureau".
Background
The construct at the center of these novels is a set of "gates" that facilitate travel among a series of distant worlds connected by these gates. In addition to traveling from place to place, the gates can also be used to facilitate time travelTime travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
. Cherryh has cited the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
and Andre Norton
Andre Norton
Andre Alice Norton, née Alice Mary Norton was an American science fiction and fantasy author under the noms de plume Andre Norton, Andrew North and Allen Weston...
as influences in the development of her gate system.http://www.cherryh.com/www/list.htm
Because of the temporal paradoxes involved in time travel, the gates are a threat to universal causality
Causality
Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....
and therefore to the future of innumerable worlds. In fact, as presented in the backstory of the Cycle, unwise use of the gates' temporal properties has already decimated at least one highly advanced civilization, the qhal. To prevent additional such calamities, Morgaine is engaged on a centuries-long quest
Quest
In mythology and literature, a quest, a journey towards a goal, serves as a plot device and as a symbol. Quests appear in the folklore of every nation and also figure prominently in non-national cultures. In literature, the objects of quests require great exertion on the part of the hero, and...
that takes her from world to world via the gates, setting each gate to self-destruct
Self-destruct
A self-destruct is a mechanism which causes a device to destroy itself under a predefined set of circumstances.Self-destruct mechanisms are also found on devices and systems where malfunction could endanger large numbers of people...
just after she has used it to move on to the next. It is not clear from the storyline how long Morgaine has been traveling, but it is spelled out that she was sent by the Union Science Bureau as a member of a task force one hundred strong given the mission of destroying the gates. There has been attrition over time, with an act of treachery prior to the first novel leaving Morgaine the sole survivor.
The gates and other items in the stories are based on advanced technology, and there are no magical or supernatural elements presented, so the works can be properly classified as science fiction. But the books feature several tropes
Trope (literature)
A literary trope is the usage of figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their literal meaning...
common to fantasy, including medieval-type settings and low levels of technology on the worlds depicted in the novels, a feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
-like relationship between the main characters, and medieval-style warfare
Medieval warfare
Medieval warfare is the warfare of the Middle Ages. In Europe, technological, cultural, and social developments had forced a dramatic transformation in the character of warfare from antiquity, changing military tactics and the role of cavalry and artillery...
and weaponry.
The device Morgaine uses to destroy the gates, for example, though it incorporates advanced technology, has the appearance of a sword. In the tradition of heroic-epic swords, it has its own name, Changeling. This blending of technology and elements more common to fantasy often results in the books being labeled as works of "Science Fantasy." Indeed, on the author's own Web site she lists them under the heading of "Fantasy Novels," not "Science Fiction."http://www.cherryh.com/www/univer.htm The stories have also been identified as Heroic Fantasy
Heroic fantasy
Heroic fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy which chronicles the tales of heroes in imaginary lands. Unlike stories of sword and sorcery, heroic fantasy narratives tend to be intricate in plot, often involving many peoples, nations and lands. Grand battles and the fate of the world are common themes,...
, and earned Cherryh membership in the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA)
Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA)
The Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America is the name of a literary group of American fantasy authors active from the 1960s through the 1980s, noted for their contributions to the fantasy subgenre of heroic fantasy or "Sword and Sorcery."...
, a literary society that recognizes notable achievements in heroic fantasy fiction.
Narrative themes
One theme of the books is the exchange of bodies: those who know how to manipulate the power of the Gates may take the body of another, younger person to prolong their life, sometimes indefinitely through a series of such exchanges. This lust for immortalityImmortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
at the expense of others is seen at first as a kind of ultimate horror, but it emerges that there can be a contest of wills within the host body, one personality becoming dominant, but retaining the memories and skills of the others. The first three books form a trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
linked by the pursuit of Morgaine’s ancient qhal betrayer Liell, who takes the body of Vanye’s cousin Chya Roh and flees from her via the Gates from world to world. Roh’s personality gradually subsumes the evil Liell; when Morgaine finally catches him, she spares him for both Roh and Vanye's sake. The fourth book is a sequel to the first three but in narrative terms is independent.
Another theme is the status of the ruined alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
race, the qhal (the name and its derivatives are spelled differently on each world Morgaine visits: e.g. qujal, khal) in relation to human beings. The qhal had been the dominant species, but were ruined by their misuse of the Gates. (The Gates themselves are relics of a more ancient, vanished race, of which it is revealed in the fourth book of the tetralogy, Exile's Gate, Morgaine is a descendant through her father.) All the worlds described have both qhal and human inhabitants, and are at a quasi-medieval level of development (travel is by foot or on horseback, for instance), with advanced technology present but more or less hidden. It is not always explained where the human populations have come from. In Gate of Ivrel, among the ruined human principalities of Andur-Kursh, qhal are hated and feared and few survive, though they remain powerful. In the slowly drowning landscape of Well of Shiuan the qhal are the dominant, cultured society and humans live in miserable squalor. In the forest world of Fires of Azeroth, qhal and some humans have learned to live in mutual respect, carefully tending their environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
(which includes another sentient race, more obviously alien): this paradisial arrangement is threatened by the irruption of the aggressive qhal-human host of refugees from Shiuan. In the world of Exile’s Gate, a dominant qhal society keeps the human-populated areas subject through qhal governors - the exiles from the Lord's court - who have been forced to take human form.
A third theme is the mystery of Morgaine’s own species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
identity. She resembles the qhal, being tall and slender with long fair hair and pale eyes and skin, but maintains she is not qhal. She finally admits to her companion Vanye in Fires of Azeroth that she is a half-breed, with a human mother and a father from the race preceding the qhal, who built the gates. She may have killed her father, perhaps as an early part of her mission. Isolated members of this immensely ancient race still survive, such as the Lord of the world of Exile’s Gate.
Character delineation
The mystery surrounding Morgaine is increased by the fact that, perhaps uniquely among Cherryh’s major protagonists, we never see the action through her eyes. She is always observed by others, and she is not much inclined to talk about her origins, her purposes or her motivations.Chief among those who observe her, and receive a slow series of revelations on these matters, is her faithful vassal and companion, Nhi Vanye, the bastard son of one of the lords of Andur-Kursh, and therefore a man whose original culture makes it hard for him to comprehend the advanced technology with which, and against which, Morgaine makes war. Outcast as a brother-slayer from his own land, he is ilin, a masterless, homeless warrior akin to the Japanese ronin
Ronin
A or rounin was a Bushi with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege....
, when they first meet. By accepting food and shelter from her, according to an ancient Kurshin rite
Rite
A rite is an established, ceremonious, usually religious act. Rites in this sense fall into three major categories:* rites of passage, generally changing an individual's social status, such as marriage, baptism, or graduation....
, he is obliged to provide a year of service to her. The stubbornness and exaggerated sense of honor associated with his people prevents Vanye from breaking his commitment, even when she makes seemingly impossible demands of him.
Though she frees him from his servitude at the end of Gate of Ivrel, he follows her through the gate to Shiuan, and their relationship strengthens and deepens. They come to love one another, but the experience is often painful and confusing. Unlike most genre fantasy, the narrative dwells much on the exhaustion, discomfort, pain and fear of their presumably endless quest. At an early stage, Vanye begs not to be told many things Morgaine would be willing to communicate to him, which retards the pace of revelation further. In all four novels, Vanye is separated from Morgaine and has to fend for himself among enemies, not knowing if she is still alive or will pause to come back for him, with a concomitant increase in dramatic tension. Vanye’s uncertainties are one of the chief strategies Cherryh employs to keep the reader in a parallel state of uncertainty.
Cover artwork
All original cover artwork for the novels in the series was done by Michael WhelanMichael Whelan
Michael Whelan is an American artist of imaginative realism. For more than 30 years he worked as an illustrator specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art...
. Reprints and UK editions have different cover artwork, for example an armoured portrait of Morgaine by John Higgins
John Higgins (comics)
John Higgins is an English comic book artist and writer. He did significant work for 2000 AD, and he has frequently worked with writer Alan Moore, most notably as colourist for Watchmen.-Biography:...
for the 1989 Methuen Mandarin omnibus edition of The Chronicles of Morgaine. Jane Fancher drew the cover art for the three graphic novels, and the cover art for The Witchfires of Leth was done by Doug Beekman.
External links
- Information on the graphic novel adaptation of Gate of Ivrel on C. J. Cherryh's official Web site
- Jane Fancher's discussion of the graphic novel adaptation on www.sff.net