Fic: The Huntsman and the King

[regshoe]

In which I explore the question: what if the devil with whom John Uskglass apparently forms an alliance was the same one who appears in my other favourite novel about magic?

The Huntsman and the King by regshoe
Fandoms: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke, Lolly Willowes - Sylvia Townsend Warner
Rating: G
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Words: 1,507
Characters: John Uskglass | The Raven King, The Devil (Lolly Willowes)
Summary: Somewhere in the Chilterns, 1927. Two old allies meet again.

(This is the second time I've posted the second ever fic in an AO3 fandom tag. It's only getting more obscure, apparently.)

Comments

[speakingskies]

Just popping in to say that I had never heard of Lolly Willowes, but having checked it out after seeing this it is now absolutely next on my tbr pile. Thank you for the introduction!

[regshoe]

I'm very glad to hear that :D It's a bizarre and wonderful book, and I'd love to know what you make of it once you've read it!

[pretty_plant]

I have heard of this book before but after reading your fanfic, I checked the book on wikipedia. Now, I have finished reading the book and Sylvia Townsend Warner is officially my new favorite author. Have you read other books written by her?

[regshoe]

This comment has made my week :D I'm very glad to have introduced you to Sylvia Townsend Warner, she really is amazing.

I've read two of her other novels—Summer Will Show, about a woman in the nineteenth century who goes through a bit of a life upheaval after her husband dies and who ends up in France fighting in the revolution of 1848 alongside her new communist girlfriend, and The Corner That Held Them, an odd, meandering book that follows the lives of the nuns in a convent across several decades of the fourteenth century. They're both quite different from Lolly Willowes—longer and written in a somewhat denser style, as well as different in subject matter—but they're both very good and highly recommended! I also have Kingdoms of Elfin, a book of short stories about fairies that I've heard discussed as being in the same general orbit as Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, currently taking high priority on my to-read list.

[pretty_plant]

I am reading Summer will show (which is the seventh or sixth book in my currently-reading list because I have no self-control when it comes to book). A day ago, I just read a list of Warner's book and found out she wrote a lot of books, one of which involves a lesbian romance. Of course, I want to read the one with the lesbian romance. The book is obviously denser than Lolly Willowes and it is hard to read it in breaks and on bus like I did with Lolly Willowes.

And about the her fairy book, I am not surprised that Warner has written something of the general orbit as JSMN. She has made some very interesting comments about fairy tales in Lolly Willowes (my favorite is the one about the henwife). And Clarke belongs in the group of authors who are interested in the depictions of fairies in fairy tales.

[regshoe]

'Of course, I want to read the one with the lesbian romance'—excellent priorities, this was exactly my thought process when I was deciding which of her books to read after Lolly Willowes :D I hope you enjoy it!

[speakingskies]

(Rather late) Update: I LOVED IT!! I can see why you thought of combining it with JSAMN - very different books but they've got a similar feel. There were so many little moments that still hit exactly the point even 90 years later, and it's so beautifully written!

I'm also livid that no one has told me about Sylvia Townsend Warner before! I did a bit of background reading about her and she lived such an amazing life! The rest of her work is now firmly on my TBR list.

Thank you so, so much for alerting me to her existence! I am restricting myself from reading fanfic while I finish my WIP bc otherwise I'll never get it done, but as soon as I do I am 100% going to read your fic (and doubtlessly love it).

[regshoe]

:D :D :D

She really is great. The copy of Kindgoms of Elfin (very, very good book) that I read recently has an advert in the back for a published collection of letters between her, Valentine Ackland and a couple of others, and I might have to see if I can get that at some point because her life does sound fascinating as well as her books.