Alímonos

The Dark Age of Enya

First published by Xlibris, 2004 April 9.

Woohoo! Several "firsts" for Yarns Without Threads. The first book to be featured on the site before publication, the first book reviewed here which has been published by a non-traditional publisher, and the first to be illustrated with the author demonstrating his naturism.

Nick Alímonos has been producing stories since the age of six, entertaining staff and customers in his father's Greek restaurant. After an arduous literary apprenticeship, he has reached the milestone of publishing his first novel, The Dark Age of Enya. And what a milestone! More than 500 pages of "sword and sorcery", as hero Xandr pursues his quest and destiny across the world of Enya, through landscapes both benign and hostile.

Sword and sorcery is a very old tradition of story-telling - possibly the oldest. Alímonos is not afraid to acknowledge one of the earliest in this tradition, that ancient Greek, Homer. He also quotes from or nods to a wide range of SF and fantasy authors, from Adams to Zelazny. But this is no derivative imitation or poor copy; Alímonos delivers a tale which is well-constructed and moves along at a fair pace. There are a few rough edges along the way - being your own publisher's editor, as is the norm for those published by print-on-demand Xlibris, must make it more difficult to pick up minor typos - but these didn't affect my enjoyment. The main characters are all fully-developed, with faults and foibles as well as skills and accomplishments.

Alímonos has been a naturist for a long time, and, partly because this is important to him, has incorporated naturist concepts and ideals into the book. Xandr is an Ilmarinen, a race whose society is totally naturist: "no more than ornamentally clad when possible, dressed when the climate demanded it". Other cultures on Enya have different mores. Most are emphatically textile, creating difficulties, tensions and irritations for Xandr and his Ilmar companion, Thelana (right), obliging them to cover up with at least a loincloth for Xandr and tunic for Thelana. A minority of societies accept nudity for young people, or tolerate the customs of strangers, providing the wandering Ilmarinen with welcome relief.

Nudity, particularly female nudity, is not unusual in fantasy writing, and has also been a staple of SF&F illustrations and book covers. Generally, this is used to provide titillation, or to add a sexual overlay to an otherwise a-sexual tale. Alímonos is different in that his Ilmarinen naturism is portrayed as something intrinsic to the character of its people - there is no sensationalism. Yet he does not attempt to ignore the sexual import of nakedness for those shackled by cultural taboos on social nudity. Xandr and Thelana face a range of disapproving attitudes ranging from disapproval to outright condemnation and disgust - you can read some of these cultural clashes in the extracts, along with expositions of what nudity means to the Ilmarinen.

Although many of the stories discussed on Yarns Without Threads refer explicitly to naturism, only two are known to have been written by naturists: The Dark Age of Enya and Glory Road. Interestingly, the latter is also a sword-and-sorcery fantasy novel. While Heinlein's sorcery is of the "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" variety, Alímonos uses supernatural intervention - sparingly - as an extra ingredient.

Overall, I think The Dark Age of Enya is an accomplished first novel. Its conclusion indicates that there may be further adventuring to come from Xandr - I hope so, and look forward to more naturist-friendly fiction from Alímonos.

You probably won't find The Dark Age of Enya in your local bookshop, but it is available from Amazon, or direct from Xlibris.

An edited version of this review appeared in the 2004 September issue of H&E Naturist magazine.

Ratings:

Nudity	Naturist nudity	A good read?

Last updated 2004 July 10.
 
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