Book 13


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The Elemenstor Cycle, Book 13: The Glaivemistress(es) of Arvalyyon


First edition book cover:

Dust Jacket Notes

After the devastation of the Hierarch Wars, the world of Battal is at peace once again. But for how long? Shortly after the victory at the Battle of Freedom's Peril, the Elemenstor Union is approached by the mysterious Glaivemistress of Arvalyyon. Hailing from the era of The Resundering, the Glaivemistress is defying the will of the Chronoclave to set all of time right, and end the threat of Dark Elemenstation once and for all.

Comments

This represents Tycho Brahe's (or another author's) most ambitious failure. After having defeated the dark powers so thoroughly in Book 12, Brahe is left with nothing to do in his last chapter but to try and do away with evil not just in the current time, but throughout all of time. But after having established Dark Elemenstation so forcefully and powerfully in his previous works, attempting to eliminate it creates massive inconsistencies between his previously coherent saga and this unnecessary thirteenth chapter. Indeed, most of the later works written in the world of the Hierarchs are an attempt to reconcile this thirteenth chapter with some coherent picture of reality.

There are also significant structural problems with this book. Entire chapters are written with sentences that lack any semblance of syntax. The twelfth chapter, "Muffin;", is composed entirely of semicolons without any words between them. When the meaning of his words is understandable, the content is jarring and rarely enjoyable. Mr. Brahe kills off many of the saga's most beloved pieces of furniture in a freak bonfire in the first chapter, and the new character of the Glaivemistress seems to be perpetually intoxicated. This thirteenth novella might be an indication of failings in Mr. Brahe's mental health. It may also, however, be evidence of the rumor that Mr. Brahe did not write many of the books in the Epic Legends of the Hierarchs: The Elemenstor Saga. The sudden appearance of a few lines regarding the Ohcyt Panamarans in a field of deepest punctuation in the last five pages is often considered an ill-fated effort to rescue the series.

While the official title given by Brahe is "Glaivemistresses" (pluralized), the book itself only contains one Glaivemistress, the Glaivemistress of Arvalyyon. Thus, the first edition cover pictured here most likely had the name changed by the publisher who, having actually read the book, changed the title to match the story. Later editions (including the suede one), released by different publishers, probably just took the original pluralized name off the alcohol-stained front page of Brahe's original manuscript.

Knack Aware Microbes

The Glaivemistress introduces the reader to the concept of Knack Aware Microbes (KAM), or knackrobes as she refers to them. According to the "science" of her society, the ability of Elemenstors to use the Knack is governed by the concentration of knackrobes in their body. She rattles off several figures to support her claims such as a KAMrating of (inscrutably) 1007.9+w for Harbinger Portent and a KAMrating of 1080+i (highest ever recorded) for Char Reyarteb. She goes on to just other elemenstors by using her KAMtecting Rod, in order to assess threat level or usefulness of an elemenstor.

Needless to say, fan reaction to knackrobes was quite negative. Most felt that this needlessly demystified elemenstation, while others felt that such an important system could not possibly be added so late in the franchise. Given that this book contains the only canon references to knackrobes, the community has largely explained their appearance as being a reflection of the way in which the people of Arvalyyon interpreted elemenstation, and although the Glaivemistress presents it as factual, knackrobes may or may not actually exist or play the role that was expressed by her in the books.

Excerpts from the Text

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ULTIMATE SPOILER

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Because of the time bending actions of the Glaivemistress of Arvalyyon, Book 13 ends with the opening of Book 1, implying that the entire thirteen book series (and, by extension, the entire Elemenstor Universe) was a giant timeloop deprived of free will. By far the most controversial element of the entire Saga, it still incites flamewars over its merit. The momentous last lines read:

The Elemenstor blinked. Had he seen something in the darkness? No, he decided, it was probably just those olives he ate earlier. They hadn't been fresh at all. Plus he was getting old. Bah. He'd be dead long before he gave up his precious pickled foodstuffs. Dismissing such thoughts, he gathered his robes and pressed on.

A flash of lightning tore through the tumult, illuminating the grizzled Elemenstor and his ambulatory dresser.

See Also: Knack Alignmenstation. Chronoclave. The Coast of Exotic Adventure. Hierarch Larchmere. The Elemenstor Cycle. Book 12. Wet Foot. Bag of the Endless Void. Glaivemistress of Arvalyyon. Book 9. Xaphod. Hierarchs. Hairball. Elemenstrosity. Arvalyyon. Availability. Carry Wombat. Excerpts from the cycle that are recounted here. Air Wombat. Canon or non-canon. Fregor the Untruthful. Book 13 and a Half. Ice Wombat. Homo Canii. Camdoo W’Teelf. Jubilee of the New Year. Yar the Sorcerial. The Temptations of Power. Quotable Quotes. :. Hepgoiess. Water Wombat. Ssskssenek. Convolution and Complexity. Single Author Theory. Gorsald the Pedantic. Three Critical Errors. ;. Fire Wombat. RealLifeTimeLine. Book 1. Ronard the Medium. Kapybara. Realmworlds Delicious Freezees Inc. Ablongox the Particularly Unusually Long Lived. Epic Legends Of The Hierarchs: The Elemenstor Saga, as read by James Earl Jones. Death Wombat. Earth Wombat. The Rusty Butter Knife. Stream Wombat. Kazuki Tajiri. eulithian resonance vector. Sanctuary. Life Wombat. Lake Meryou. Mountain Dew Epic Black. Eulith.

 

Discussion

Stupid newbie question: Who's the Elemenstor referred to in the end of this book?
Harbinger Portent.
I mean, have you NOT read the first book? --Johan
Come on guys, its okay to ask these questions. I wondered the same thing myself. It is implicit, but never actually stated. It only becomes explicit'' in the very last paragraph of the cycle.