This is a contemporary fantasy story that isn't derivative of Tolkien, which in and of itself merits at least three stars. Beyond that quirk, though, this is a terrific story. I was introduced to Matt Ruff through The Mirage: A Novel, which I loved, and I wanted to try his first novel to see if I wanted to read more of his work. By the time I hit the halfway point in this fairy tale, I had already gone online to order two more of Ruff's novels. I love this book.On a surface level, this is a romance about a novelist who lives at Cornell University, falls in love a couple of times, and has some weird and lovable Bohemian friends who fall in love a few times. And the relationships face some big challenges. The fantasy elements, though, draw from Midsummer Night's Dream, as the reader is treated to the machinations of the invisible (or just unnoticed) supernatural figures dancing around the edges of the tale, along with the Storyteller guiding the action behind the scenes. The story becomes a modern analogue of St. George and the Dragon, as our hero confronts increasingly dangerous forms of evil in his journey to the novel's conclusion, and I love the mixture of familiar and new elements.This novel began its life as a thesis when Ruff was a student at Cornell, which explains the mildly embarrassing Cornell love that seeps from its pages, but weren't we all young once, and in love with our chosen community in some way? When I caught myself thinking about obnoxious Andy from The Office, I chose to redirect my attention to an imaginary college tour guide. Ruff isn't saying Cornell is better than other schools - he's saying he digs the people and the atmosphere and the geography of a place that has been good to him. It's immature, maybe, but sincere.I love the way this story makes use of the fantasy elements to craft a more transcendent literary tale. There are some truly frightening chase scenes like a well-done slasher flick (Ruff is a master of a well-paced chase scene, balancing detail and momentum flawlessly), but instead of being popcorn, they pick up religious tones to be deeply unsettling to readers familiar with the New Testament (the updated Legion story shook me up in a way that had me curled up on my couch - if I hadn't caught the reference, it would have been a great action scene, and the reference is subtle enough that someone who misses it won't miss what's going on, but adding the demonic aspects allowed Ruff to say so much more without lengthening the story). Also, the scenes with the Storyteller illustrate a compelling and nuanced exploration of the relationship between fate and free will - and in the last couple of years when I was a member of a church, I read so much about that dynamic that I had absolutely no interest in revisiting the topic, so when Ruff engaged me here, I knew I was reading something special. Ruff nimbly sidesteps the pit of Predictability with skillful use of Foreshadowing and Inevitability, so even when the outcome of a scene is fully projected, the reader can focus on the muscular power of the tale without looking for a flashy plot twist.I don't expect that this 20-year-old novel is going to be widely read these days, even though I hope Ruff becomes more popular as The Mirage gains new fans. It's long, it's a little dated, and there's a lot of Cornell love that is a bit off-putting for those who didn't apply to Cornell. I think fans of thoughtful and exciting literature, especially when it comes to fantasy that goes beyond the tired quest structure, should definitely check it out. This is a largely undiscovered gem, and readers with open minds will fall in love with it.
This review originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #143 (March 1989).There are no fantasy gamers in Fool on the Hill, though you might expect them in a novel set on a university campus. At Matt Ruff's shadow version of Cornell University, they'd be redundant -- the whole campus borders Faerie, and is populated by Shakespearean sprites, canine philosophers, ring-wielding Tolkien lovers, benign crusaders for various causes, and a storyteller in search of love. Instead, there are stories within stories within stories. Some of them are romances: Aurora Smith's father hopes to find her an unconventional husband; a co-president of the reclusive and wondrous Tolkien House offers membership to a band of nonconformists in trade for an introduction to one of them; and star-crossed sprites rebuild a relationship tarnished after an unfortunate incident in a library display case. Greek mythic elements, including a cosmic Storyteller (with a capital S), also have a place. So do tidbits of fairy tale, epic, and Shakespeare, as well as a host of other subtly acknowledged literary influences. At least half the major and minor plots operate on more than one level, some quite openly and others very subtly indeed. And Ruff gets away with the dangerous plot device of giving his characters Significant Names, because the names are invariably, perfect matches for the characters' personalities.The overall atmosphere is one of wry humor and benign good will, but the frequently light tone can be deceptive; Ruff has an equally good eye for drama and danger, and he can conjure fear at appropriate moments. At its heart, though, Fool on the Hill is a novel about the power of dreams and the spirit, and about stories that aren't recorded on paper. In that light, it's a book for every gamer who has ever fudged a die roll in a good cause, about a world that might very well be our own if we believe in it strongly enough. If Ruff, a 22-year-old first novelist, never publishes anything else, Fool on the Hill will undoubtedly become a cult favorite. If he keeps writing this well for another six or seven books, it may wind up as an out-and-out classic.
What do You think about Fool On The Hill (1997)?
I had a hard time even finding Fool on the Hill the first time I tried to do so, several years ago, spurred by the "Also by Matt Ruff" list in his brilliant later novel Set This House In Order (which you really should read—and I should reread, for that matter). I never saw it in bookstores, and eventually ended up snagging a copy to read through Inter-Library Loan. (ILL's a great service, by the way—you should check it out.)Since then, though, Matt Ruff's first novel been reissued in trade paperback format (with, I fear, a rather unfortunate cover). I finally picked up my own copy at City Lights in San Francisco, and have since seen it on a couple of other bookstore shelves. Which is all to the good—while this is definitely a first novel, contrived as all hell (sometimes it's hard to figure out just how many different demigods and minor mages are meddling with the unwitting characters), pretentious and awkward in places, with frequent Capitalization of Common Nouns to indicate their Significance, it's also a lot of fun, especially if you've ever been a role-playing college student. (Another book in a somewhat-similar vein: Neal Stephenson's The Big U, which is also a first novel that spent a fair amount of time out of print before relatively recently becoming widely available.)The college in this case is a real one, though heavily filtered through a pair of Tom Robbins-colored glasses. Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, is the setting for Ruff's complexly intertwined plot, with skeins that involve a pair of far-from-starcrossed lovers, a war between fairies and rats, another war between dorm students and frats, and the unlikely entente between dogs and cats. Its central human character is an improbably successful young author named S.T. George (yep, he does eventually have to face a Dragon, too) who's at Cornell to teach. Of course, he gets kinda sidetracked... not least by Calliope, a young lady who may well be his perfect Muse. And then there are the Bohemians, a crew of horseback- and motorcycle-riding warrior-students, as well as the mysterious denizens of Tolkien House; against them, the spoiled children of privilege who've pledged Rho Alpha Tau, magical forces of chaos like Rasferret the Grub, and the occasional misguided Ithacop.This is one of those "kitchen-sink" novels, stuffed full to bursting with Big Ideas and tiny grace notes—it actually took me longer to get through the second time, because I kept noticing bits like Ruff's nod to early George R.R. Martin that I rather liked—but somehow Ruff manages to keep the excitement going, keep juggling those chainsaws and Molotov cocktails, right up to the end.
—Alan
To be honest, I'm surprised this book has so many positive reviews. It's definitely a first novel. Chaotic, brimming with literary references, and somewhat pretentious, I found myself skimming most of the book. The basic premise is that life is a play directed by God to amuse himself, and you're hit on the head with this over and over (yes, we've all considered that idea ourselves before without any help, thank-you-very-much).Part of the reason I may have found it harder to read than most folks is that I'm recent Cornell graduate, and a Risleyite (once a Risleyite, always a Risleyite... it's rather like being a Queen of Narnia). I found all the familiar things distracting. It also made me notice a certain immaturity in the plot of this novel (definitely reflected in Risley culture even today), which is the belief that Risleyites are superior and frats are evil. It's this sort of clique-ishness- the idea of "us" vs. "them"- that the novel spends so much time tearing down in other areas (black vs. white, purebred dog vs. mongrel). The inconsistency, I think, definitely reveals a young author.Well, at least now I know where the rumor that dogs are allowed to roam free on the arts quad came from.
—Marielle
This book has been on my reading list, no joke -- since circa 1988. I could never find it via library loan or in a used bookstore but I had a gift card and it seems like it's been reissued. Ruff is a post-modern writer, using irony liberally and I previously read The Public Works Trilogy which was much more successful. There are a bunch of narratives here with the only connection really being Cornell University or Ithaca, NY. Supposed to be a modern day fairy tale incorporating different cliques of students, fairies, and talking canines and felines, each with a sort of quest but the cast of characters is vast and it gets really murky -- like the Canterbury Tales meets One Hundred and One Dalmatians -- although all the ends don't really line up well at the end. Also the cheeky references are plentiful, I'm not sure how he didn't get in trouble with either the Rubbermaid Corp. or the Tolkien estate, but seriously he even threw in a Bel Kaufman reference so it's a little too precious even if it's from back in the day (the late 1980's). I'd say if you are not a fan skip and read the later utility/trilogy book. If you like weird narrators that slip in and out with intrusions to plot as a plot within a plot (I think), fairies and talking animals -- then give it a go.
—Edithdoll
