Rats and Gargoyles and The Architecture of Desire by Mary Gentle
"Rats and Gargoyles" and "The Architecture of Desire" are two interconnected novels that explore themes of power, political intrigue, and the complexities of human and non-human relationships in a richly imagined world. In "Rats and Gargoyles," the narrative unfolds in a city ruled by humanoid rats, led by the Rat King, where humans exist as servants or slaves under the watchful eyes of thirty-six gods residing in the Fane. The story follows characters from various factions, including scholars and gods, as they navigate a brewing conflict that threatens their precarious existence.
"The Architecture of Desire" offers a more personal narrative, focusing on the lives of Causabon and White Crow as they face challenges related to their roles in society and the repercussions of their actions. Set against the backdrop of a politically charged London, the couple confronts issues of morality, gender dynamics, and the impact of systemic corruption, particularly in the light of an attempted escape of the imprisoned Queen Corona. Both novels address the intersection of individual desires and societal expectations, ultimately leading to a complex portrait of love, betrayal, and the quest for justice. Themes of personal agency, the consequences of power, and the quest for freedom are intricately woven throughout these tales, inviting readers to reflect on the broader implications of desire and control in a multifaceted world.
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Rats and Gargoyles and The Architecture of Desire
First published:Rats and Gargoyles (1990) and The Architecture of Desire (1991)
Type of work: Novels
Type of plot: Fantasy—magical world
Time of work: Approximately the seventeenth century
Locale: A “city at the heart of the world” and London
The Plot
These two novels describe political intrigue. In Rats and Gargoyles, a culture of humans and humanoid rats struggles under the control of gods that inhabit the Fane, a vast palace with underground caverns. The novel chronicles a struggle among gods, men, and rats during the time of a major cultural change.
For centuries, the city at the heart of the world, which by inference sets the standard for the rest of the world, has been immersed in a huge building project called the Fane, which is inhabited by thirty-six gods. The city is ruled by the Rat King, actually eight rats of human proportion connected by their tails. Humans are slaves or servants of the rats, or, if they have some measure of freedom, are subject to the rats’ orders. They share a grim existence at the mercy of plague, starvation, overwork, and whims of the gods. The few who are educated may choose more conventional studies or may pursue magia or even the study of crime.
The story progresses through groups of individuals, male and female, rat and human, who study or teach at the University of Crime, men and women who are members of an organization called the Invisible College of scholar-soldiers, the gods in the Fane, and the court of the Rat King. Although the culture apparently is in a state of equilibrium, change is portended by White Crow, a scholar-soldier, physician, and member of the Invisible College. Her call for assistance to other members begins defensive measures that will save human and rat alike, but individuals from all the groups play a part.
One of the gods decides to change the balance of power between himself and his thirty-five companions. The Lord of Noon and Midnight has compelled humans and rats to help him kill off all thirty-six gods so that he alone can be reborn. This leaves the human world open to chaotic forces such as plague, plots by the Rat King to protect rats but not humans, plots by the humans to protect one another, and a palace coup. When the dust (literally) settles, the god is reborn as a large black gelding and walks among humans, the Fane falls, other gods come into the light of day, and Causabon and White Crow take up what seems to be an old romance.
The Architecture of Desire is a much simpler story, concerning adventures of Causabon and White Crow as a married couple settled in the countryside and rearing two children. Causabon is summoned into the City as an architect to solve the problem of a building that kills its builders. The city is identified as London, but it is a London under the rule of a female protectorate-general, Olivia. Olivia is trying to build a temple to the sun, with a dome in the center, as part of a plan to substantiate her right to her political ambitions. Meanwhile, the heir to the throne of the country, Queen Corona, has been imprisoned in Whitehall. White Crow receives another messenger, a young woman named Desire Guillaume, who asks her help in a clandestine attempt by the queen to escape.
The subplot is predicated on the interaction of the two emissaries, who meet at White Crow’s estate. Desire Guillaume apparently is ill when she arrives and is in a drugged sleep when Causabon’s messengers, a troop of mercenaries led by an old friend, Pollofex Calmady, arrives. During a drunken revelry, Calmady finds his way to Desire’s room and rapes her, a serious crime in this land of female rulers and mercenaries of both sexes.
The whole group journeys to London, with two children and retainers. While Causabon surveys the building project that cannot seem to progress past a few feet of wall, White Crow masterminds an escape and a transfer of gold pieces to the queen, who has set up a kind of court in Whitehall, where she sees ill subjects and cures them with The Royal Touch. White Crow also arranges for the arrest of Calmady for rape. He is released to Causabon’s custody, which is distasteful to White Crow. She proceeds with her intrigue on behalf of the queen, with the help of Desire. In the course of examining Desire, using remarkable modern instruments, White Crow becomes smitten and rapes her. When the girl finds out that she has a venereal disease and is told by a Puritan/protectorate doctor that the disease is a just punishment, she kills herself. Calmady is arrested and tried by the queen, and he is condemned to death.
While both White Crow and Causabon continue their official duties, their private lives become fraught with White Crow’s guilt. Causabon discovers that the corruption destroying the prospective temple is caused by centuries of anointing public buildings with royal blood that has a virus. The temple cannot be safely built. White Crow succeeds in effecting escape of the queen and, by creating a riot and using her mage-craft, of Calmady. The protectorate decides to build the doomed temple, and the tale ends with White Crow on the frozen Thamys on her way to Causabon, whom she had sent out of the city with the children for safety.