Simon Snow
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| Simon Snow | |
|---|---|
| Carry On character | |
| First appearance | Fangirl (2013) |
| Last appearance | Any Way the Wind Blows (2021) |
| Created by | Rainbow Rowell |
| Information | |
| Full name | Simon Oliver Snow (in Fangirl) Simon Snow Salisbury (in Carry On) |
| Nicknames | Chosen One Greatest Mage Snow (by Baz) Miracle Boy (by Baz) Rosebud Boy (by Lucy) |
| Family | The Mage (father) Lucy Salisbury (mother, deceased) |
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Simon Snow is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Simon Snow trilogy written by American author Rainbow Rowell. The trilogy is a spinoff of Rowell's novel Fangirl and is based around the characters who feature as protagonists of the popular 'Simon Snow' series within the original novel.
Simon is a young orphan and mage who is capable of immense magical power but struggles to control it, often resulting in magical outbursts. He begins the series living in orphanages but spends most of his time at the magical school 'Watford School of Magicks' after he is discovered by the school's headmaster.
The trilogy revolves around Simon along with his roommate, Baz, and their friends as they complete their final year at Watford and battle the Insidious Humdrum, a creature prophesized to bring about an end to all magick.
Concept and creation[edit]
Simon Snow was created for and first appeared as the eponymous character of a series within Rowell's book Fangirl, which is predominantly about fan communities and fandom.[1] In Fangirl, the series features as an equivalent for Harry Potter in cult popularity[2] and Rowell has stated that she drew inspiration from not only Harry Potter but also Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings and Buffy and their 'Chosen One' tropes.[3] Rowell says that in Fangirl the characters appear as devices, always written through the authorial voice of other characters. As a result, she planned to write a short story expanding on the characters but soon found she had more to say and so began a whole trilogy centered around the pair.[3]
Book appearances[edit]
Fangirl[edit]
Simon first appears in Fangirl which is centered around teenager, Cath, along with her more outgoing identical twin sister, Wren, as they begin studying as freshman at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Here, Cath spends most of her free time writing fan fiction about the fictional Simon Snow series. While at home, the two had written fan fiction together, though after moving away, Wren distances herself from Cath and professes to have outgrown fan fiction. After overcoming many problems and reuniting with her sister, Cath finishes her Simon Snow novel as the school year ends.
Carry On[edit]
In the first of a trilogy with Simon as the protagonist, Rowell shows him being raised in orphanages alongside ordinary people without magical powers, known as "Normals". As a teenager, he is discovered by The Mage, the headmaster of Watford School of Magicks, due to his unprecedented amount of magical power. It is prophesized that a creature called the Insidious Humdrum will end magic and Simon will bring about the creature's fall.
The book begins with Simon returning to Watford and reuniting with his school friends and roommate Basilton "Baz" Grimm-Pitch, who is a vampire and his nemesis. The Humdrum attacks Simon at Baz's house and creates another dead spot. Simon uses his powers to sprout wings and flies away.
Baz realises that all the dead spots correlate with the dates that Simon had used powerful magical attacks therefore suggesting that Simon is unknowingly creating them. They believe that the Humdrum is an echo created by Simon using so much magic at once. This is why the Humdrum appears as an eleven year old Simon.
Simon travels to Watford to tell the Mage who tries to convince Simon to give him his magic, as he believes Simon is not the proper vessel for the Greatest Mage. Simon instead gives all of his magic to the Insidious Humdrum in order to "fill the hole". Simon accidentally kills the Mage.
It is revealed to the reader but never to Simon that the Mage is Simon's father and he performed a ritual on his unborn child to make him a vessel for unexplainable power. Simon's mother died in childbirth and the Mage hid him among the Normals with his name written on his arm.
In an epilogue, we see that Simon no longer has any magic left and he moves into a flat hoping to live normally.
Characterisation[edit]
Physical appearance[edit]
Simon is described in the series as having curly bronze hair, cut short on the sides of his head and being longer on the top which he lets grow out in later books. He has blue eyes and "three moles on his right cheek, two underneath his left ear, one over his left eye". He is 5'10" tall.
Towards the end of Carry On he creates himself a tail and wings that cannot be removed by magic. His wings are "red and leathery, with grey spikes at the hinges", similar to those of the dragon that attacks Watford earlier in the book. His tail is red, long, and has a black spade at the end like "a cartoon devil's tail" which lashes around when he is upset.
Magical abilities[edit]
Wands are used by by Mages to channel their magic into the world. Simon's was given to him by The Mage however he primarily uses The Sword of Mages since he finds it easier to control. He summons it with an incantation which "is the only spell I always get right, perhaps because it's not like other spells. It's more of a pledge".
To begin with, Simon has an unusually high amount of power however, towards the end of Carry On, Simon loses his magic in the process of defeating the Insidious Humdrum. Subsequently, Simon is considered a Normal and is no longer able to open the gates at Watford.
Critical reception[edit]
The Simon Snow series has received mostly positive reviews since the release of Carry On. Slate Magazine wrote that "Carry On makes a case for fan fiction’s literary legitimacy. It’s not easy to mimic, deconstruct, and remix the elements of a magical world in the way Rowell has here".[4] Amal El-Mohtar said that "as a stand-alone book separated from its context, Carry On is wildly fun, deliciously readable, immersive and compulsive".[5] The New York Times Book Review reported that "Rowell imbues her magic with awe and spectacle. It's a powerful, politically minded allegory about sexual, ethnic and class identity - with a heady shot of teenage lust".[6]
References[edit]
- ↑ Smith, S.E. (2013-11-30). "Book Review: Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell". meloukhia.net. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
- ↑ Robinson, Tasha (2014-06-19). "An alternative to stronger female characters: Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl". The Dissolve. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chung, Nicole (2015-10-06). ""I've always inhaled Chosen One stories": Rainbow Rowell on Fantasy, Love, and Carry On". the-toast.net. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
- ↑ Schwedel, Heather (2015-10-12). "Rainbow Rowell's New Book Is a Harry Potter Rip-Off That Proves How Great Fan Fiction Can Be". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
- ↑ El-Mohtar, Amal (6 October 2015). "Fan Fiction Comes To Life In 'Carry On'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
- ↑ Wappler, Margaret (2015-10-23). "Y.A. Crossover: Carry On: The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
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