Anniversaries: The Write Fantastic | |||||
edited by Ian Whates | |||||
NewCon Press, 152 pages | |||||
A review by Rich Horton
That said, Fantasy is to a considerable extent a genre dominated by long form work, and some of these stories
seem less independent stories than glosses on a larger work, or perhaps teasers. For example, Juliet E.
McKenna's "Remembrance" sets up a pretty fascinating situation, the main character a young man of a good family
whose talent for seeing ghosts, or "fetches," sets him on a harder path than most young men of his birth. This
story features his first official task in his new role, and it's quite interesting, but sort of trivial -- clearly
there is more to the protagonist's story. Likewise Sarah Ash's "Song for a Naming Day," set just after the
end of a novel, in which Kiukiu's firstborn child arrives -- but she has been promised (in the novel, I assume)
to the Guardian of the Jade Springs.
The story sets up an intriguing situation -- presumably the matter of the novel's sequel. Worked pretty well
as a teaser, I'll admit. And Freda Warrington's "Persephone's Chamber" is an atmospheric piece about a murder
victim come to the title place, apparently to deal with her fear of rebirth. The story is rather static, and
I confess I was bored -- but perhaps more understanding of the apparent link with Warrington's novels would
have enhanced it.
Jessica Rydill's "The Anniversary" is much darker, with a Russian flavor, about ghosts who continue their
affairs (to an extent) after their deaths -- in particular, here, a "shaman" and his lover, and his old enemy,
his lover's brother. In "Smörgaen's Bane" Ian Whates tells of a rather rascally adventurer who is enlisted by
a storyteller to help take revenge on the title dragon -- but the adventurer doesn't believe in dragons. That
ought to make the job easy, right? There's nothing really new here, but I enjoyed the story. In "The Rape
of the Stalactite," Liz Williams shows Alexander Pope seeking out a curious stalactite in a Somerset cave,
only to learn that stalactites can have spirits something like trees have dryads.
Perhaps the two best pieces come from Kari Sperring and Chaz Brenchley. Sperring's "The Birthday of the
Oligarch" is a light story about a city once ruled by the Alchemical Queen, who has died. They have tried
different governments since her death, and the latest ruler, the Oligarch, seems a decent enough sort, but
perhaps things are not working out. And he receives an odd fortune for his birthday, which is realized in
a curious way, with the help of a Professor, and a Clock Master -- and especially the latter's
daughters. It's told with color, and cleverness, and wit. Brenchley's "I Shaved Half Emperor Cyrrhenius"
has an excellent central idea, and an intriguing viewpoint. The narrator is a barber, son of the Half
Emperor's chosen barber. Suddenly he is summoned to shave the Half Emperor, and soon realizes that his
father has been executed -- and naturally he fears the same fate for himself. Instead he is to shave his
ruler -- and in so doing he realizes that his father had cut the Half Emperor, an unthinkable
error. Slowly we realize why the Half Emperor is "Half," and what that means for his domain, and why
the narrator's father betrayed his lord... It's not what I expected: an interesting concept, and a
very nicely told tale.
Rich Horton is an eclectic reader in and out of the SF and fantasy genres. He's been reading SF since before the Golden Age (that is, since before he was 13). Born in Naperville, IL, he lives and works (as a Software Engineer for the proverbial Major Aerospace Company) in St. Louis area and is a regular contributor to Tangent. Stop by his website at http://www.sff.net/people/richard.horton. |
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