Proud Knight, Fair Lady: The Twelve Lais of Marie de France
Marie de France, translated by Naomi Lewis, illustrated by Angela Barrett
ISBN: 0670826561
Twelve early-medieval "fairy tales" about knights and maidens and courtly love.
Read April 12, 2016
So these are some of our earliest western fantasy/romance books, y'all. Marie lived and wrote somewhere in the 1160s-1220s, and she wrote (possibly) quite a lot, most likely under the protection and encouragement of the otherwise unlamented Henry (Plantagenet) the Second. We don't know who she was, but these Lais reveal a quick mind, good understanding of narrative convention and of interesting subject matters, and a fairly sharp humor.
So what we've got mainly are stories about courtly love. Usually this is between people who are not married, and what I find interesting here is the utter lack of time spent on moralizing about why and how and when they're wrong and bad for their actions. The affairs are often described to the audience as wrong, and the lovers often endure horrible suffering for their pains, but the people themselves (unless they are villainous) are held up as good ladies and gentlemen throughout, and in many more of the stories than I would have expected, the love affair itself is considered a courtly and acceptable thing: so long as the lovers remained in the bonds of considerate behavior and didn't flout their love in public or try to have their spouses killed off.
I'm also interested in the very mundane and realistic portrayals of life which are interspersed with the obviously fantasical and what we would consider fairy-tale. A good half of the stories have some touch of the fantastic. In Guigemar, we've got a magic boat, a knot and a belt that can only be unfastened by true love's touch, and a magic white hind with antlers (the male deer is the hart, and usually the one with antlers, making this even more interesting). In Bisclavret we've got a werewolf who is a devoted and loyal knight who is the one betrayed, which is all sorts of unusual. Lanval is a Galahad figure who feels no urge to love until he sees (what isn't explicitly stated to be, but cannot be anything but) an elven/faery maiden in the forest. Les Deus Amanz is more like a folktale, but does have a purported magic potion: made by a wise and learned old Duchess no less! Yonec tells of a hostage wife succored (and seduced) by a hawk-knight shapeshifter. And Eliduc has a miraculous Juliet-like death swoon lasting days reversed by the judicious application of magical restorative berries (and the most forgiving and understanding wife EVER).
The stories themselves are very short, and I think they're shorter still in the original verse format. This translation puts them into a more modern "short story" narrative format that makes them feel much like the carefully-constructed "stand-alone" stories that are made from ancient myths and religious narratives; the ones that don't actually stand alone, but were often looked at originally in light of the entire cosmology and literary/religious/cultural tradition that the audiences were familiar with. Likewise here I often get the impression that at least part of the clever commentary is lost to me because I don't know what exactly Marie is skewering, although her skills (and that of the translator) mean that I do know something's up.
It's interesting to read stories that are so good, but from a time when "good stories" required very different things than they do now. It's odd to me that the characters are mainly nonexistent, or are archetypes: the virtuous young girl, the brave and true knight, the good king, the jealous wife... The plots are likewise fundamentally archetypical: the courtly affair, the doomed love (several of those), the restoration of the fortunes of the virtuous, the rewards of constancy in love. Active plotting is likewise off the menu: characters don't often set out to do things, but have things either happen to them, or they're presented as dragged along by the hands of fate - especially in the falling-in-love arena, which is presented as an unstoppable and utterly expected and totally unavoidable progression based on being in the same space as the lovely representative of the opposite gender.
What's really most fascinating is that all those things we're told are necessary for a good story, but here are twelve interesting ones (some admittedly moreso than others, but still) that don't have any of that. What do they have instead? Details in situations, personal grace notes, odd moralistic touches or olive branches towards human nature. Focus on specific core ideals and motivations: love, jealousy, pique, greed, fear. A flair for the dramatic: the procession of ever-more-beautiful pairs of girls to the court as Arthur fumes and the council dithers and poor Lanval suffers in self-inflicted silence. A sense of humor: a wife's bitchy jealous commentary ends her up in a bind of her own making when she talks shit she knows isn't true about twins and adultery. (And perhaps a not so subtle mockery of readers who might also believe that old canard? The barb is pointed enough to withstand the additional targets.)
Anyway; the stories aren't earth-shattering, and for most fairy-tale lovers or romance readers (or anyone who has read the Once and Future King waaaay too many times, these will seem quite familar and enjoyable. Several of them are interesting and niggling enough that I wonder if anyone has taken them as the germ of an actual novel or fantasy. It would be a fitting tribute, I think, to a passionate and talented author from so long ago.
Showing posts with label short stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short stories. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Fantasy: Short Stories: Old Venus, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Old Venus
Edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Stories by Allen M. Steele,
Lavie Tidhar,
Paul McAuley,
Matthew Hughes,
Gwyneth Jones,
Joe Haldeman,
Stephen Leigh,
Eleanor Arnason,
David Brin,
Garth Nix,
Michael Cassutt,
Tobias Bucknell,
Elizabeth Bear,
Joe R. Lansdale,
Mike Resnick,
Ian McDonald
ISBN: 9780345537287
Short Story Collection:
Read June 2015
This collection asks modern fantasy and sf authors to imagine that Venus was actually the
steamy jungle (or water) world it was imagined to be in the pulp sf years, and write new stories set in that mythical world. And did they ever deliver!
Allen M. Steele's Frogheads takes us to an ocean world where the locals are very fond of chocolate, and the Russian bureaucracy is still shaking off the accumulated inertia of failed communism. We follow a jaded and taicturn PI searching for the missing son of a rich shipping magnate, and he finds that the son isn't exactly missing.
Lavie Tidhar then gives us the seriously creeptastic and more-than-slightly-Lovecraftian The Drowned Celestial, where our hero is dragooned into a sinister cult, but on the flip side, manages to find a lover! Bonus points for the Aztec link.
Paul McAuley's Planet of Fear pits a tenacious scientist against a war-mad general who is convinced that the evil Americans are plotting against him. And of course a science outpost filled with evidence of crazy people, and lots of dead pigs.
We get my favorite story of the collection, Greeves and the Evening Star, from Matthew Hughes. This was a Jeevsian romp through the most politest of society gentlemen as they attempt to wrap their heads around the amorous advances of a most persuasive and persistent Venusian. Hughes language nearly killed me in this story, and it's the only one that I've gone back and re-read. Just as enjoyable the second go round.
A Planet Called Desire, by Gwyneth Jones, was strange. It had the bones of a white colonial "Crocodile Dundee" sort of story, but the lead driver of the action was an enigmatic scientist mired in regnal red tape, and it resolves itself with a lingering creepy hope. Extra points for being one of the only stories to delve into teleportaton.
Joe Haldeman gives a short creepy first-contact sort of story set in a truly nasty jungle Venus. Living Hell is a perfect descriptor of a place where everything seems designed to do horrible damage to humans. We arrive mid-crisis, as our rescue pilot attempts a desperate rescue of a science outpost that has been cut off due to a giant solar flare. Our pilot is about to get real close and uncomfortable with the biota.
Bones of Air, Bones of Stone, is Stephen Leigh's contribution to oceanic Venus lore, with a strange tale of a pair of ex-lovers united and driven apart by the urge to conquer the extreme - do what's never been done. Here, it's the Great Darkness, a huge pit of deep black water that laughs at the Marianas Trench. Complicating matters is the lore of the locals, who believe that oceanic darkness to be their sacred resting place, and forbid anyone from diving there.
Eleanor Arnason also likes the idea of Communists on Venus, and Ruins gives us a National Geographic meets Washington Post intrigue featuring a team of scientists and explorers, and yes, a National Geographic photography team, complete with "Autonomous Leica. My model name is AL-26. My personal name is Margaret, in honor of the twentieth-century photographer Margaret Bourke White. You may call me Maggie." which juust about killed me. They're headed into the back country in search of a persistent rumor about ancient ruins, but they discover something a lot more sinister.
The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss by David Brin was my second favorite story, and also the second-best serious tale in the bunch. I was in awe of this story the whole time I was reading, and I'm still in awe at how well it all flowed. I can't say much without destroying the impact, but the tale reminds me that even when things go badly wrong, life finds a way. So very very good.
Garth Nix gives military sf a whirl with By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers, which, really, that title is just about all you need to know about this story. Oh, and clones. And military draft rules. And really colorful personal fungi.
The Sunset of Time didn't quite work well for me. Michael Cassutt gives it a good shot, and the story is interesting, but the weird parentheticals took too long to be explained, and the characters never quite gelled for me. Earth has gone all Handmaid's Tale, and deviants are shipped out to exile on sinful Venus. The natives are prepping for their regularly scheduled End Times, but humanity just keeps tootling along, although our protagonist Jor is beginning to have his concerns.
We follow that one up with a gut-punch of a story, beautifully and hauntingly told by Tobias S. Buckell. Pale Blue Memories has a light-skinned black member of the exploratory astronaut team narrate the horrible, but oh-so-human consequences of his team's ill-fated Venus landing. Painful to read, but so very well done.
Elizabeth Bear follows this one up with a tale of a bruised spirit who takes refuge in death-defying exploration - far away from her perfect and overbearing co-worker and lover. The Heart's Filthy Lesson balances the pain of jealousy with the overwhelming ecstasy of discovering new places and pushing your limits.
The Wizard of the Trees is John Carter of Venus, and god bless Joe R. Lansdale for giving him to us. Unlike Carter, our hero is plucked from his world by a slimy glowing thing, and chucked into a muddy hot pool. Things don't get much prettier from there, but Jack Davis, our intrepid US Buffalo Soldier, isn't afraid of a challenge. He even has a kick-ass princess encounter of his own!
Mike Resnick works from the same basic story structure as Tidhar, but The Godstone of Venus is a lot less Lovecraft and a lot more Indiana Jones. A merc and his partner are picked up by really strange clients in a run-down bar. The partner can't read the lady's mind, which is odd, because he can read anything's mind. They're on a quest for an artifact that can't exist, and things only get weirder from there.
Our last story is, in my opinion, the absolute best. Ian McDonald delivers to us Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan. It was absolutely and incontrovertably perfection. I loved the conceit, I loved the execution, the story was gripping, and the mystery was lovely. Utterly, utterly delightful.
Edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Stories by Allen M. Steele,
Lavie Tidhar,
Paul McAuley,
Matthew Hughes,
Gwyneth Jones,
Joe Haldeman,
Stephen Leigh,
Eleanor Arnason,
David Brin,
Garth Nix,
Michael Cassutt,
Tobias Bucknell,
Elizabeth Bear,
Joe R. Lansdale,
Mike Resnick,
Ian McDonald
ISBN: 9780345537287
Short Story Collection:
Read June 2015
This collection asks modern fantasy and sf authors to imagine that Venus was actually the
steamy jungle (or water) world it was imagined to be in the pulp sf years, and write new stories set in that mythical world. And did they ever deliver!
Allen M. Steele's Frogheads takes us to an ocean world where the locals are very fond of chocolate, and the Russian bureaucracy is still shaking off the accumulated inertia of failed communism. We follow a jaded and taicturn PI searching for the missing son of a rich shipping magnate, and he finds that the son isn't exactly missing.
Lavie Tidhar then gives us the seriously creeptastic and more-than-slightly-Lovecraftian The Drowned Celestial, where our hero is dragooned into a sinister cult, but on the flip side, manages to find a lover! Bonus points for the Aztec link.
Paul McAuley's Planet of Fear pits a tenacious scientist against a war-mad general who is convinced that the evil Americans are plotting against him. And of course a science outpost filled with evidence of crazy people, and lots of dead pigs.
We get my favorite story of the collection, Greeves and the Evening Star, from Matthew Hughes. This was a Jeevsian romp through the most politest of society gentlemen as they attempt to wrap their heads around the amorous advances of a most persuasive and persistent Venusian. Hughes language nearly killed me in this story, and it's the only one that I've gone back and re-read. Just as enjoyable the second go round.
A Planet Called Desire, by Gwyneth Jones, was strange. It had the bones of a white colonial "Crocodile Dundee" sort of story, but the lead driver of the action was an enigmatic scientist mired in regnal red tape, and it resolves itself with a lingering creepy hope. Extra points for being one of the only stories to delve into teleportaton.
Joe Haldeman gives a short creepy first-contact sort of story set in a truly nasty jungle Venus. Living Hell is a perfect descriptor of a place where everything seems designed to do horrible damage to humans. We arrive mid-crisis, as our rescue pilot attempts a desperate rescue of a science outpost that has been cut off due to a giant solar flare. Our pilot is about to get real close and uncomfortable with the biota.
Bones of Air, Bones of Stone, is Stephen Leigh's contribution to oceanic Venus lore, with a strange tale of a pair of ex-lovers united and driven apart by the urge to conquer the extreme - do what's never been done. Here, it's the Great Darkness, a huge pit of deep black water that laughs at the Marianas Trench. Complicating matters is the lore of the locals, who believe that oceanic darkness to be their sacred resting place, and forbid anyone from diving there.
Eleanor Arnason also likes the idea of Communists on Venus, and Ruins gives us a National Geographic meets Washington Post intrigue featuring a team of scientists and explorers, and yes, a National Geographic photography team, complete with "Autonomous Leica. My model name is AL-26. My personal name is Margaret, in honor of the twentieth-century photographer Margaret Bourke White. You may call me Maggie." which juust about killed me. They're headed into the back country in search of a persistent rumor about ancient ruins, but they discover something a lot more sinister.
The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss by David Brin was my second favorite story, and also the second-best serious tale in the bunch. I was in awe of this story the whole time I was reading, and I'm still in awe at how well it all flowed. I can't say much without destroying the impact, but the tale reminds me that even when things go badly wrong, life finds a way. So very very good.
Garth Nix gives military sf a whirl with By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers, which, really, that title is just about all you need to know about this story. Oh, and clones. And military draft rules. And really colorful personal fungi.
The Sunset of Time didn't quite work well for me. Michael Cassutt gives it a good shot, and the story is interesting, but the weird parentheticals took too long to be explained, and the characters never quite gelled for me. Earth has gone all Handmaid's Tale, and deviants are shipped out to exile on sinful Venus. The natives are prepping for their regularly scheduled End Times, but humanity just keeps tootling along, although our protagonist Jor is beginning to have his concerns.
We follow that one up with a gut-punch of a story, beautifully and hauntingly told by Tobias S. Buckell. Pale Blue Memories has a light-skinned black member of the exploratory astronaut team narrate the horrible, but oh-so-human consequences of his team's ill-fated Venus landing. Painful to read, but so very well done.
Elizabeth Bear follows this one up with a tale of a bruised spirit who takes refuge in death-defying exploration - far away from her perfect and overbearing co-worker and lover. The Heart's Filthy Lesson balances the pain of jealousy with the overwhelming ecstasy of discovering new places and pushing your limits.
The Wizard of the Trees is John Carter of Venus, and god bless Joe R. Lansdale for giving him to us. Unlike Carter, our hero is plucked from his world by a slimy glowing thing, and chucked into a muddy hot pool. Things don't get much prettier from there, but Jack Davis, our intrepid US Buffalo Soldier, isn't afraid of a challenge. He even has a kick-ass princess encounter of his own!
Mike Resnick works from the same basic story structure as Tidhar, but The Godstone of Venus is a lot less Lovecraft and a lot more Indiana Jones. A merc and his partner are picked up by really strange clients in a run-down bar. The partner can't read the lady's mind, which is odd, because he can read anything's mind. They're on a quest for an artifact that can't exist, and things only get weirder from there.
Our last story is, in my opinion, the absolute best. Ian McDonald delivers to us Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan. It was absolutely and incontrovertably perfection. I loved the conceit, I loved the execution, the story was gripping, and the mystery was lovely. Utterly, utterly delightful.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Juvenile Fiction: Short and Shivery, Robert D. San Souci & Katherine Coville
Short and Shivery
Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Katherine Coville
ISBN: 0440418046 (Yearling paperback)
Re-Read August 2, 2015
I had this book as a child, so when I saw it in the "freebies" bin at a local used book store, I couldn't help but snatch it back up and re-read the stories. I was especially interested in revisiting this now that I've been working on my own storytelling. I seem to be edging towards southern versions of tales, and there were three in particular that were very interesting: Tailypo (of course), The Witch Cat, and Scared to Death.
Short summary and thoughts on each "shivery" in the collection:
1) The Robber Bridegroom, from the Brothers Grimm.
A classic fairy tale set-up with a greedy merchant and a lovely, clever, and resourceful daughter who rescues herself and an old crone from being sold into marriage slavery to a sadistic robber.
Some interesting modern parallels here with the recent high-profile long-term kidnapping cases, and to the Boko Haram / ISIS focus on terrorism through sexual slavery. Some nasty things in the world, but they aren't new things.
2) Jack Frost, from the Russian folklore tradition.
Another classic fairy tale. A mother with a daughter and step-daughter, of course the step-child is the good one who is despised and ill-treated. Mother sends her out into the harsh Russian winter to freeze, but the girl is so good and sweet that even cold-hearted Jack Frost is touched, and gifts her with furs and diamonds. Mom sends the sulky real daughter out to get her own share, but the girl can't resist being a snot, and is frozen to death by morning.
Love the parallels here with Diamonds and Toads, and the faint feel of Vasilisa and Baba Yaga stories. There are some interesting links possible with this story.
3) The Waterfall of Ghosts, from a Japanese folktale.
This one was interesting, because it was mainly women characters. A group of weavers in a town below a haunted waterfall sit up late one night talking boasts, and one girl gets carried away, boasting that she'll travel to the shrine at the base of the waterfall and back that very night, and bring the donation box back with her as proof. The other girls all pledge their day's weaving if she does. She travels out, but is overcome by greed and steals the coins from the box, bringing a nearly-empty box back to the others and bemoaning the sad state of charity in the world. Later that night, she's hunted down by the ghosts of the waterfall, and returns the money to the shrine, along with all her winnings from her boast.
I was mainly interested that this story has the boastful claims entirely among women. Usually it's a group of men who are trying to one-up each other. This made for a nice change.
4) The Ghost's Cap, from a Russian ghost story.
Another boaster, but this one is a girl who is trying to show off for the boy she's after. She brags that she'll go to a haunted graveyard and return with the name of the ghost that people have seen there. She goes and scoffs at the ghost (believing it to be her boy) and snatches the cap from his head to take back as proof she went. She gathers her winnings, and tosses the nasty cap into the river. That night, she's visited by a presence wanting the cap back, but she hasn't got it. A sad ending for her, as the priest tries an exorcism, and the vengeful ghost takes the girl back with him, leaving nothing but her hair and jacket behind.
This one has fun shades of Tailypo there, and that Lovecraft story about the gem from the Dutch grave - in that losing the item the ghost wants dooms the person.
5) The Witch Cat, from Virginia, USA.
A widower and his young daughter go against local advice and settle in an abandoned farmstead next to a pond. The widower is soon courted by a willowy young lady from the plot next door, with bright green eyes and long sharp nails. His daughter is afraid of the lady, but the father is smitten, until the girl begins to take ill and complain of something stealing her breath at night. The farmer sits up one night to trap the intruder, and is shocked to chop the arm off of an enormous black cat creature. The next morning, the lady is also missing an arm, and the farmer finally figures it out. Too late for him, as the confrontation kills both him and the lady, leaving the daughter an orphan.
This one is great fun. The nice touch for me is the townspeople warning them away from the suspiciously empty homestead, without ever coming out and accusing anyone of anything.
6) The Green Mist, from Lincolnshire, England.
This is one of the only fae tales in the collection. I also know it as Crown of Cowslips. A village girl is very ill one winter, and is about to die, but she declares that if she could live "just one summer like the cowslips, she'd be content." Her mother hushes her quickly, but that night the healing spring "green mist" flows over the land and the girl recovers. That spring she is lively and happy, and falls in love as spring begins to mature into summer. Her lover spots the stand of cowslips beside the door and plucks them to make a summer crown for his love, but when she sees the cut flowers she shrieks and bars the door, leaving him alone and confused. She dies that night during the Summer festival.
There are a lot of things going on with this one. Firstly, the fae influence is slight but present. Her declaration is understood to be heard by a bogie and granted as an evil mischief. I'm also interested in the specificity that she's only to live as long as those specific cowslips (and why, if the mother was so worried about anyone messing with them, she didn't just put a sign up beside them). I also feel really bad for our unnamed suitor, who did everything right, and got shut out and abandoned at the end with no explanation. If I were telling, I think that would be the main thing that got changed, or I'd use it to start some sort of Orpheo & Eurycide sort of quest.
7) The Cegua, from Costa Rica.
A traveler-beware tale; a version of the nasty hitch-hiker. A young man is traveling late at night and sees a beautiful maiden by the side of the road. He offers her a ride, and she slowly morphs into a nightmare being with a skeletal horse's head and long talons. He's saved by arriving at the busy hacienda he was traveling to.
I always get a little grumpy about these - when the mysterious old man tells you at the cafe before your trip that seductive strangers are actually demon creatures, why would you then immediately let the sweet seductive girl onto your horse with you?
8) The Ghostly Little Girl, from gold-rush California.
A group of girls makes a new friend: a girl from the settlement of fishing shacks along the ocean. The girl is excited to be going to school with her new friends, but makes one last trip out with her father - and that night is a terrific storm, and they never come back. The girls worry about their new friend, and head down to the now-abandoned shack to see if they can find her - but find her waterlogged ghost instead.
Extra creepy because of the inclusion of grade-school kids for the cast-members. Love the morbid descriptions of the moldy old fishing shack and the wet slap of the ocean waves.
9) The Midnight Mass of the Dead, Norse folktale.
A very pious elderly lady attends mass every day, and is excited to attend the very first early Christmas mass, so she sets out her best clothes, and says a prayer for her best friend, who died earlier in the year. Awakened by a strange light, she fears she's late for church, and hurries to the chapel, where a strange priest and oddly-familiar parishioners fill the building. She's even more upset when the sermon and verses are all about death and punishment and hatred of the living. When she realizes that the only sound coming from the pews is from her, she realizes her mistake. Her newly-dead friend warns her to run before the service is over, but she is too slow, and loses her coat to the vengeful dead old neighbors as she flees. Returning to church the next morning, the shreds of her coat are too much to bear, and she flees once more.
The sweet dead friend giving her a warning was a nice touch, but I wanted to know why the dead are so unhappy on Christmas particularly, and why they were so evil and confrontational to begin with. There's also a sloppy bit at the ending where the wording is contradictory and confusing.
10) Tailypo, rural USA.
An old man lives in the woods with his hunting dogs, but he's been on lean times - nothing to hunt or fish for weeks. So when he spies a strange critter in his cabin and evicts it by hacking off it's long luxurious tale, he isn't too proud to stew that tail right up and eat it for dinner. That night he hears a whisper "where's my tailypo?" and he sends a dog out after it. The dog doesn't return, but the voice does. Next dog goes and fails to return, and the voice is soon back. Last dog is now in bed with him, but he sends it out and it's gone with a horrible yelp - and the voice is now inside, and now on the bed. He finally claims "I don't have your tailypo!" and the voice rejoins "Oh yes you have!" and eats him right up.
This one has been around for ages. It would be interesting to see if it could be linked up with some other tales and made longer or more elaborate without ruining the arc of the horror about the thing creeping up to exact revenge.
11) Lady Eleanor's Mantle, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
This one claims to be based on a true story. Lady Eleanor is from England, so she's miles better than any of the hick rube Americans in this stupid Boston town. She insists on wearing her fancy mantle from the continent, and likewise insists on scorning a young suitor who had followed her across the ocean. A ball was held in the Lady's honor to welcome her, and all noted her reserve and weary aspect, but also noted the beauty of the English mantle. Halfway through, the ball was cancelled abruptly, when the Lady's absence was noted. That next morning, the fearsome warning ran through the city - a smallpox outbreak, and the Lady's house was quarantined. The stinger has the young man braving disease to race to his Lady's side, where he finds a hideous pocked figure in her bed, and goes quite mad.
A very strange early entry in the world of medical suspense thrillers.
12) The Soldier and the Vampire, a folktale from Russia
Another traveler-beware tale like The Cegua, and a Clever-Jack sort of story. A Russian soldier is on leave to attend his sister's wedding, when he's warned about a wizard who recently died in a nearby village. He travels home without seeing anything amiss, until he reaches the house and discovers his sister, anemic and near death. The soldier, being a man of the world, knows that the wizard is using vampirism to steal the life from his sister and return from the dead. That just can't be allowed, so he races off in the night to find the wizard's grave and kill it for good. Along the road, he is joined by a silent figure, who he realizes is the evil one himself, and the soldier passes himself off as an apprentice wizard. They then walk and camp in companionable nature, until the wizard reveals that he was not taken in by the soldier's ruse, and they fight until dawn, when the evil one collapses, then morphs into a writhing mass of insects and grubs that the soldier has to individually exterminate to truly kill the monster.
Nice touch with the bugs at the end. Would have liked to get more than one sentence about the sister recovering.
13) The Skeleton's Dance, from Japan.
Two friends head off to the big city to make their fortunes. One works hard and becomes wealthy, while the other falls in with gamblers and druggies. They both decide to travel back to their hometown to get Mr Bad Life Choices away from his temptations, but BLC realizes he has a chance at a new life, and kills his friend in a mountain pass, then claims his friend's life as his own. After running through all his friend's money and accrued goodwill, he heads back to the city, and is accosted by his friend's bones laying in the path where he was killed so many months before. The bones rise up and offer to provide a means of easy employment - the bones will dance for free (needing no food or support) and the friend can collect easy money from people gawping at the spectacle. This works great for Mr BLC until he's famous enough to be hosted by the local lord, whereupon the skeleton fails to act, is abused, and finally calls BLC out on his treachery and murder.
A really nice and satisfactory delayed-justice story. Loved the way that BLC just walked right into his own doom and didn't see it coming, because he was too wrapped up in his own selfishness and feeling like everyone owed him.
14) Scared to Death, from Charleston, USA.
Another braggart tale. This one has a young debutante trying to steal a beau away from his current girlfriend, a shy and mousey girl. In an attempt to impress the young man, the young lady swears she'll go to a haunted grave in the nearby graveyard, and snatches the gentleman's walking stick to leave at the grave as proof. She heads out alone, makes it over to the grave, and slams the walking stick into the soft ground, but she's nervous and jittery in the spooky darkness. Her fears are realized when she tries to leave and she's held back by a mysterious unseen force. She freaks out, falls down, and is found dead the next morning, her cloak pinned to the ground by the walking stick she slammed down her own self.
This one also is nicely karmic - if you're going to be a snotty braggart, don't be stupid about it. It also has a nice common-sense touch to it. Everyone's had a not-so-proud moment when you worked yourself up or scared yourself about something that turned out to be completely harmless or normal.
15) Swallowed Alive, a British folktale.
A sneaky washerwoman is always around when things go missing, and she' accused by her neighbors of being a thief. She calls upon God and the Earth as her witnesses that she's an honest woman, even when she's pretty much caught in the act. The earth opens up like a whirlpool and sucks her in up to her waist, and the priest begs her to repent and be saved, but she insists that she's not a thief, whereupon the whirlpool sucks her entirely in, and subsequently spits back out the stolen items.
This one reads like the awful heavy-handed morality tales I got fed as a child from the Uncle Arthur books. Yikes.
16) The Deacon's Ghost, an Icelandic folktale.
A Deacon lived on one side of a fjord, and his love on the other. They fell in love one winter, and he promised to come back and fetch her for a wedding the next winter as soon as the fjord ices over again. Sadly, he's killed on his way back in a freak accident, and she doesn't know it. When he returns to fetch her, he acts strangely, but she's simply glad to see him again. They get to the church, but it's late at night, and he's not headed towards the church itself, but to the churchyard, where there's a single disturbed and empty grave! She fights free, and is guarded by the villagers every night from the undead lovesick deacon, until a priest from the closest city arrives to put him down for good.
This one was very sad. I felt sorry for the poor deacon and the poor girl who was left alone, and then frightened out of her wits afterwards. Sad ghost stories are harder, because they really drive home the utter unfairness of life and death.
17) Nuckelavee, from the Orkney Islands.
Short and shivery indeed. Nuckelavee is a weird cross between a kelpie and a demon, and it terrorizes the islanders, but is easily avoided by crossing fresh running water. This short bit tells of a local man's bad night when he found Nuckelavee coming towards him on a long empty road, with no running water nearby. A brazen approach, a quick sprint, and a tiny rivulet defeats the monster.
Not much too this one, but it's a fun little story that I can totally see a grizzled old man telling in a pub as a sort of "big fish" story.
18) Adventure of the German Student, Washington Irving.
Our German student has arrived in Paris to rid himself of a gloomy obsession; a demon is after his soul. Unfortunately, his timing isn't so hot, as he arrives just as Revolutionary fervor is hitting it's peak, and the smell of blood from the guillotines hangs heavy in the air. Understandably, his morbid fancies aren't much improved, and he hides out in his garret trying to avoid the masses of frenzied Parisians. He does have to head out for groceries, and tries to do so in the early mornings or late evenings when the streets are less crowded. One night walking home he spies a weeping lady on the steps of the guillotine. He rescues her and takes her home, and over the night falls in love with the wild young mourner. They pledge their hearts and souls, and he heads off the next morning without disturbing her to look for a bigger apartment. On his return, he finds her beheaded, and the officers confirm his worst fears - the lady was a victim of the guillotine the day before, and he's now pledged his everlasting soul to a dead woman walking.
This one needs a better name, to be honest. The French Lover would be at least slightly more descriptive. I love the association with a specific place and specific events, and the descriptions of the poor lady and the besotted (although not so bright) student are lively and morbid all at the same time. One of my favorites from the book.
19) Billy Moseby's Night Ride, from New England, USA.
Billy lives with his grandparents out on their rural farmstead, and everyone keeps clear of old Francis Woolcott - rumor is that he's a wizard. Billy is overcome with curiosity, and spies on the neighbor's bonfire one night, and is kidnapped on a wild ride through the countryside as the man releases spirits and hexes to torment his neighbors. When the night is over, Billy is encouraged to leave well enough alone, but now he's really inspired - he wants power like that himself. When he finally gets his courage up to go apprentice himself, he's too late. Woolcott is lying near death, and Billy watches helplessly as the demons that Woolcott worked with return in force to fetch his unwilling pitiful soul off to hell.
Another of the morality tale sort, but at least it has a younger protagonist, and an interesting look at the predjudices of old farm people. This one might be an interesting pairing with the Witch Cat - Woolcott and the cat lady would be an interesting pair.
20) The Hunter in the Haunted Forest, compiled from three Teton Sioux tales.
A brave hunter must venture into the haunted forest to feed his starving family, even though he knows that powerful spirits run rampant there, and have no love for the living. First he is overtaken by a powerful storm, and tries to shelter in a clearing, in a convenient teepee, but he overhears voices inside planning dark plots, and races away from them. When he camps deeper in the woods, and old man comes to his campfire, and reveals himself to be a ghost. The ghost offers a wager - if they wrestle and the hunter wins, he'll find plentiful game and a peaceful forest, but if the ghost wins, the hunter will be haunted and his whole family will die from hunger. The hunter wins (with a nice trick) and turns the ghostly old haunt into ashes, and then is delighted to find that the pact holds true, and the game is plentiful thereafter.
It's easy to tell that these are disconnected snippets, but I think that they all flow together decently well - they're more of a sequential narrative than a single arc, but they all hang together well, and give a nice picture of how frightening it must have been to be a hunter alone in the fall woods, knowing your skill is all that keeps your family alive.
21) Brother and Sister, a folktale found in Kenya, Zambia, and Malawi.
Another nasty-bridegroom story. A sister is promised in marriage to a man claiming to be from a rich neighboring tribe, but her brother is supicious of the strangely-acting man. He follows the wedded couple to the man's home, and quickly realizes it's a den of hyena demons. While the demon family is outside changing form, the boy races into the hut to warn his sister. They block the entrance to the enclosed yard with thorns, and barricade themselves in the hut, then as the demons continue to advance, escape out a window and into the nearby trees, where they flee frantically as the hyenas pursue them (destroying the trees as they go) until they reach a wide river. The bridegroom hyena continues to swim after them, even after the sun rises and he changes shape back to a man, but the siblings pelt him with rocks until he turns back.
A nice sibling story, but a little frustrating that all of the escape ideas are from the brother. Ah well.
22) The Lovers of Dismal Swamp, from Virginia, USA
A young pair of lovers lived on the edge of a swamp, until one day the young lady took sick and died. Her lover was utterly distraught, and refused to believe she was dead. As time went on, he began to obsess that she was alive, out in the swamp, and needed him to rescue her. He rushed out into the swamp one day, convinced that he saw her in the mist, with a lantern in her hand. He built a homemade raft and poled out towards her, and that was the last anyone saw him alive. Now hunters and fishers in that swamp claim you can see the duo poling a rickety raft along the waterways at dusk.
Short and shivery indeed - just over two pages long! The tone of this one is interesting, because there's no malice or evil ascribed to the boy or girl, even as ghosts.
23) Boneless, Shetland Isles.
Villagers were terrorized by a creature they called "Boneless" or simply "It" because no one could agree on what it looked like, or even what sort of thing it was. It gave off an aura of evil and terrorized households and farm animals simply by it's presence. One Christmas night, a farmer had enough. After a night of It bumping against his doors and scaring his cattle, he resolved to kill it for good. He raced out into the night and hurled an axe at it, killing it near the sea-cliff edge, and then burying it for good measure. That spring, a folklorist was curious about the legend, and learned where the burial spot was. He began to dig it up, until he noticed the "curdled light" and the milky fog seeping out of the hole. He ran for his life, and watched as It seeped out of the hole and headed towards the ocean. Two nights later, as he was wandering the cliff edges, he saw It in the water, long and stretched out, and formless. He turned to run, but it overtook him in an instant, and wrapped misty tentacles around him, dragging him over the edge of the cliff. He prayed desperately aloud, and the thing recoiled, took fire, released him, fell, and sizzled on the surface of the water below.
This sounds like a folktale that might have influenced Lovecraft back in the day. The insistence on the thing being unformed and indescribable, of strange oil-shimmer colors on white fish-belly hue, and the affinity to water - sounds like a baby shoggoth to me. The fact that a folklorist is the one to poke at it and get punished for his temerity is also very Lovecraftian.
24) The Death Waltz, New Mexico
Elizabeth was newly come to Fort Union, and she was a beauty from back East. Everyone adored her, and all the soldiers and ranchers courted her, but she was too good for any of them, and laughed at them. The handsomest and best social match was Frank Sutter, who was smitten with him. She was perfectly happy to be courted by such a fine officer, and when they had to leave on a raid and he asked her hand, she agreed - and upped the deal by promising that even if he died, she'd never wed another. Of course, the obvious happens. During the raid, someone saw him go down, but his body was never recovered. The fort gossips noted that Elizabeth didn't seem too perturbed by the death of her forever love, and tongues wagged even more harshly when she became engaged to a man from back East, who was leaving the fort to return there. At the wedding reception, the night turned stormy and wild, and the doors slammed open to reveal Sutter, muddy and corpselike, with terrible wounds all over his body. He grabbed the new bride from her husband, motioned to the band, and began a terrible waltz with her - by the end of it she was dead.
This was another of the ones I remembered from childhood, because I always thought the "bride" was a silly heartless thing to take advantage of someone and make stupid promises, especially to a soldier in wartime. Serves her right.
25) The Ghost of Misery Hill, California, USA.
Old Tom Bowers worked the mine on Misery Hill, until he passed away. He was an ornery and private man, and even after he passed, no one could bring themselves to jump his claim - even after death. That is, until Jim Brandon's debts got so bad he had no other choice. It started calmly enough, with him noticing that his tools and equipment were misplaced every morning. Then he started noticing someone using his sluice to pan gold. If that wasn't bad enough, then the notices started going up, claiming the mine in Tom Bower's name. Then he saw the ghost and his nerves vanished, and he shot it - which of course made Old Tom mighty unhappy, and the now-vengeful ghost came after Jim with his pickaxe. No one ever saw Jim again, but they did find his gun - pinned to the ground by a faintly-glowing pick driven straight through the barrel.
A good old wild-west gold-mining ghost story is such fun.
26) The Loup-Garou, a French-Canadian folktale.
Another short one, of the evil-thing-chasing-you-in-the-woods category. Pierre lives in a lovely cabin in the woods, and he and his wife are very happy there, until she gets sick and he has to ride through the woods after dark to fetch a doctor for her. He sets off, and while they're making good time at first, suddenly the horse slows down as if he's pulling a heavy load. Pierre looks behind him - straight into the eyes of an enormous wolf. Pierre freaks out, and he and the horse begin the run for their lives, but it's no use - the thing catches them. Pierre draws his knife and manages to draw blood before the wolf eviscerates him, and the loup-garou (as tradition dictates) is forced to change back into human form and flee. Pierre gets while the getting is good, and he and the doctor make sure to bring crosses with them as they pass through the woods on the return trip.
This one really isn't much, but the requirement to change to human and flee if blood is drawn is an interestingly specific limitation. I am very curious about that part.
27) The Golem, an original tale based on Jewish folklore.
A merchant learned of the mysteries of the golem, and hired a rabbi to create one for him. He immediately began abusing this perfect servant, treating it like the dirt it came from. But the golem kept growing, and it slowly got less obedient, and even began to act sullen and unhappy. The merchant refused to admit that he had a problem, and kept on abusing his magical servant, until one day he woke to find the golem systematically dismantling his house. He flees to the rabbi who teaches him how to destroy the golem, but when the merchant manages to do so, the golem collapses into a mass of inanimate clay that falls onto the merchant, crushing him to death.
LOVED this story, and the just desserts of the pompous asshole merchant who thought he had the perfect slave to abuse.
28) Lavender, raodsides, USA. (see also Seanan McGuire's Sparrow Hill Road's base ghost story)
Two guys were headed to the dance, and they see a pretty girl by the side of the road, dressed in a lavender party dress. They stop and pick her up, and one of the boys lends her his jacket. They have a great time at the dance, but when it's time to leave, the girl is distraught and demands to be let out on the side of the road, close to where they found her originally. The boys are convinced she was just "letting them down easy" because she didn't want to go steady with either of them, and they head down the dirt driveway to visit her the next day. The door is opened by an ancient woman, who weeps when she hears their story. Her little girl's favorite color was lavender, and she's been dead for nearly 50 years now - every spring she goes out to dance with the boys, and every time she almost gets back home before she fades away. The boys think this is a set-up or a trick and leave affronted, until they see the graveyard next door, with Lavender's gravestone draped with the letter jacket from last night draped over it.
Sweet and sad, and one of my favorite ghost stories. Love how it's so universally USA - it doesn't need a time or a place or any identifying details to be haunting and mystical.
29) The Goblin Spider, a legend from Japan.
Raiko, the famous samurai, is sent by the lord to kill a ferocious goblin that is shaped like a giant spider, and is terrorizing the countryside. On the way there, he is directed by the floating skull of a former victim of the spider. They find a deserted palace, inhabited by a creepy bug like ancient crone. She warns them away, then shifts into a mist and sinks through the floor as a legion of demons attack the samurai and his companion. They fight for hours, until the sun begins to rise, and the demons vanish. Then a beautiful pale maiden appears, but blinds them with unwholesome light, and shapeshifts into a creepy elongated monstrosity that oozes sticky white threads. She also changes to mist and seeps into the floor, and the samurai realize that she bleeds white sticky blood. The sun has fully risen, and now the samurai realize that there is a cavern or hollow beneath the flagstones. They pull them up, angering the mighty spider (who was the hag, and then the fair maiden) who attacks them brutally. The samurai fight valiantly, and finally slay the hellish spider beast, and take it's head back to court for their rewards.
Ew. Spiders.
30) The Halloween Pony, a folktale from France.
Grandmother warned the boys to stay inside on Halloween night, but the lively lads are determined to have some fun. They run out and find a neighbor's pony has gotten loose from it's pen. They all pile on, and strangely, even 4, 5, 6 and more boys seem to fit comfortably on the small pony. The pony doesn't even seem to mind the weight, and frolics and cavorts around, until he reaches the seaside, and the boys try to slow it down. It refuses, and they then try to dismount, but they're stuck. The boys can do nothing but watch in terror as the pony descends into the sea, and none of the village boys who were out that night were ever found.
So, the French version of kelpies, essentially. Plus a little morality guilt laid in on top.
I would have preferred this collection to stop at 28, and just skipped the spider and the silly morals, and ended on a high note with Lavender. Ahh well.
Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Katherine Coville
ISBN: 0440418046 (Yearling paperback)
Re-Read August 2, 2015
I had this book as a child, so when I saw it in the "freebies" bin at a local used book store, I couldn't help but snatch it back up and re-read the stories. I was especially interested in revisiting this now that I've been working on my own storytelling. I seem to be edging towards southern versions of tales, and there were three in particular that were very interesting: Tailypo (of course), The Witch Cat, and Scared to Death.
Short summary and thoughts on each "shivery" in the collection:
1) The Robber Bridegroom, from the Brothers Grimm.
A classic fairy tale set-up with a greedy merchant and a lovely, clever, and resourceful daughter who rescues herself and an old crone from being sold into marriage slavery to a sadistic robber.
Some interesting modern parallels here with the recent high-profile long-term kidnapping cases, and to the Boko Haram / ISIS focus on terrorism through sexual slavery. Some nasty things in the world, but they aren't new things.
2) Jack Frost, from the Russian folklore tradition.
Another classic fairy tale. A mother with a daughter and step-daughter, of course the step-child is the good one who is despised and ill-treated. Mother sends her out into the harsh Russian winter to freeze, but the girl is so good and sweet that even cold-hearted Jack Frost is touched, and gifts her with furs and diamonds. Mom sends the sulky real daughter out to get her own share, but the girl can't resist being a snot, and is frozen to death by morning.
Love the parallels here with Diamonds and Toads, and the faint feel of Vasilisa and Baba Yaga stories. There are some interesting links possible with this story.
3) The Waterfall of Ghosts, from a Japanese folktale.
This one was interesting, because it was mainly women characters. A group of weavers in a town below a haunted waterfall sit up late one night talking boasts, and one girl gets carried away, boasting that she'll travel to the shrine at the base of the waterfall and back that very night, and bring the donation box back with her as proof. The other girls all pledge their day's weaving if she does. She travels out, but is overcome by greed and steals the coins from the box, bringing a nearly-empty box back to the others and bemoaning the sad state of charity in the world. Later that night, she's hunted down by the ghosts of the waterfall, and returns the money to the shrine, along with all her winnings from her boast.
I was mainly interested that this story has the boastful claims entirely among women. Usually it's a group of men who are trying to one-up each other. This made for a nice change.
4) The Ghost's Cap, from a Russian ghost story.
Another boaster, but this one is a girl who is trying to show off for the boy she's after. She brags that she'll go to a haunted graveyard and return with the name of the ghost that people have seen there. She goes and scoffs at the ghost (believing it to be her boy) and snatches the cap from his head to take back as proof she went. She gathers her winnings, and tosses the nasty cap into the river. That night, she's visited by a presence wanting the cap back, but she hasn't got it. A sad ending for her, as the priest tries an exorcism, and the vengeful ghost takes the girl back with him, leaving nothing but her hair and jacket behind.
This one has fun shades of Tailypo there, and that Lovecraft story about the gem from the Dutch grave - in that losing the item the ghost wants dooms the person.
5) The Witch Cat, from Virginia, USA.
A widower and his young daughter go against local advice and settle in an abandoned farmstead next to a pond. The widower is soon courted by a willowy young lady from the plot next door, with bright green eyes and long sharp nails. His daughter is afraid of the lady, but the father is smitten, until the girl begins to take ill and complain of something stealing her breath at night. The farmer sits up one night to trap the intruder, and is shocked to chop the arm off of an enormous black cat creature. The next morning, the lady is also missing an arm, and the farmer finally figures it out. Too late for him, as the confrontation kills both him and the lady, leaving the daughter an orphan.
This one is great fun. The nice touch for me is the townspeople warning them away from the suspiciously empty homestead, without ever coming out and accusing anyone of anything.
6) The Green Mist, from Lincolnshire, England.
This is one of the only fae tales in the collection. I also know it as Crown of Cowslips. A village girl is very ill one winter, and is about to die, but she declares that if she could live "just one summer like the cowslips, she'd be content." Her mother hushes her quickly, but that night the healing spring "green mist" flows over the land and the girl recovers. That spring she is lively and happy, and falls in love as spring begins to mature into summer. Her lover spots the stand of cowslips beside the door and plucks them to make a summer crown for his love, but when she sees the cut flowers she shrieks and bars the door, leaving him alone and confused. She dies that night during the Summer festival.
There are a lot of things going on with this one. Firstly, the fae influence is slight but present. Her declaration is understood to be heard by a bogie and granted as an evil mischief. I'm also interested in the specificity that she's only to live as long as those specific cowslips (and why, if the mother was so worried about anyone messing with them, she didn't just put a sign up beside them). I also feel really bad for our unnamed suitor, who did everything right, and got shut out and abandoned at the end with no explanation. If I were telling, I think that would be the main thing that got changed, or I'd use it to start some sort of Orpheo & Eurycide sort of quest.
7) The Cegua, from Costa Rica.
A traveler-beware tale; a version of the nasty hitch-hiker. A young man is traveling late at night and sees a beautiful maiden by the side of the road. He offers her a ride, and she slowly morphs into a nightmare being with a skeletal horse's head and long talons. He's saved by arriving at the busy hacienda he was traveling to.
I always get a little grumpy about these - when the mysterious old man tells you at the cafe before your trip that seductive strangers are actually demon creatures, why would you then immediately let the sweet seductive girl onto your horse with you?
8) The Ghostly Little Girl, from gold-rush California.
A group of girls makes a new friend: a girl from the settlement of fishing shacks along the ocean. The girl is excited to be going to school with her new friends, but makes one last trip out with her father - and that night is a terrific storm, and they never come back. The girls worry about their new friend, and head down to the now-abandoned shack to see if they can find her - but find her waterlogged ghost instead.
Extra creepy because of the inclusion of grade-school kids for the cast-members. Love the morbid descriptions of the moldy old fishing shack and the wet slap of the ocean waves.
9) The Midnight Mass of the Dead, Norse folktale.
A very pious elderly lady attends mass every day, and is excited to attend the very first early Christmas mass, so she sets out her best clothes, and says a prayer for her best friend, who died earlier in the year. Awakened by a strange light, she fears she's late for church, and hurries to the chapel, where a strange priest and oddly-familiar parishioners fill the building. She's even more upset when the sermon and verses are all about death and punishment and hatred of the living. When she realizes that the only sound coming from the pews is from her, she realizes her mistake. Her newly-dead friend warns her to run before the service is over, but she is too slow, and loses her coat to the vengeful dead old neighbors as she flees. Returning to church the next morning, the shreds of her coat are too much to bear, and she flees once more.
The sweet dead friend giving her a warning was a nice touch, but I wanted to know why the dead are so unhappy on Christmas particularly, and why they were so evil and confrontational to begin with. There's also a sloppy bit at the ending where the wording is contradictory and confusing.
10) Tailypo, rural USA.
An old man lives in the woods with his hunting dogs, but he's been on lean times - nothing to hunt or fish for weeks. So when he spies a strange critter in his cabin and evicts it by hacking off it's long luxurious tale, he isn't too proud to stew that tail right up and eat it for dinner. That night he hears a whisper "where's my tailypo?" and he sends a dog out after it. The dog doesn't return, but the voice does. Next dog goes and fails to return, and the voice is soon back. Last dog is now in bed with him, but he sends it out and it's gone with a horrible yelp - and the voice is now inside, and now on the bed. He finally claims "I don't have your tailypo!" and the voice rejoins "Oh yes you have!" and eats him right up.
This one has been around for ages. It would be interesting to see if it could be linked up with some other tales and made longer or more elaborate without ruining the arc of the horror about the thing creeping up to exact revenge.
11) Lady Eleanor's Mantle, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
This one claims to be based on a true story. Lady Eleanor is from England, so she's miles better than any of the hick rube Americans in this stupid Boston town. She insists on wearing her fancy mantle from the continent, and likewise insists on scorning a young suitor who had followed her across the ocean. A ball was held in the Lady's honor to welcome her, and all noted her reserve and weary aspect, but also noted the beauty of the English mantle. Halfway through, the ball was cancelled abruptly, when the Lady's absence was noted. That next morning, the fearsome warning ran through the city - a smallpox outbreak, and the Lady's house was quarantined. The stinger has the young man braving disease to race to his Lady's side, where he finds a hideous pocked figure in her bed, and goes quite mad.
A very strange early entry in the world of medical suspense thrillers.
12) The Soldier and the Vampire, a folktale from Russia
Another traveler-beware tale like The Cegua, and a Clever-Jack sort of story. A Russian soldier is on leave to attend his sister's wedding, when he's warned about a wizard who recently died in a nearby village. He travels home without seeing anything amiss, until he reaches the house and discovers his sister, anemic and near death. The soldier, being a man of the world, knows that the wizard is using vampirism to steal the life from his sister and return from the dead. That just can't be allowed, so he races off in the night to find the wizard's grave and kill it for good. Along the road, he is joined by a silent figure, who he realizes is the evil one himself, and the soldier passes himself off as an apprentice wizard. They then walk and camp in companionable nature, until the wizard reveals that he was not taken in by the soldier's ruse, and they fight until dawn, when the evil one collapses, then morphs into a writhing mass of insects and grubs that the soldier has to individually exterminate to truly kill the monster.
Nice touch with the bugs at the end. Would have liked to get more than one sentence about the sister recovering.
13) The Skeleton's Dance, from Japan.
Two friends head off to the big city to make their fortunes. One works hard and becomes wealthy, while the other falls in with gamblers and druggies. They both decide to travel back to their hometown to get Mr Bad Life Choices away from his temptations, but BLC realizes he has a chance at a new life, and kills his friend in a mountain pass, then claims his friend's life as his own. After running through all his friend's money and accrued goodwill, he heads back to the city, and is accosted by his friend's bones laying in the path where he was killed so many months before. The bones rise up and offer to provide a means of easy employment - the bones will dance for free (needing no food or support) and the friend can collect easy money from people gawping at the spectacle. This works great for Mr BLC until he's famous enough to be hosted by the local lord, whereupon the skeleton fails to act, is abused, and finally calls BLC out on his treachery and murder.
A really nice and satisfactory delayed-justice story. Loved the way that BLC just walked right into his own doom and didn't see it coming, because he was too wrapped up in his own selfishness and feeling like everyone owed him.
14) Scared to Death, from Charleston, USA.
Another braggart tale. This one has a young debutante trying to steal a beau away from his current girlfriend, a shy and mousey girl. In an attempt to impress the young man, the young lady swears she'll go to a haunted grave in the nearby graveyard, and snatches the gentleman's walking stick to leave at the grave as proof. She heads out alone, makes it over to the grave, and slams the walking stick into the soft ground, but she's nervous and jittery in the spooky darkness. Her fears are realized when she tries to leave and she's held back by a mysterious unseen force. She freaks out, falls down, and is found dead the next morning, her cloak pinned to the ground by the walking stick she slammed down her own self.
This one also is nicely karmic - if you're going to be a snotty braggart, don't be stupid about it. It also has a nice common-sense touch to it. Everyone's had a not-so-proud moment when you worked yourself up or scared yourself about something that turned out to be completely harmless or normal.
15) Swallowed Alive, a British folktale.
A sneaky washerwoman is always around when things go missing, and she' accused by her neighbors of being a thief. She calls upon God and the Earth as her witnesses that she's an honest woman, even when she's pretty much caught in the act. The earth opens up like a whirlpool and sucks her in up to her waist, and the priest begs her to repent and be saved, but she insists that she's not a thief, whereupon the whirlpool sucks her entirely in, and subsequently spits back out the stolen items.
This one reads like the awful heavy-handed morality tales I got fed as a child from the Uncle Arthur books. Yikes.
16) The Deacon's Ghost, an Icelandic folktale.
A Deacon lived on one side of a fjord, and his love on the other. They fell in love one winter, and he promised to come back and fetch her for a wedding the next winter as soon as the fjord ices over again. Sadly, he's killed on his way back in a freak accident, and she doesn't know it. When he returns to fetch her, he acts strangely, but she's simply glad to see him again. They get to the church, but it's late at night, and he's not headed towards the church itself, but to the churchyard, where there's a single disturbed and empty grave! She fights free, and is guarded by the villagers every night from the undead lovesick deacon, until a priest from the closest city arrives to put him down for good.
This one was very sad. I felt sorry for the poor deacon and the poor girl who was left alone, and then frightened out of her wits afterwards. Sad ghost stories are harder, because they really drive home the utter unfairness of life and death.
17) Nuckelavee, from the Orkney Islands.
Short and shivery indeed. Nuckelavee is a weird cross between a kelpie and a demon, and it terrorizes the islanders, but is easily avoided by crossing fresh running water. This short bit tells of a local man's bad night when he found Nuckelavee coming towards him on a long empty road, with no running water nearby. A brazen approach, a quick sprint, and a tiny rivulet defeats the monster.
Not much too this one, but it's a fun little story that I can totally see a grizzled old man telling in a pub as a sort of "big fish" story.
18) Adventure of the German Student, Washington Irving.
Our German student has arrived in Paris to rid himself of a gloomy obsession; a demon is after his soul. Unfortunately, his timing isn't so hot, as he arrives just as Revolutionary fervor is hitting it's peak, and the smell of blood from the guillotines hangs heavy in the air. Understandably, his morbid fancies aren't much improved, and he hides out in his garret trying to avoid the masses of frenzied Parisians. He does have to head out for groceries, and tries to do so in the early mornings or late evenings when the streets are less crowded. One night walking home he spies a weeping lady on the steps of the guillotine. He rescues her and takes her home, and over the night falls in love with the wild young mourner. They pledge their hearts and souls, and he heads off the next morning without disturbing her to look for a bigger apartment. On his return, he finds her beheaded, and the officers confirm his worst fears - the lady was a victim of the guillotine the day before, and he's now pledged his everlasting soul to a dead woman walking.
This one needs a better name, to be honest. The French Lover would be at least slightly more descriptive. I love the association with a specific place and specific events, and the descriptions of the poor lady and the besotted (although not so bright) student are lively and morbid all at the same time. One of my favorites from the book.
19) Billy Moseby's Night Ride, from New England, USA.
Billy lives with his grandparents out on their rural farmstead, and everyone keeps clear of old Francis Woolcott - rumor is that he's a wizard. Billy is overcome with curiosity, and spies on the neighbor's bonfire one night, and is kidnapped on a wild ride through the countryside as the man releases spirits and hexes to torment his neighbors. When the night is over, Billy is encouraged to leave well enough alone, but now he's really inspired - he wants power like that himself. When he finally gets his courage up to go apprentice himself, he's too late. Woolcott is lying near death, and Billy watches helplessly as the demons that Woolcott worked with return in force to fetch his unwilling pitiful soul off to hell.
Another of the morality tale sort, but at least it has a younger protagonist, and an interesting look at the predjudices of old farm people. This one might be an interesting pairing with the Witch Cat - Woolcott and the cat lady would be an interesting pair.
20) The Hunter in the Haunted Forest, compiled from three Teton Sioux tales.
A brave hunter must venture into the haunted forest to feed his starving family, even though he knows that powerful spirits run rampant there, and have no love for the living. First he is overtaken by a powerful storm, and tries to shelter in a clearing, in a convenient teepee, but he overhears voices inside planning dark plots, and races away from them. When he camps deeper in the woods, and old man comes to his campfire, and reveals himself to be a ghost. The ghost offers a wager - if they wrestle and the hunter wins, he'll find plentiful game and a peaceful forest, but if the ghost wins, the hunter will be haunted and his whole family will die from hunger. The hunter wins (with a nice trick) and turns the ghostly old haunt into ashes, and then is delighted to find that the pact holds true, and the game is plentiful thereafter.
It's easy to tell that these are disconnected snippets, but I think that they all flow together decently well - they're more of a sequential narrative than a single arc, but they all hang together well, and give a nice picture of how frightening it must have been to be a hunter alone in the fall woods, knowing your skill is all that keeps your family alive.
21) Brother and Sister, a folktale found in Kenya, Zambia, and Malawi.
Another nasty-bridegroom story. A sister is promised in marriage to a man claiming to be from a rich neighboring tribe, but her brother is supicious of the strangely-acting man. He follows the wedded couple to the man's home, and quickly realizes it's a den of hyena demons. While the demon family is outside changing form, the boy races into the hut to warn his sister. They block the entrance to the enclosed yard with thorns, and barricade themselves in the hut, then as the demons continue to advance, escape out a window and into the nearby trees, where they flee frantically as the hyenas pursue them (destroying the trees as they go) until they reach a wide river. The bridegroom hyena continues to swim after them, even after the sun rises and he changes shape back to a man, but the siblings pelt him with rocks until he turns back.
A nice sibling story, but a little frustrating that all of the escape ideas are from the brother. Ah well.
22) The Lovers of Dismal Swamp, from Virginia, USA
A young pair of lovers lived on the edge of a swamp, until one day the young lady took sick and died. Her lover was utterly distraught, and refused to believe she was dead. As time went on, he began to obsess that she was alive, out in the swamp, and needed him to rescue her. He rushed out into the swamp one day, convinced that he saw her in the mist, with a lantern in her hand. He built a homemade raft and poled out towards her, and that was the last anyone saw him alive. Now hunters and fishers in that swamp claim you can see the duo poling a rickety raft along the waterways at dusk.
Short and shivery indeed - just over two pages long! The tone of this one is interesting, because there's no malice or evil ascribed to the boy or girl, even as ghosts.
23) Boneless, Shetland Isles.
Villagers were terrorized by a creature they called "Boneless" or simply "It" because no one could agree on what it looked like, or even what sort of thing it was. It gave off an aura of evil and terrorized households and farm animals simply by it's presence. One Christmas night, a farmer had enough. After a night of It bumping against his doors and scaring his cattle, he resolved to kill it for good. He raced out into the night and hurled an axe at it, killing it near the sea-cliff edge, and then burying it for good measure. That spring, a folklorist was curious about the legend, and learned where the burial spot was. He began to dig it up, until he noticed the "curdled light" and the milky fog seeping out of the hole. He ran for his life, and watched as It seeped out of the hole and headed towards the ocean. Two nights later, as he was wandering the cliff edges, he saw It in the water, long and stretched out, and formless. He turned to run, but it overtook him in an instant, and wrapped misty tentacles around him, dragging him over the edge of the cliff. He prayed desperately aloud, and the thing recoiled, took fire, released him, fell, and sizzled on the surface of the water below.
This sounds like a folktale that might have influenced Lovecraft back in the day. The insistence on the thing being unformed and indescribable, of strange oil-shimmer colors on white fish-belly hue, and the affinity to water - sounds like a baby shoggoth to me. The fact that a folklorist is the one to poke at it and get punished for his temerity is also very Lovecraftian.
24) The Death Waltz, New Mexico
Elizabeth was newly come to Fort Union, and she was a beauty from back East. Everyone adored her, and all the soldiers and ranchers courted her, but she was too good for any of them, and laughed at them. The handsomest and best social match was Frank Sutter, who was smitten with him. She was perfectly happy to be courted by such a fine officer, and when they had to leave on a raid and he asked her hand, she agreed - and upped the deal by promising that even if he died, she'd never wed another. Of course, the obvious happens. During the raid, someone saw him go down, but his body was never recovered. The fort gossips noted that Elizabeth didn't seem too perturbed by the death of her forever love, and tongues wagged even more harshly when she became engaged to a man from back East, who was leaving the fort to return there. At the wedding reception, the night turned stormy and wild, and the doors slammed open to reveal Sutter, muddy and corpselike, with terrible wounds all over his body. He grabbed the new bride from her husband, motioned to the band, and began a terrible waltz with her - by the end of it she was dead.
This was another of the ones I remembered from childhood, because I always thought the "bride" was a silly heartless thing to take advantage of someone and make stupid promises, especially to a soldier in wartime. Serves her right.
25) The Ghost of Misery Hill, California, USA.
Old Tom Bowers worked the mine on Misery Hill, until he passed away. He was an ornery and private man, and even after he passed, no one could bring themselves to jump his claim - even after death. That is, until Jim Brandon's debts got so bad he had no other choice. It started calmly enough, with him noticing that his tools and equipment were misplaced every morning. Then he started noticing someone using his sluice to pan gold. If that wasn't bad enough, then the notices started going up, claiming the mine in Tom Bower's name. Then he saw the ghost and his nerves vanished, and he shot it - which of course made Old Tom mighty unhappy, and the now-vengeful ghost came after Jim with his pickaxe. No one ever saw Jim again, but they did find his gun - pinned to the ground by a faintly-glowing pick driven straight through the barrel.
A good old wild-west gold-mining ghost story is such fun.
26) The Loup-Garou, a French-Canadian folktale.
Another short one, of the evil-thing-chasing-you-in-the-woods category. Pierre lives in a lovely cabin in the woods, and he and his wife are very happy there, until she gets sick and he has to ride through the woods after dark to fetch a doctor for her. He sets off, and while they're making good time at first, suddenly the horse slows down as if he's pulling a heavy load. Pierre looks behind him - straight into the eyes of an enormous wolf. Pierre freaks out, and he and the horse begin the run for their lives, but it's no use - the thing catches them. Pierre draws his knife and manages to draw blood before the wolf eviscerates him, and the loup-garou (as tradition dictates) is forced to change back into human form and flee. Pierre gets while the getting is good, and he and the doctor make sure to bring crosses with them as they pass through the woods on the return trip.
This one really isn't much, but the requirement to change to human and flee if blood is drawn is an interestingly specific limitation. I am very curious about that part.
27) The Golem, an original tale based on Jewish folklore.
A merchant learned of the mysteries of the golem, and hired a rabbi to create one for him. He immediately began abusing this perfect servant, treating it like the dirt it came from. But the golem kept growing, and it slowly got less obedient, and even began to act sullen and unhappy. The merchant refused to admit that he had a problem, and kept on abusing his magical servant, until one day he woke to find the golem systematically dismantling his house. He flees to the rabbi who teaches him how to destroy the golem, but when the merchant manages to do so, the golem collapses into a mass of inanimate clay that falls onto the merchant, crushing him to death.
LOVED this story, and the just desserts of the pompous asshole merchant who thought he had the perfect slave to abuse.
28) Lavender, raodsides, USA. (see also Seanan McGuire's Sparrow Hill Road's base ghost story)
Two guys were headed to the dance, and they see a pretty girl by the side of the road, dressed in a lavender party dress. They stop and pick her up, and one of the boys lends her his jacket. They have a great time at the dance, but when it's time to leave, the girl is distraught and demands to be let out on the side of the road, close to where they found her originally. The boys are convinced she was just "letting them down easy" because she didn't want to go steady with either of them, and they head down the dirt driveway to visit her the next day. The door is opened by an ancient woman, who weeps when she hears their story. Her little girl's favorite color was lavender, and she's been dead for nearly 50 years now - every spring she goes out to dance with the boys, and every time she almost gets back home before she fades away. The boys think this is a set-up or a trick and leave affronted, until they see the graveyard next door, with Lavender's gravestone draped with the letter jacket from last night draped over it.
Sweet and sad, and one of my favorite ghost stories. Love how it's so universally USA - it doesn't need a time or a place or any identifying details to be haunting and mystical.
29) The Goblin Spider, a legend from Japan.
Raiko, the famous samurai, is sent by the lord to kill a ferocious goblin that is shaped like a giant spider, and is terrorizing the countryside. On the way there, he is directed by the floating skull of a former victim of the spider. They find a deserted palace, inhabited by a creepy bug like ancient crone. She warns them away, then shifts into a mist and sinks through the floor as a legion of demons attack the samurai and his companion. They fight for hours, until the sun begins to rise, and the demons vanish. Then a beautiful pale maiden appears, but blinds them with unwholesome light, and shapeshifts into a creepy elongated monstrosity that oozes sticky white threads. She also changes to mist and seeps into the floor, and the samurai realize that she bleeds white sticky blood. The sun has fully risen, and now the samurai realize that there is a cavern or hollow beneath the flagstones. They pull them up, angering the mighty spider (who was the hag, and then the fair maiden) who attacks them brutally. The samurai fight valiantly, and finally slay the hellish spider beast, and take it's head back to court for their rewards.
Ew. Spiders.
30) The Halloween Pony, a folktale from France.
Grandmother warned the boys to stay inside on Halloween night, but the lively lads are determined to have some fun. They run out and find a neighbor's pony has gotten loose from it's pen. They all pile on, and strangely, even 4, 5, 6 and more boys seem to fit comfortably on the small pony. The pony doesn't even seem to mind the weight, and frolics and cavorts around, until he reaches the seaside, and the boys try to slow it down. It refuses, and they then try to dismount, but they're stuck. The boys can do nothing but watch in terror as the pony descends into the sea, and none of the village boys who were out that night were ever found.
So, the French version of kelpies, essentially. Plus a little morality guilt laid in on top.
I would have preferred this collection to stop at 28, and just skipped the spider and the silly morals, and ended on a high note with Lavender. Ahh well.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Short Story Collection/Ghost Story: Sparrow Hill Road, Seanan McGuire
Late to the party, (this collection has previously published stories from all over the place, and was itself published back in May) but this is a really really good combined ghost story.
Sparrow Hill Road
Seanan McGuire
ISBN: 9780756409616
Read October 2, 2014
Doesn't everyone look for a good ghost story to set them up for Halloween? If you do, I'd strongly suggest you add this one to your rotation.
This is such a good cumulative ghost story. Fair warning, the book is (from what I can tell researching) an edited compilation of previously existing stories and short fiction about a single character and world, and as such, some of the stories either slightly disagree with each other, or (more often) are a bit repetitive, as the basic introductions and world mechanics must be introduced as part of what was originally intended to be a single story standing alone. It didn't bother me, because I greatly enjoyed McGuire's worldbuilding and thought that the characters inhabiting this world were interesting and quirky, but that repetition seems to have really bugged the snot out of some readers,
Summary: It seems like everyone knows the ghost story of the Girl in the Diner, or the Phantom Prom Date. Those two stories especially - the first of a trucker's angel who appears as a hitchhiker and saves her driver from impending accidents, and the second of a murderous jilted ghost who kills boys in retribution from being stood up at her prom - have haunted Rose Marshall since 1952. Or, more appropriately, Rose has haunted the roads, and the stories have slowly evolved.
The reality is closer to the first than the second (although I have to say there was a solid tease that there IS a darker version of Rose out there, homecoming away, and would I ever love to see the story of that realization and confrontation unfold) and Rose has been around longer as a ghost than she ever was as a living girl. She's just starting to get the hang of the rules of the undead world, of twilight ghosts interacting with the living, and the midnight world of long-dead ghosts interacting with strange and terrible creatures of myth. She is lucky to have survived this long, because she's being hunted by someone who seems to be both living and dead, and needs her soul for fuel.
Despite the chronological (roughly) progression of the story, we don't get a solid "here is the ending of the book" resolution. Again, I'm pretty sure that this is because we're just seeing a collected version of all the existing stories about Rose. I really really hope that we'll get MORE stories, or perhaps a novella or novel about her and her world, but for this one, having a character wrapped up in a pretty "the end" bow would cut off so many possibilities that I'm really not surprised at all to come away without a final resolution to her through-line conflict. The 'miniboss fight' that we did get was good, but not amazingly climactic, which makes the open-ended sense a little stronger.
On that note, I did feel like our antagonist could have been a smidge more active or at least a bit more present in the stories. He came off a little weak in the aggregate, even though his individual appearances were suitably tense. I'm not entirely sure why the overall impression weakens like that, but it might be that we never actually see any consequences of his predation (other than Bethany, who was 1) partly spared, and 2) blase about her experiences).
I'm immediately passing this on to one of my friends, and I very rarely do this. It's just up his alley tho, and I think he'll enjoy it.
Similar ghostly or american-creepy reads:
The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)
The Boneshaker (Kate Milford)
Anna Dressed in Blood (Kendare Blake)
anything written by Charles de Lint
American Gods and Anansi Boys (Neil Gaiman)
The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman)
The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane (Laird Koenig)
Mad Maudlin (Bedlam's Bard series, Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill)
Sparrow Hill Road
Seanan McGuire
ISBN: 9780756409616
Read October 2, 2014
Doesn't everyone look for a good ghost story to set them up for Halloween? If you do, I'd strongly suggest you add this one to your rotation.
This is such a good cumulative ghost story. Fair warning, the book is (from what I can tell researching) an edited compilation of previously existing stories and short fiction about a single character and world, and as such, some of the stories either slightly disagree with each other, or (more often) are a bit repetitive, as the basic introductions and world mechanics must be introduced as part of what was originally intended to be a single story standing alone. It didn't bother me, because I greatly enjoyed McGuire's worldbuilding and thought that the characters inhabiting this world were interesting and quirky, but that repetition seems to have really bugged the snot out of some readers,
Summary: It seems like everyone knows the ghost story of the Girl in the Diner, or the Phantom Prom Date. Those two stories especially - the first of a trucker's angel who appears as a hitchhiker and saves her driver from impending accidents, and the second of a murderous jilted ghost who kills boys in retribution from being stood up at her prom - have haunted Rose Marshall since 1952. Or, more appropriately, Rose has haunted the roads, and the stories have slowly evolved.
The reality is closer to the first than the second (although I have to say there was a solid tease that there IS a darker version of Rose out there, homecoming away, and would I ever love to see the story of that realization and confrontation unfold) and Rose has been around longer as a ghost than she ever was as a living girl. She's just starting to get the hang of the rules of the undead world, of twilight ghosts interacting with the living, and the midnight world of long-dead ghosts interacting with strange and terrible creatures of myth. She is lucky to have survived this long, because she's being hunted by someone who seems to be both living and dead, and needs her soul for fuel.
Despite the chronological (roughly) progression of the story, we don't get a solid "here is the ending of the book" resolution. Again, I'm pretty sure that this is because we're just seeing a collected version of all the existing stories about Rose. I really really hope that we'll get MORE stories, or perhaps a novella or novel about her and her world, but for this one, having a character wrapped up in a pretty "the end" bow would cut off so many possibilities that I'm really not surprised at all to come away without a final resolution to her through-line conflict. The 'miniboss fight' that we did get was good, but not amazingly climactic, which makes the open-ended sense a little stronger.
On that note, I did feel like our antagonist could have been a smidge more active or at least a bit more present in the stories. He came off a little weak in the aggregate, even though his individual appearances were suitably tense. I'm not entirely sure why the overall impression weakens like that, but it might be that we never actually see any consequences of his predation (other than Bethany, who was 1) partly spared, and 2) blase about her experiences).
I'm immediately passing this on to one of my friends, and I very rarely do this. It's just up his alley tho, and I think he'll enjoy it.
Similar ghostly or american-creepy reads:
The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)
The Boneshaker (Kate Milford)
Anna Dressed in Blood (Kendare Blake)
anything written by Charles de Lint
American Gods and Anansi Boys (Neil Gaiman)
The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman)
The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane (Laird Koenig)
Mad Maudlin (Bedlam's Bard series, Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill)
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Short Story (sort of): The Road to Levinshir, Patrick Rothfuss, from Epic collection
So this marks the third time I've read this particular story, and I suppose it makes me a bad consumer of tales to not remember the other two instances well enough to notice the differences that Pat blogged about.
I first read this exerpt in Rothfuss' actual book The Name of the Wind, because I don't tend to read short stories (I want the worlds to be bigger, and last longer, and the ones that I like the most are rarely the ones with attached series or novels associated). A year or so later on, I was thumbing through the 2009 Year's Best Anthology (ISBN: 9781607012146 , edited by Rich Horton) in a used bookshop and saw "Rothfuss" and thought, Oh Yay! and was a couple of paragraphs in before I realized that I was re-reading, and by then thought - eh, screw it, it was a good book, so I sat down in the aisle and read it again.
Well, earlier this week, I did the same exact thing with the Epic collection; it arrived at the library, I saw "Rothfuss" and grabbed, and got a few paragraphs in before going "Oh, come on!" in bemusement at myself for not at least recognizing the fricking title this time around. Of course I read it again. What a silly question.
So, because this blog started after I read all of Rothfuss' works, I am enthusiastically recommending them to anyone who would like something amazing to read. If you like short stories, there's this one, which is technically a section of The Name of the Wind, but that book is freaking massive and epic, and this is a nice little snack-sized morsel of story. There is also the story The Lightning Tree featuring another character Bast in the Rogues collection, and a novella called The Slow Regard of Silent Things, coming out later this fall about yet another character Auri who is also amazing. The actual epic novels are two so far: The Name of the Wind, and The Wise Man's Fear. The last will be titled The Doors of Stone, and if you even dare to whisper about a publication date I will find you and beat you over the head with all of the above publications.
The Road to Levinshir
Patrick Rothfuss
From: Epic: Legends of Fantasy
John Joseph Adams and GRR Martin, editors.
ISBN: 9781616960841
Re-re-read September 24, 2014.
Our first-person narrator invites us along as his road trip is interrupted by what he hopes will be a pleasant break with his gypsy-like "family" of people, the Edema Ruh. Sadly, his hopes are dashed as things are not even remotely what they seem to be. The hero is to a Mary Sue what Deadpool is to the 4th wall. You know he is, but he doesn't seem to know he is, but the story DOES seem to know he is, which implies all sorts of unfortunate things for both the character, and the surroundings. It's lovely. Read it, then go read all the other things.
I first read this exerpt in Rothfuss' actual book The Name of the Wind, because I don't tend to read short stories (I want the worlds to be bigger, and last longer, and the ones that I like the most are rarely the ones with attached series or novels associated). A year or so later on, I was thumbing through the 2009 Year's Best Anthology (ISBN: 9781607012146 , edited by Rich Horton) in a used bookshop and saw "Rothfuss" and thought, Oh Yay! and was a couple of paragraphs in before I realized that I was re-reading, and by then thought - eh, screw it, it was a good book, so I sat down in the aisle and read it again.
Well, earlier this week, I did the same exact thing with the Epic collection; it arrived at the library, I saw "Rothfuss" and grabbed, and got a few paragraphs in before going "Oh, come on!" in bemusement at myself for not at least recognizing the fricking title this time around. Of course I read it again. What a silly question.
So, because this blog started after I read all of Rothfuss' works, I am enthusiastically recommending them to anyone who would like something amazing to read. If you like short stories, there's this one, which is technically a section of The Name of the Wind, but that book is freaking massive and epic, and this is a nice little snack-sized morsel of story. There is also the story The Lightning Tree featuring another character Bast in the Rogues collection, and a novella called The Slow Regard of Silent Things, coming out later this fall about yet another character Auri who is also amazing. The actual epic novels are two so far: The Name of the Wind, and The Wise Man's Fear. The last will be titled The Doors of Stone, and if you even dare to whisper about a publication date I will find you and beat you over the head with all of the above publications.
The Road to Levinshir
Patrick Rothfuss
From: Epic: Legends of Fantasy
John Joseph Adams and GRR Martin, editors.
ISBN: 9781616960841
Re-re-read September 24, 2014.
Our first-person narrator invites us along as his road trip is interrupted by what he hopes will be a pleasant break with his gypsy-like "family" of people, the Edema Ruh. Sadly, his hopes are dashed as things are not even remotely what they seem to be. The hero is to a Mary Sue what Deadpool is to the 4th wall. You know he is, but he doesn't seem to know he is, but the story DOES seem to know he is, which implies all sorts of unfortunate things for both the character, and the surroundings. It's lovely. Read it, then go read all the other things.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Nonfiction: what if? by Randall Munroe of xkcd
What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Randall Munroe
ISBN: 9780544272996
Read Sept 6, 2014.
This was an awesome tour of applied sciences. From the standard "what if the sun went out?" to the specific "what if I went swimmng in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool?" to the obviously very concerning (sooo many questions about lightning strikes!) we get researched, fact-based answers (and some cartoons and bonus snarking) that reveals the usually pretty terrible things that would happen in most of our daydreaming "what if" scenarios.
Damn good writing, explaining, and selecting interesting questions to deal with. Including the un-answered "Weird (and Worrying) Questions" was brilliant.
My favorite probably is the detailed and gruesome explanation of why the periodic table is not at all like pokemon.
Randall Munroe
ISBN: 9780544272996
Read Sept 6, 2014.
This was an awesome tour of applied sciences. From the standard "what if the sun went out?" to the specific "what if I went swimmng in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool?" to the obviously very concerning (sooo many questions about lightning strikes!) we get researched, fact-based answers (and some cartoons and bonus snarking) that reveals the usually pretty terrible things that would happen in most of our daydreaming "what if" scenarios.
Damn good writing, explaining, and selecting interesting questions to deal with. Including the un-answered "Weird (and Worrying) Questions" was brilliant.
My favorite probably is the detailed and gruesome explanation of why the periodic table is not at all like pokemon.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Short Story: The Lightning Tree, Patrick Rothfuss
Rogues
GRR Martin & Gardner Dozois, editors
GRR Martin & Gardner Dozois, editors
ISBN: 9780345537263
Short Story Collection, only read The Lightning Tree by Patrick Rothfuss
Read Sept 4, 2014.
Dear Mr. Rothfuss,
I only just now got around to reading your short story. Please write about Bast and children and secrets and favors and lies and satyrs forever.
Yours truly,
Shisho.
PS - Oh this story was so damn amazing. Your language makes me cry. Your craft makes me green with envy. Your storytelling makes me gape like a child. Your understanding of humanity draws me in like a crackling bonfire on a dark cold night. My face burns from sitting so close, but it's worth it to feel like I'm part of the fire, at least for as long as I can stand the pain.
Never stop burning.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
So I just realized I never did review Bombshells...
Bombshells
short Dresdenverse story by Jim Butcher
found in Dangerous Women anthology
curated and edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
ISBN: 9780765332066
This is the comment from my review of Ghoul Goblin:
"(I did get to read Molly's story Bombshells in the Dangerous Women anthology (GRR Martin, ISBN: 9780765332066) this past weekend (January 5th, 2014), and I can say it's a measure of how much I miss the Dresdenverse that I chose to read that instead of Sanderson's Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, which I STILL have not gotten to read.)"
So I need to remedy that:
Poor Molly. This shows how frazzled and thinly-spread the magical coverage is for Chicago now that Harry is AWOL. It also showed how much she's grown, and how she's really coming into her magical heritage.
I loved seeing the three different women (mage, vampire thrall, and werewolf if you're keeping track at home) work through their problem in a very nice use of "soft power" and then feel equally free to discard that approach and move straight into physicality with no qualms.
Loved the elvenkind (especially when compared to the Marvel universe depiction of them) and their approach to beauty and money. The fae are getting on my nerves a bit, but Godmother is still doing her thing in rare form, bless her. I live in hope that Molly will set her on fire at some point.
Sadly, now that Harry's all godlike and snared in fae politics, it's a relief to see more earthbound issues with the old crew in Chicago, just like it was to see him back in the past when he wasn't as hugely powerful. A bit sad that I feel that way, but it is how it is.
short Dresdenverse story by Jim Butcher
found in Dangerous Women anthology
curated and edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
ISBN: 9780765332066
This is the comment from my review of Ghoul Goblin:
"(I did get to read Molly's story Bombshells in the Dangerous Women anthology (GRR Martin, ISBN: 9780765332066) this past weekend (January 5th, 2014), and I can say it's a measure of how much I miss the Dresdenverse that I chose to read that instead of Sanderson's Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, which I STILL have not gotten to read.)"
So I need to remedy that:
Poor Molly. This shows how frazzled and thinly-spread the magical coverage is for Chicago now that Harry is AWOL. It also showed how much she's grown, and how she's really coming into her magical heritage.
I loved seeing the three different women (mage, vampire thrall, and werewolf if you're keeping track at home) work through their problem in a very nice use of "soft power" and then feel equally free to discard that approach and move straight into physicality with no qualms.
Loved the elvenkind (especially when compared to the Marvel universe depiction of them) and their approach to beauty and money. The fae are getting on my nerves a bit, but Godmother is still doing her thing in rare form, bless her. I live in hope that Molly will set her on fire at some point.
Sadly, now that Harry's all godlike and snared in fae politics, it's a relief to see more earthbound issues with the old crew in Chicago, just like it was to see him back in the past when he wasn't as hugely powerful. A bit sad that I feel that way, but it is how it is.
Short Story: Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
short Cosmere story by Brandon Sanderson
Found in: Dangerous Women
Collection curated and edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
ISBN: 9780765332066
Lord in heaven it took me forever to get round to this. I read Jim Butcher's Dresdenverse story from this anthology way back in November? December? and I've been trying to get to this one, but between illness and busywork, it just wasn't happening, and I never want to force myself to read something - I'm afraid I'll jinx it.
So, here we have another Cosmere story (which was pretty damn obvious from the get-go, although I did check his blog to be absolutely sure) set in an unnamed new world because of course it is (jealousy is a terrible awful feeling).
I like this world. I want to go back. Hell, I want to stay there. I want to know more about the Shades, and the Rules, and the Homesteaders, and the Fortfolk, and where the Homeland was, and why they left, and all about the God Below, and why the HELL they ended up in this godawful forest (how big is it?) and how long it took before their ancestors figured everything out (or how much they figured out and what they got wrong)....
He always does this to me. His worlds are so interesting and his stories are always just giving you enough to understand what's going on at the moment while hinting at ages and eons and lives full of history behind and around them, and I just want to know all the things!!! I swear, if this man taught actual real human history, people would give a shit. It's just unreal.
In a way, it's good to have read this just now, because that primes me up for Words of Radiance, which I should be getting soonish (the post office hates me) and at least I can distract myself with another world that I care deeply about and want to know all the things.
But still. I really need to know more about this Forest. Really really really badly. Poor William. Poor Sebruki. Aaaargh.
short Cosmere story by Brandon Sanderson
Found in: Dangerous Women
Collection curated and edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
ISBN: 9780765332066
Lord in heaven it took me forever to get round to this. I read Jim Butcher's Dresdenverse story from this anthology way back in November? December? and I've been trying to get to this one, but between illness and busywork, it just wasn't happening, and I never want to force myself to read something - I'm afraid I'll jinx it.
So, here we have another Cosmere story (which was pretty damn obvious from the get-go, although I did check his blog to be absolutely sure) set in an unnamed new world because of course it is (jealousy is a terrible awful feeling).
I like this world. I want to go back. Hell, I want to stay there. I want to know more about the Shades, and the Rules, and the Homesteaders, and the Fortfolk, and where the Homeland was, and why they left, and all about the God Below, and why the HELL they ended up in this godawful forest (how big is it?) and how long it took before their ancestors figured everything out (or how much they figured out and what they got wrong)....
He always does this to me. His worlds are so interesting and his stories are always just giving you enough to understand what's going on at the moment while hinting at ages and eons and lives full of history behind and around them, and I just want to know all the things!!! I swear, if this man taught actual real human history, people would give a shit. It's just unreal.
In a way, it's good to have read this just now, because that primes me up for Words of Radiance, which I should be getting soonish (the post office hates me) and at least I can distract myself with another world that I care deeply about and want to know all the things.
But still. I really need to know more about this Forest. Really really really badly. Poor William. Poor Sebruki. Aaaargh.
Monday, February 10, 2014
The SOS File, Betsy Byars, Betsy Duffey, Laurie Myers, Arthur Howard
The SOS File
Betsy Byars, Betsy Duffey, Laurie Myers, illustrated by Arthur Howard
ISBN: 9780805068887
Read February 10, 2014
Juvenile Chapter Book.
Mr. Magro's class has a chance for extra credit. All a student has to do is put a story into the SOS File. Some are funny, some are touching, some aren't quite on-topic, but all are briskly and engagingly written. Perfect for bedtime stories, as each individual story forms a single self-contained chapter.
Even though the theme is SOS, nothing here is too sad or too scary for young readers or listeners.
This book was recommended by The Read-Aloud Handbook.
Betsy Byars, Betsy Duffey, Laurie Myers, illustrated by Arthur Howard
ISBN: 9780805068887
Read February 10, 2014
Juvenile Chapter Book.
Mr. Magro's class has a chance for extra credit. All a student has to do is put a story into the SOS File. Some are funny, some are touching, some aren't quite on-topic, but all are briskly and engagingly written. Perfect for bedtime stories, as each individual story forms a single self-contained chapter.
Even though the theme is SOS, nothing here is too sad or too scary for young readers or listeners.
This book was recommended by The Read-Aloud Handbook.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Short Reviews: June 2013. Unnatural Creatures, Movement of Stars, Dragonswood, Written in Red
Written
in Red, Anne Bishop. ISBN: 978-0451464965
June 25, 2013
Author is very lucky for Charles de Lint's blurb on the back, otherwise the cover and inital "Brief History of the World" would NOT have interested me enough to pick it up. Oddly light in tone for the subject matter, only a few described scenes of torture/gore - everything else is insinuated. Very little background on the main character and her past. Interesting world, plot is standard "bunch of strong characters (mostly men) feel obligated to protect a persecuted innocent (usually a woman) to the death, despite cultural/historical/prejudical indications otherwise." Characters engaging despite the plot. Loved Winter, loved Grandfather, loved the ponies.
Dragonswood, Janet Lee Carey. ISBN: 0803735049 (no ISBN13)
June 24, 2013
"Sequel" to Dragon's Keep, with very few characters in common. (I have NOT read Dragon's Keep) Tess regularly flees her abusive homelife into the forbidden forests; home to dragons, feykin, and witches. She's eventually condemned as a witch, tortured, and flees with her friends into a fairly cliched story of huntsmen-cum-princes living in the woods, wise elder dragons, scheming fae, conniving "Prince John" councilors, and of course the requisite misunderstood prophecy. Enjoyed the fleeing and huntsmen-hiding more than the climax, sadly.
The Movement of Stars, Amy Brill. ISBN: 978-1594487446
June 16-22, 2013
Interesting fictionalized version of Maria Mitchell. I was very interested in the Quaker trappings and the adherance to "Discipline" but wasn't able to find more information on that subject easily. The love story was sweet, but very much out of place for those characters in that time-period, and that was jarring. Very feminist, almost strident. Good, but not exceedingly engaging.
Unnatural Creatures, (collected by) Neil Gaiman. ISBN: 978-0062236296
June 16-22, 2013
Short stories (very old and very new) collected and introduced individually by Gaiman. Exceedingly nice little collection, and very happy to see some older and lesser-known gems in the mix. Can't pick a favorite, but Sunbird has stuck in my mind for over a week now.
June 25, 2013
Author is very lucky for Charles de Lint's blurb on the back, otherwise the cover and inital "Brief History of the World" would NOT have interested me enough to pick it up. Oddly light in tone for the subject matter, only a few described scenes of torture/gore - everything else is insinuated. Very little background on the main character and her past. Interesting world, plot is standard "bunch of strong characters (mostly men) feel obligated to protect a persecuted innocent (usually a woman) to the death, despite cultural/historical/prejudical indications otherwise." Characters engaging despite the plot. Loved Winter, loved Grandfather, loved the ponies.
Dragonswood, Janet Lee Carey. ISBN: 0803735049 (no ISBN13)
June 24, 2013
"Sequel" to Dragon's Keep, with very few characters in common. (I have NOT read Dragon's Keep) Tess regularly flees her abusive homelife into the forbidden forests; home to dragons, feykin, and witches. She's eventually condemned as a witch, tortured, and flees with her friends into a fairly cliched story of huntsmen-cum-princes living in the woods, wise elder dragons, scheming fae, conniving "Prince John" councilors, and of course the requisite misunderstood prophecy. Enjoyed the fleeing and huntsmen-hiding more than the climax, sadly.
The Movement of Stars, Amy Brill. ISBN: 978-1594487446
June 16-22, 2013
Interesting fictionalized version of Maria Mitchell. I was very interested in the Quaker trappings and the adherance to "Discipline" but wasn't able to find more information on that subject easily. The love story was sweet, but very much out of place for those characters in that time-period, and that was jarring. Very feminist, almost strident. Good, but not exceedingly engaging.
Unnatural Creatures, (collected by) Neil Gaiman. ISBN: 978-0062236296
June 16-22, 2013
Short stories (very old and very new) collected and introduced individually by Gaiman. Exceedingly nice little collection, and very happy to see some older and lesser-known gems in the mix. Can't pick a favorite, but Sunbird has stuck in my mind for over a week now.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Previously Published Review: A Pack of Lies, Geraldine McCaughrean
Found "A Pack of Lies" through serendipity just recently, and truly enjoyed it.
This is a perfect set of short tales for any over-imaginative or puzzle-solving child, young adult, or adult who doesn't mind reading "kid's stuff." I wouldn't recommend it for much younger than 8 in general, but some younger children will enjoy it also.
In the frame story, British teenage girl Ailsa is shaken free of her boring life by the strange appearance of a man during her field trip to the library. Without a name, an ID number, or a place to live, he might have just dropped from the sky.
He's strangely persuasive, and very well-read, and he's just the person to help Ailsa and her mother sell the strange knick-nacks and furniture in their Second-Hand Shop. He works for free, but he tells any customer who will listen the most amazing pack of lies about the items they are interested in. The stories he tells are fantastic, but not really fantasy. Perhaps they may even be true!
The real question is, what is MCC really trying to sell, and to whom?
The frame story is quite fun, with hints and clues scattered about, and the slow dawning of realization in at least one of the characters makes a sobering counterpoint to the overall lighthearted tone. The stories themselves (eleven inside the frame) are fairly solid.
In order, we get
1) An Irish Tall Tale
2) An Indian Morality Tale
3) A Chinese Love Story
4) A Bizarre "Manners" Poem (also a morality tale)
5) A High-Seas Adventure
6) A Welsh Character Study
7) A Regency Suspense/Horror Story
8) A Funny "Inept Investigator" Crime Procedural
9) A Papist Tragedy
10) A Tragic War-Story/Relationship Study
11) A Hysterical Transylvanian "Horror" Tale
Of them all, the weakest to me are the Poem (not bad, but not really as scathing or funny as it could have been, and really there's just not much there), and the Transylvanian Tale, which is sad, because it was quite funny. However, it was the most fanstasical of them all, and where in a true horror/suspense story, the fantastic elements are more accepted, here, in a comic sense, they were more glaring, and didn't quite seem to fit with the rest of the stories.
This is a perfect one for bedtime reading for kids old enough to be read to, but too old for 'storybooks.' Each story is just long enough (and interesting enough) for some good bedtime reading, and none are the sorts of stories that raise fears or deep thoughts.
This is a perfect set of short tales for any over-imaginative or puzzle-solving child, young adult, or adult who doesn't mind reading "kid's stuff." I wouldn't recommend it for much younger than 8 in general, but some younger children will enjoy it also.
In the frame story, British teenage girl Ailsa is shaken free of her boring life by the strange appearance of a man during her field trip to the library. Without a name, an ID number, or a place to live, he might have just dropped from the sky.
He's strangely persuasive, and very well-read, and he's just the person to help Ailsa and her mother sell the strange knick-nacks and furniture in their Second-Hand Shop. He works for free, but he tells any customer who will listen the most amazing pack of lies about the items they are interested in. The stories he tells are fantastic, but not really fantasy. Perhaps they may even be true!
The real question is, what is MCC really trying to sell, and to whom?
The frame story is quite fun, with hints and clues scattered about, and the slow dawning of realization in at least one of the characters makes a sobering counterpoint to the overall lighthearted tone. The stories themselves (eleven inside the frame) are fairly solid.
In order, we get
1) An Irish Tall Tale
2) An Indian Morality Tale
3) A Chinese Love Story
4) A Bizarre "Manners" Poem (also a morality tale)
5) A High-Seas Adventure
6) A Welsh Character Study
7) A Regency Suspense/Horror Story
8) A Funny "Inept Investigator" Crime Procedural
9) A Papist Tragedy
10) A Tragic War-Story/Relationship Study
11) A Hysterical Transylvanian "Horror" Tale
Of them all, the weakest to me are the Poem (not bad, but not really as scathing or funny as it could have been, and really there's just not much there), and the Transylvanian Tale, which is sad, because it was quite funny. However, it was the most fanstasical of them all, and where in a true horror/suspense story, the fantastic elements are more accepted, here, in a comic sense, they were more glaring, and didn't quite seem to fit with the rest of the stories.
This is a perfect one for bedtime reading for kids old enough to be read to, but too old for 'storybooks.' Each story is just long enough (and interesting enough) for some good bedtime reading, and none are the sorts of stories that raise fears or deep thoughts.
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