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Part eighty-five in my comprehensive retrospective as I read the fiction in each issue of Realms of Fantasy and offer my thoughts, right up to the present. This time I'll be delving into the October 2008 issue.The cover to this one features the artwork of James A. Owen. This cover came out four issues before I started overseeing the magazine's artwork, but I nonetheless had a hand in some of this issue's artwork. Some months before this issue came out, James A. Owen had posted in-process sketches on his LiveJournal account. I enjoyed this post and mentioned as much in a comment on his blog. James replied that he'd be happy to have this whole sequence appear in Realms of Fantasy. I thought it was a great idea, so I emailed the publisher. I never heard back from him, so I assumed they weren't interested. Then later on I learned from James that this email set the wheels in motion to him before the featured artist in Artists Gallery. Then later on the stakes got upped once more when James's artwork appeared on the cover. Over the years, Realms of Fantasy has put out a lot of covers featuring or including dragons in one form or another (seventeen to be exact), but without a doubt this one is the most distinctive of the bunch. How often do you see a beautiful illustration of a bad-ass dragon drinking tea? Am I little biased toward this cover since I indirectly helped bring it about and I consider James a friend? You betcha. Do I still stand by what I say? Absolutely.
A rundown of this issue's nonfiction is as follows:
In the Movie/TV section, Resa Nelson writes about the rise of 3-D movies; in the books column, Paul Witcover reviews An Autumn War, volume three in the Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet, The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt, The Hounds of Ash and Other Tales of Fool Wolf by Greg Keyes, Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett, and Jeff VanderMeer reviews Artists Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, edited Jerad Walters, Bring Down the Sun by Judith Tarr, Midnight Never Comes by Marie Brennan, Filter House by Nisi Shawl, and Too Many Curses by A. Lee Martinez; in Young Adult Books, Michael M. Jones reviews Generation Dead by Daniel Waters, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, Nobody's Prize Esther Friesner, Percy Jackson # 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan, Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, Vampire Academy # 2: Frostbite by Richelle Mead, the dead & the gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer, and Alfred Kropp: The Thirteenth Skull by Rick Yancey; in Graphic Novels, Jeff VanderMeer reviews The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard by Eddie Campbell and Dan Best, Out of Picture 2: Art from the Outside Looking In by Jim Munroe and Salgood Sam, Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale with Nathan Hale, Dungeon: Monstres, Vol. 1, The Crying Giant by Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, Mazan, Jean-Christophe Menu, and Nantier Beall, and Doctor Grordbort's Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory by Greg Broadmore; in Folkroots, Terri Windling writes about why myth and mythic fiction matter, and why they matter to her; in the Artists Gallery, Mia Nutick covers the aforementioned James A. Owen; and in Games, Eric T. Baker reviews Ninja Gaiden II for the Xbox 360, Okami for the Wii, Summon Night: Twin Age for the DS, Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness for the PC, Mac, Unix, and Xbox 360, and Kung Fu Panda for the Pc, DS, Wii, PS2 & 3, and Xbox 360.
It should also be noted that this issue marks the last issue with Folkroots being under the editorial direction of Terri Windling. Terri was the founding editor of this column after being recruited by Shawna McCarthy. She wrote or edited every single issue, an impressive run of eighty-five issues.
On the fiction ...
The lead story is "The Purple Basil" by M.K. Hobson, which marks her fourth appearance in the magazine. In this piece, we are given a detailed look at the life of a modern witch and the accompanying Satanic ceremonies. Along the way, we learn that for all their darkness, at heart they too are human beings with feelings. Art to this one was provided by Tiffany Prothero, which marks her fourth illustration in the magazine.
Next up we have "The Luckiest Street in Georgia" by Vylar Kaftan. This is another tale I pulled from the slush, and I worked with Vylar on some very light revisions before passing it up the editorial ladder. In this piece, an old woman on a certain street in Georgia (duh!) is able to see future events occurring on this street and impact the lives of those on the street--a peculiar but effective gift. She can't change the past though, where she has a sad history of being left at the altar. However, one man across the street remains a mystery to her, someone who she sometimes sees watching her through his window, and he seems strangely outside the established magical rules for her street. And it just might be that he can help fix the past the way she fixes futures. Art to this one was provided by Eric Dinyer, which marks his ninth illustration in the magazine.
After this we have "Under the Skin" by Greg O. Weatherford, another slush survivor of mine. It also marks Greg's first sale. This one is a rather unusual tale about a smart adolescent girl who lives with a controlling father who also happens to be a werewolf. While the werewolf side of him only comes out once a month during the full moon, the reality is that the werewolf side of him has come to dominate every aspect of their lives as he strives to maintain his secret. It's this secrecy that leads to him being so controlling, and ultimately our protagonist must face the difficult question of whether to betray someone she loves so she can have a life of her own. Art to this one was provided by Eric Westbrook, which marks his second illustration it the magazine.
Then we have "The Horned Toad in Hubcap" by Joe Murphy, which marks his fourth appearance in the magazine. It also marks his fourth tale about Sprokly, the wooden girl given life by the magical tinkerer, Grampser. This tale deviates some from the previous stories since it is told through the point of view of Walter, the autistic boy Sprokly befriended in her previous adventure, whom she helped gain the power of speech with some of the magic she'd learned from Grampser. In this piece, Walter's favorite toy is his hubcap, where he claims he can see a whole different galaxy of stars ...until the spirit of a horned toad gets inside his hubcap. When Spokly and and Walter set out to solve the mystery of the hubcap, they learn that Grampser has been creating wooden equivalents of the horned toads in his never-ending quest to create true life. These wooden horned toads are killing the real ones, and the only way for the real ones to contact Walter and Sprokly and get help is through the hubcap. Art to this one was provided by Lori Koefoed, which marks her fourteenth illustration in the magazine.
Following this we have "All Beautiful Things" by Sharon Mock, my third slush survivor tale to appear in this issue. In this decidedly dark tale, we are introduced to a fairy world that has been overrun by humans and their iron technologies, except for the Inner Court of the fairies. A spoiled fairy princess is interested in seeing the world beyond, and she seduces a human ambassador to spirit her away, with disastrous results. I have to admit that by the time I came across this one in the slush I was pretty burned out on fairy stories--we got so many of them. But I have a soft spot for dark fiction. Combined with the fact that the author subverted so many of the tired tropes that are prevalent in fairy fiction, it made passing this one along a no-brainer. Art to this one was provided by Dave Leri, which marks his eighth illustration in the magazine. This artwork was selected for inclusion in Spectrum 16: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art.
Finally we have "The Claw Unseen" by Euan Harvey, which marks his second appearance in the magazine. In this sword & sorcery piece, a thief in debt come across a trinket of treasure he believes will get him out of financial difficulties. However, it turns out to be a cursed item, one that fills him with steadily building rage. When his rage reaches certain levels ....he grows. It sounds like a simple enough premise, but the execution in this piece made it fascinating throughout. Art to this one was provided by Rob Johnson, which marks his fourth illustration in the magazine. I should also mention that this is the first time I'm writing about Euan's work in my retrospectives since he passed away from cancer. I never met him (he lives overseas, first in Thailand and then in the U.K. after his sickness worsened), but we got to be online friends, as our tastes in the genre were very similar. Come his unfortunate end, he was one of the magazine's most prolific contributors. He actually had two stories in inventory with us in inventory that would have been published posthumously had the magazine not closed down. His death is a shame--chiefly because he was a good and funny person who left behind a loving family--but also because it also deprived the community of a talented writer who was improving with every story he wrote. I still think about him and what might have been.
So that wraps up this issue. And my favorite story? We have one of those rare ties, this time between "All Beautiful Things" by Sharon Mock and "The Claw Unseen" by Euan Harvery. Two very different stories (although both are dark), but equally effective in their own distinct way. And my favorite artwork? Also a tie! This time the dual honors go to James A. Owen's cover with his tea-drinking dragon, and Dave Leri's illustration to "All Beautiful Things" by Sharon Mock.
Next time around I'll put a cap on 2008 when I dive into the December 2008 issue. Until then ...
So while killing Ros may bring us closer to getting back to the original story line, it doesn't stop them from tweaking other aspects of the story, most notably the whole Gendry/Melisandre angle. There is no Gendry/Melisandre angle in the book. In the book, after Stannis and Melisandre seize the castle of Storm's End, they take Edric Storm into captivity, one of Robert Baratheon's bastards. Melisandre than uses the king's blood in Edric to cast her spells before Davos spirits him overseas to safety. Stannis is infuriated, but Davos get himself out of trouble by using his newly acquired reading skills taught to him by the maester to warn Stannis of a threat at the Wall.
In the HBO series, they've written out the maester who teaches Davos to read, handing that duty off to Stannis's daughter, Princess Shireen. They've also written out Edric Storm, but I'd been operating under the assumption that Melisandre would get her royal blood from Princess Shireen. HBO has other ideas though, choosing to have Gendry fill this role. I suppose it makes sense from a streamlining perspective, but it does create several interesting ripples. In the books, after Arya is kidnapped by Sandor Clegane, Gendry is still with the Brotherhood without Banners. As best I can remember, Gendry doesn't really come on the scene again until book four--when Brienne is being eaten by the cannibal Biter, Gendry kills Biter.
So if we assume that Davos follows the story in the book and helps Gendry escape Melisandre, what does this mean? Well, I don't think it impacts Brienne's story that much at all. She can still get bitten by Biter and kill him on her own, or someone else can easily fill in here. So the big question is what becomes of Gendry. After Arya and Gendry were separated, I think most readers assumed that at some point their paths would cross again. I still think this is the case, but now I'm starting to think it will go down differently in the HBO series than it does in the books. In the books, I expect them to meet again when Arya finally returns to Westeros. In the HBO series, I wouldn't be at all surprised if their paths cross in Braavos. Remember, Davos has his friends smuggle Edric Storm across the Narrow Sea Essos. In the HBO series, Gendry will no longer have any interest in returning to the Brotherhood, not after they sold him off. And Melisandre found him with ease, even though the Brotherhood are quite good at hiding themselves away. So it doesn't seem too safe for Gendry to hide elsewhere in Westeros. So given that HBO streamlines the books left and right in order to make them fit onto the small screen, it certainly stands to reason that if Gendry still has a role to play in the books, he and Arya will cross paths in Braavos in the HBO series. Just a theory, and it might be a couple of years at least before we learn if I'm right.
What else? The Wall scenes were somewhat different from the book, but I thought there were handled very well. I also really get a kick out of these scenes between Littlefinger and Varys, even if they don't exist in the books. They're really stretching out Bran's journey to make it seem like something is actually happening. Martin did this too to an extent, but he sucked you in with world-building and the beauty of his narrative. They're kind of marking time with Samwell as well until the Other attacks. But overall it was a solid episode.
Three more episodes until Twitter loses its shit.
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