Of voices like cellos and the infenal garden.
Mar. 5th, 2010 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
talkstowolvesSorry for the silence, guys, but I lost most of this last week to Stephen King's It.
This week, I'd like to bring your attention to a further two pieces on the Locus Recommended Reading List (Shorter Works):
"Voice Like a Cello" by Catherine Cheek (Fantasy 5/4/09)
This story was odd and lovely, following the experience of a girl who cannot escape the voices of the dead. The text fully immerses you in her experience, an immersion that I found heady and compelling. The store moves inexorably toward insanity or solace, and I can't help feeling, at the end, that this tale is truncated. There should be more. Perhaps a novel.
"Three Fancies from the Infernal Garden" by C.S.E. Cooney (Subterranean Winter '09)
Oh, wow! I cannot sing my delight at this piece loudly enough or eloquently enough! Cooney is a marvel, a whimsical poet dressing in a writer's frock-coat and whisking all us unsuspecting readers off on a mortar-and-pestle ride through Koschei's infernal garden full of sassy scarecrows, enchanted princesses (who don't want to be saved, thank you very much), and furious firebirds. If I could paint, and I had a grand ballroom, I would from this story conceive grand murals in brilliant colors and cover the walls. And then hold a masque.
So, er, if you like fairy tales and whimsical delights of storydom shot through with darkness, you should read this. Now.
Also, remember, everyone: this weekend is your last chance to vote in the first annual Rose & Bay Awards!
This entry was originally posted over at Livejournal on February 26th, 2010. You can comment here or there.
This week, I'd like to bring your attention to a further two pieces on the Locus Recommended Reading List (Shorter Works):
"Voice Like a Cello" by Catherine Cheek (Fantasy 5/4/09)
This story was odd and lovely, following the experience of a girl who cannot escape the voices of the dead. The text fully immerses you in her experience, an immersion that I found heady and compelling. The store moves inexorably toward insanity or solace, and I can't help feeling, at the end, that this tale is truncated. There should be more. Perhaps a novel.
"Three Fancies from the Infernal Garden" by C.S.E. Cooney (Subterranean Winter '09)
Oh, wow! I cannot sing my delight at this piece loudly enough or eloquently enough! Cooney is a marvel, a whimsical poet dressing in a writer's frock-coat and whisking all us unsuspecting readers off on a mortar-and-pestle ride through Koschei's infernal garden full of sassy scarecrows, enchanted princesses (who don't want to be saved, thank you very much), and furious firebirds. If I could paint, and I had a grand ballroom, I would from this story conceive grand murals in brilliant colors and cover the walls. And then hold a masque.
So, er, if you like fairy tales and whimsical delights of storydom shot through with darkness, you should read this. Now.
Also, remember, everyone: this weekend is your last chance to vote in the first annual Rose & Bay Awards!
This entry was originally posted over at Livejournal on February 26th, 2010. You can comment here or there.