Short Stuff: Take 1

Tassilo Chalice, c. 780 (reproduction).

I'm starting a new series today to draw attention to speculative short fiction. Most bloggers (me included) tend to focus on novels in their reviews. I don't know why we are so drawn to novels as opposed to short fiction. Maybe we just want something substantial to dive into. Most writers start off publishing short stories in various and hopefully not too obscure magazines. There's a lot of good stuff out there if you take the time to look for it, and best of all, it won't take long to read it. So, for the reasons above and because I can't read novels fast enough to generate blog content, let's dive into a couple works of speculative short fiction to get started.

"This Is My Blood," by Kristen Davis in Residential Aliens.

If done very, very well, flash fiction can be a small gem, amazing in its minute perfection. If done poorly, it comes across as a story skeleton that needs some more flesh and bone. Davis gets it right in "This Is My Blood," an interesting take on contrite vampires and transubstantiation. Father Marell returns to the rectory one night to find a man named Annik with his wrists bound by a rosary. He claims to be a vampire and requests that the priest hear  his confession then kill him. The priest hears the confession but refuses to carry out the execution. They debate alternative sources of blood, such as animals, but Annik claims that only human blood quells his lust. Father Marell suggests the blood of Christ and Annik agrees, believing something so holy would certainly kill him. Father Marell's beliefs about the Eucharist are tested and the results are unexpected. The healing power of Christ appears to know no bounds. Davis tells this story from Marell's point of view. The dialogue is succinct, giving us just enough details from the vampire's story to understand how out of control and dangerous he is. As for Marell, Davis provides enough psychological detail to highlight his doubts and fears. In a longer treatment, Davis might have provided more details to highlight the creepiness of the setting, two lone figures at night in a darkened chapel sharing communion.

"Presence," by Domyelle Rhyse in Golden Visions Magazine.

Continuing with the vampires going to church theme, "Presence" describes a young female vampire's trip to a church service. Told in the first person, the narrator tells how she became accursed through no wish or fault of her own, how she fears God's wrath and what the congregation will do to her, and how much she longs for God's presence and holiness. She cautiously enters the church, finds a seat, and manages to avoid detection. Her heavy makeup conceals her pallor but nothing can hide the coldness of her skin. Fearing destruction, she instead finds warmth and love and friendship from an unexpected source. With precise descriptions, Rhyse creates a vivid sense of place. For example, "Entering the foyer, I paused again. Warm lights alleviated the darkness created by the mahogany-paneled walls. The tang of lemon wood polish touched the air and tickled my nose." Rhyse deftly handles themes of tolerance, forgiveness, and sin, reminding us that God's capacity for love is far greater than man's.

Photo Attribution: Andreas Püttmann -- Managing director of Schreibmayr Company. The file is licensed under the Creative Commons license.

CSFF Blog Tour: Blogger's Choice Day Three

Today we will compare the structure of The Perilous Gard to classic plots for romance stories. In her article "Story Plots 101 – The Romance: How to Write a Romance With a Classic Story Structure," Kristina Bjoran identifies three types of romance stories, which she labels Phantom of the Opera, Cinderella, and Romeo and Juliet. Bjoran argues that the three structures are essentially romantic because they share two protagonists who fall in love and the story focuses on the love and plight of the two characters.

In the Phantom of the Opera type, a strong but lonely hero falls for the heroine. An unfortunate circumstance brings the characters together and initially the heroine finds the hero repulsive. They are forced to be together but after the hero does something heroic or honorable, the heroine falls for him. The two must then overcome obstacles that threaten to keep them apart. Ultimately, the heroine rescues the hero.

In the Cinderella type, the hero begins the story unfulfilled while the heroine leads a pathetic life. When the two meet, the heroine falls in love. Circumstances force them together, but the hero is hesitant. In the end, the hero pursues the heroine and takes her away from the desperate life she was leading.

In the Romeo and Juliet type, the protagonists are equals. The heroine begins the story in an altered set of circumstances from the once perfect world in which she lived. Nothing seems to help. The hero, in a dangerous pursuit of something important, meets the heroine and the two fall in love. Obstacles pose problems for their love but as it deepens, they determine to stay together at any cost. The story often ends tragically.

The Perilous Gard does not match any of these types exactly. The novel does not have dual protagonists but a single protagonist, Kate, through whose eyes all the action is seen and considered. Christopher is more like a sub-protagonist. The Phantom of the Opera type provides the closest fit as the hero begins in an unhappy state and does something honorable. Christopher is distraught and guilt-ridden over Cecily's disappearance and then exchanges himself for Cecily. Kate's exile is unfortunate and unfair but she does not find Christopher repulsive. She finds him mysterious and odd. The Phantom of the Opera type also posits the heroine as the primary actor, the savior of the hero. Kate orchestrates their time together in the pagan underworld and Christopher's rescue at the teind. The conclusion of The Perilous Gard more closely resembles the Cinderella type as Christopher pursues marriage to Kate without her knowledge and presumably takes her to a life more suited to her temperament.

The Perilous Gard presents a hero's journey of self-discovery with a romantic subplot. The story is far more than a young girl falling in love and finding a husband. "The Hero's Journey" provides a blueprint for a transformative experience, the meat and potatoes of all successful fiction. Kate's struggles bring about such an experience. She learns about an intelligence, fortitude, and strength of character that she did not know she possessed. How would her sister Alicia have fared under similar circumstances? Probably not as well. When the Lady returns in the final chapter to offer Kate a love potion, an easy path to win what she most desires, Kate refuses.

"Have no fear. The charm is only a small thing, easy to hide in those fine silken sleeves, and it will be lost in the wine soon enough. He will never know what you have done. No one will ever know."

"I am not afraid that he will catch me," said Kate.

"What else then? Who is to know?"

"Well," said Kate, almost apologetically, "I would." (p. 274)

Later, after accepting Christopher's proposal, she reflects on the Lady's offer, recognizing the gift as the Lady's subtle form of revenge.

The Lady had known. Her eyes missed very little, and she was subtle beyond belief. She had been speaking the truth when she said that she would not avenge herself on Kate or the Young Lord by anything so cheap as robbery or murder. Kate was in no state to trace out all the intricacies of the many truths she had told her, but she did find herself wondering what it was--exactly--that she had had in her hand.... It did not matter, as long as Kate went on thinking all her life that Christopher had spoken those words to her only because he was under a spell. (p. 280)

If Kate had accepted the potion, the gains from her pain and struggle would have been diminished. She would have failed to apply the lessons her experience taught. Her victory would have been hollow, indeed.

Reminder: Voting for the Clive Staples Readers' Choice Award is ongoing through the end of August. Book introductions, voting instructions, and Readers’ Choice survey are available at http://clivestaplesaward.wordpress.com/. You must have read at least two of the nominations to vote. You're on the honor system here so please be honorable.

I recently posted a review for one of the nominees, Curse of the Spider King. See Cursing the Spider King.

For commentary from other tour members on their favorites, visit their blogs listed below.

Brandon Barr Thomas Clayton Booher Keanan Brand Grace Bridges Beckie Burnham Morgan L. Busse CSFF Blog Tour Stacey Dale D. G. D. Davidson Jeff Draper George Duncan April Erwin Andrea Graham Tori Greene Ryan Heart Timothy Hicks Becky Jesse Jason Joyner Julie

Carol Keen Krystine Kercher Mike Lynch Rebecca LuElla Miller New Authors Fellowship John W. Otte Donita K. Paul Sarah Sawyer Chawna Schroeder James Somers Speculative Faith Rachel Starr Thomson Steve Trower Jason Waguespac Fred Warren Dona Watson Phyllis Wheeler KM Wilsher

CSFF Blog Tour: Blogger's Choice Day Two

Original cover with illustration

by Richard Cuffari.

So what makes great fiction work? Characters, setting, dialogue, and language all play a role and may distinguish great works from the mediocre, but all these elements must fit into a structure, usually a profluent plot. Strangely enough, there are not that many plot structures that work. If you want to be super reductive, you can reduce the list of alternatives to two: hero takes a journey and a stranger comes to town. Let's see how well The Perilous Gard fits "The Hero's Journey."

"The Hero's Journey" or monomyth denotes a narratvie pattern common to many stories from around the world as first described by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. (Vladimir Propp's  Morphology of the Folk Tale makes a similar argument for fairy tales, revealing shared patterns.) Campbell argues that numerous myths from disparate eras and regions use similar structures. In his introduction to The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell summarizes the monomyth:

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

Campbell identifies seventeen stages for the journey. Many alternatives, both additions and subtractions,  have been proposed. For a concise summary of Campbell's stages, see "the hero's journey: summary of the steps." Campbell divides the steps into three sections: Departure, Initiation, and Return. All quotes below, unless otherwise noted, are from "the hero's journey: summary of the steps."

Departure

1. The Call to Adventure and 2. Refusal of the Call:
The Perilous Gard begins with a destabilizing event. Queen Mary exiles Kate to Elvenwood Hall, a remote castle peopled with strangers and far from Kate's known world. Kate does not want to go but ultimately has no choice in the matter. This fits the first two stages.

3. Supernatural Aid:
"Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his or her guide and magical helper appears, or becomes known.". Kate doesn't have a guide. However, she receives a cross which later proves invaluable. She also meets Randal, a wandering minstrel who has had contact with the pagans and became a bit crazy from the encounter. He later provides Kate with the words of the ballad Tam Lin which contains information essential to Kate's rescue of Christopher.

4. The Crossing of the First Threshold:
"This is the point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure." Kate and Christopher discover that Cecily is not really dead but a captive. Christopher hatches a plan and Kate becomes embroiled in it.

5. The Belly of the Whale:
"The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero's known world and self. It is sometimes described as the person's lowest point, but it is actually the point when the person is between or transitioning between worlds and selves." The corrupt steward of Elvenwood hands Kate over to the pagans and she is taken underground (into the belly of the earth) where she is told she will live out her days in slavery. If Kate is to escape, she can no longer be a meek maid of honor.

Inititation

1. The Road of Trials:
"The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation." Kate suffers the toils of slavery. She resists and keeps her wits by refusing to drink from a cup containing some sort of potion that the other slaves joyfully imbibe each morning. She hides the cross. She suffers the claustrophobia of living underground. She also figures out how to navigate the tunnels enough to find where Christopher is being held.

2. The Meeting with the Goddess:
"The meeting with the goddess represents the point in the adventure when the person experiences a love that has the power and significance of the all-powerful, all encompassing, unconditional love that a fortunate infant may experience with his or her mother.... This is a very important step in the process and is often represented by the person finding the other person that he or she loves most completely." This one doesn't fit very well. Kate visits Christopher's cell numerous times and over the course of their conversations, she falls in love with him.

3. Woman as the Temptress:
"At one level, this step is about those temptations that may lead the hero to abandon or stray from his or her quest." Kate's stubborn refusal to drink from the cup over time impresses the Lady who offers to let Kate join the pagans and become one of them though she will have much to learn. At first Kate sees this as an opportunity to discover more about the cave system and find an escape route for her and Christopher. However, she learns that the teind is to be paid that evening. Convinced that Kate will interfere with the teind, the Lady attempts to hypnotize Kate into sleep but Kate uses the cross to resist.

4. Atonement with the Father:
"In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power.... Although this step is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity, it does not have to be a male; just someone or thing with incredible power." Nothing in The Perilous Gard closely matches this one, although Kate's encounter with the Lady described previously comes close.

5. Apotheosis:
"To apotheosize is to deify. When someone dies a physical death, or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss." Not a good match for this one either.

6. The Ultimate Boon:
"The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey to get." Kate speaks on Christopher's behalf and stops the teind from being paid. She has escaped from the pagan underworld and saved Christopher from death.

Return

1. Refusal of the Return:
"So why, when all has been achieved, the ambrosia has been drunk, and we have conversed with the gods, why come back to normal life with all its cares and woes?" Kate has no regrets about leaving the pagan world under the hill. The housekeeper at  Elvenwood Hall and everyone who has known Kate before her ordeal remarks on how much she has "changed." Kate feels remorse about returning to her life as a maid of honor in the shadow of her more socially adept and beautiful younger sister.

2. The Magic Flight:
"Sometimes the hero must escape with the boon, if it is something that the gods have been jealously guarding. It can be just as adventurous and dangerous returning from the journey as it was to go on it." Nothing fits this case.

3. Rescue from Without:
"Just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, often times he or she must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life, especially if the person has been wounded or weakened by the experience." After recovering from her ordeal, Kate's father and sister Alicia arrive to take her back to London. They bring news that Queen Mary, who sent Kate into exile, has died and that Queen Elizabeth wants her to return to court.

4. The Crossing of the Return Threshold:
"The trick in returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate that wisdom into a human life, and then maybe figure out how to share the wisdom with the rest of the world. This is usually extremely difficult." Kate believes that Christopher will marry her sister Alicia, since her sister has always won the prizes in the past. The Lady of the pagans shows up again in the final chapter and offers to give Kate a love charm to bind Christopher to her. The Lady is making this offer as payment for Kate's efforts to convince Sir Geoffrey not to cut down a sacred oak in the forest. Kate, however, refuses the charm, preferring to win or lose Christopher on her own.

5. Master of the Two Worlds:
"In myth, this step is usually represented by a transcendental hero like Jesus or Buddha. For a human hero, it may mean achieving a balance between the material and spiritual. The person has become comfortable and competent in both the inner and outer worlds."

6. Freedom to Live:
"Mastery leads to freedom from the fear of death, which in turn is the freedom to live. This is sometimes referred to as living in the moment, neither anticipating the future nor regretting the past."

Regarding steps five, and six, The Perilous Gard is a romance and the ultimate boon is marriage, in this case to Christopher. While not an exact fit, The Perilous Gard draws on the narrative structure of "The Hero's Journey." Tomorrow I'll discuss how The Perilous Gard fits the narrative patterns of the romance genre.

Reminder: Voting for the Clive Staples Readers' Choice Award is ongoing through the end of August. Book introductions, voting instructions, and Readers’ Choice survey are available at http://clivestaplesaward.wordpress.com/. You must have read at least two of the nominations to vote. You're on the honor system here so please be honorable.

I recently posted a review for one of the nominees, Curse of the Spider King. See Cursing the Spider King.

For commentary from other tour members on their favorites, visit their blogs listed below.

Brandon Barr Thomas Clayton Booher Keanan Brand Grace Bridges Beckie Burnham Morgan L. Busse CSFF Blog Tour Stacey Dale D. G. D. Davidson Jeff Draper George Duncan April Erwin Andrea Graham Tori Greene Ryan Heart Timothy Hicks Becky Jesse Jason Joyner Julie

Carol Keen Krystine Kercher Mike Lynch Rebecca LuElla Miller New Authors Fellowship John W. Otte Donita K. Paul Sarah Sawyer Chawna Schroeder James Somers Speculative Faith Rachel Starr Thomson Steve Trower Jason Waguespac Fred Warren Dona Watson Phyllis Wheeler KM Wilsher

CSFF Blog Tour: Blogger's Choice Day One

For this month's blog tour, each blogger can discuss a favorite book. According to the rules given by our tour administrator: "each blogger can post about a favorite book (as long as it’s Christian speculative fiction) or list of books or author. This can be a new work or something from yesteryear." Hmmm. Sounds interesting. Sounds fun. Then I tried to pick a book. As Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor would say, I found myself "laden with such a terrible burden as freedom of choice." It was much easier when someone told me what to read. After much agonizing, I settled on Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Perilous Gard. I chose this book for two reasons. I like it and I doubt anyone else will pick it. But does it meet the requirements? Published in 1974, it meets the yesteryear requirement and there's some magic involved so it meets the speculative requirement. But is it Christian? That's what the rest of this post will be about. Major spoilers lurking ahead.

So what makes a book Christian? This question has been treated recently by some other bloggers. I think Mike Duran's post On “Christian Horror” and Atheist Dread sums up the essential criteria. It's the author's worldview and how it plays out in the story. Some writers are very pronounced in exposing their worldview while others are more subtle or simply allow their worldview to inform the heart of the story. Duran uses H.P. Lovecraft, a master horror writer and an atheist with a mechanistic-materialistic worldview, as an example. Duran writes that for Lovecraft, the horrific was what resided at the center of the universe, a monstrous, chaotic nothing with no conscious purpose. This is diametrically opposed to the Christian worldview which posits a divine consciousness with purpose at the center of the universe.

Evidence suggests that a Christian worldview pervades and informs The Perilous Gard. At the center of the story simmers a conflict between a group of pagans who practice the old religion and Christian culture which has literally driven them underground. The action takes place in the summer and fall of 1558, the last year of Queen Mary I's reign. Kate and her younger sister Alicia are maids of honor for Princess Elizabeth, whom Mary has placed under house arrest at Hatfield Palace. Alicia, though prettier and more socially adept than Kate, lacks good sense and pens a letter to Queen Mary complaining about poor living conditions at Hatfield. Mary blames Kate for Alicia's letter and exiles Kate to Elvenwood Hall, also known as Perilous Gard, under the guardianship of Sir Geoffrey Heron. Kate expects to spend many dull months at Elvenwood but soon suspects that something is amiss. The nearby villagers shun anyone associated with the castle; Sir Geoffrey's daughter Cecily is missing and believed dead; and the housekeeper makes veiled comments about people living in the so-called Holy Well associated with the hall. Sir Geoffrey's brother Christopher, who blames himself for Cecily's disappearance, lives in self-imposed punishment in a crumbling shack once inhabited by a leper. Kate and Christopher find evidence that not only is Cecily alive but that she has been kidnapped by a group of pagans living in a network of caves connected to the well. Christopher hatches a scheme to trade himself for Cecily. The pagans are happy to make the trade since a young man is a better sacrifice than a child. The steward of Elvenwood, who furnishes supplies to the pagans at a profit to himself, delivers Kate to them when he determines she knows too much.

The Holy Well is a popular destination for pilgrims who throw money into it. The pagans collect the money and use it to buy supplies. The site is also a shrine for the pagans living in the hill and is guarded by a mysterious, probably supernatural, character known as the Guardian of the Well. The pagans are ruled by a Queen who Kate comes to know as the Lady. Pope portrays the pagans as stoic and embattled. They have some admirable qualities. For example, they abhor telling lies. They also have a dark side. They employ slaves whom they have kidnapped and drugged into submission and they practice human sacrifice.

The most obvious Christian element in the story is Christopher's name. It's of Greek origin and means "bearing Christ inside." Christopher willingly agrees to turn himself over to "the enemy" to undergo certain death in order to save another. Christopher is not a Christ figure. He has some problems, but he does carry that element of service and selflessness inside. Both Kate and Christopher view the world through their faith. Consider this exchange after Christopher relates his story to Kate.

“How can you tell what I meant to do? How can I? How can anyone? I think the damned souls in hell must spend half their time wondering what it was that they really meant to do.”

“If you think the damned in hell spend their time doing that, then you can’t know very much about the damned in hell,” Kate retorted furiously. “I am utterly at squares with this childish dealing. Why in the name of heaven don’t you go down to the village and make a proper confession to the priest and let him tell you what pennance you ought to be laying on yourself? You aren’t one of the damned in hell. We’re all of us under the Mercy.” (pp. 64-5)

Another interesting exchange takes place between Kate and the Lady when Kate tries to convince the Lady that sacrificing Christopher is unnecessary.

"There is no other way," said the Lady. "All power comes from life, and when that life is low in the land and the people, they must take it from one who has it, adding his strength to their own, or perish. That is the law which the gods have laid on us; and they themselves cannot alter it. Do not even those of your own faith believe that in the beginning your strength came to you out of a death?"

Kate hesitated. The only answer she could think of seemed wild to the point of blasphemy, but there was no help for it: she would have to put the thing into the only sort of language that the Lady might possibly understand.

"What need is there for another teind, then?" she asked, trying desperately to keep her voice steady. "The time for that has passed by. It was finished and done with when Our Lord paid it freely, to add His strength to our own; and His power is enough for us all." (pp. 208-09)

Unfortunately, Kate's arguments have the opposite effect than she had hoped. The Lady's concept of power dominates her thinking, and she decides that Christopher's sacrifice will be even greater since he has the power of Christ in him. The pagans call the sacrifice "paying the teind" and perform the rite on All Hallows Eve whenever they believe the power of the land needs to be replenished.

At another point in the story, Kate uses the "power of the cross" to thwart the Lady. Much earlier in the narrative, Kate helps a mother from the nearby village save her son from drowning in a swollen stream. In thanks, the boy's mother gives Kate a humble trinket, a steel cross whose workmanship is exceedingly crude. The mother claims it will protect Kate from the Fairy Folk, the People of the Hill. She tells Kate that "[t]here's a great virtue in the holy sign and the cold iron" (p. 85). Kate manages to hide the cross from her pagan captors, and when the Lady attempts to hypnotize Kate, to put her to sleep so that she will not interfere with the teind, Kate squeezes the cross in her hand, cutting her palm. She focuses on the pain instead of the Lady's mesmerizing words and swinging bracelet. Kate feigns sleep, fooling the pagans. Christ, embodied in the humble cross, does not come charging in to save Kate, but provides the aid she desperately needs at a most vulnerable moment to save herself and ultimately Christopher as well.

Reminder: Voting for the Clive Staples Readers' Choice Award is ongoing through the end of August. Book introductions, voting instructions, and Readers’ Choice survey are available at http://clivestaplesaward.wordpress.com/. You must have read at least two of the nominations to vote. You're on the honor system here so please be honorable.

I recently posted a review for one of the nominees, Curse of the Spider King. See Cursing the Spider King.

For commentary from other tour members on their favorites, visit their blogs listed below.

Brandon Barr Thomas Clayton Booher Keanan Brand Grace Bridges Beckie Burnham Morgan L. Busse CSFF Blog Tour Stacey Dale D. G. D. Davidson Jeff Draper George Duncan April Erwin Andrea Graham Tori Greene Ryan Heart Timothy Hicks Becky Jesse Jason Joyner Julie

Carol Keen Krystine Kercher Mike Lynch Rebecca LuElla Miller New Authors Fellowship John W. Otte Donita K. Paul Sarah Sawyer Chawna Schroeder James Somers Speculative Faith Rachel Starr Thomson Steve Trower Jason Waguespac Fred Warren Dona Watson Phyllis Wheeler KM Wilsher

Word of the Week: Macabre

The Dance of Death (1493) by Michael Wolgemut.

What comes to mind when you hear the word macabre? You probably think of death or something gruesome or something by Edgar Allan Poe. Strangely enough, the source for that word is Hellenistic cultural imperialism. This will take some explaining.

The most immediate source for macabre is the medieval French Danse Macabré, literally "Dance of Death." The Dance of Death was a late medieval allegory that dramatizes life's fragility and death's universality as it warns against the vanity of earthly glories. Often depicted in murals but possibly in plays as well, Death personified summons representatives from various stations in life--a pope, king, child, and laborer, for example--to dance on a path to the grave. Death often has a dialogue with each of the victims. The famines, wars, and outbreaks of the Black Death in 14th century Europe were  assimilated into European culture and the Dance of Death is considered a representation of those fears. The allegory also has strong elements of social satire.

A possible source for the French term danse macabre is the Latin phrase Chorea Machabæorum, literally "dance of the Maccabees." Maccabees was the surname given to Judas, the third son of Mattathias the Hasmonean. The name derives from the Hebrew maqqabh, meaning "hammer," or the Hebrew matzbi, meaning "leader of an army." Judas was known for being particularly ferocious in battle. In 166 BCE, Judas led a religious revolt against the Seleucid Empire then ruled by Antiochus IV. The Selucids were an offshoot of the empire created by Alexander the Great. From the time of Alexander, Greek (Hellenistic) culture had spread through the near East. Many Jews had become Hellenized and given up Jewish customs and religious practices in favor of Hellenistic traditions. The revolt against the faltering Seleucid Empire succeeded. The Maccabeans ritually cleansed and re-dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem, which the Jewish festival of Hanukkah celebrates, and reestablished traditional Jewish worship. The Hasmonean dynasty ruled Israel for over a century (164 BCE to 63 BCE), expanding the nation's boundaries and slowing the spread of Hellenism.

Martyrdom of the Seven Maccabees

(1863) by Antonio Ciseri.

The dance refers to the martyrdom of a Jewish woman and her seven sons recorded in 2 Maccabees. Before the Maccabean revolt, Antiochus IV ordered the arrest of a mother and her sons and attempted to force them to eat pork. On the grounds of their refusal, the sons were tortured and killed one at a time. The sons put their trust in God and go bravely to their deaths, refusing to break the covenant. After watching her sons die, the mother also dies but the text does not specify if she was executed. Other versions of the story with variations are recorded in the Talmud, Josippon, and 4 Maccabees. The other versions say the mother either committed suicide (leaping from a building or jumping into flames) or simply fell dead on her son's bodies. The mother and her sons came to be known as the "Holy Machabees" or "Holy Maccabean Martyrs" in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Both traditions celebrate the Maccabean Martyrs on August 1. The Maccabean Martyrs became a popular subject for mystery plays and paintings.

Cursing the Spider King

Curse of the Spider King, book one of the The Berinfell Prophecies Series co-written by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper, is the story of a daring rescue to thwart a racial genocide. The world of Allyra is a parallel world to the Earth that humans inhabit. Elves and Gwar--strong and squat humanoids with a love for spiders--are it's primary inhabitants along with some other strange creatures, including Drefids (ghoulish humanoids with retractable claws in their knuckles), giant spiders that can be ridden like horses, Cragons (walking trees), and Wisps (vaporous shape shifters). Although the cause is never explained, the Gwar and Drefids have a long-standing grievance with the Elves and the antipathy is so strong that the ruler of the Gwar, the Spider King, mounts a devastating, surprise attack against the Elves in the hope of eliminating them as a people.

The assault almost succeeds. Some of the elves escape to an underground sanctuary to fight again another day. Even more troubling to the Spider King are the children--now orphans--of the seven elven lords. Each of the lords possessed some special powers which have been passed onto their children. The Spider King hopes to kill the infants and put an end to the elvish threat. However, there is a nasty curse that will inflict generations of torment on anyone who kills any of the seven children before they reach the age--thirteen in Earth years--that their powers become manifest. The Spider King, wishing to avoid the curse, tasks the Drefids with dispatching the infants, but the Drefids devise their own plan to satisfy the Spider King while avoiding the curse. There are portals between Allyra and Earth. The Drefids slice off the pointed ends of the children's ears and abandon them on Earth to die or be raised as humans.


Curse of the Spider King introduces us to the seven lords on the eve of their thirteenth birthdays. All have been adopted and are leading more-or-less typical lives as young teens in the United States, Scotland, and France. None of the children or their parents are aware of their real history. The Elves learn the fate of the children from a Drefid commander who "changed." In the words of one of the Elves, "'One day, Sarron Froth was a brutal and bloodthirsty assassin; the next, he was changed.'" (pp. 241-42). The Elves send an elite force to Earth through the portals to find the lost children and bring them back.  The Drefids send their own force to Earth to find and kill the children as soon as their gifts are manifest and the curse is no longer in effect.

The story is told principally through the eyes of the seven children as the chapters and points-of-view shift between them. Several of the children are also given a magical book--The History of Berinfell: The Chronicles of the Elf Lords and Their Kin--that tells the history of the Elves on Allyra. The history recounts the Spider King's attack and the Elves's escape in detail. The children, with the help of the Elves sent to find them, narrowly evade the forces of the Spider King on numerous occasions and there are many casualties along the way. Ultimately, the Elves must rely on the children's gifts to defeat a force of Drefids, Gwar, Cragons, and Warspiders sent to Earth to block their return through the portal to Allyra.

Curse of the Spider King is an exciting story. The book within a book technique--a variation on a frame narrative--works well. However, the plethora of protagonists is hard to follow, almost like reading seven interrelated books at once. The authors provide a glossary to the characters which readers should consult frequently if they do not want to be hopelessly lost when all the characters come together in the final chapters. I have two problems with the plot. The first is the bit about Sarron Froth, the Drefid informant. The whole story hangs on one individual's confession to the Elves. I found it hard to believe that the Elves would not have other means to find out what happened to the children. There are some Gwar who are on good terms with the Elves. Wouldn't they have spies at the Spider King's court? Also, the story of Sarron Froth's confession is given in less than a page of text. I wanted to know more about the miraculous "change" that occurred. Why not dramatize it as part of the story in The History of Berinfell. Second, we receive some vague hints as to why the Gwar and Drefids loath the Elves. Apparently the Elves mistreated them at some time in the past, but we have no details, no chance to make up our own minds about the motivations of the villains. The themes of self-sacrifice and nobility play a prominent role in the story. Curiously, despite his prominent placement in the title, we never meet the Spider King. We hear about him and his commands drive the plot, but we never encounter him in a scene.

Midnight Diner Coming Soon

The horse is out of the barn. The Midnight Diner Volume 3 is now available for presales at the Relief Journal site.

The Midnight Diner is a hardboiled genre anthology with a Christian slant. No restrictions on God, no restrictions on reality. --description from The Midnight Diner web site

"The Princess and the Vampire," along with many other great stories, are ready for your reading pleasure in this year's volume. Here's an excerpt from my story to whet your appetite. For a bit of context, the Vampire has agreed to become the Princess's lover, however, she requires that his fangs be removed.

The Barber, a rotund man with a jolly disposition, awaited them in a barracks facing the courtyard before the keep. He motioned the Vampire toward a straight-backed chair built from stout timbers. Holding his shoulders and head high as if the earth and its doings concerned him not at all, the Vampire stepped forward and surveyed the room before sitting down.

The Chief Councilor raised his eyebrows at the Fool, who sat on a stool in a corner. The Fool nodded. All was in place.

The Vampire objected when the Barber looped a rope around his chest to lash him to the chair but after assurances from the Barber and the Chief Councilor that this merely provided leverage for the extractions, he relented. The Barber pulled a two-headed brass instrument from his apron pocket.

“What is that?” asked the Vampire.

“It’s called a pelican,” said the Barber. “See how it’s shaped like the bird’s beak? It’s the newest implement in dental extractions. Just bought it a couple weeks ago, but I couldn’t do without it now.”

“I see. I suppose you want me to open wide.”

“I can’t see those teeth if you don’t open your mouth.”

The Vampire complied, stretching his mouth until it gaped like a viper’s unhinged jaws, exposing his fangs, the daggers that had brought death to so many.

“This may hurt a bit but it’ll be over quick.” The Barber clamped the instrument around the base of a fang. Grasping the chair for leverage, he pulled with all his strength. His face flushed crimson. Sweat beaded on his cheeks and forehead. The veins in his neck throbbed. The chair creaked then shrieked as it snapped. After three broken chairs, the Barber sat on the floor, his neck and arms limp. “It’s no use,” he said between deep breaths. “The roots run too deep.”

The Vampire twisted his head from side to side, igniting a series of pops from his neck. The Chief Councilor rubbed his bearded chin, considering his strategy, which assumed a vampire weakened from blood loss during the extractions.

“I’ve an idea,” said the Fool. “What we need is horse power.”

The Barber and the Fool tied the Vampire and his chair to a beam and secured his head with a leather strap across his forehead. From ropes, they fashioned a harness that crisscrossed the Barber’s torso and then secured the ropes to the harnesses of two draft horses in the courtyard, where a hostler stood ready with a whip. The Barber clamped the pelican on the first fang. The hostler whipped the horses. The ropes stretched taut. The Vampire moaned in pain. Just as the Chief Councilor’s hopes rose, the Barber flew backwards across the room, rattled through the door frame, and then bounced across the courtyard on his prodigious backside in the dusty wake of the runaway horses.

The Chief Councilor sent the Fool to fetch the Master Carpenter. . . .

Thoughts on A Wizard of Earthsea

I recently read Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea. (Yes, I know it was published in 1968 but I've been busy.) As one would expect from someone of Le Guin's talents, the writing and story-telling are first-rate, extraordinary. It's a coming-of-age story that follows the life of Sparrowhawk, whose true name is Ged, from his early years in an obscure village to his education at a school of wizardry to an epic struggle with his shadow. It's not hard to find any number of plot reviews online so I won't provide one. Instead, I want to comment on some elements of the book that impressed me.

The writing is thick like velvet and patient. Le Guin has a story to tell but she's not going to rush into it. She also makes adept use of Tolkien's trick of creating a deep context for the story through reference to past and future events and stories from the fantasy world she has created. Here's the novel's opening paragraph to give you a sense of the writing's texture.

The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked Northeast Sea, is a land famous for wizards. From the towns in its high valleys and the ports on its dark narrow bays many a Gontishman has gone forth to serve the Lords of the Archipelago in their cities as wizard or mage, or looking for adventure, to wander working magic from isle to isle of all Earthsea. Of these some say the greatest, and surely the greatest voyager, was the man called Sparrowhawk, who in his day became both dragonlord and Archmage. His life is told of in the Deed of Ged and in many songs, but this is a tale of the time before his fame, before the songs were made.

Part of the story's power comes from the ease with which the reader can relate to Ged's experiences. For example, when Ged arrives at the wizards academy, Jasper, an older boy from an upper-class background, gives him a tour. Ged, who has come from much more humble circumstances, takes an instant dislike to Jasper, whom Ged believes is patronizing him. Ged has yet to learn humility and many of his later problems can be traced to his conflict with Jasper. Although he does not recognize it at the time, Jasper also performs a great service to Ged when he introduces him to Vetch who becomes Ged's most trusted friend. Later in the story, against the advice of Vetch, Ged attempts to demonstrate his superiority to Jasper but succeeds only in releasing a "shadow" that nearly kills him. The archmage of the academy forces the shadow to leave but saps all his strength in the effort and dies soon afterward. The shadow becomes Ged's nemesis for the remainder of the story. Ged learns humility from this great mistake of pride and spends many years regretting his unwise use of power.

Ultimately, Ged discovers that in order to defeat his shadow, he must stop running from it and face it. The shadow has the same name as Ged, so he is in effect battling with himself. When he flees from the shadow, the effort saps his strength like a disease, but when he turns on it, he gains strength. I found the ending perplexing. It appears that Ged unifies with his shadow.

Ged reached out his hands, dropping his staff, and took hold of his shadow, of the black self that reached out to him. Light and darkness met, and joined, and were one. (p. 179 of the 1984 Bantam edition)

Does this mean he has mastered or subdued his dark self? Are they now coequals? As a Christian, I can appreciate the inner struggle between "light" and "darkness", but I would like to think the light has gained supremacy over the darkness even if the darkness has not been defeated. Critics claim that this interest in balance is an expression of Le Guin's Taoist beliefs (see Andrew Gordon's entry on Le Guin in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 52).

Early in the story, Ged receives a warning of sorts from one of his teachers but is too immature to understand it. It comes when he asks a wizard about changing something from one thing to another instead of merely creating the illusion of change. The wizard says:

But you must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A wizard's power of Changing and of Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It most follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow. (p. 44 of the 1984 Bantam edition)

I like the last line. In the light of all the environmental disasters of late, we could use a little humility with our own wizardry.