Review of "The Shuttered Temple," by Jonathan L. Howard, in Black Gate 15

Last night I read the second story in Black Gate 15, "The Shuttered Temple," by Jonathan Howard. I really enjoyed it. The main character, Kyth, was intriguing, and the plot, though simplistic, was engaging.

There were a couple of things about this story that weren't to my taste. But, above all, it was quite entertaining.

The main character, Kyth the Taker, is a kind of "razor girl," if you will: an acrobatic, very wise, Rogue-type figure who always seems to be a step ahead in the game. Kyth is unique in that she's a "smart aleck" who always cracks jokes and says what she's thinking. Her skill, I would say, comes from her ability to analyze and extrapolate and understand things at sight. There's a scene where she's evaluating a specific problem, and--snap--she just understands. In this way, strangely enough, she suggested to me the non-fiction work Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell (in this book he analyzes folks who are able to just understand things because of their deep, ingrained professional abilities). In large part, Kyth is a super thief/burglar. I really liked Kyth and she was a big reason why I liked this story.

The plot some was somewhat simplistic for my tastes and I think there was a missed oppurtunity. It concerns this scary, evil temple that has never been infiltrated. Our protagonist, of course, has to infiltrate it. I won't spoil it for you. Finding out what is in the temple is great. And yet--I would have liked to have seen more of the temple. Your imagination runs wild as you think to yourself, "Just what? Oh--what?! is?! in that temple?!" Could it be zombies? Demons? A lich lord? The story helps in suggesting things that might be lingering inside of it. And yet, I felt as though it failed to deliver.

Nevertheless, I valued the story for its ability to evoke this curiosity in me.

The dialog was somewhat irritating. In spite of Kyth's likableness, sometimes she speaks too much like a modern person. I know, I know--secondary world fantasy isn't necessarily in "the past." I agree. I agree. I guess, when reading fantasy (and sword and sorcery) one of the elements I take pleasure in is the anachronistic language. This language seems slightly stilted, a little awkward, and somewhat historical. Rather than, "Hello! How're ya doin'?" you have, "Hail! Well met! How are you, friend?"

I'm absolutely sure this is a personal taste thing. I experience "modernized" dialog in secondary world fantasy as an incongruity. I mean, just look at my fiction. My characters speak like bad parodies of Shakespeare plays.

Briefly, let me say something about the writing style. I don't want to take it fore granted. Howard's writing is great. It's the kind of narrative style that becomes a "window," if you will; you forget you're reading. You just concentrate on the story. This isn't banality on his part. It takes a lot of skill and practice to develop this type of "organic" narrative prose. I wish I could do it.

Conclusion: great story. Some elements of it weren't to my taste. But! It was a great story: intriguing plot, likeable character, and skillful, economic prose.

Rating: 4/5

Review of John H. Hocking's, "A River Through Darkness"

Last night I purchased the Kindle edition of Black Gate issue 15. My goal is to review select stories from the issue. Some brief information on Black Gate before proceeding with my review of the first story, in case you've never heard of it.

It's one of the most important and prestigious literary marketplaces and communities for the furtherance of "adventure fantasy" and "sword and sorcery".

I love the blog community associated with the magazine. I lurk through the posts and comment occasionally and have discovered so many cool writers (classic and contemporary) and bloggers through the work they do over there.

Side note: I am going to finish my extended review of the anthology, Swords and Dark Magic. The next story up is an Elric tale by Michael Moorcock titled, "Red Pearls: An Elric Story," and its approximately 50 pages, more of a novella than a short story. I'm putting off reading it just now considering I have a prospectus to write, and a bunch of reading for classes I'm teaching and auditing. I do intend to return to Swords and Dark Magic in a week or so. I'm anything is not consistent and persistent.

***

Anyhow, the first story in the magazine was titled "A River Through Darkness and Light" and was written by John H. Hocking. I've never read anything from Mr. Hocking before, but I really enjoyed this story. If this is any indication of the tone, style, and content of the narratives that await me in the rest of the magazine, then I'm eager to read on.

Some brief summary of the story: the protagonist is what is referred to as an "Archiver." I get the sense he's a "scholarly" type figure, a kind of magician, but he never uses magic or anything.

Which reminds me: a fantasist's ability to refrain from representing the supernatural/fantastic is just as important, I think, as their their readiness to represent it.

Anyhow, back the the Archiver. The story isn't just about him. It relates the struggles of a group of adventurers and their attempts to locate and pillage an ancient ruin in the search of a long, lost cache of scrolls (which may or may not be magic). In the course of their search, they encounter a group of bandits, fight with them, and--don't want to spoil it all--a supernatural element emerges.

This is great. For me, its good sword and sorcery. Why? Because the supernatural element is downplayed throughout the vast majority of the narrative. And when it emerges... it's intense. The story is filled with swordfighting, dungeon delves, strange monsters, and, of course, sorcery.

My favorite scene is perhaps when the bandit chief surprises the adventurers with... nevermind.

Let me say something about the narrative style. Hocking tends to pay attention to the surface texture of the world. His descriptions are sometimes excessive, but, if you have the patience, they really pay off. Why?

Well, as he foregrounds the "immanent" world, i.e. the "real" material world--intensifies it, if you will, through description--and by doing this he primes the reader to truly experience the supernatural. He manages to make is strange, as it should be.

In some fantasy, not enough attention paid to the physical world, matter, the immanent--whatever you want to call it--and this neglect makes the entire world feel supernatural or "fairy tale" like. This isn't to my taste. Hocking doesn't do this. You feel the world--the heat of the desert sun, the wind, the dryness of the mesa, the refreshing spray of the river.

And let me say something about the prose style: economic, precise, exciting.

All in all, I'd give this story a 4.5 out of 5.