Beneath Ceaseless Skies #402, March 7, 2024

“A Magician Did It” by Rich Larson

“The Throw, The Catch, The Swap” by Michael Evans

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

Two tales of fantasy with contrasting moods appear in this issue.

In “A Magician Did It” by Rich Larson, a pair of unlikely adventurers, under the direction of a cockroach who is a magician’s familiar, break into a prison for magic users in order to rescue the insect’s mistress. Besides the deadly monsters that guard the prison, they have to face multiple betrayals and double crosses.

As one might suspect from the nature of the familiar, this is a comedy. The author manages to avoid falling into sheer silliness or slapstick, while maintaining a droll mood throughout. The fact that the mismatched duo face real danger creates suspense, so the plot is engaging rather than just being an excuse for jokes.

The protagonist of “The Throw, The Catch, The Swap” by Michael Evans is a witch in a fantasy world where the use of real magic is forbidden. She makes a living by performing card tricks, secretly using real magic while pretending to just be performing sleight of hand. Three investigators, one of whom can telepathically detect real magic, confront her. She faces the choice of confessing, thus escaping execution but facing imprisonment, or attempting to perform her greatest trick without real magic, the failure of which would expose her and thus condemn her to death.

The author obviously knows a great deal about legerdemain, and part of the story’s appeal is its description of the card trick. The reader is likely to predict the story’s outcome. Some of the fantasy aspects of the setting, such as the fact that the characters dwell in floating lands among the clouds, seem out of place. This is the author’s first published work, and is a promising beginning despite these quibbles.

Victoria Silverwolf took two hikes in one day recently.