Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #51, February 2022
“The Great Hunt” by Francesco Meriano
“Rakshasa In a Pot” by Prashanth Srivatsa
“The Linton Banshee” by Rev. Joe Kelly
Reviewed by Kevin P Hallett
There are three excellent fantasy novelettes in the 51st issue of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
“The Great Hunt” by Francesco Meriano
The Magister and his apprentice monk travel across Yorkshire, searching for demons in this fantasy novelette. The old and scrawny Magister is never good company, and yet the Benedictine monk has worked with him for a few years in the hope of seeing a miracle one day.
When they spot a hell-hound in the evening, the Magister knows the great hunt is about to begin. They tell the local baron who fears for his life, believing the hound comes for him. The baron spins a tale of his own deceit and depravity that brought down a witch’s curse upon his head.
As usual, the apprentice knows little of the Magister’s wizardry and must follow his master, blundering his way through the occult. But as strong as the Magister is, can he fight an immortal demon from the underworld?
This was a slow fantasy with enough mystery and an unpredictable end to make it enjoyable.
“Rakshasa In a Pot” by Prashanth Srivatsa
Set in India, Blademaster Savithri goes to a religious village to save them from a demon rakshasa. Though close to giving birth, Savithri follows her duty. And even when the people try to cast out her ‘untouchable’ assistant, she prepares to find the rakshasa that lurks in a nearby mountain cave.
Savithri ignores the baby kicking to escape from her belly as she climbs up to the cave. But as she confronts the rakshasa, her water breaks, and all her plans and motivations change at that moment.
This intriguing tale read quickly and used the Indian caste system as a part of its backstory.
“The Linton Banshee” by Rev. Joe Kelly
Kelly set his fantasy novelette in nineteenth-century Scotland. Conor O’Brien of Ireland runs afoul of the local villagers when he is the first to hear the Linton banshee wail outside the village pub.
The innkeeper warns the visitor that the first person hearing the banshee will die during the night. Conor doesn’t believe this garbage and goes to bed. But the nightmare of a thin naked woman with claw-hands wakes him to sweat-soaked bedsheets.
The next day, Conor visits the same Linton hill from his dreams only to find an image of the same thin woman on a stone. And then an old woman joins him on top of the hill to make a bargain with him.
This was a fast-paced fantasy with plenty of mystery and a twisted ending.
You can follow Kevin P Hallett’s writing on www.kevinphallett.com