Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #52, May 2022

“Carpe Caput” by Evan Dicken

“The Gift of the Eons” by Steve Dilks

“Return to the Tower” by Harry Piper

“Dragon Bait” by Ray Daley

Reviewed by Mike Bickerdike

“Carpe Caput” by Evan Dicken is a fantasy novelette that starts with some promise, providing a sword and sorcery caper set in a fantasy world that shares several features with the Italian city of Venice. A public defender and ‘champion’ saves himself and his client—a young woman accused of murder—from the violent attack of a supernatural monster that has been sent to kill her. The set-up is quite interesting, and the Venetian-styled background adds colour to the tale. The novelette works best when it takes itself seriously, which it does well at the start. As it progresses the mood becomes somewhat less serious however, and the observations of the characters become more ‘off-hand’. The result of this is that, while the tale is reasonably engaging, the tension doesn’t build particularly well throughout the story, and it ends with a rather weak conclusion. In addition, characterisation is a little thin, so that overall, the story doesn’t quite fulfill its early promise.

“The Gift of the Eons” by Steve Dilks is a short tale set in a jungle environment, containing the fantasy trope common to such locations: the hidden ruins that harbour ancient mysteries. A warrior is being chased by giant half-men and must fend them off before confronting the magical orb in a ruined city. The initial hunt is well written, and the story is short enough to be a quick and entertaining read, but there is nothing especially novel about this tale.

“Return to the Tower” by Harry Piper is an entertaining novelette, in which the protagonist recounts the turbulent story of his life. The village he is born into lies within the shadow of a sorcerer’s high tower, both literally and figuratively. The sorcerer terrorises the villagers for generations, sending his followers to the village to kill and pillage. When the boy comes of age, he leaves home to become a trained soldier, with the intent of one day returning to the village to effect vengeance on the sorcerer in his tower. The prose is bright and clear, and the imagery is generally well handled. While there’s nothing especially new here, the tale is very readable, and the final passages are quite strong, both in keeping the reader guessing and by providing a satisfying and thoughtful conclusion. This is probably the strongest story in this issue of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.

“Dragon Bait” by Ray Daley is a very short comedic piece, using Elizabethan-English to provide a bawdy tale of a squire, who is misused by a knight as bait to catch and kill dragons. The humour here is broad and rather clumsy—reading more like a 1970’s attempt at a jokey short story, than a modern, sharper take on the same satirical themes. There’s a place for stories that are simply a bit of fun, of course, but they do need to offer more than this does to really succeed.

Mike Bickerdike’s reviews and thoughts on science-fiction can be found at https://starfarersf.nicepage.io/