Beneath Ceaseless Skies #333, July 1, 2021

“For the World’s More Full of Weeping” by Andrew Dykstal

“The Witness Brûska Lai” by Aaron Perry

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

Two fantasy adventures featuring protagonists who investigate disappearances that take them into otherworldly realms appear in this issue.

The main character in “For the World’s More Full of Weeping” by Andrew Dykstal ventures into Faery to find a missing boy. The quest forces her to risk her life, as well as enlist the aid of a rival. She confronts her own past, and makes discoveries that suggest possible futures.

The heroine is of half-human and half-Fae blood, which provides a plausible explanation for her extraordinary skills. The plot has a touch of a hard-boiled detective story to it, but not enough to be distracting. The relationship between the protagonist and her rival is a complex one, and both come across as fully developed characters. The revelations at the climax lead to an ending that is unexpected and thought-provoking.

The title character in “The Witness Brûska Lai” by Aaron Perry enters a bizarre place inhabited by both the dead rulers of the land outside and those not yet born. In this timeless place, she seeks a future monarch who has vanished. She encounters strange characters and finds out that things are not as they seem to be at first glance.

The above synopsis is necessarily vague, as the plot is very hard to follow. One cannot fault the author for lack of imagination, as the imaginary realm is genuinely weird and unique. Although this is the story’s greatest virtue, it also proves to be a weakness. The way in which the land beyond time relates to the outside world is unclear. Just when readers think they have figured out the rules of this fantasy universe, they are upended.

Victoria Silverwolf thinks pistachios with shells are barely worth the effort of opening them.