Beneath Ceaseless Skies #347, January 13, 2022
“Chrysalis” by Marie Brennan
“Three Songs to Fill Up the Shadow” by Spencer Ellsworth
Reviewed by Kevin P Hallett
The 347th issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies includes a short fantasy and a novelette.
“Chrysalis” by Marie Brennan
Obsidian is the stone of the gods in this short fantasy. Finding a piece of it can make a poor man rich. So, when an impoverished farmer finds a large block in his field, he is naturally excited. His challenge is how to sneak it into the city to sell without being robbed.
So begins the journey of the large obsidian chrysalis. Someone must pay a personal sacrifice to please the gods at each phase of the journey. No one is spared the tithe to the gods.
Though this was a well-constructed story, its plot has appeared in similar forms throughout the fantasy genre.
“Three Songs to Fill Up the Shadow” by Spencer Ellsworth
This fantasy novelette incorporates three tales about the Blackbird and the golden fiddle. Three people, a soldier, priest, and root-doctor, flee death on a ferry across an icy river. The priest carries a golden fiddle that lights their way. But death is close on their heels, and to pass their time, they each tell a tale about a woman’s battle with the Blackbird of Death over the fiddle it coveted.
One story tells how Laila came by the golden fiddle and outwits the Blackbird that wants to hide it forever. In the second story, Laila plays the fiddle to ease the minds of soldiers who exterminated a village of men, women, and children. And the last story describes how Laila’s one true love is snatched away by the Blackbird, and she went to pull him back.
As they tell the stories, death closes in on the ferry. Then the towrope breaks, sending the ferry spinning downstream.
The story was convoluted at times and read slowly. The stories within the tale carried the feel of old fables told around a campfire.
You can follow Kevin P Hallett’s writing on www.kevinphallett.com