Beneath Ceaseless Skies #381, May 4, 2023
“Bruised-Eye Dusk” by Jonathan Louis Duckworth
“Autumn Still Has Its Migrations” by Scott McNee
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
Two stories with evocative but opaque titles appear in this issue.
The protagonist of “Bruised-Eye Dusk” by Jonathan Louis Duckworth wanders into a village suffering from the effects of evil magic. Hired to track down and destroy the witch responsible, he discovers that not everyone he encounters is what he seems.
I have deliberately kept the details of the plot vague, as the story depends on revelations of identity. Astute readers will be able to predict these before they are revealed. The most notable thing about this work is the fact that its setting, its mood, and the diction of its characters are reminiscent of the swampy backwoods of the deepest part of the American South. (The protagonist rides a “gator,” for example.) Although clearly taking place in a fantasy world, this connection with a real place adds a great deal of novelty to a somewhat familiar plot.
The main character in “Autumn Still Has Its Migrations” by Scott McNee is held prisoner in a castle. Unknown to his jailers, he is able to climb up into the rafters and travel throughout the building, listening to and observing its inhabitants undetected. When revolution breaks out, his world changes.
The outstanding aspect of this story is the way in which the author is able to convey how the protagonist perceives his environment. (It is probably not giving away too much to say that the character is reminiscent of the narrator of Richard Matheson’s famous story “Born of Man and Woman,” and that his interest in birds recalls the book and movie The Birdman of Alcatraz.) As with the previous story, readers will probably be able to figure out the relationships between various characters before they are stated explicitly.
Victoria Silverwolf will soon begin watching one of those big, cheap DVD sets of public domain science fiction television series and old SF movie serials. It will probably be terrible.