Beneath Ceaseless Skies #397, December 28, 2023

“The Moult” by Christopher Rowe

“The Juggler of Red Walls” by Walter J. Wiese

Reviewed by David Wesley Hill

A good fantasy tale creates a compelling alternate reality, and such is the case with “The Moult” by Christopher Rowe, the first offering in the December issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies. With deft touches, the author creates an intricate cultural and historical background, and introduces us to Merton—one of the “Kin”, a winged human-like species—and his traveling companion, Soliver. Merton is searching for a cure to the “Moult”, a rare disease with which he is afflicted. Unfortunately, his status as a war criminal—a “Kinkiller”—means that no one of his own race will freely offer him the help he needs. In fact, most other Kin wish him dead, which leads to an uncomfortable encounter with Lyssa na Rookwing, commander of the city guard, whose relatives had been slaughtered by Merton during the conquest of Sylnas… Such is the situation when the plot swerves sharply and the tale ends abruptly, without closure, leading this reviewer to suspect the story is but one part of a sequence of related tales or a larger novel. I hope so. It would be a real waste of interesting characters and imaginative world-building if “The Moult” were a one-off.

The second offering this month, “The Juggler of Red Walls” by Walter J. Wiese, takes us to the titular neighborhood in the city of Andrade, where Tomas, an army veteran possibly suffering from PTSD, ekes out a meager living as a magical juggling busker. He’s happy, though, and Red Walls is a pleasant place to live—until a gang of thugs arrive and begin extorting the locals. Reluctantly, Tomas warns them to leave, but the young fools won’t listen, forcing him to make use of the specialized training he received as a soldier, proving that even if you can only move with your mind “seventeen objects of similar shape and size … provided their combined weight is less than about nine pounds,” it’s still enough to get your point across… Hopefully, further stories about Tomas and his juggling are in the offing. Recommended.