Beneath Ceaseless Skies #427, March 6, 2025

“Bind the Herbs to Bring the Shift” by R. Z. Held

“Tea for Truth, Mango for Memory” by Nicole L. Soper Gorden

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

Two stories featuring practitioners of magic in negotiation with potential clients appear in this issue.

“Bind the Herbs to Bring the Shift” by R. Z. Held takes place in a fantasy world where most people develop the ability to turn into various animals at adolescence. They require the aid of those who do not change shape, but who use their skills with magical elixirs to aid the transition. The main character is one such practitioner. She deals with a teenage girl who wishes to avoid the change for reasons of her own. Their confrontation involves the protagonist’s memory of her daughter, who ran away from home.

The shapeshifters have an ambiguous relationship with those who lack this ability, treating them with scorn yet depending on them for their transformations. Although this provides a source of conflict, I found it implausible. The plot is otherwise a quiet, pleasant one, with a resolution that readers will be able to predict.

The protagonist of “Tea for Truth, Mango for Memory” by Nicole L. Soper Gorden is able to create clouds, bringing rain that is badly needed in an arid world. Others with her magical ability are forced to work for a monarch, so she practices her skill in secret, relying on a merchant who brings clients to her surreptitiously. The merchant requests a cloud for himself. The protagonist listens to the reason for his request, and determines what price he must pay.

Much of the text consist of flashbacks to other customers of the main character, who judges whether their requests for clouds are justified. The main plot is quite simple, ending in an expected way.

Victoria Silverwolf thinks these two stories are remarkably similar.