Preston Dennett’s tale of an outcast, a half-mad sage, and a
young girl exploring a land plagued by a near-sentient darkness gives the
reader plenty of mystery, magic, action, and even romance, but his delivery
never rises above workmanlike. Dennett
writes impending doom well. He writes
casual banter well. The decision to do both at the same time in this story
doesn’t allow either of those skills to truly shine.
He conveys a real sense of malice and ever present danger
within the dark lands that are the setting for most of this short story, but
the frequent sly winks at the reader and the light, teasing behavior of the characters
provides a jarring contrast. As a
result, the story cannot seem to decide if it wants to be a dark and harrowing
journey, or an amusing lark into mystery, and the lack of clear focus prevents
this story from taking full advantage of Dennett’s talents.
The Ride
As any old school gamer knows, there’s nothing like a
dungeon crawl. Edward McDermmott spins this
short tale of a man pursued by demons of the literal sort who trap the hero of
the piece inside the sort of dungeon that would do any DM proud. The dungeon crawler explores a
large complex and faces the usual sorts of troubles. He needs light, faces
unseen things that scrabble in the dark, encounters bizarre lost shrines to
long forgotten gods, and discovers hidden doors through clever
observation. He even faces danger of a
far more alluring kind. Overall, a tight
and compact story, but the challenge of temptation faced by the brave adventurer,
and the ending of his troubles in the dungeon, feel a little rushed, even by the
standards of short fiction.
