Stirling is the author of the Nantucket series and Emberverse series of books that have now become collectively known as the Novels of the Change. Not having read those previous six books, I can only surmise, based on my reading of The Sunrise Lands, that “The Change” occurred in our world sometime around 1998 which somehow took away electrical power and nearly all other technology effectively negating the advances of the last two hundred or so years.


The Sunrise Lands begins twenty two years after the Change during which a generation of children have been born and raised, and are completely adapted to this new way of survival, of life. The United States is divided into several different political factions, each self-governed and quite unique. Most conspicuously, there is the Clan MacKenzie that harkens back to the ways of old Gaelic culture with their pagan religion, plaid kilts, and affected brogues. The Portland Protective Association, a society emulating seventeenth century England, a former Army officer now in command of his own sizeable military force seeking to reunite the United States and known as Mr. President, and the Church Universal and Triumphant, a religious cult with aims of uniting the country under the rule of their own Prophet.


A stranger arrives at Clan McKenzie in his search for the Sword of the Lady that he must bring back to Nantucket, a place of some unusual happenings. This sword turns out to actually be Rudi, the son of the clan's High Priestess. With a few trusted friend, Rudi sets off from Oregon to cross the country with this man, Ingolf Vogeleer.


One of Ingolf’s first impressions of Clan McKenzie:

From here, the novel explores the different societies that have emerged since the Change. A great deal of attention is given to how people have adapted to living without power, how they raise and gather food, how they arm and defend themselves, the cultural traditions and religions they observe. Much of the story telling is dedicated to describing the military powers and political strategies employed. However, my attention tended to wander during these parts as they read more like reference material. Stirling has quite the eye for detail, be it in the description of a late supper or the maneuvers of soldiers on the battlefield. But yet again, I often found these descriptive passages interrupted the flow of the story, and I tended to skim through these paragraphs to get back to the story.


Rudi’s half-sisters introducing themselves to General Thurston, also known as the President:




The Sunrise Lands starts off in an exciting flurry of mystery and action, then shifts down to a more leisurely pace as the group travels across the country. At the end, the status quo is once again shaken up, and just as my interest has been reignited, I’m left hanging without any resolution. It would seem that The Sunrise Lands is meant more as a stepping stone to bridge the gap between the books of the Nantucket and Emberverse series and the planned novels for the Change series.

As with any anthology it is impossible to cover every story. Overall, I enjoyed Heroes in Training, edited by Jim C. Hines and Martin H. Greenberg. My favorites were, of course, those that were written with entertainment and humor in mind. There were many stories in this book that raced along, leaving me wanting more of the characters and additional stories with those faces. I suspect that because Jim Hines had editing duties, some stories were selected because of their fairy tale basis—each of those in the anthology had a new twist, of course.

I thoroughly enjoyed Esther M. Friesner’s “Roomies” both because of the fairy princess concept and the twist ending. The characters and their actions were predictable, but rather than monotony, it was a comfort read; a soothing cup of soup on a cold afternoon. This story was a delightful little tale of small-town-girls do good with justice served.

Speaking of justice, Peter David’s tale, “Sir Apropos of Nothing and the Adventure of the Receding Heir” was a tale of an unlikely hero, yet somehow I found myself on his side despite his rather cowardly, unhero-like habits. Justice in that story was skillfully delivered with an ironic, unexpected twist. Very good.

The Wizard’s Legacy by Michael A. Burstein was perhaps my favorite story in the bunch; it was a traditional tale of a boy who must accept challenges, must battle the enemy and overcome many obstacles in order to reach his goals. Again, characterization played a strong part here, and Burstein moved the story along so quickly, I was quite disappointed when the adventure came to an end.

Three Names of the Hidden God by Vera Nazarian didn’t capture me right off, but as I read, my interest grew. What appeared to be a tale of the lowly man outsmarting and helping the royals became an intricate story of treason and justice. For those looking for different settings, this one had a bit of a fantasy, historical middle east flavor.

Eugie Foster’s Honor is a Game Mortals Play is a wonderful little adventure with treachery, vengeance and romance rolled into an unusual setting (sort of a cross between the Asian culture and mythology) with lots of action. I’ve read and enjoyed Foster’s stuff before, and this is one of her best; a very good tale—truly a Hero in Training, the character coming into her own.

I was a bit surprised to find such a broad range of stories; in addition to the above there was horror such as James Lowder’s “Beneath the Skin” and political stories such as Robin Wayne Bailey’s “The Children’s Crusade” and Catherine H. Shaffer’s “The Apprentice.” While neither “Crusade” nor “Apprentice” were subtle in their lectures, both were quite clever in weaving fantasy into the mix.

This anthology is a great read for a plane, train, doctor’s office—anywhere with frequent interruptions. The stories vary in length with few very short ones. Almost every story has enough meat to give you the illusion—for just a moment—of being somewhere else. The somewhere else is sometimes a pleasant interlude, sometimes a foreign land, sometimes a scary, unpleasant place, but it is always an adventure.

Jim Hines is the author of Goblin Quest, Goblin Hero and the forthcoming Goblin War (From DAW in 2008). Reviews of Goblin Quest can be found here:

http://www.fantasybookspot.com/node/155

A chat interview with Jim can be found here:

http://www.fantasybookspot.com/node/2066

Martin H. Greenberg has edited/contributed to several anthologies including: Fantasy Gone Wrong, Places to Be, People to Kill, and Pandoras Closet

Mark. J. Ferrari's debut The Book of Joby is an inventive spin on Arthurian legend and the Biblical story of Job. As the book opens, God is offered a wager by Lucifer, with the fate of all Creation riding on the outcome. Should Lucifer win - God will be forced to unmake Creation and remake it under the guidance of Lucifer, to eliminate what Lucifer sees as flawed and corrupt including humanity itself.

The candidate personally chosen by God as the deciding factor in the wager is one Joby Peterson - a nine-year-old boy living happily unaware of the fate that rests on his shoulders and possessed of a vivid imagination fueled by a children's book of Arthurian tales.

Following a visit by God and Lucifer in his dreams, respectively disguised as King Arthur and Merlin, Joby is given to understand that he has been chosen by Arthur to "fight the devil". Unfortunately, Lucifer has stipulated that God and his angels cannot interfere with Joby's life directly or act to help him, while Lucifer is free to do whatever he likes in his attempt to push Joby over the edge, short of killing him. Thus begins Joby's transformation from a quintessential "golden boy" to a bitter and damaged man years later as Lucifer and his minions strive to win the wager in the time allotted. Joby's only hope may lie in the quiet seaside town of Taubolt on the California coast...

If The Book of Joby has a flaw, it's that a strong beginning draws the reader in quickly - depicting the wager between God and Lucifer and introducing Joby himself - a very likeable protagonist. His fantasy of being a Knight of the Round Table is touching and evokes nostalgia for the carefree days of childhood, which makes his eventual decline all the more saddening.

Ferrari's portrayal of Lucifer also provides some of the best moments of the book's first portion, as Lucifer gleefully directs his minions in various complicated schemes intended to bring about Joby's fall from grace while quarreling with God on various technicalities of the wager - which usually results in Lucifer being made to look like a buffoon.

Unfortunately, the middle portion of the book sags somewhat in comparison. The tension build-up and the charm of the first third has faded by the time Joby arrives in Taubolt, which leaves the story wanting at times. However, the final third of the book does manage to pick up the pace and concludes on a strong note.

With that said, Ferrari's attention to characters is excellent - Joby's rise and decline is expertly handled and the book is peopled with a number of other memorable characters, which does help keep the middle portion of the story a bit more interesting than it would be otherwise. The vivid detail put into the descriptions of Taubolt and surroundings is also very well-done and easily convinces one that Taubolt could be a real place.

It must also be said in Ferrari's defense that despite the subject matter, there isn't an attempt to shoehorn a religious message into the story. The religious theme is used more as a framework for the story and could have easily been interchanged with any number of mythological or wholly made-up archetypes of good and evil - and the Arthur legends interwoven with the larger story are a nice touch as well.

In conclusion, a very impressive debut that might have benefited from some further editing to cut down the length, but the prose and characterizations are outstanding otherwise.

Gwen Rowley:
Knights of the Round Table
Gawain

Gawain is the Most Perfect Knight of King Arthur’s legendary Round Table. Called the Hawk of May, he alone holds Camelot’s ideals in his heart and his actions support these stringent beliefs.

While on a year long magical quest to discover what all women really want in life, King Arthur and his nephew met Dame Ragnelle, an ugly crone with the answers. But she will not give those answers to Arthur unless Gawain agrees to marry her. Being the most perfect knight, he agrees readily, despite Arthur’s protests and the answer is given to Arthur alone. This allows him to face Morgause’s never defeated Knight, the Somer Gromer Jour and walk away unscathed.

Upholding his vow, Gawain weds the hideous troll of a woman and fully plans to treat her as a wife in accordance with Camelot’s ethos, with respect and caring, if not love. He endures the taunts, teasing and outright humiliation of his fellow knights in silence. His actions were pure and he owes no one an explanation. However, Gawain no longer believes in the honesty of women since he feels he was betrayed by his adolescent love, Aislyn.

Aislyn was his mother’s apprentice. As a student of one of the most powerful enchantresses, the beautiful Aislyn was a pawn in her plan to unseat the might Arthur from his throne using Gawain as a catalyst. When Aislyn confessed her unwilling magical part in the plot to her lover, Gawain took her confession as an admission of guilt and left her when he joined Arthur in Camelot.

Aislyn had her heart destroyed when Gawain left her and rather than face his mother’s murderous wrath, she fled. For years, as Gawain’s legend grew, she hid in solitude, pain and bitterness eating at her soul. But she alone knew the answer to her brother’s, the Somer Gromer Jour, riddle. Seeing her chance for revenge, she transfigured into the Loathly Lady, Dame Ragnelle, and gave Arthur her demands; Gawain’s ring in exchange for the king’s life. There was never a question in the hawk of Mays mind. He agreed immediately.

Despite her horrid appearance, Gawain grows fond of the crone when she exhibits the same belief in goodness he embodies. Aislyn feels her heart soften to the man she has always loved and plans to reveal herself to him. But his aunt, Morgana the Fey, only knowing that Dame Ragnelle was hiding in a magical disguise, curses the woman. Aislyn is forced to live her life as the elderly, ugly woman.

But she gives Aislyn a partial antidote; she must receive and accept a kiss from Gawain in love. In time, through much trial, the kiss is given. Gawain is delighted to have his one time love before him but the spell is not complete.

For only part of the day is she the beautiful Aislyn. The remainder she is the terrible Loathly Lady. The choice is given to Gawain on which part of the day she is his lovely Aislyn; the nights with him in sexual bliss or the daylight where all can see her loveliness. He can not choose and gives the choice to Aislyn. That gift, the simple choice to control her own life, is not only the answer to Arthur’s quest but the spell which breaks her curse. Forever, Gawain shall have the beautiful Aislyn by his side.

A classic tale retold, this book was the first I grabbed from the books sent to me. What romance reader hasn’t fallen in love with some aspect of the Arthurian legend? I wondered how this book would stand alone if one did not know any of the legends. While I think knowing the old tales added greatly to the plot, the book could and did stand alone.

I think the author did a brilliant well-rounded depiction of how Gawain’s perceptions of Ragnelle changed. Never knowing the crone was in fact Aislyn, he nonetheless came to recognize the goodness and compassion in her soul and in fact developed tender feelings for her.

At first, I found her portrayal of Gawain bothersome. I wanted to smack him when he seemed to turn from conflict with his brother knights. But that is Gawain’s mythical character. He alone was the embodiment of Camelot’s Might for Right chivalric code. It would have been easier to drift from that and had him act on the reader’s emotions but it would have been false. Excellent job on keeping him human and yet lofty.

I also enjoyed the more in depth look at a classic story. There was a fullness to the characters that is often missing in retold tales. There were human weaknesses attributed to each person that added to the tale rather than detracted from it. The subplots were a bit distracting but I am wondering if they make more sense if you read the series straight through, as many romance readers set out to do.

I really want to find the other books in the series, Geraint and Lancelot. I am wondering how she explained some other parts of the myths. And will there be more in the series? I am curious. Especially since Aislyn dies only a few years after she and Gawain marry in the original tale.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I finished in one day, which for me means a good engaging tale. I finished and spent the rest of the night thinking of Arthur and his Knights. Not bad fodder for dreamland.

This short story really left me at a loss for words. Lately I have had a lucky streak with what I have read, seeming to stumble across novels and stories that were actually worth my time. But sadly enough it seems that luck ended when I read Lancelot’s Brother.

Short stories are either amazing or horrible, there is no middle ground. This is mostly due to the fact that there are only so many pages to set up a plot, develop characters, draw in the reader, and tell the story. Lancelot’s Brother had none of the stages. Not only was the story lacking anything resembling a plot, but there absolutely no character development, the story jumped from one confusing glimpse of events to another, and made me want to run in the other direction. With some stories you can see a glimmer of hope in the basic ideas, which with proper nurturing and work could develop into an entertaining tale, this is far from the truth in the case of Lancelot’s Brother. I know this seems a lot like a bash review but honestly there was nothing but a simple conflict presented in the story with absolutely no resolution, no real plot presented aside from the conflict and the characters were nothing more than names. Another of my issues with this story is the title. There is one reference in the whole short story to Lancelot and a handful of references to the Arthurian blade Excalibur. This makes the title seem completely out of place, and really makes me wonder why Falloure chose Lancelot’s brother as the title.

At the end of this delightful rant I would have to say Lancelot’s Brother will receive a solid 2. Falloure should really take this attempt at a short story back to the drawing board and see what he can salvage because even though his grammar and ability seems to be present his imagination seems to have stepped out on a coffee break. Hopefully any other installments in this series will be much more thought out and present much better plots. To all who are considering reading this novel I would say steer clear and see what Falloure’s next work is. I wish you well with your next story Mr. Falloure, and honestly hope you decide to take Lancelot's Brother back to the drawing board.

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As of late I have had a good amount of novels taking place on Earth coming to me. I have never been a big fan of Earth based fantasy and so I always seem to read these books with a timid attitude. Though many Earth based fantasy novels are, in my opinion, horrible, The Blackgloom Bounty was an absolutely excellent tale.

Taking place in Medieval Scotland, this tale of magic, adventure and love really captured my attention and kept me reading for hours. I have never been a big fan of fantasy novels that took place on Earth as they always seemed to be far fetched even for fantasy. Baxley really chose the perfect setting for his novel and created an Earth-based fantasy novel that knocked my socks off. When I first read the back of the novel I was a little thrown off by the description as it told you right there that the enemy would be defeated. And so I slowly stepped into the tale of Daynin and Kruzurk wondering what the point of reading the novel was if I already knew the bad guy was going to die. Along the way they pick up a young “slave” girl named Sabritha after rescuing her from a vicious noble and continue along their journey. As I came to the climax of the heroes’ battle with the Seed of Cerberus, which I thought was the climax of the novel, I still had a good two hundred pages to read and no idea what was going to happen. I continued along in this superb novel and we not disappointed by the quality of the tale. The novel continued along, following Daynin, Kruzurk and Sabritha on a quest to reclaim Daynin’s family’s lost lands after having looted Blackgloom Keep for an extensive amount of treasure. The group of travelers now must fight against an evil nobleman driven by greed and malice who wants nothing more than the treasure which our heroes possess.

Jon F. Baxley has created a novel that has broken down another of my strongest convictions towards novels. The slightest hint of an Earth-based fantasy has always made me turn my back, but with The Blackgloom Bounty I have finally found a novel that may open me up to new Earth-based novels without having such a strong animosity towards them. After the excellent story telling and writing style presented by Baxley in this novel I have to say it deserves a nice 7.5. Baxley’s novel really drew me in as a reader and brought a nice historical perspective to the tale incorporating two subjects I love, Medieval History and Fantasy. One of the best parts of this novel though in my opinion would have to be the fact that there were two plot lines. The first plot line where Kruzurk takes Daynin along on the adventure to kill the Seed of Cerberus, and second plot line which deals with the reclamation of Daynin’s home land, both of which were exhilarating and entertaining adventures. I really look forward to seeing this series continue and watching the characters face whatever interesting problems Baxley can come up with next.

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Theodora Goss only began publishing her short fiction and poetry in 2002 but already her work has appeared in some of the genre’s most respected publications (including “Realms of Fantasy”, “Strange Horizons”, “Polyphony” and “Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet”). No less than 6 of her published stories, out of only 11 to date, have appeared in “best of” collections (along with a good deal of her poetry) and in 2004 Small Beer Press collected four of these, together with some unpublished material, into a perfectly formed collection - “The Rose in Twelve Petals and Other Stories” – as part of their occasional chapbook series. Those in the know have confidently proclaimed her One-To-Watch and linked her name with that of rising star Kelly Link (who, as you all well know, co-founded Small Beer). Such high praise warrants investigation, and thus...

At only 59 pages long “The Rose in Twelve Petals and Other Stories” is a slim volume; indeed, I’m almost tempted to call it a pamphlet (although “chapbook” has a delicious 19th century ring to it that seems to warrant my $6). I sat down with it at 9am this morning, meaning to read one story before embarking on another novel. I finished it at 11.30am (note-taking and breaks between each piece included), by which time I had been thoroughly converted to the growing cult of this Hungarian-born, American-raised storyteller. Put simply: Goss is a true word-alchemist, a mistress of the transformative short story that I’m in the process of discovering on the borders of genre fiction. She writes stories (and poems) which are located in half a dozen networks of fantastical literature - enmeshed in fairytale, folklore and myth, invoking late 18th century Gothic and mid 19th century Medievalism - but remakes and reorients them for her own lyrical purposes.

The opening title story, first published in “Realms of Fantasy” in 2002, is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty in twelve different voices. The subject matter might sound ubiquitous – certainly alternate versions of fairytales are dime a dozen these days – but it is anything but. Firstly, it subtly posits an alternate history of Britain (or “Britannia”), one in which Elizabeth I married the Earl of Essex and bore a son, in which the Glorious Revolution of the 1680s never happened and in which Communism flourished in the 1930s. Thereby the story of Sleeping Beauty is also the story of a transformed nation, in which all of our own values and political norms are alien and virtually unthinkable. And secondly, it thrusts aside the unifying vision of the fairytale narrator and replaces it with a dozen voices. We see the dynamics of the story through the eyes of the Witch, the Magician, the Queen, the King, the King’s Mother, the Princess, the Spinning Wheel, a Gardener, the Tower, a Dog, the Prince and the Rose itself: animate and inanimate things, active and passive players perceive the situation from their own unique viewpoint, interweaving a number of secondary narratives. We learn, for example, how the Witch (who was once the King’s mistress) comes by the central curse; we share in the pregnant Queen’s loneliness, isolation and Arthurian idealisms; we are presented with King’s innumerable political dilemmas; we are even made party to the “birth” and sympathies of the spinning wheel that will prick the finger that will bring about the curse. What emerges is a very full exploration of the archetypes of fairytale, each broken down, made new and given voice – the many conflicts and motives of such a simple story’s participants are made clear. But in the end, Goss refuses to give us an ending. Instead she tells us how she would tell it (the communist Prince would be obliterated, and an alliance between the Witch and the Woken Princess she once cursed would blossom) but leaves us to make our own decisions about what should and shouldn’t happen in a fairytale.

By far my favourite story in the collection was “The Rapid Advance of Sorrow”, a Hungarian anti-fairytale in which Goss posits an apathetic student’s revolution. Eventually everything is reduced, bleached and made symmetrical, all in pursuit of a beauty which is also a kind of death. Fundamentalism and psychological control are at the centre of the story, and, indeed, it becomes clear throughout, that Goss is politically inclined. Not to say that she has a specific agenda, but that she envisions a series of worlds in which difference and choice are negated or ignored and seems to ask: are we anymore awake to what is happening in our own world? Sensory loss and numbness are recurrent themes (silence and sleep in “The Rose in…”, blindness and coldness in “The Rapid Advance…”), as is an inability to respond correctly to stimulus or ask the right questions (as in “Professor Berkowitz Stands on the Threshold”). This last, which also lambastes the claustrophobia, doubts and pressures of academia perfectly, is the most surreal and disorientating of the stories. Alistair Berkowitz, a failing English professor obsessed with the fragmentary poems of a French recluse, finds himself in a dream-like world and is offered the chance to cross the “Threshold”, die to our world (the “inner islands”) and “progress on to the outer islands”. Haunted by his innumerable failings and the academic success of his ex-girlfriend, he struggles to interpret the new world about him and tap into the profound.

In “Lily, With Clouds” Eleanor Tolliver, southern Belle and rich socialite, visits her dying sister Lily in a run-down house packed with her husband’s portraits of her, and in “Her Mother’s Ghosts” a little girl is haunted by images from her mother’s past and the legacies of communism. Both are deeply concerned with the relationships between women (as is the title story itself), and also with the myriad interweaving of reality, dream, memory and emotion that pervades the selection.

Finally, the nine poems neatly corralled in the final pages reflect and represent aspects of the stories and highlight the diversity of the collection. “What Her Mother Said”, which uses a wickedly arranged and disconcerting rhyming scheme, imagines Red Riding Hood’s advice to her own daughter, while “The Ophelia Cantos” commingles Shakespearean poetry and Pre-Raphaelite imagery. Both “By the Tidal Pools” and “Helen of Sparta” envision some of classical mythologies most famous women in their old age, and two bear themed poems confront us with possibilities of hybridised sexuality and experience.

Which, as you can imagine, is a hell of a lot to get through in just 59 pages; the very reason the chapbook idea works in this case is because Goss’s work is so thematically and thoughtfully dense. Her work is crystalline, visual and properly challenging, capturing the surreal wonder and horror of fantastical terror with a lyrical simplicity. And it seems to me that chapbooks like this one are perfectly formed troves of boundary-breaking fantasy for savouring between the tome-like books we genre-ites love to devour. However, if you’d like to wait for a bigger slice of Goss-goodness, her first full collection “In the Forest of Forgetting”, is due from Prime Books sometime in 2006. ‘Tis definitely on my wishlist I assure you.

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The last couple of books I have read for review have been rather incredible. My last review was the Borges inspired A New Universal History of Infamy, a vivid and imaginative work, and my current read Things That Never Were: Fantasies, Lunacies & Entertaining Lies is bountiful in both regards. Matthew Rossi offers thirty-nine essays, in which he weaves tales by connecting the rational and irrational, in such a way we forget which is which belying the title of the book itself. Rossi’s blending of historical figures and their exploits and both Pulp stories and their creators showcased in Things That Never Were, pays homage to his obvious influences of the latter and his knowledge of the former that makes evident not only is Mr. Rossi obviously a great new talent as an author but a voracious reader himself. Mr. Rossi shows no discrimination in regards to sources for his creativity, seemingly adept at finding inspiration from an Encyclopedia Britannica, as he is an edition of the TV Guide. From Holy scriptures to the works of HP Lovecraft, Rossi’s sources are only matched by his creativity, and though one cannot define the plots or rationale of any of essay as seamless, the author’s free, and nonchalantly admittance of this in the narrative makes the matter moot as Rossi takes the reader on a guided tour of his musings. When reading Things That Never Were, the first thing that becomes apparent is that if you are ever lucky enough to get published you want Paul Di Fillipo (see The Steampunk Trilogy - as in go get it now) to write the forward. Not only is it a terrific introduction to Rossi’s work:

It’s daunting personally as a reviewer, because nothing I can add or no matter at what length would be more encompassing and correct in defining the brand of literature Mr. Rossi is peddling. I cannot imagine a better-worded description for Things That Never Were. Mr. Rossi pens 39 essays ranging from three to nine pages in length. I don’t want anyone to mistake the size of these segments to be indicative of the quality of content and information contained in them, nor the entertainment value of them. Fillipo is again flawless in describing Mr. Rossi in this regard:

I could not agree more, as someone who even only writes recreationally how many incredible ideas were popping into my head reading this work, some already used by other authors, and some completely foreign to me. Rossi could have focused on any one of literally dozens of concepts he creates (or embellishes) and written a full-length novel on the subject that would not have been lacking to draw intrigue or interest in regards to its basis.

Things That Never Were is the ultimate ‘What if?’ collection (that’s not a knock; Jim Shooter, Gil Kane, and Klaus Johnson, were just some of name associated it this series) like the classic Marvel series, except Mr. Rossi is not limited in who he can use as subject matters in his issues, as human history, and even more, - what could have been, would have been - and perhaps even some of what really did happen (not to be confused with recorded history) is drawn upon by Rossi. Among some of the questions Rossi raises to entertain and enlighten involved Doc Holliday. Was he in fact the legendary mythical Fisher King? Were the gods of the Greek Pantheon gifted with powers of divinity or of discovered nanotechnology? Did the U.S succeed in making the USS Eldridge disappear from sight, and if so what do the likes of Mark Twain, and Lord Alfred Tennyson have to do with it? Did Hypatia, an ancient master scholar, theologist, and philosopher unlock the secrets of hyperspace 1600 years ago in Alexandorian? What is the link between Roger Bacon, perhaps gifted with the most adept mind of his time, and the Mongol Warlord who ruled half the world, Kubalai Khan? Is the secret code capable of instructing humanity in how to break the barriers between realities lying dormant in the works of Lewis Carroll, or is William Yeats’ Golden Key elsewhere? Just what exactly are Noon Blue Apples? (The answer may not surprise you). Another question, Rossi asks is based on this statement:

What secret destiny do the Boy Scouts work unwittingly to achieve? What secrets did novelist Jack London carry with him on his trips to the different corners of the world? What was the true extent and origin of Rasputin’s powers? What does HP Lovecraft have to do with all of the above?

Learn the answers to all of those questions as Rossi recites and weaves together with incredible imagination; his theories supported by writings by equally both diverse and ingenious sources from Umberto Ecco, Robert E. Howard, Ballard, The Song of Roland, Borges, religious and spiritual texts, numerous history texts, online sources, movies and much, much, more. There is a tremendous amount of information Mr. Rossi relays to he reader, but never does the text over burden the reader, nor does it ever read like a historical document. Rossi chooses a narrative style that makes the reading experience seem like a personal smoke filled conversation between friends, often times deviating from the topic for a slit second to interject that he agree with you that certain connections are as mentioned above far from seamless. Things That Never Were was vastly entertaining, rather educational, and in my opinion a wonderful product and perhaps better stated, - a feat of imagination. No essay deserves to be skipped as each offers something that you haven’t read before, nor I think will read about elsewhere.

In conclusion, I recommend Things That Never Were to any fans of fiction, especially those whose interests are vested in pulp fiction, and those that are fans of what is called non-traditional fantasy, that is pure fantasy. I come away from my reading with another author who vaults on my “to read” list, as Rossi’s talent is evident in every essay in the collection. A complete pleasure to read, and as comfortable next to my copy of Eco’s Focault’s Pendulum, as it is next to my copy of Robert Howard’s Solomon Kane. This collection is worthy of Providence, Rhode Island, where a hallowed tradition of fantastic works of fiction resides. My final grade for this collection is a 8.5

Jay
The Bodhisattva

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