THE DEEP ONES: "Renfrew's Course" by John Langan

"Renfrew's Course" by John Langan

Discussion begins September 27, 2023.

First published in the June 2012 issue of Lightspeed magazine.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1449198

SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS

Sefira and Other Betrayals
Wilde Stories 2013: The Year's Best Gay Speculative Fiction
The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2013 Edition

ONLINE VERSIONS

http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/renfrews-course/

ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS

No online audio versions found to date.

MISCELLANY

https://johnpaullangan.wordpress.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Langan
https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/interview-john-langan/
https://www.tor.com/tag/john-langan/
https://tinyurl.com/rtwhtpsh

Ah! De Vermis Mysteriis! And a nicely done deal-with-a-devil tale as well. I enjoyed the time jumping aspect too.

Langan has some nice metatextual technique here, but I thought he did a far better job in Mr. Gaunt. The references to Rose in the setup (starting before Jim and Neil's relationship was defined for the reader) were spare, and the resulting puzzle meant the interpersonal stuff tended to distract from the supernatural elements rather than to harmonize with them or throw them into relief.

I found this story a trifle confusing at first. Jim is the person whose been to Scotland and studied Renfrew, but Neil seems to know the paths better. Of course, there's an explanation for that at the end, and I quite enjoyed the sting at the end of this one.

I did find the Mythos references a bit perfunctory, and I don't really view the story as Lovecraftian at all.

Finally got round to this. (Maybe I'll catch up with last week's story too.)

Agreed there nothing particularly Lovecraftian or Mythos-y about the story, despite the name-dropping. I did enjoy it, though.