Cartomancy

These stories yank you into the dark alleys of unsavory cities, mug you and only occasionally leave you fit to walk away. There are a couple which should be labeled "Dead dove don't eat!"

This is a collection of her short stories, with a framing story of magical maps linking to various times and places. We visit many of the worlds (or they are alluded to) from her novels. Originally, I thought that the framing story was set in the world of Grunts!, but it seems to be a similar fantasy world with the dualism between good and evil.

As is usual with short fiction, you get stories you like and stories you don't. Gentle is very much a blood-and-guts writer, showing things as they are, and not sanitising her stories overly much. The scene in the second story with the slit trench and the pig is straight from an illuminated manuscript (I don't think it's the Tres Riches Heures). Other stories were interesting - I liked the two show more stories from the Hundred Isles, and would like to see that setting expanded.

Other stories are more science fiction than fantasy - which included the nasty story dealing with child abuse. (No real children were harmed in that story, but the story still packs a punch in that the created children are basically unintelligent pets.)

Recommended, but not if you like your fiction sanitised. show less

Difficult to pin down which story actually made me think more, or shudder, or wonder, or want to explore history more, but good, readable and above all challenging. Mary Gentle isn't one of my favourite writers but she does grasp my attention and keep it while I'm reading her books. Previous characters appear her, sometimes in cameo, and the post-story notes are quite interesting and do add to the story.

This is an excellent collection of Gentle's earlier short stories. Those familiar with her work will not be surprised - alternate history and strong, realistic swordswomen feature prominently. Each story is accompanied by a short essay by Gentle discussing the story, its characters (and often how they morphed into characters featured in her novels) and its place in her writing... I particularly liked the final story, "The Tarot Dice" - very original concept, difficult and complex relationships, and a gritty-yet-mystical atmosphere... I particularly like Mary Gentle, so I was not surprised to like the collection.

Includes (among others):

Beggars in Satin.
This novella introduces the young warrior White Crow, and the
corpulent lord Casaubon show more who becomes her lover, the characters featured in Gentle's novels"Rats & Gargoyles" & "The Architecture of Desire." It really helps to understand their characters and relationship. The young warrior/scholar comes to Casaubon in response to a plea for help - he has aimed to create a wondrous garden - but something is going horribly wrong.

The Harvest of Wolves
A future encounter between an aging former radical and the young man who is assigned to both care for and spy on her. Ruthless in its
vision of the self-centered nature of humanity.

The Crystal Sunlight, The Bright Air
This story takes place on Orthe, the world of the novels "Ancient
Light" and "Golden Witchbreed."
In it, an agent of the Holy Dominion is sent to Orthe to determine if
the world should be put under Interdict. Grieving for a dead lover, he is unsure of what might be the right thing to do.

The Tarot Dice
A beautiful, dreamlike, and tragic tale of doomed love. A woman,
Sanzia, is obsessed with a man who insists he loves her only as a
sister. Full of details but never fully explained, it's a sci-fi
setting full of heresy, divination, life on the fringes.

Anukazi's Daughter
A woman who has fought to be a warrior in her harsh, Mongol-type tribe makes a split-second decision to let a prisoner free - and to escape with him to his people. She based her decision mainly on the idea that women had more opportunities in this foreign land - but although she is hailed as a hero, she is not at home, and cultural differences slowly lead to tragedy.

A Sun in the Attic
When an inventor disappears from his household, his spouses are
frantic with worry. Searching warehouses and quays, and asking at
ships, they call in favors for information throough complex and rival
families... and uncover a plot to keep technology below a certain
level, possibly for good reasons...

A Shadow Under the Sea
Another quite negative rumination on the nature of humanity. When her island is threatened by a giant kraken, interfering with shipping and disastrous to sailors, she calls on the aid of her estranged sister, a powerful sorceress. The two women go out alone in a small boat to enspell the creature. But at the crucial moment, the councilwoman is paralyzed by fear, causing things to go wrong - and then she faces a terrible decision, alone on the open waves.

The Pits Beneath the World
Another tale on the theme of differences between cultures. A group of humans, ambassadors on an alien world, have been interacting well with the native, giant centipede-like creatures who love to hunt the grasslands. But after a young human girl has a discussion with her alien friends, suddenly, she is the one being hunted, for reasons she cannot understand.

The Knot Garden
Another tale of The White Crow and Casaubon - in this one, things are bizarrely going wrong in Casaubon's city, again, and Valentine
mysteriously disappears. Some suspect she may simply have left him - but then, others start disappearing, and he must seek her, even into other dimensions... show less

Amazon UK

http://nhw.livejournal.com/141439.html

As it turns out I'd already read the two best stories here (one in another anthology and one on-line at infinity plus) but the others are at least acceptable and in some cases very good.