The Stories:
"The Cardinal's Cat" – by Cherith Baldry
"Sonnets Made of Wood" – by Leah Bobet
"The Chamber of Forgetting" – by Sarah Prineas
"The Wild Man" – by Caitlin Matthews
"The Secret of Making Brains" – by Joe Murphy
"Talent" – by Laura Anne Gilman

The December issue of Realms of Fantasy had a couple of really good stories, but it unfortunately had a couple of clunkers too. Thankfully, the winning stories came out ahead 4-2. It introduced me to some new writers, as I've never heard of any of them. It also contains a Christmas fantasy movie preview, as well as an article on the Lord of the Rings exhibition, which sounds like something it would have been worth going to Boston for (the only North American location for it, at least so far). This exhibition contains a lot of props and other cool Lord of the Rings memorabilia, some of it interactive as well. Unfortunately, it's already gone on to Australia (it left Boston on October 24). Not very timely, as this issue didn't even come out until the end of October. All in all, a very cool issue.

"The Cardinal's Cat" – by Cherith Baldry
This is a story about how a person's cats can sometimes save them from situations they know nothing about. Or, as the introduction says, "Your loving and loyal cat will always come to your rescue. Well, if it means her own comfort is at stake…" Cardinal Richelieu's nephew is spending up a storm, and his cat, Soumise, watches as Richelieu chastises him for it. After the nephew leaves, a strange old woman comes in, promising Richelieu the Elixir of Life as well as a lot of money if he only allows her a place to practice her alchemy. Soumise immediately distrusts the woman, but it's not until everybody goes to Rueil, one of Richelieu's countryside manors, that she discovers the woman has far more in mind than to help the Cardinal. Unable to communicate with him (Richelieu, while very intelligent, is not able to understand her), she must take it upon herself (along with the other cats of the household) to save him. I'm a sucker for cat stories, so I was already partial to this one, but Baldry writes a fun little tale. Soumise is definitely the den mother of all these cats, and she's characterized very well. Often sharp but also compassionate, you can tell that she loves her master, even as she is as aloof as cats usually are. Only two minor problems mar the story, but not to any great extent. First, the ending is incredibly abrupt once the witch's plan is hindered. Secondly, I doubt that a man of God in the 17th century France would have a cat named Lucifer. Still, I really enjoyed this one.

"Sonnets Made of Wood" – by Leah Bobet
This is a very short story about the marriage of the daughter of a Sea God and a prince of a peninsular ship-building town. It's also a bit of a tragedy as well. The marriage is looked upon as an ill-luck marriage, though everything appeared to be happy, until one day, when the daughter disappeared, never to return. A cruel ship's captain lures her away, but not in a way you might think. Why do the mastheads of the ships in the harbor always have a mouth that's open? She finds out in a manner not to her liking. As short as this story is, there are a couple of pieces that don't appear to have much to do with it, making the story a bit disjointed. What does Lady Prunella have to do with any of the story? What about the speck of dust that goes through the party, assuring everyone that *they* have the Prince's favour, and then ultimately turning into human form and telling the Prince that his wife has fled to her father? "Unfortunately, that is all the tale there is to tell. There is no moral lesson, no precept of wit, no wise warning to be had tonight. This is merely a story, simple and unadorned." That may be true, and that may be the point, but it feels unfinished, with avenues left unexplored and thus making the reader wonder why those avenues are present to begin with. The description of what happens to the daughter is quite effectively chilling, however.

"The Chamber of Forgetting" – by Sarah Prineas
This is an interesting story about who we are and what our memory does for us. Are memories instinctive, always around even if we don't remember them? Are we just the sum of our memories? A man has just been put through the chamber of forgetting, his memories forcibly removed. It turns out that the man is an assassin, having been sent to kill the king and his family, but he knows none of this. He swears to Captain Benedic that he doesn't know, but Benedic knows what he is. The king plans to use the assassin as a bargaining chip in his peace negotiations with the Salvandi, who sent him on his mission, but there is much disagreement with this plan. The assassin essentially is a different person, though his instinctive memory has him thinking like an assassin, analyzing avenues of escape, taking note of what everyone in a room is doing and how they are armed. Is it possible to remove such memories? And at what cost? Prineas examines the different aspects of memory with this story, asking the question about our instincts and whether any of those can be removed. She shows us an assassin who still has all the skills despite having his memories removed, but the assassin shows no inkling to use those skills. She populates the story with interesting characters, including the assassin himself and Benedic, who has a combination of ruthlessness and compassion that makes him almost truly three-dimensional. One of the longer stories in the issue, this was quite a treat to read.

"The Wild Man" – by Caitlin Matthews
Another Arthurian tale, but this is based on a Celtic tale, not on any kind of old Arthur story, so it's automatically a step up on that. Being Celtic, there are a lot of Welsh names, but it wasn't as hard as it usually is. Gwyn, one of Arthur's kinsmen, has abducted the new wife of Gwythyr and spirited her away (think Helen of Troy). This has resulted in a lot of turmoil in the north, and Arthur has to lead a force up there to quell the violence. It becomes a rescue mission when Gwyn captures Gwythyr. On the way, Arthur sees a lot of devastation and horrible atrocities perpetrated by Gwyn. They finally stumble across a wild man, more beast-like than man, who Arthur agrees to bring with them. As they journey, Arthur manages to get the man's story from him, making the hung for Gwyn even more important. A story of redemption and justice, "The Wild Man" is exquisitely written. Arthur is compassionate and honorable, but can also be ruthless in the dispensing of justice. The story is interesting, with the nice little twist on the Helen tale as well. Gwyn is a little too one-dimensional, but it's more forgivable because he's not in the story that much. He's more the object of the story than a character in his own right. It also avoids the Arthurian cliches and tells a straightforward story, which is also nice.

"The Secret of Making Brains" – by Joe Murphy
Apparently the only male author this issue, Murphy gives us a strange tale of mechanical beings and a weird isolated family who creates them. It's a story about the gray areas of life with a weird twist at the end. Sprokly is a young girl of sixteen, living among a family that has created "reflections," or mechanical beings. Grampser, who never tells the truth, seems to be the main creator. One day while out walking with one of Grampser's new reflections, Sprokly discovers a couple of Grampser's dogs cornering a human being, Horton. The family welcomes Horton to dinner, and Sprokly (along with her brother, Billy) become enamored with Horton's tales of life at college in Wichita Falls. Billy is old enough to go with him, but Sprokly is not. Still, it might not matter anyway. This story seems to be about clarity and truth, and how gray areas exist all over so that the truth is often relative. Still, I didn't really care for it that much. The twist didn't do that much for me, and I didn't find any of the characters that interesting. It's an interesting concept, but it fell a bit flat for me.

"Talent" – by Laura Anne Gilman
In a run-down pool hall in some big city, everything stays the same. The regular customers come in for their pool, occasionally bringing somebody else to learn the trade. It's not a fancy club where college students or yuppies hang out. It's for serious pool players. One of those players was Charlie, who is still hanging around despite being dead (or undead, as the case may be). He's a billiards champion who can't let go, despite the fact that you should always let things go as the talent fades. One day, Mike brings in his niece, Betsy, who has the raw talent to become a pro. Charlie watches her intently as she demonstrates her ability, and the narrator watches her leave, seeming to forget Charlie's interest at first. When he realizes what might happen, he's panic-stricken. This is kind of a creepy tale that is just the right size. It's short, but I don't think the concept would take much more than is here. It leaves the aftermath to the imagination, which is very well done. Gilman gives us a great atmosphere of a run-down pool hall, with the regular players coming here every night and watching life go past them. Her use of imagery is wonderful ("Springsteen's on the radio, singing about Atlantic City. I've got chalk on my hands, the eight ball in my sights, and the music of the game filling my ears."). There's not a lot of characterization in something this short, but we get a good sense of the narrator. A fascinating way to end the issue.

Other Features of this Issue
"Movies" - Lord of the Rings exhibition, as well as a Christmas movie preview
"Books" – reviews of upcoming and just published books
"Folkroots" – A story on the Mythic Journeys Conference in Atlanta in June.
"Past Lives" – Clothing for historical reenactors (I didn't read this one)
Feature Article – "The Goblins are Coming" about Ari Berk and Brian Fround's new book about goblins. Some cool artwork in this one and the "interview" was amusing.
"Games" – reviews of just published RPG and video games