As most of you who read my reviews know, Kage Baker is my favourite writer out there. She has written numerous short stories that are scattered hither and yon, almost impossible to keep up with. Thankfully, she has a habit of collecting her stories in compilations. Best known for her series of books about "The Company," Mother Aegypt and Other Stories is unusual in that it doesn't contain any Company stories. Instead, it draws together a bunch of her other fiction, mostly fantasy. It contains two stories about Lord Ermenwyr, from The Anvil of the World, as well as other fantastic stuff. I have to say that, after finding this book, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I had read two of the stories already, which had drawn me to her in the first place, and this just made me want more of her stuff. As is usual with collections, there is the occasional clunker, but the overall quality is quite high. Strangely, most of the weak stories seem to be ones she wrote for sale on Fictionwise.com, which makes me wonder. They almost seem like they were churned out so that they would have some stories to sell. I'm not saying that's what happened, but it certainly feels like it. Thankfully, the final Fictionwise story is outstanding, redeeming the rest of them.

If you're a Kage Baker fan, you have to pick this up. If you want to see what the fuss is all about but don't want to get involved in The Company just yet, this is a good taste of the quality writer that is Kage Baker.

The Stories
"Leaving His Cares Behind" (originally published in March/April issue of Asimov's

Lord Ermenwyr (from The Anvil of the World), mage and son of the Master of the Mountain and the Saint of the World, is having a rough time. He's bored, he's currently without a woman, and he's broke. So, he decides to go home. However home, as pleasant as it might be, is not all it's cracked up to be either. There, he has to endure pressures from his parents: stop spending so much money, spend some time with your illegitimate offspring, build a playground, etc. He's not home long before he realizes that he hasn't left his cares behind him, but instead he has replaced them with new ones. His parents are continually disappointed in him, which is not a good thing for a randy mage. Home doesn't seem to be much different from the road, except for better amenities.

Ermenwyr was my favourite character from Anvil of the World and it looks like Baker agrees, as she has written more stories with him and none (to my knowledge, anyway) with Smith. He truly is a wonderful character, though. He's a lovable rogue, always getting into trouble, often broke, and a hypochondriac to boot. But for some reason, we don't grow annoyed with him (well, at least not too often). Instead, we wonder what genius move he will pull out of his hat to get him out of his next fix ("Bloody hell, boy! A genius like you ought to be able to come up with his own pocket money" his father says when asked for an increase in his allowance). He does use his brain to get out of one fix, but the story is more about Ermenwyr's wanderlust than anything else. We get to see a more detailed version of where Ermenwyr comes from, see his parents much more closely than we did before, and get an idea of what environment he grew up in. I found it fitting that his parents seem to take in every child that he's fathered on some unsuspecting woman in a far-away place. Baker's prose is what makes this story, with a great combination of whimsy and great characterization. Besides, I just find it hilarious that one of the more evil beings and one of the most good got together and married.

"The Briscian Saint" (originally published in the August 2003 issue of Realms of Fantasy)

Three thieves, running after the sacking of a Briscian city, have stolen a statue from a church. They're making their own way to somewhere else, where they can have the statue melted down and split the money three ways. As they try to distance themselves from the burning city, they slowly discover that murdering priests and stealing the icon of a saint is not the most intelligent thing to do, as often the spirits look after themselves.

Baker has created an interesting cast in these three mercenaries: one is fairly superstitious, one believes what he sees but otherwise doesn't put much stock in it, and one refuses to believe anything supernatural, even when it reaches out and touches him. The debate between these three is riveting as a wave of psychosis starts to wash over them. As weird and weirder things start to happen, Spoke (the one who believes in this stuff) tells them the story of other disrespected saints, but Mallet (the unbeliever) scoffs. Baker captures all of the arguments perfectly, with the story showing that once again, middle of the road wins out in the end. The only mild criticism I would have of this story is that, while it grips your attention, it is a tad predictable. The broad direction of the story is pretty obvious, though the spice is in the details. In this case, the spice is pretty darn good.

"Desolation Rose" (originally published in Quantum, last quarter of 1999)

Another Lord Ermenwyr story, this one actually forces Ermenwyr to face the realities of what his actions can do to people. Wandering out in a storm, he seeks shelter in what looks like a rundown mansion. He finds a disfigured man and his daughter, who lament the tragedies that have befallen them. They seem to be under a curse that has deprived them of wealth and well-being. Ermenwyr is not one to ignore is urges, though, and he finds himself extremely attracted to the young woman, who calls herself Desolation Rose. She is withholding her virginity, however, for an attempt to remove the curse. On the night of Winter's Eve, she will go out to the forest and offer herself to one of the gods. Not to be deterred, Ermenwyr hatches a fiendish plan, one that will rebound on him in unforeseen ways.

This story is even better than "Leaving His Cares Behind Him," as it shows Ermenwyr at his most devious. Baker makes him go just a little bit further than usual, seemingly to make his fall that much more drastic. Baker captures his character very well, giving us another facet of his personality, but she also portrays the Desolation Rose with sensitivity and style. Rose is a desperate woman, her father is disfigured and unable to do anything, and she perceives her only chance rectify things to be giving herself to the gods. Even though Ermenwyr may end up doing the right thing, he still does it in his own roguish style. Finally, Ermenwyr's parents are just priceless. As soon as his mother hears what happened, she not only knows what needs to be done to fix the situation, but also is able to goad him into doing it without even raising her voice. Great stuff.

"Miss Yahoo Has Her Say" (originally published on Fictionwise.com, January, 2001)

When the Masters come and kill a young girl's parents and take her prisoner, they decide to enhance the intelligence of the young savage. It doesn't eliminate the rebellious tendencies from her, however, and they turn her over to a Lemuel Gulliver (Jonathan Swift) figure. However, that doesn't work out right, either, and the young girl becomes pregnant. The Masters are amoral creatures not above experimenting on the human savages they've captured, but this girl resists it all. Told as a story to her child under the protection of the wild, uncultured Yahoos, this is, to quote Baker's web site, "A story for anyone who has ever felt the urge to give Lemuel Gulliver a Swift kick in the pants."

I'm normally not a fan of trying to read weird dialects in a story, so this story already had a strike against it, as the girl narrates in a very weird form of English, using some made-up words, such as "Bumpbump" for sex. Still, once I got used to the language, it was an interesting story. I missed most of the subtext, not being familiar in any detailed way with the Gulliver story (I just know the basics), and I completely missed the fact that the "Masters" were horses (only picking that up on a second reading). That actually makes the story a bit more understandable, as the humans have to be cultivated to do things that horses cannot (not having opposable thumbs or arms). While interesting, it didn't really grab me that much. Baker captures the character of the young girl very well and "the Big Yahoo" is also good. It's certainly not a bad story, just not one that interested me.

"What the Tyger Told Her" (originally published in July 2001 issue of Realms of Fantasy)

A young girl, child of a society man who married a lower-class woman and then died, is living at her grandfather's estate, which includes a zoo. There, she meets a tyger (I agree with Baker when she says that the tyger should be imagined with the voice of Sean Connery) who wants to help her through the upcoming weeks. The tyger tells her that if she doesn't draw attention to herself, she can observe a great many things unnoticed as children are often overlooked. In doing so, she sees the dark underside of her father's family as her grandfather slowly dies. One of her uncle's is a lecherous pig, even willing to go so far as molest the young girl if she tries to say anything. Another uncle and her aunt are having problems of their own, and both uncles seem to want her mother's hand in order to secure a fair share of the estate (she has two young brothers who stand to inherit a great deal as her father was the eldest). As the funeral arrives, things reach a rather savage conclusion.

This was the story that led me to Kage Baker in the first place, as it was in the Year's Best Fantasy 2 compilation. It's a fascinating story about how invisible women can be in a male-dominated society (the girl is pretty much invisible because she has the two brothers who will be inheriting) as well as showing how greed can rip a family apart. It also comments a bit on class differences, as the girl spies on one of her cousins has a tryst with a stableboy, but sees how the stableboy is aghast when the cousin says that they should reveal their love for one another. He knows he would be let go, penniless, without any hesitation if such a thing ever came out. The tyger makes a perfect commentator to the events that happen, helping the girl to understand what is going on and what she must do to protect herself and her mother. The ending adds a bit of a religious element to the story, sort of a "Christ clearing the moneylenders out" vibe. That didn't quite work for me, but it's the only minor quibble in an otherwise fantastic story.

"Nightmare Mountain" (originally published in Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian)

In the late 1800s, there is a poor man and his daughter, once part of higher society in the South before the surrender at Appamattox but now down on their luck making a new life out West. The man is trying desperately to make ends meet and to give his daughter a good marriage, but since she will have no dowry, he can't make a good one. That is, until Mrs. Nightengale asks him to come to her mansion for a proposition: she will offer her sons hand in marriage. He is apparently an invalid, but it turns out that the Nightengale family is cursed. If the young man is seen by anybody, he will perish, and Mrs. Nightengale fights daily to keep the evil spirits away from the manor. The manor is set up with weird mazes, mirrored halls and other traps for ghosts, and the young woman has a cozy life there, a life of passion and romance with a man she can feel but never see. But words that her great-aunts have said to her about the family sow the seeds of doubt, and she may do something that will destroy everything that's good about this strange life she is leading.

I wasn't sure where this story was going when I started it, but Baker piles on the surprises as we find out more and more about what is going on with this strange family. Baker tells the tale with style, giving a sort of tension to all the proceedings; sometimes, it's a sexual tension between the two newlyweds (as when they observe a hidden festival put on by the other inhabitants of the house) and sometimes it's the tension of a decision that must be made. The characters are quite vivid, even when they aren't in the story that much. The desperation in the woman's father is palpable, though he is still a strong character (he is able to silence his constantly complaining aunts with a few curt words at the wedding). The mood changes as the woman becomes more comfortable with her life and it's actually a bit romantic at times, but the mystery is never far away and the ending is simply magnificent, leaving readers doubting everything they thought they knew about what had happened.

"Merry Christmas from Navarro Lodge, 1928" (originally published in the December 2000 issue of Asimov's)

Dolliver is a man who is down on his luck, trying to hitchhike to San Francisco on Christmas Eve with a stained coat and no money. He's even desperate enough for a place to stay that he vows to break into a building in the next town just so he can get arrested. In his travels, however, he stumbles upon a lodge in the forest with old cars in the parking lot. He goes inside, but he can't get anybody to even acknowledge his existence. He finds he can interact with the environment, but nobody can see him, except one man, Sweet. The two quickly decide to help each other out. They realize they've gone back in time and this party is actually taking place in 1928. Beginning with having a lot of booze and joining the 1920s party as much as they can, they then decide to steal some of the guests' valuables and use them to get them both back on their feet. Such actions bring a choice, however, and that choice could wipe one of these men out of existence. It's a grandfather paradox, set to the Charleston.

The ending of this one really took me by surprise as it does come a little bit out of left field. Thus, it lends itself to re-reading once you know what's going to happen to see if you missed any clues. The relationship that forms between these two men is well-portrayed as one of two loners trying to figure out what has happened to them, and teaming up to see if they can help each other better their situation. The interplay at the party between Edgar and Helene, along with the waiter who is in love with her, is also first-rate, though it does often make you wonder what this has to do with the story. Turns out that it has everything to do with it, making for a shock that hits the reader almost as hard as it hits Sweet. Baker doesn't bother to explain how they can interact with the environment or why both of these men were brought to this specific point in time, but I found that it didn't really matter that much. It's something I wondered about after reading the story, but while I was within it, the magic had captured me and it wouldn't let me go.

"Her Father's Eyes" (originally published in the December, 2002 issue of Asimov's)

In post-war England, a young girl's parents decide to take her on a scenic train ride as a reward for surviving the horrible conflict. On this ride, she encounters a young boy and his very strict parents who seem quite strange. Her mother tells her to colour some pictures of what she's seen from the train's windows, and while she's colouring the boy asks he if can join her. He draws some disturbing images, however, images that seem to tell the tale of his childhood and how he came to be in the charge of these two adults. When it comes time for the family to leave the train, the boy's mother leaves the young girl with a painful gift that never seems to go away. The girl now has a connection with the boy that will haunt her for years to come, even though it appears everything may have been her imagination.

This was also included in Year's Best Fantasy 3, which is where I first read it. The imagery in this story is fascinating, but I'm not sure I completely understand it. The girl is scarred by the war and it comes out in her crayon drawings as she draws paratroopers coming down and fighting, warplanes flying through the sky and bombing cities, and the like. The boy draws horrible images that seem to relate to his hopeless existence. The parents keep interrupting the boy's drawing and he has to mask what it is he has been doing. I enjoyed the characterization of these two children, especially as Baker captures their feelings about what has been going on so clearly through their artwork. There's also the tension of the boy's background, which segues into the girl's feelings about what's happened with her family. Everything is so intricately tied together that I loved every minute of reading this one again.

"Two Old Men" (originally published in the March 2000 issue of Asimov's)

Markie Souza is a six-year-old boy living on the coast. His mother has a new husband who is good for nothing and a baby daughter by this man. Markie spends most of his free time looking around for bottles that he can take to the local shop and exchange for money. In his travels, he meets an old man on the beach who gives him a task: deliver a message to Smith at the local arcade in a seedy part of town. Markie is nervous, but he dutifully performs his mission. This becomes a to-and-fro between the two men, with Markie as the delivery boy. In exchange for Markie's help in this "Kennedy as Job" plan, the old man on the beach gives him a gift that will make both his and his mother's life a lot better.

I would almost call this story the best in the book. It captures perfectly the duel between the two men, setting up what ultimately happens in Dallas in 1963, but also captures a young boy who just wants to explore the world around him. As he passes the messages back and forth, he also discovers other things, some good (a dime that somebody dropped on the street) and some bad (he spots his stepfather numerous times throughout a day that is growing increasingly frustrating for the man). At times whimsical, Baker always brings it back to the struggle between God and Satan, sometimes with a little prompting (like a note in a seashell that he finds). I found the boy incredibly cute and the story that the boy found himself in to be extremely interesting.

"The Summer People" (originally published on Fictionwise.com in 2001)

A man who makes his living poaching animals and doing odd jobs with his cousin has dreams of making it in the music world as another Elvis Presley. One night, he chooses the wrong property to poach on. Or perhaps it's the right property? A man at the birthday party in the mansion stumbles upon him and doesn't realize who he is. The man offers him a place at the party and a chance to perform his act as the party has been ruined by the quarrel between the guest of honour and her husband. The man ingratiates himself with the birthday girl, though, and has a night he'll never forget. Except that he can't remember how he got to where he is, and he was never able to get her number or her agent's, and he realizes that he's missed his big break. Such is life in the world of Faerie, though.

Baker moves yet another old tale into the realm of the modern day. This is a faerie story all wrapped up in today's clothes, but it is still interesting. The only problem with it is that I didn't really like the narrator, which made the story a bit hard to get into and care about. The guy is a cad, and while I know this is intentional, it didn't make for as pleasant a time as Baker would have liked, I'm sure. The characterizations and prose are up to Baker's usual standard, however, and thus the story is a lot better than it has any right to be.

"How They Tried to Talk Indian Tony Down" (originally published on Fictionwise.com in 2001)

Weird things are happening on the Tobin Farm commune. Abby and Martha live in a trailer on the commune, and one night something very strange occurs. A whistling sound is emanating from the hill overlooking the commune, and it's a sound they can't ignore. It turns out that Indian Tony has found himself stuck in a tree on the hill, cornered by creatures that apparently only he can see. There's something alien up on the mountain, and Indian Tony has sparked its interest. Perhaps it would be best to stay away from that hill after all.

For me, this was probably the most inconsequential story in the entire collection. It has an imaginative idea behind it, but I didn't care for any of the characters and it seemed too slight for anything else to grab me. It does have the same wicked prose that Baker is known for, but overall, I was glad this was an extremely short story. If it had been any longer, I may even have skipped it (sacrilege, I know). I did like the ending, however, and how nobody was around when the cops finally arrived. It's that quirkiness that I've always loved about Baker.

"Pueblo Colorado Has the Answers" (originally published on Fictionwise.com in 2001)

Marybeth Hatta has moved back home to run her parents' store in a small town after being laid off three times from cushy California jobs. One day, Mr. Lynch walks in and asks for her help with the strange things going on in his garden, strange like the things described in many of the paranormal magazines that she's always been interested in. She really can't help him, however, but he decides that the U.S. Government can, and he sends away for an information booklet. The help he gets turns out to be something that can bend time in weird ways, and ends up giving Marybeth a new lease on life.

This is definitely the best of the Fictionwise stories. Baker uses the concept of those free booklets you can order from the U.S. Government (address always in Pueblo, Colorado) to fine effect with an imaginative idea that also has great characterization. Marybeth finds herself fascinated with Mr. Lynch's problem because she is stuck in time herself. The store hasn't changed much since her father set it up in 1948 and she finds herself continually in the past. What happens gives her a new appreciation for that past. Lynch is the stereotypical small-town resident, uncultured and sure that the government will be able to fix anything, but in this case it works as a contrast to Marybeth's personality. He's also hilarious as his problem garden slowly gets worse and worse and he keeps coming in and telling her about what the government is doing for him. Once again the specifics of what is going on aren't explained, but once again the magic of the story is in the characters and I didn't really mind.

"Mother Aegypt" (new)

This original novella tells the story of a Romanian con artist, on the run, who stumbles upon a traveling gypsy woman and her strange companion, Emil. He joins her in her travels with dreams of both riches and romance. But neither of his new companions are what they seem. Emil seems to have the power to "just know" things (like how many beans are in a jar, or how to create an elixir that will grow monstrous chickens) and the woman is apparently immortal and on the run from the Devil. Golescu thinks he's making headway into the woman's affections, but he can't seem to break all the way through. When the woman apparently dies, he finds himself even more over his head in a situation rapidly spiraling out of his control.

This story, written specifically for this book, held me all the way through until the very end, where it went off the rails a little bit. The interplay between these three, a con man, a woman who he thinks is a con artist, and a strange boy who hides himself from the light and has strange abilities, is wonderful. I was enthralled from the first page, wondering what the true story of this woman was. Even when she explained it, I found myself wondering how the story would be resolved. Would the man be redeemed in some fashion? Would he help her deal with her problem and finally meet death? As the story draws to a close, however, things seemed a little too pat. I should have known better, though, and Baker delivers a twist to the whole thing.

Unfortunately, I found the events after the twist to be rather silly. I did chuckle at the imagery of this man who's been trying to bed this woman for the entire story all of a sudden having a rather large rooster, but overall the ending just lost me. It certainly didn't live up to the build-up. Still, given the length of the story, it's well worth reading once to revel in Baker's writing up to that point.