The Stories
"En Foret Noire" - by Tanith Lee
"Empty Places" - by Richard Parks
"Mortegarde" - by Liz Williams
"A Knot of Toads" - by Jane Yolen
"Lavender’s Blue, Lavender’s Green" - by Patrick Samphire

The December issue of Realms of Fantasy is the perfect way to end the year. It’s larger than usual (though it has fewer stories, and perhaps the extra pages are given to the Harry Potter coverage), but all of the stories are quite good, with yet another Richard Parks story among them. I’m really becoming a fan of his. Patrick Samphire is also becoming a regular in these pages, and he gives us yet another family that is having problems. Yes, it’s becoming quite common, but it’s not getting old when he’s doing the telling. Jane Yolen, however, steals the show with a wonderful story about a Scottish fishing village and the family that a young woman left behind. If you like fantasy short stories, you should pick this one up.

"En Foret Noire" - by Tanith Lee
Young Louis is traveling from Paris to visit the love of his life, Celie, when the carriage passes a dark, evil-looking forest. He asks around about it, and finally, at an inn where the carriage stops, an old man gives him a book that will give him some information. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have time to read all of it that night, and continues on his way. His Celie’s family reacts in horror when he mentions it, and they tell him stories of people who have gone into that forest never to be seen again. Her brother does not care for Louis, and arranges a visit for Louis to the forest, where he finds out that it’s even worse than he imagined. This story is very dark, but effectively told. It’s different in substance (though not in tone) from what I’m used to from Lee’s stories, but it’s still quite effective. I would have liked a little bit more motivation for Celie’s brother’s hatred, but that’s just a minor quibble. The ending is an effective twist, turning the result that we expect on its ear.

"Empty Places" - by Richard Parks
Young Jayn is a master thief, but yet it appears he’s being followed by somebody he can’t see, which isn’t a pleasant feeling when you’re alone out in the wilderness. It turns out that the person following him is Timon, a wizard with a very dark reputation, who supposedly kidnapped a woman and murdered her rescuer just on a whim. Timon has a job for Jayn, something only he can do. It doesn’t involve murder, it doesn’t even involve stealing. Jayn is to place something next to the crib of the Queen’s new child. The task, while difficult, is right up Jayn’s alley, but even he can’t fathom what Timon could be after. When he does find out, it’s the surprise of his life. Everything Parks sells to Realms of Fantasy seems to be gold, and this is no exception. Usually, he writes in weird or little-used locales, but this is a straight western fantasy world. However, the story is not normal at all. The interplay between the two characters is remarkable, with touches of humour from both Jayn and Timon, with Timon’s humour often being based on his dark reputation. We spend the entire story wondering what the purpose of this all is, but since Jayn is wondering the same thing, we get to just enjoy it. This is a great story.

"Mortegarde" - by Liz Williams
Travelling from one “world” (or dimension) to another isn’t exactly child’s play, as it involves a lot of pain. However, it is fairly common, and what’s more, information also passes from world to world. Dr. Gwilliam Anstruther is a master of forensics, and he has come up with some interesting theories about what’s hidden in our blood. It’s not mystical at all, but scientific, with little particles in it that do a lot of work, from carrying the breath that lets us live to little tiny soldiers that fight off infection. He is roundly criticized for his beliefs, but when he’s called to Mortegarde to present his theories to the snake people who inhabit this dimension. He thinks he’s among people interested in hearing his ideas, but they are much more religious than he thought. A mistake that might just see him dissected! This is an interesting little piece about the perpetual conflict between science and religion, and one man who gets caught in the middle of it. The characters are good enough that they held my interest for long enough, though they probably wouldn’t support a longer story. However, the ending makes up for the slightness in the rest of the story, as Anstruther finds that he has learned something very valuable, that a scientist has to have a heart as well. Not one of Williams’ best stories, but it’s still quite good.

"A Knot of Toads" - by Jane Yolen
Probably my favourite story in this issue. It’s the early 1930s and a young woman is called back from Cambridge to her native fishing village in Scotland because her father is dying. When she gets there, she finds that he’s already dead, but the reason for his death isn’t what she thought. It appears that he’s been frightened to death. The woman gets a chilly reception from her father’s long-time housekeeper, but she chalks it up to the strained relations she had with her father. She’s given some of his old journals, which may hold the key to what happened to him. What is with all of the toads hanging around the house? Will she unlock an old evil that consumed her father as well? I loved this story from beginning to end. It has so many things going for it, from the emotional (the narrator’s relationship with her father and with the village she left behind) to the supernatural (the old witches that her father had been researching). The characters are all vivid, even down to the potential love-interest. Yolen knows just how much information to give us and how much to imply, and I loved the language and description that Yolen used. I really felt like I was there in the sleepy village on the sea. Excellent work.

"Lavender’s Blue, Lavender’s Green" - by Patrick Samphire
And here I thought we’d finally get through a Realms of Fantasy issue without a fairie story. But wait! Is it? Hm. A father and daughter are on a road trip, to an address left them by his wife. She has left, saying there was something she had to do. When he was first courting her, he asked her a little about her past, and she said that she was a fairie queen. She never told him anything else about her life, and her family never appeared (except a brother). When they get to this address, surprises await them, and perhaps secrets will be revealed. I liked this story, though I have to admit that the ending confused me a bit. I suppose that was probably intentional. It’s a nice family piece about a father, a daughter, and the wife/mother that they never really knew, because nobody ever asked. Samphire gives us what appears to be a rational explanation, and then rips it all out from under us in the next paragraph, giving the ending an ambiguity that I’m not sure was intended. Or, perhaps, I missed the symbolism (it wouldn’t be the first time) and it wasn’t ambiguous at all. Still, I liked the characters, and I’ve always liked Samphire’s prose, so I quite enjoyed the story. A fitting ending to the issue.

Other features of this issue
"Movies" - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is previewed, and we’re given a “the story so far” for the first three Potter movies.
"Books" – reviews of upcoming and just published books, especially Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
"Folkroots" – Milk, honey, and bread in myth and legend
"Interview" – The artist known as Brom discusses his gothic work, especially his new illustrated book, The Plucker
"Games" - Reviews of upcoming and just published RPGs and video games, especially Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (are you sensing a trend here?