What do you think?
Rate this book
Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #269
Issue #269 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies online magazine, featuring stories by Marissa Lingen and Jordan Taylor.
36 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 9, 2019
2 people want to read
About the author
Scott H. Andrews
469 books24 followersScott H. Andrews is a writer of science fiction. He teaches college chemistry. He is Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of the fantasy magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
Andrews's short stories have appeared in Weird Tales, Space and Time, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, On Spec, Crossed Genres, and M-Brane SF.
Andrews's short stories have appeared in Weird Tales, Space and Time, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, On Spec, Crossed Genres, and M-Brane SF.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 18, 2019
The first story in this music-themed issue is “The Deepest Notes of the Harp and Drum”. Narrator Jane tells us right up front she murdered her meanie of a sister and fed her to the wild pigs of the forest. In this world, musical instruments sing the memories of its source material, so when a group of traveling minstrels comes to town with instruments made from a forest pig, Jane fears being outed for her crime. There’s a gleeful cynicism to Jane’s mixture of droll deadpan and sing-song cadence, and her selfish, amoral attitude.
The title character of Jordan Taylor’s “La Orpheline” is a young Parisian thief who was also once a cat, until the Magician stole her catskin. Now she works in the costume department of the Opéra le Peletier dressing the company’s head soprano. The Magician turns out to be the soprano’s secret benefactor, and his jealous lover, the famous courtesan la Reine des Fées strikes a deal with La Orpheline: the location and means to retrieve her catskin for helping the courtesan replace the head soprano in The Marriage of Figaro. The chorus-like narrator is amusing, and the plot unfolds in a grand, operatic flourish. It disappointed me that the story's fantasy elements—La Orpheline’s catskin, the Magician’s wards and hexes—were superficial and not integral to the plot. Switching them out for a non-magical mcguffin and more practical obstacles would have made little difference.
The title character of Jordan Taylor’s “La Orpheline” is a young Parisian thief who was also once a cat, until the Magician stole her catskin. Now she works in the costume department of the Opéra le Peletier dressing the company’s head soprano. The Magician turns out to be the soprano’s secret benefactor, and his jealous lover, the famous courtesan la Reine des Fées strikes a deal with La Orpheline: the location and means to retrieve her catskin for helping the courtesan replace the head soprano in The Marriage of Figaro. The chorus-like narrator is amusing, and the plot unfolds in a grand, operatic flourish. It disappointed me that the story's fantasy elements—La Orpheline’s catskin, the Magician’s wards and hexes—were superficial and not integral to the plot. Switching them out for a non-magical mcguffin and more practical obstacles would have made little difference.
March 10, 2019
I laughed out loud when Lingen twisted up the traditional fairy tale use of the bones of the murdered.
January 13, 2019
The theme is, I guess, escaping cages? The first is a cage of guilt (though not a story of moral redemption) and the second is a tad more literal. Just a tad.
The first story, "Deepest Notes of the Harp and Drum" starts out a bit like "Telltale Heart" or "Crime and Punishment". It seems like it will be a story of guilt and its consequences. And...it sort of is? But the characters do not seem to so much seem a lesson. Rather they...just move on. Okay. It's alright. On the shorter side.
The second, "La Orpheline", is a fair bit longer. The style sets it apart-it evokes a play script, reading like stage direction at times. Which blends with the setting and story nicely, so kudos there.
The first story, "Deepest Notes of the Harp and Drum" starts out a bit like "Telltale Heart" or "Crime and Punishment". It seems like it will be a story of guilt and its consequences. And...it sort of is? But the characters do not seem to so much seem a lesson. Rather they...just move on. Okay. It's alright. On the shorter side.
The second, "La Orpheline", is a fair bit longer. The style sets it apart-it evokes a play script, reading like stage direction at times. Which blends with the setting and story nicely, so kudos there.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews