Not Far From The Tree: A Tale of Ysthar

Tales from Ysthar

by Victoria Goddard

The world is full of unexpected stories. For Nora, hers is intricately tied with the old apple tree next to the village green. They say Eve fell to the temptation of an apple, but for Nora and her brother Charles, the apple just might be a vehicle for grace ...


NOTE: Not Far From the Tree has also been published as part of the In The Realms of the Gold anthology.

Genres: Fantasy

15 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 8, 2020

About the author

I walked across England in 2013, fulfilling a long-held dream. I'm currently the sexton of an Anglican church in Nova Scotia, which means I am keeper of the keys and opener of doors (and shutter-off of alarms). I have a PhD in medieval studies from the University of Toronto, looking at poetry and philosophy in the works of Dante and Boethius -- both the poetry and the philosophy come into my stories a great deal (and occasionally the Dante and the Boethius).

I like writing about the ordinary lives of magical people on the other side of the looking glass ... and the extraordinary deeds of ordinary folk, too. Three of my favourite authors are Patricia McKillip (especially 'The Riddle-Master of Hed' trilogy and 'The Bell at Sealy Head'), Connie Willis ('Bellwether' and 'To Say Nothing of the Dog,' which latter would make my top-ten books on a desert island), and Lois McMaster Bujold ('The Curse of Chalion' and its sequels).

Reviews

[SR · Rating 2 out of 5]

I... do not know how to feel about this, but it is beautifully written.