FREE FICTION | The Black Prism by Brent Weeks sample chapters

Orbit has the first 3 chapters of The Black Prism by Brent Weeks up on their site, which certainly gets my Epic Fantasy juices going.  Thanks to TheBlackPrism.net for the tipoff. Also, a word of warning. I bet these are not the final version as Weeks only recently finished the manuscript and edits are still underway, but this is the best glimpse we've gotten so far especially after the spoilery synopses to date.

The Black Prism
Chapter 1
Kip crawled toward the battlefield in the darkness, the mist pressing down, blotting out sound, scattering starlight. Though the adults shunned it, he’d played on the open field a hundred times–during the day. Tonight, his purpose was grimmer.

Reaching the top of the hill, Kip stood and hiked up his pants. The river behind him was muttering obscenities, or maybe that was the warriors beneath its surface, dead these sixteen years. Kip squared his shoulders, ignoring his imagination. The mists made it seem he was suspended, outside of time. But even if there was no evidence of it, the sun was coming. By the time it did, he had to get to the far side of the battlefield. Farther than he’d ever gone searching.

Even Ramir, wouldn’t come out here at night. Everyone knew Sundered Rock was haunted. But Ram didn’t have to feed his family; his mother didn’t smoke her wages.

Gripping his little belt knife tightly, Kip started walking. It wasn’t just the unquiet dead that might pull him down to the evernight. A pack of giant javelinas had been seen roaming the night, tusks cruel, hooves sharp. They were good eating if you had a matchlock, iron nerves, and good aim, but since the Prisms’ War had wiped out all the town’s men, there weren’t many people who braved death for a little bacon. Rekton was already a shell of what it had once been. Thealcaldesa wasn’t eager for any of her townspeople to throw their lives away. Besides, Kip didn’t have a matchlock.

Nor were javelinas the only creatures that roamed the night. A mountain lion or a golden bear would also probably enjoy a well-marbled Kip.

A low howl cut the mist and the darkness hundreds of paces deeper into the battlefield. Kip froze. Oh, there were wolves too. How’d he forget wolves?

Another wolf answered, farther out. A haunting sound, the very voice of the wilderness. You couldn’t help but freeze when you heard it. It was the kind of beauty that made you shit your pants.

Wetting his lips, Kip got moving. He had the distinct sensation of being followed. Stalked. He looked behind himself. There was nothing there. Of course. His mother always said he had too much imagination. Just walk Kip. Places to be. Animals are more scared of you and all that. Besides, that was one of the tricks about a howl, it always sounded much closer than it really was. Those wolves were probably leagues away.

Before the Prisms’ War, this had been excellent farmland. Right next to the Umber River, suitable for figs, grapes, pears, dewberries, asparagus–everything grew here. And it had been sixteen years since the final battle–a year before Kip was even born. But the plain was still torn and scarred. A few burnt timbers of old homes and barns poked out of the dirt. Deep furrows and craters remained from cannon shells. Filled now with swirling mist, those craters looked like lakes, tunnels, traps. Bottomless. Unfathomable.

Most of the magic used in the battle had dissolved sooner or later in the years of sun exposure, but here and there broken green luxin spears still glittered. Shards of solid yellow underfoot would cut through the toughest shoe leather.

Scavengers had long since taken all the valuable arms, mail, and luxin from the battlefield, but as the seasons passed and rains fell, more mysteries surfaced each year. That was what Kip was hoping for–and what he was seeking was most visible in the first rays of dawn.

The wolves stopped howling. Nothing was worse than hearing that chilling sound, but at least with the sound, he knew where they were. Now… Kip swallowed on the hard knot in his throat.

To continue reading: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3


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New Procurements including a rarity, a couple classics, and more

As you can tell from the photo below a large pile of goodness has graced my doorstep yet again. This is quite an oddball collection as two classics I've been meaning to read have made their way here. I also managed to find one somewhat rare book that I've been checking prices online from over a year and finally bit the bullet.

Swords and Deviltry: Lankhmar Book 1 (The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser) by Fritz Leiber and read by Jonathan Davis - The Fafhrd and Grey Mouser books are some the the most esteemed work in Swords and Sorcery with Leiber virtually inventing the genre. Brilliance Audio is planning to release each volume in audio for the first time or so I believe. I've been meaning to check out this series for more than a decade so I couldn't turn down a review copy and I'll definitely be making time for this in the near future. I think this series will work well in the audio format as each book is a string of short stories.

In the snowy reaches of ancient land ruled by witches and demons, the young prince Fafhrd battles his clan for his honor and freedom.

Beset by the spells of his evil mother and enchanted by the dancing of a beautiful actress, Fafhrd is driven into exile by his uncontrollable desire for adventure and exotic love.

Meanwhile, the apprentice magician - the Gray Mouser - returns to Nehwon from a quest only to find his master, the great white wizard, dead. With revenge in his heart, the Gray Mouser risks everything to inflict vengeance on the evil Duke, gaining in the process an unholy access to the evil arts of black magic.

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser — brothers in arms — meet one dark night in the great and amoral city of Lankhmar, the glittering gem of Nehwon. Fighting side by side, they cement a friendship that will span the ages and lead them to the outer reaches of Nehwon and beyond…

The Mirrored Heavens and The Burning Skies by David J. Williams - The first two books in Williams's Autumn Rain trilogy supposedly reinvigorate the Cyberpunk genre.  John and Graeme both had very nice things to say about the first volume.  Also, check out the author's very well put together site for the series, which gives you a good idea of the world he envisions.

In the 22nd century, the first wonder of a brave new world is the Phoenix Space Elevator, designed to give mankind greater access to the frontier beyond Earth. Cooperatively built by the United States and the Eurasian Coalition, the Elevator is also a grand symbol of superpower alliance following a second cold war. And it’s just been destroyed.

With suspicions rampant, armies and espionage teams are mobilized across the globe and beyond. Enter Claire Haskell and Jason Marlowe, U.S. counterintelligence agents and former lovers—though their memories may only be constructs implanted by their spymaster. Now their agenda is to trust no one. For as the crisis mounts, the lives of all involved will converge in one explosive finale—and a startling aftermath that will rewrite everything they’ve ever known—about their mission, their world, and themselves.

The Reef by Mark Charan Newton - This is Newton's true debut despite the fact many think Nights of Villjamur has that honor.  I had to track down this copy through the used market in the UK for a somewhat fair price as word on the street is only 300 copies or so were produced, which makes this quite a rarity if true. The Reef was published by small UK publisher Pendragon Press who are up to some interesting things at the moment..

Has-jahn: a continent of exotic cultures, cities and long-forgotten technology. Two members of a race once thought extinct wash up on the shores near the city of Escha. In their possession is a call for help from a human living on the little-known tropical island of Arya, where their race is being murdered. A crew of freelance explorers, led by the charismatic Santiago DeBrelt, travels to discover the mystery behind the killings. However, Santiago's controversial nature leads to him being accompanied by government agents — who wish to explore Arya and find out why Eschan naval vessels have disappeared in the seas surrounding it.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Rhoam, a city in central Has-jahn, a band of terrorists are embarking upon an epic journey to the very same waters. Still angry from an old war with Escha, they've gathered explosives and weapons, and will allow nothing to interfere with their quest for a phenomenal revenge. But secret pasts are revealed and soon all eyes turn to the coral reef off the coast of Arya.

With Great Power... Edited by Lou Anders -  If you follow here regularly you've probably heard me make mention of this great superhero themed concept anthology, which is why I'm quite happy to have received an ARC of one of my most desired anthologies of the year.   Also, checkout this awesome cover, which Lou recently unveiled. I also learned a thing about comic characters and art.  Apparently the first artist to illustrate a characters shares in creation rights with the writer of said character, which is why the cover does not depict a specific character from the anthology.

Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe - This is the first omnibuses of Wolfe's highly vaulted genre twisting series The Book of the New Sun. I've been looking for this book on and off for the last couple of years, but whenever I think of it the store I'm in only seems to have the second volume.  For some reason there are some books I want to buy in a store and some I'll buy online.  In this case I wanted to grab it in store.  Does this happen to anyone else?  I also picked this one up because of Larry's recent challenge to bloggers, which pushed me to again track down a copy.

Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis - This is Ian's debut effort, which has been low on my radar, but when a review copy happily materialized it has quickly caught my eye again.  This is the start to The Milkweed Triptych which mixes WWII action involving demons and genetic supermen. Tregillis is also part of GRRM's Wild Cards collective. Be sure to check out the author's uber cool website.

It’s 1939. The Nazis have supermen, the British have demons, and one perfectly normal man gets caught in between

Raybould Marsh is a British secret agent in the early days of the Second World War, haunted by something strange he saw on a mission during the Spanish Civil War: a German woman with wires going into her head who looked at him as if she knew him.

When the Nazis start running missions with people who have unnatural abilities—a woman who can turn invisible, a man who can walk through walls, and the woman Marsh saw in Spain who can use her knowledge of the future to twist the present—Marsh is the man who has to face them. He rallies the secret warlocks of Britain to hold the impending invasion at bay. But magic always exacts a price. Eventually, the sacrifice necessary to defeat the enemy will be as terrible as outright loss would be.

Alan Furst meets Alan Moore in the opening of an epic of supernatural alternate history, the tale of a twentieth century like ours and also profoundly different.

Dragonfly Falling and Blood of the Mantis by Adrian Tchaikovsky - These are the second and third books of the Shadows of the Apt series, the first of which Empire in Black and Gold I absolutely loved. I'm thinking of doing a trilogy review together in the near future once I make my way through them all.

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New Procurements, February 24, 2010
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Bite Me Winners

The lucky winners of Bite Me by Christopher Moore are:

Kathleen Popovsky from Elmhurst who's favorite Moore character is Pocket from Fool and Ken aka Neth from Flagstaff who loves the Biffmeister from Lamb.

Both winners are in store for a fun ending to the series.

FREE FICTION | Ari Marmell's The Orge's Pride

Ari Marmell and Spectra have put up a short story titled The Orge's Pride placed in the world of The Conqueror's Shadow. I've been reading fairly good things about The Conqueror's Shadow from a few reputable sources and this story does hit a few of my buttons. I'm hotly awaiting Marmell's next new work The Goblin Corps due from Pyr later next year, which should turn some Fantasy tropes upside down just the way I like it.  And now without further adieu the start to The Orge's Pride:

He ran, ran as he hadn't run in years. Broad sticks splintered beneath his heavy boots, driven deep into gritty soil. Branches whipped his face, scrub scraped at his calves above his boots, raising welts that remained all but invisible against skin red enough to suggest an agonizing sunburn. Or at least it would have, had he been human.

On an ogre, it was typical enough, no more abnormal than the single eye that darted frantically left and right, seeking any possible escape, or the horn that snagged on overhanging boughs and left a rain of dismembered leaves falling in his wake. He crashed directly through the trees where he could, snapping branches and saplings without slowing, darting around the larger trunks where even his prodigious strength proved insufficient to clear his path. And still he heard the sounds of pursuit, drawing ever nearer. The trees were not tightly packed here, and those who followed him could fit between and flit around far more easily than he.

Damn it all, he hadn't even wanted this! He'd killed neither man nor woman, save when forced to defend himself, in almost three years. Not since he'd turned apostate, forsaking the worship of Chalsene Night-Bringer. Since he'd given up serving Lord Corvis Rebaine, the so-called Terror of the East.

Since he'd abandoned his tribe, in search of something better. Something he still hadn't found, and was starting to doubt even existed.

He'd been on the hunt that morning, seeking a deer or perhaps an unguarded sheep or cow on which to munch as he made his way across the plains of Imphallion. He traveled mostly at night—even before Rebaine's campaign of terror, an ogre near any of the nation's cities or highways could expect a welcome carried on the fletching of arrows—but he'd thought himself far enough from civilization that he could risk a daylight excursion.

No such luck. He never learned why they were there—perhaps some nobleman just wanted a change of scenery, or maybe this misfortune was the vengeance of Chalsene himself—but even as he'd darted across a length of back road that should have been empty, he'd stumbled directly into the path of a small procession. A heavy carriage-and-four, its wood painted black and emblazoned with the ensign of a golden gauntlet, was trundling up the path, surrounded by no fewer than a dozen mounted knights.

Knights who were, perhaps understandably, unwilling to wait and find out just precisely why an ogre twice their own height had appeared in their liege's way.

Read the rest of the story here.


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VIDEO | League of Steam

The League of S.T.E.A.M. is a fun little web series well worth checking out, especially on a lazy Friday afternoon.  Think of them as a Steampunk style Ghostbusters and you'll just be about there.  All of their videos can be found here.



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REVIEW | Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding (Gollancz)

Retribution Falls is one of those books I kept hearing unbelievably good things about to the point I thought it couldn't live up to the hype. Well, hype is probably not right.  More like unabashed praise from most quarters, which is why I went to the trouble of getting the book from the UK. But than I let the book languish in my to-read pile for months because I wanted to separate myself from what was said so my dreams wouldn't be too dashed as often happens when you build something up.

Retribution Falls has been called everything from a Steampunk Firefly to Jack Sparrow in a sky ship, both of which just ooze thoughts of wild adventure. I can now say unequivocally that Retribution Falls deserves every good word said and many more. Retribution Falls starts on a compelling high note and never lets up. It'll have you holding your breath in anticipation dozens of times. Retribution Falls has already been recently named for the Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist of just 6 titles.

Retribution Falls is a hard book to classify. It has classic elements of Fantasy, but with Sci-Fi tech akin to Steampunk yet I hesitate to put it in that camp as it is much more advanced. Retribution Falls is much more than a Firefly riff as it is like an entire season without one lull compressed into less than 375 pages of complete and utter bliss. I do wonder if it would exist without the influence of Joss Whedon, but either way Wooding does an incredible job of creating a group of the most compelling characters I've found in sometime and he makes you care about nearly each and everyone of them right down to the sleep asphyxiating cat.

Darian Frey is the captain of the Ketty Jay, who is quite the sordid ne'er-do-well to the nth degree. Frey's only cares are that he own the Ketty Jay and that no other may posses or even pilot her. His crew has been a revolving door for years, where few of stayed or lived long enough to decide if they want to stay. The ship's doctor is a drunk. The mechanic a virtual mute. The Ketty Jay also has two out-fliers, which are smaller aircraft that provide support, reconnaissance, and much needed gun power on their run, but they are piloted by a very loathsome young man and another who is so war-beaten he can't part with his ship. There is also a mysterious passenger with access to some very unusual science/magic, especially with his dutiful metal monstrosity at his beck and call. And not to forget their brand spanking new female pilot with a puzzling pass and a secret that could mean her ostracization at any moment. Each and every character is larger than life and grow on you more and more. The character's back stories were released a perfect points and really nailed where the character came from and the motivation or lack thereof for their current situation.

From the dialogue with supremely funny re-joiners to the a world  that is so well realized, Retribution Falls is a can't miss novel. It is touching in all the right places and a non-stop adventure from start to finish. I feel like I'm gushing a bit on this, but it is without a doubt one of my favorite books this year. I only wish I got to it sooner, but than the wait for book two would be even longer. But not to worry, there is a clear resolution for the story and most of the crew of the Ketty Jay except for one character who will probably need a whole book in and of itself to properly address. The whole plot is intricately and smartly laid out that all quarters are covered.

The fast and furious Retribution Falls is a staggeringly and ridiculously good page turner. The quality of the writing is close to that of Scott Lynch and has left room for so many more immersive stories for the crew of the Ketty Jay. I give Retribution Falls 9.5 out of 10 hats. This is the first time I can remember pre-ordering the second book in a series before even finishing the first. It is that good. The sequel The Black Lung Captain will be released this July in the UK and it can't get here soon enough for me. Wooding has already signed on for two more volumes of the Ketty Jay for release a year apart with the third currently titled The Iron Jackal. The first two books will be published in the US by Spectra in 2011 in October for the first and the second in November. Wooding also has a series of prequel type vignettes in the guise of Frey's Logbook, which certainly gives a nice entry into this world on the mind of its captain.


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Cover Unveiled for Ken Scholes's Antiphon (new look for series)

Tor is repackaging Ken Scholes's The Psalms of Isaak series with art by the always awesome Chris McGrath made famous for his work in Urban Fantasy, but he seems to be getting more and more general Fantasy work lately with the relaunch of The First Law trilogy and Sturges's Midwinter series just to mention a couple.

UPDATE: Tor redid the coloring and altered the art a bit from the first shown.

(Final Print Version)

(First version released)

Tor has aimed for more of a character centric look, which works well for the series. I especially like the type treatment and the bird icon prevalent on both covers. I'm always a sucker for a series logo such as this. First up we have the cover to the highly anticipated Antiphon, which is the third book in the series and will be released this September. This one sports a very hardened and fierce looking Neb depicted in the rough Churning Waste. UPDATE: Tor smartly made Neb look younger in the final version. He was looking a little grizzled for someone just in his twenties even given everything he has been through. But I did like the orange more. It just stood out better.

 Next up we have the mass market edition of the second volume Canticle. This will precede Antiphon with a release in August. In this version we see Jin Li Tam in all her glory. I'll miss the large group scenes done for the first two hardcovers by Greg Manchess, but these should certainly appeal to the wide audience Scholes deserves.

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NEWS | Cover & Update on Firefly Anthology

The Firefly anthology I mentioned a few months back now has a title: Firefly: Still Flying: A Celebration of Joss Whedon's Acclaimed TV Series. I have some good news and bad news though.  The first piece of good news is it will be released in May so we don't have too long a wait.  The second piece of good news is it looks as though only show writers will be contributing stories so everything should stay true to the rest of the series.  The bad news is that the entire book will not just be stories, but a mix of photos, storyboards, and design art akin to the other books Titan has done for Firefly. I'm still a big enough fan that I'll be picking it up as soon as it is available.

NEW STORIES. UNSEEN PHOTOS. SHINY!

Since its short-lived appearance on TV in 2002, Joss Whedon’s Firefly has done the impossible. It’s sold over a half a million copies on DVD, spawned the hit movie Serenity, and most remarkably, inspired a loyal fan following — the Browncoats — whose numbers are still growing to this day.

Still Flying is a brand new celebration of all aspects of the show, featuring a wealth of rare and previously unpublished images — including storyboards, production design art and candid behind the scenes photos — memories from the cast and crew, a tribute to the Browncoats, and, as a special bonus, EXCLUSIVE NEW STORIES BY WRITERS OF THE ORIGINAL TV EPISODES!

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REVIEW | Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley (Pyr)

I went into Gardens of the Sun with eagerness, but also somewhat trepidatiously as The Quiet War was one of my favorite Science Fiction reads last year. Would McAuley loose the sense of the characters? Would the continuation of their story seem unneeded? Is there more to learn about this incredible vision of the future?

Most of my fears were quite unfounded as McAuley was able to put a nice cap on this Universe and a fitting end to most of the characters. Gardens of the Sun picks up not long after the close of The Quiet War, but it leaps months and sometimes years in the narrative as it moves along. During The Quiet War it felt as though the characters were pushed by larger powers while now they are fighting to make their own destinies

An odd juxtaposition occurred while reading Gardens of the Sun in terms of me liking and connecting with certain characters.  In The Quiet War I was drawn to Sri Hong-Owen and Ken Shinto (the spy). While in Gardens of the Sun it is Loc Ifrahim and Macy who standout the most. Macy has always struggled to fit in wherever she went and now in exile with the other free outers, including her now husband, she still is pushed aside despite all she has left behind to be among them. Loc was probably the least ambiguous character in the first book with his underhanded and backstabbing ways. This time around McAuley does try to reform him to a certain degree and by the end I was shocked to find I actually liked him.

A sense of tension and inevitably that was present in War is missing though. You knew a war was coming in the first, but with Gardens you are left with more of a sense of the unexpected, which McAuley delivers in spades. Especially in regards to Avernus and Sri. A few of the characters who had such clear missions in The Quiet War find themselves lost in the shuffle as with Shinto (the spy) and Cash (the pilot). For the majority of the book I couldn't see how all the principles were going to come together in the end as well as they did in The Quiet War, but to McAuley's credit he finesses things just so to give you the unexpected. Many times in Science Fiction you'll find that the ship the characters inhabit is a character into itself, while McAuley makes the Universe a character as much as any of the others. It is a cold, but inviting place for those with the taste for adventure and freedom.

If The Quiet War represented fear of what could be than Gardens of the Sun is meant as a sign of hope for the future and that against everything humanity has a desire to live and grow. I give The Quiet War 8.5 out of 10 Hats. While Gardens of the Sun was not as enrapturing as the first volume the universe still comes alive and together form a duology that will be seen years from now as a classic Space Opera. McAuley also hinted in a recent interview that he is working on something set in this universe pushed forward a little. Given the ending of Gardens of the Sun he certainly left himself fertile ground for a return.


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GUEST POST | Mark Teppo On the Spectacle of Magic

Fellow bibliomaniac Mark Teppo should be no stranger to visitors of Mad Hatter's Bookshelf since I've covered his first two novels Lightbreaker and Heartland, which have a different temperament than most Urban Fantasy fair.  Mark's use of magick (that's with a k) in his writing has always intrigued me so I was pleased to see Mark decided to write on that topic. Enjoy!

On the Spectacle of Magic by Mark Teppo


There's a great profile with Ricky Jay in the New Yorker magazine. It opens with one of my favorite anecdotes about Jay. Jay, David Mamet, Gregory Mosher, and Chris Nogulich are in a bar, and Jay has been exhorted to do some card tricks. Now Jay is probably the best sleight-of-hand man alive, and "hey, man, do some card tricks" is akin to asking Itzak Perlman to if he knows any fiddlin' tunes.

Jay, consummate straight man, goes through a routine of card manipulation tricks--nothing terribly spectacular, but still, head-scratchingly wonderful stuff--and then spreads the deck out on the bar, face-up. "Concentrate on a card," he says to Nogulich, "but don't tell me what it is."

Nogulich thinks of a card, and Jay gathers the deck up, shuffles it, and makes two piles. He points to one of the two piles, and asks Nogulich what his card was. Nogulich says that it was the three of clubs, and when he turns over the top card, that's what it is.

Mosher, thinking he can fluster Jay, pipes up: "You know, Ricky, I was thinking of a card too."

Jay, after a moment of silence--and if you've seen Jay perform or in any of his roles in David Mamet's films, you've seen this silence from him--says, "Well, Gregory, that's interesting, but I only do this trick for one person at a time."

Mosher won't let it go. "I really was thinking of a card."

Jay isn't terribly happy. "This is a distinct change of procedure," he says, and then finally, he relents. "Very well. What was your card?"

Mosher says: "Two of spades."

Jay tells him to turn over the top card on the other pile. Mosher does, and it's the two of spades.

Penn & Teller like to pretend that they're letting the audience peek behind the curtain. They have a routine where Teller runs through a series of sleight-of-hand gags with a cigarette, and then they run through it again from the other side so that the audience can see how it is done. Somewhere along the way, Teller slips up and seemingly screws up the routine, but what actually happens is an even more clever bit of sleight-of-hand in plain sight of the audience.

As audiences become more aware--more cynical, more jaded--it becomes more difficult to bedazzle watchers with making cigarettes disappear, with making cards change their pips, with seeming to be in two places at once. There are some illusionists, certainly, who play to the Bigger! Louder! Faster! crowd, but the ones that leave a lasting impression are the ones who produce something out of nothing. Their magic is an astounding act of creation--there's really no other way to explain it--and part of their wonder and charm is that they are incredibly subtle. Blink and you'll miss them.

What makes them so memorable is that they suspend our cynicism. For a few seconds, we believe; and, really, we all yearn for those moments when we are allowed to witness the impossible. When we get a glimpse of something we don't understand--that can't have happened!--and it becomes this intensely private nugget lodged in our memories. I was there. I saw it with my own eyes.

We've spent too many years in front row seats, rapt and wide-eyed, at the Joel Silver and Jerry Bruckheimer Theater of Explosive Spectacle. Our entertainment must be thrown up on thirty foot tall screens, blasted at us through a bowel-liquefying, discretely-separated speaker stack, and filled with the dizzying hyperkineticism of rats on meth. Our sense of wonder is so moribund that it must first be shocked and pummeled back to life before it can be suspended. It's the First Rule of Modern Adventure Entertainment: shit must blow up.

(And I'm guilty of it, too. Don't think that I'm trying to take the moral high ground here. I blow up a lot of things in Lightbreaker. Not so much in Heartland, but I make up for it by moving all the cluster bombing to the landscape of the psyche.)

And we forget about the quiet magic. We forget about how little it can take to actually change the world. Aleister Crowley, the 20th century's most denigrated and most illusory trickster, defined magick as being the ability to create Change in conformity with one's Will (the extra 'k' to distinguish between this sort of sorcery and the more mundane trickery involving sleight-of-hand and misdirection, which in and of itself, is a bit of hand-waving and misdirection, but that's part of the insidious slipperiness of Crowley).

Go back and look at Ricky Jay's trick with the cards again. Look at it as if it were a subtle act of magick. Who created the change? Was it Mosher, who upset the world by asking his question? Did the change happen when he touched the second deck, summoning his card to the top? Or was it Jay, who exerted his Will over both men (without either of them being aware of it), planting in their minds the image of the card they would eventually name? Or is the change wrought by a need resident in our psyches, in our desire for it be "magic"?

Tomorrow, I bet you're going to remember the card trick. You're going to still be thinking about how it was done. You may never figure it out (though, if you do, let me know), but that won't detract from its mystery. It'll get more mysterious, the longer it lingers.

Urban Fantasy needs more of the quiet magic, the subtle bit of illusion that unspools over a long period of time in your brain. We may be drawn to the shiny bits that explode, but like all eruptions, these things will fade quickly. The real spectacle, the real magic trick, is the tiny gesture that peels back the curtain on the impossible. Only for a moment, mind you, but it’s long enough for us to desire to see it again.


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