River

by Joshua Palmatier, Nisi Shawl, Mary Victoria

"When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come." —Leonardo daVinci

It begins. Somewhere. An insignificant trickle of water.

And it changes.

And it grows up, and gathers a history, and finds its way into atlases and maps, until it finally reaches the sea, and vanishes into its vastness.

You might think it of no importance. That it does not matter. But you follow where it leads...

Rivers have always been very important to humankind. They've been explored. They've been navigated. They've been called gods. They've been blessed and cursed and venerated and used and enjoyed and exploited and polluted since the beginning of recorded history.

They've been sung about and dreamed about and followed on epic journeys of discovery. They capitals of empires have risen on the banks of rivers - and so have a thousand fishing villages, and river landings, and water mills.

There is only one River. Really. And it's all of them. Every river is dfferent - and yet they're all the same, vast and full of life and death and mystery and history and adventure and quiet dreams.

Full of life. Full of mystery. Full of stories.

Contents:

"The Well Keeper and the Wolf" by Tiffany Trent
"Rites" by Mary Victoria
"Fall" by Irene Radford
"They Are Forgotten Until They Come Again" by Jay Lake
"Scatological" by Deb Taber
"Floodlust" by Jacey Bedford
"Five Bullets on the Banks of the Sadji" by Keffy R.M. Kehrli
"My Grandfather's River" by Brenda Cooper
"The River" by Joshua Palmatier
"Lady of the Waters" by Seanan McGuire
"Vodnik Laughter" by Ada Milenkovich Brown
"River-kissed" by Joyce Reynolds Ward
"Beyond the Lighthouse" by Nisi Shawl

Genres: Short Stories

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 31, 2011

About the author

Joshua Palmatier started writing science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories in the eighth grade, when the teacher assigned a one page Twilight Zone-ish short story. He wrote a story about Atlantis. It was from the perspective of one of the inhabitants as he escaped in a spaceship, watching his world being destroyed by water from one of the viewports of the ship. He got an A. Joshua hasn't stopped writing since.

"The Skewed Throne" is Joshua's first published novel, but it's the fourth novel he's written. The sequels--"The Cracked Throne" and "The Vacant Throne"--are now all available. His next series--comprising the novels "Well of Sorrows," "Leaves of Flame," and "Breath of Heaven"--was initially published under the pseudonym Benjamin Tate, but is being released in June 2016 under his real name. He is currently hard at work on the third book in his latest series, "Reaping the Aurora," with the first book "Shattering the Ley" now available and the second "Threading the Needle" due out in July 2016. He's also managed to write a few short stories, included in the anthologies "Close Encounters of the Urban Kind," "Beauty Has Her Way," "River," and "Apollo's Daughters."

Joshua is also the founder of a small press called Zombies Need Brains, which is focused on producing SF&F themed anthologies. There are two anthologies currently available--"Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs Aliens" and "Temporally Out of Order"--with two new anthologies due in August 2016 titled "Alien Artifacts" and "Were-". Find out more about Zombies Need Brains at www.zombiesneedbrains.com.

Bibliography: Novels:

Throne of Amenkor series:
The Skewed Throne
The Cracked Throne
The Vacant Throne

Well of Sorrows series:
Well of Sorrows
Leaves of Flame
Breath of Heaven (forthcoming)

Novels of The Ley:
Shattering the Ley
Threading the Needle (July 2016)
Reaping the Aurora (forthcoming)

Bibliography: Short Stories:

"Mastihooba" in Close Encounters of the Urban Kind edited by Jennifer Brozek (APEX).
"Tears of Blood" in Beauty Has Her Way edited by Jennifer Brozek (Dark Quest).
"An Alewife in Kish" (as Benjamin Tate) in After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar edited by Joshua Palmatier & Patricia Bray (DAW).
"The River" in River edited by Alma Alexander (Dark Quest).

Bibliography: As Editor:

After Hours: Tales From the Ur-Bar (DAW)
The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity (DAW)
Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs Aliens (ZNB)
Temporally Out of Order (ZNB)
Alien Artifacts (ZNB; forthcoming)
Were- (ZNB; forthcoming)

Reviews

[Joshua Palmatier · Rating 3 out of 5]

River

Edited by Alma Alexander

I was invited to submit a story for this anthology based around the idea that all rivers are the same river, that they all exude power and are transformative in nature, ever changing yet with hidden strengths. I immediately thought of the River in my “Throne of Amenkor” series and ended up writing a story based around that. I wasn’t certain the story would make the cut, but it did, and now I’ve had a chance to read all of the other stories that made it as well.

I was surprised at how varied the stories were, from those in fantasy settings (like mine) to modern day settings, to post-apocalyptic and even SF settings. There’s even what I’d call a paranormal romance in here. None of the stories are quite like the others, although there are some common themes such as water spirits or elementals who are deeply connected to the river, or the river itself as its own spirit. One story even has the river as the main character. I think every reader will be able to find a couple of stories in here that they will love, and they’ll enjoy the rest of the stories as well.

The Well-Keeper and the Wolf by Tiffany Trent: The opening story in the anthology fittingly surrounds the Well, the source of all of the rivers in all of the worlds across the universe. It’s guarded by a woman who once loved the Wolf who is dying of thirst. This is their story. An interesting start, with a cool emotional quandary between the Well-Keeper and the Wolf.

Rites by Mary Victoria: Set in Cyprus, this story involved a young girl and an old Englishman who has recently come to her village to paint. But the artist sees right through the girl’s outer skin to her inner soul, even if he doesn’t realize exactly what it is he sees. A slow, atmospheric story.

The Fall by Irene Radford: This one’s written from the perspective of a waterfall. I was initially wary because where is the story going to come from? But Irene weaves the local tribe that uses the waterfall to survive into a nice little tale.

They Are Forgotten Until They Come Again by Jay Lake: Here, the story appears to be post-apocalyptic, but far enough in the future after the event that humanity has descended back to a tribal level. The warriors in the tribe are attempting to sacrifice a malformed child to the river god, but they weren’t expecting the mother’s wrath.

Scatological by Deb Taber: This little tale was somewhat bizarre in a good way. The main character moves to a new town where it appears that frogs are rising from the river and overrunning everything at night. Except that they aren’t exactly frogs. And perhaps what’s happening isn’t really the disaster everyone seems to think it is. An interesting positive take or twist on a scientific fact about what gave rise to life way back when. I liked this story.

Floodlust by Jacey Bedford: I liked the title of this one instantly. The story itself has romance elements to it, with a young woman meeting a water elemental type of creature and falling in love. But she can’t get over her fear of drowning after her father drowned in the river when she was younger. How can they be together? I thought the story needed more space; it felt rushed, especially in the middle. But still a good story.

Five Bullets on the Banks of the Sadji by Keffy R.M. Kehrli: Sort of a blend of fantasy with touches of science and a little flare of steampunk here. The main character is part of the oppressed minority where two rivers meet and his brothers have already died either fighting against their oppressors, or embracing them. He sticks to the middle road, until one of the dying rebels comes to his house for help and he learns to fight them in his own way. I liked the feel of this setting and this story.

My Grandfather’s River by Brenda Cooper: A very short SF story in which a daughter attempts to recreate through virtual reality a river for her grandfather on his birthday, one that he attempted to save from destruction when younger.

The River by Joshua Palmatier: Well, what can I say. I liked this story. *grin* Set in my fictional city of Amenkor, this one features my assassin Erick, set to punish those who’ve committed crimes by the Mistress. Here, he’s after a woman who’s killing her children by drowning them in the River. Fans of my “Throne” novels get to meet Varis and the Mistress, since it’s set at the same time as The Skewed Throne.

Lady of the Waters by Seanan McGuire: Here, a boat with a centaur captain and a crew with varied backgrounds and various useful talents stop off in a new town only to immediately stumble into the middle of trouble. It appears that numerous local young women have disappeared, supposedly taken by the Lady of the Waters. The crew sets out to investigate. Again, I felt like this story needed more space and room to develop. A good story, but it feels like there’s so much more left to discover.

Vodnik Laughter by Ada Milenkovic Brown: This story was interesting because it used folklore I wasn’t familiar with. A young girl unwittingly makes a deal with a vodnik in the local river—a water spirit that keeps the souls of its victims in teacups—when she nearly drowns. She runs into the same vodnik when she’s older . . . and he has another deal for her.

River-Kissed by Joyce Reynolds-Ward: In a post-apocalyptic setting, Marthe sets out to travel down from her mountain stream to the river below, since she’s river-kissed and her gills are about to show. She thinks being river-kissed will protect her, but she finds out otherwise. Now she simply hopes to survive . . . and arrive before her change is complete.

Beyond the Lighthouse by Nisi Shawl: And the final story in the anthology takes us to a woman who seeks a relationship in real life, but can only seem to deal with it in a sort of dream state where she’s transformed into a bird but can see the past and present. So uses this ability to find out about this man she’s noticed and spoken to on the bus, but would like to know better. But can she release her fears enough to actually have a true conversation with him?

[Wendy S. Delmater · Rating 5 out of 5]

It says much that is good about both Alma Alexander and Dark Quest books that they were able to assemble such an impressive stable of writers for this anthology. This is an occasionally uneven but fascinating compilation of stories about various rivers, that runs from an enchanted spring to the great Sea.

First, a little about the organization of the anthology. I found the concept and table of contents utterly charming and memorable: it’s a map of a river, with the stories as places along its banks. Not so charming was the TMI about each author and story at the end of each tale: this is something that a professional print antho rarely does, but seems to be prevalent in anthologies nowadays – perhaps as a result of the practice in online magazines. The typeface (at 100 percent) was also a little larger than a standard book, which did a subtle disservice to the quality of the stories by making it seem that the book was being padded by that and (this opinion only) the slightly larger than necessary illustrations. But I hasten to add that the one simple illustration found at the opening of each story was marvelous and highly appropriate. Whoever interior artist “Puss ’n Boots” is, I enjoyed their contributions thoroughly.

Now, on to the stories.

“The Well Keeper and the Wolf” by Tiffany Trent was an appropriate and agreeable opening tale, with a well that was the start of all rivers, and also the wellspring of the river of stars. The tension of the unrequited love keeping the universe flowing was an unexpected and nice touch. “Rites” by Mary Victoria evoked the sun-baked hills of Cyprus, and a very young woman’s fascination with both her Cypriot grandmother’s old well and an ex-pat British painter. It’s a coming of age story, but I found the way the water claimed her new-found womanhood to be too fantastic to credit – and just a little horrific compared to the gentle tone of the rest of the tale.

One of the best stories in the anthology was “The Fall.” Here, our protagonist and narrator is a waterfall, and writer Irene Radford causes us to identify with this rushing torrent as it dances and sings over rocks and shoals – no mean feat. It loves the people that live near its banks, and you feel how its life is intertwined with their agonies and defeats. You should buy the book for this story alone.

Jay Lake’s “They are Forgotten Until They Come Again” was a serviceable offering that would have fit anywhere along this River’s banks. In this post-apocalyptic tale a baby is to be sacrificed to the river, and its mother—a sensual woman who will not marry and therefore infuriates tribal wives—shows up on a burning raft to save it. She uses her magic powers to not only save her child but kill the men who would slay him. The fact that she then (wearing only mud) lures a barely pubescent boy to the crumbled city to help her raise the child was slightly disturbing. And the magic used at the climactic scene was not well-foreshadowed: it felt like Deus Ex Machina.

“Scatalogical,” by Deb Taber, deals with scat. And logic. And a few well-deserved bad words. It’s probably the cleverest piece in the book. Why are the mud-frogs coming out of the river near the huge mound of carelessly discarded trash? What do their songs mean? And why are they so full of sh*t? It’s quite a contrast to the next story, “Floodlust,” which is a failed love quadrangle. A young woman must choose between a river god, an older man it is acceptable to marry, and a younger man she wants to marry. She ends up with none of them. Somehow, writer Jacey Bedford makes this improbable situation work, and work well.

Next up was “Five Bullets on the Banks of the Sadji” by Keffy R. M. Kehrli. It’s a mood piece, vaguely Oriental, and a drama of old against new, water magic against encroaching civilization, and one man’s fight against the long decline. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and you will, too. After that was the wonderful “My Grandfather’s River” by one of my favorite writers, Brenda Cooper, in which a young woman teases out a VR version of a vanished river ecosystem as a present for her grandfather’s hundredth birthday. Wow. (I had a Damn, why didn’t I get to publish this story? moment.)

“The River” by Joshua Palmatier is a tale of magic about an assassin who is charged with killing a woman who murdered her own children – or did she? It’s marvelous, but those who have not read the Throne of Amenkor trilogy will not understand who the woman at the end of the story is. I really enjoyed the next offering, “Lady of the Waters” by Seanan McGuire. How could I not love a ship with a female centaur captain and a female mer-lionfish first mate? A sample: “The members of the Jackdaw’s crew who were engaged in consuming their breakfast didn’t turn. They had all had plenty of time to learn that when people made those particular noises, one or more of their crewmates was probably involved. They didn’t need to worry unless someone started screaming.” Oh yes. Tons of fun, this.

A young Czech pianist living in the Napoleonic era meets Mozart and the girl emulates him. She is nearly drowned by river creatures she thought were a fairy tale concocted by adults, but finds the Vodnik horribly real. They haunt her. How she ends the haunting and deals with her guilt regarding a deal she made with the creatures is the meat of “Vodnik Laughter” by Ada Milenkovic Brown. Then, in the next story, a young woman on a camping trip is more than she seems…waiting for her gills to manifest, waiting for The Change, trusting to the River when all else fails to guide her on her quest. The post apocalyptic “River-kissed” by Joyce Reynolds-Ward is a perfect synthesis of mermaid and Native American lore.

The final piece is “Beyond the Lighthouse,” by Nisi Shawl. This was my first encounter with Shawl’s writing and I was utterly entranced. In this fitting closure to a River anthology, Leelah—a 55-year-old woman of color who runs a restored university theater with complete artistic freedom—has a secret. She is able to, via a sort of dreaming, transform herself into a bird at night – a bird that can inhabit the past, scope out the secrets of the present, and see the unseen. The reader discovers that the various species of birds she has become have, like the story, layers of symbolism. The deepest symbolism, however, is the limits on her magical system: Leelah cannot fly as a night-bird past a sort of lighthouse she has erected at the river mouth. Reaching for new love, at her age, tempts her to soar over the ocean of dissolution. She takes our River to a satisfying conclusion at the very edge of a nighttime sea.

RECOMMENDED

[LaShawn]

“Lady of the Rivers” by Seanan McGuire - 4 stars