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Seven Commentaries on an Imperfect Land
Tikanu, land of laws and patterns, magic and wild mint, is not found behind hidden doors. It passes across borders and takes root wherever its people settle. This collection of seven commentaries reveals a world waiting patiently at the edges of vision, that welcomes all who are willing to do the work of building it.
24 pages, ebook
First published August 20, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
June 17, 2020
I don’t think you’re from around here, said the snake. But you might like it anyway.
this is a very special story, of the creeper-upper sort, and i'm glad i didn't read it when it was posted on the site in 2014, because i think it means more to me now than it would have at the time.
this story proves that i don't need a story to be sad and dark and bleak to appreciate it but also that you can write a story with a feel-gooderie message without being schmaltzy about it.
this one is beautiful - light jewish fantasy about the importance of community and chosen families; kinship based around a familiarity of a fantasy realm called tikanu which is less a visitable realm like narnia and more of a layer of magic that settles over the lives of those in the know, spreading out symbolically like the tendrils of wild mint they grow.
and it's just...lovely. tikanu touches the lives and brings together people of different faiths, provides a commonality stronger than that which usually divides people - religion v religion, religion v science, religion v sexuality, stranger v danger &etc.
basically it says - life's gonna get hard. the world will stop providing bounty and safety and security. and when that happens, you're gonna have to reach out and find your people. and yeah, when you do, there are going to be some 'uninitiated trolls' who make some distracting noise, but also, you will find your people.
as much as i never thought i'd be the one to be thumbs-upping a story whose message was 'welcoming the change they had invited,' well, here i am. three days before election day, hoping tikanu is united in inviting some change up in here.
right story, right time.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2014/08/20/seven-...
come to my blog!
this is a very special story, of the creeper-upper sort, and i'm glad i didn't read it when it was posted on the site in 2014, because i think it means more to me now than it would have at the time.
this story proves that i don't need a story to be sad and dark and bleak to appreciate it but also that you can write a story with a feel-gooderie message without being schmaltzy about it.
this one is beautiful - light jewish fantasy about the importance of community and chosen families; kinship based around a familiarity of a fantasy realm called tikanu which is less a visitable realm like narnia and more of a layer of magic that settles over the lives of those in the know, spreading out symbolically like the tendrils of wild mint they grow.
and it's just...lovely. tikanu touches the lives and brings together people of different faiths, provides a commonality stronger than that which usually divides people - religion v religion, religion v science, religion v sexuality, stranger v danger &etc.
basically it says - life's gonna get hard. the world will stop providing bounty and safety and security. and when that happens, you're gonna have to reach out and find your people. and yeah, when you do, there are going to be some 'uninitiated trolls' who make some distracting noise, but also, you will find your people.
The feast was such that it could only be held in the library. The people of Tikanu traveled there using scrimped and borrowed money, sleeping on each other’s couches and sharing each other’s cars, some converging on the few precious shortcuts through closets and trellises, but most traveling overland. The golems welcomed them awkwardly, voices harsher from the drought.
They ate scavenged oranges and roots gifted by strangers, and they sang with whatever voices they had. They cobbled together rituals from the gleanings of older traditions, from the library records, and from the truths they had found in their own corners of the land. And with food and song and prayer, they opened doors to welcome in the change they had invited.
The laws of Tikanu may be added to, but never lost. So it is that holidays grow, like mint, from the new crises of each season. Returning home to green buds and larders waiting to be filled, the people of Tikanu marked the Feast of Doors on their calendars for celebration in years to come.
as much as i never thought i'd be the one to be thumbs-upping a story whose message was 'welcoming the change they had invited,' well, here i am. three days before election day, hoping tikanu is united in inviting some change up in here.
right story, right time.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2014/08/20/seven-...
come to my blog!
September 13, 2017
Nice. Judging by the comments, I think some of the cultural allusions eluded me. Love the plant/garden connection, and balconies as "private scraps of outside air."
https://www.tor.com/2014/08/20/seven-...
https://www.tor.com/2014/08/20/seven-...
February 23, 2016
I've always wanted to open a wardrobe and find a portal to a hidden magical land. This Tor short story is the next best thing.
The magical land of Tikanu is best accessed through wild mint. You may find "books of lore in odd corners of the library, bright purple toadstools in the woods, symbols scribed delicately in spiderwebs." Rebel spirits called lillim may sicken your child by stealing life from it, but the gnarled wood golems who work in the Tikanu library are willing to offer advice and help.
I loved the whimsical, fantastical details of this magical land that lies so near to ours. There's not much of a plot here, and at times it comes across a bit kumbaya, with Jews and Moslems, traditional families and gays, "ants and golems, spirits and small winged things" all feasting together, but it's a heartwarming and lovely tale.
4.5 stars. This is free online at Tor.com. Thanks to my friend Jana for finding this story! She wrote a brief one-line review here on Goodreads but her longer review here at www.FantasyLiterature.com really captures this tale beautifully.
The magical land of Tikanu is best accessed through wild mint. You may find "books of lore in odd corners of the library, bright purple toadstools in the woods, symbols scribed delicately in spiderwebs." Rebel spirits called lillim may sicken your child by stealing life from it, but the gnarled wood golems who work in the Tikanu library are willing to offer advice and help.
I loved the whimsical, fantastical details of this magical land that lies so near to ours. There's not much of a plot here, and at times it comes across a bit kumbaya, with Jews and Moslems, traditional families and gays, "ants and golems, spirits and small winged things" all feasting together, but it's a heartwarming and lovely tale.
4.5 stars. This is free online at Tor.com. Thanks to my friend Jana for finding this story! She wrote a brief one-line review here on Goodreads but her longer review here at www.FantasyLiterature.com really captures this tale beautifully.
September 11, 2017
When she was thirteen, she took a summer internship in the library. On her third day, she and three other interns became lost in the stacks. They wandered among forests of shelves and pools of ink. They found there strange creatures, born as descriptions in the cryptozoology section, who had taken on tenuous life from the golems’ exhalations. Judy’s daughter was able to draw on her mother’s lessons to create patterns that would let the creatures inhabit the library freely, without leeching from the books. And together they slew the chimera that, given such life, threatened them all.
When the interns returned, they found...
Please tell me you are writing this story at greater length, Ms. Emrys.
And maybe also one to let us know what happened with the dolphins.
May 20, 2022
Tikanu is a land that creates itself, patchwork-style, in the back yards and balconies of its inhabitants all over Earth.
This reminded me a lot of Every Heart a Doorway, though this came first - and EHAD tends more to the cautionary tale side of fairy tales. This, though, was a whimsical and enchanting delight, with stories that talk of finding comfort, community, and magic. The Feast of Doors for example - fantastic!
Revisiting it on the second read just makes it better - as much as I loved it the first time, I loved it more this read. The best stories always give you something new to find.
Find it here: https://www.tor.com/2014/08/20/seven-...
This reminded me a lot of Every Heart a Doorway, though this came first - and EHAD tends more to the cautionary tale side of fairy tales. This, though, was a whimsical and enchanting delight, with stories that talk of finding comfort, community, and magic. The Feast of Doors for example - fantastic!
Revisiting it on the second read just makes it better - as much as I loved it the first time, I loved it more this read. The best stories always give you something new to find.
Find it here: https://www.tor.com/2014/08/20/seven-...
September 24, 2017
Very gentle and magical. Other reviewers hit it on the head. This needs to be much longer. Please? :D
March 14, 2016
These are tiny, linked vignettes envisioning diaspora Judaism (never identified outright, but obvious through allusions to Friday nights being sacred, and horseradish and unleavened bread being part of the same festival, etc.) as a magical place almost like a portable Narnia that diaspora Jews carry around with us in flowerpots full of mint and by looking at the moon. So of course I am all about that.
"the blue and silver wings that embraced the house on Friday nights." Shabbat has a lot of resonance for me, personally, so I love seeing it described in these ethereal, ecstatic tones.
"Miriam baked bread on Saturday—the best rest she knew" We're all different and I love the recognition that for some of us, 'doing' might grant us more rejuvenation than the traditional Shabbat of not-doing. My Reform identity is strong :P
We visit the characters during significant moments of their lives, exploring topics like Jewish-Muslim bonds in a city where both feel like outsiders, a young woman learning about faith (or possibly converting) because her on-and-off girlfriend showed her the beauty of our world, and a mother protecting her child from disease not only with traditional emblems but with talismans personally relevant to her.
Anyway: short. Free. Jewish fantasy. Faith-positive SFF. Have at!
"the blue and silver wings that embraced the house on Friday nights." Shabbat has a lot of resonance for me, personally, so I love seeing it described in these ethereal, ecstatic tones.
"Miriam baked bread on Saturday—the best rest she knew" We're all different and I love the recognition that for some of us, 'doing' might grant us more rejuvenation than the traditional Shabbat of not-doing. My Reform identity is strong :P
We visit the characters during significant moments of their lives, exploring topics like Jewish-Muslim bonds in a city where both feel like outsiders, a young woman learning about faith (or possibly converting) because her on-and-off girlfriend showed her the beauty of our world, and a mother protecting her child from disease not only with traditional emblems but with talismans personally relevant to her.
Anyway: short. Free. Jewish fantasy. Faith-positive SFF. Have at!
December 1, 2017
A short fantastical look at how a culture grows and evolves, with a fantastical twist. I loved it.
August 4, 2016
Beautiful and moving. And the storyteller narrative style is perfect for the pacing and gently wrought but vibrant imagery.
My heart:
"The snake stayed by her always, but told her many times that neither of them could ever be truly at home in Tikanu. She believed it, and yet she had never felt more at home elsewhere."
My heart:
"The snake stayed by her always, but told her many times that neither of them could ever be truly at home in Tikanu. She believed it, and yet she had never felt more at home elsewhere."
August 24, 2014
Another lovely story by Ruthanna Emrys, this one jumping off of secret portal stories. On her personal blog, RE says that she was inspired by attempting to figure out what a Jewish Narnia would look like; there's also a pretty obvious Zelazny reference in there too. RE's interest in traditions and what they mean to us (even the tradition of worshiping Cthulhu, as in "Litany of Earth") is something that really resonates with me.
January 25, 2020
...on the balcony, in a little pot, they planted a sprig of mint.
A beautiful story of the Jewish diaspora and shared understanding.
A beautiful story of the Jewish diaspora and shared understanding.
April 10, 2018
My favorite thing about this story was how many different Jews were in it. Religious, sort-of-religious, not religious at all. Ashkanazi and Mizrachi (from the reviews some people saw what I see as a MENA Jewish family as a Muslim family. That's fine, it's up to interpretation). And all of them were welcomed into Tikanu. And, yes, non-Jews, like Amber, are allowed in too.
I liked how the story surrounded Pesach. It is our holiday of escaping from slavery and opression and one of the first things we say is: "Everyone who is hungry-they should come eat; everyone who is needy-they should come and join our feast". I always thought that was one of the most beautiful things in any Jewish holiday and this story really kept to that theme.
Also, I loved all the references. Horseradish and oranges and flatbread. The Leviathan and the full moon. How every commentary is a quote from the Tanakh or the Hagada (and how they are called 'commentaries'). And so many more. I think I have to go back and read it again because I'm sure I didn't catch them all.
I liked how things changed. How when the Seal of Solomon didn't work Judy used the Fibonacci sequence and the Mandelbrot set. How Miriam had to move from her ocean to a tiny apartment in the city. But how things always stayed the same-how mint followed them everywhere, how everyone who is hungry can always come and eat.
I liked the parts with Amber and the snake.
And now that I've finished waxing poetic over this I can complain about the things I didn't like. All in all for me it was just sort of too vague. I don't like vague stuff. Obviously, that's subjective, but I wanted things to be at least a bit less vague, more clear-cut. Especially the ending stuff with Lily travelling throughout the worlds.
I liked how the story surrounded Pesach. It is our holiday of escaping from slavery and opression and one of the first things we say is: "Everyone who is hungry-they should come eat; everyone who is needy-they should come and join our feast". I always thought that was one of the most beautiful things in any Jewish holiday and this story really kept to that theme.
Also, I loved all the references. Horseradish and oranges and flatbread. The Leviathan and the full moon. How every commentary is a quote from the Tanakh or the Hagada (and how they are called 'commentaries'). And so many more. I think I have to go back and read it again because I'm sure I didn't catch them all.
I liked how things changed. How when the Seal of Solomon didn't work Judy used the Fibonacci sequence and the Mandelbrot set. How Miriam had to move from her ocean to a tiny apartment in the city. But how things always stayed the same-how mint followed them everywhere, how everyone who is hungry can always come and eat.
I liked the parts with Amber and the snake.
And now that I've finished waxing poetic over this I can complain about the things I didn't like. All in all for me it was just sort of too vague. I don't like vague stuff. Obviously, that's subjective, but I wanted things to be at least a bit less vague, more clear-cut. Especially the ending stuff with Lily travelling throughout the worlds.
May 30, 2017
Ruthanna Emrys' vision of a Jewish Narnia not as a separate place one reaches through a portal, but as one that exists in patches throughout the world, wherever people plant it in their gardens, is certainly interesting. I imagine that the story is less personally meaningful to me than it would be to someone who identifies with its Jewishness, but I still found the concept deeply appealing even as the land of Tikanu felt a bit foreign to me.
I was first attracted to Emrys' writing due to the appeal I felt in the Deep One / Aeonist spirituality she describes in The Litany of Earth and Winter Tide. That, like what is presented in Seven Commentaries on an Imperfect Land, is a religion of books and magic, and one that is presented to us as a diaspora society.
Books, I certainly feel the sacredness of, and I'm not blind to the appeal of magic, even though it feels a bit sacrilegious to me. But it is hard to make sense of how diaspora communities really relate to me: as much as I do tend to feel and see myself as an outsider, I rarely get any hint that I'm really a part of something larger, if spread-out, rather than simply an odd and slightly mad individual.
In any case, this is something I certainly need to think on more, as I try to figure out what I am and where I'm from.
I was first attracted to Emrys' writing due to the appeal I felt in the Deep One / Aeonist spirituality she describes in The Litany of Earth and Winter Tide. That, like what is presented in Seven Commentaries on an Imperfect Land, is a religion of books and magic, and one that is presented to us as a diaspora society.
Books, I certainly feel the sacredness of, and I'm not blind to the appeal of magic, even though it feels a bit sacrilegious to me. But it is hard to make sense of how diaspora communities really relate to me: as much as I do tend to feel and see myself as an outsider, I rarely get any hint that I'm really a part of something larger, if spread-out, rather than simply an odd and slightly mad individual.
In any case, this is something I certainly need to think on more, as I try to figure out what I am and where I'm from.
August 15, 2019
This was absolutely lovely!
August 3, 2016
beautifully simple short story (you can read it for free online, the link is in the summary) about a (unnamed in text, but obviously jewish) diaspora carrying their hidden and magical homeland with them in the mint growing in their gardens of balcony flowerpots. melancholy, sharp, gorgeous, full of hope.
Even in the city, Miriam could always see the moon from her balcony. It rose and set in its proper courses—no magic in that—but clouds broke apart as it passed between apartment buildings, the city’s harsh brightness faded, and for a few precious minutes silver light poured down. Sometimes, on Friday evenings, she found it draped with aurora, green and indigo streaming around the silver.
City dwellers treasure their private scraps of outside air, and the balconies around hers were often occupied. Laughter wafted from late-night parties. Tobacco and marijuana and grill smoke insinuated themselves into her contemplation. But she never saw anyone else looking at the moon, and presumed that no one outside her private scrap of nation could see it.
Even in the city, Miriam could always see the moon from her balcony. It rose and set in its proper courses—no magic in that—but clouds broke apart as it passed between apartment buildings, the city’s harsh brightness faded, and for a few precious minutes silver light poured down. Sometimes, on Friday evenings, she found it draped with aurora, green and indigo streaming around the silver.
City dwellers treasure their private scraps of outside air, and the balconies around hers were often occupied. Laughter wafted from late-night parties. Tobacco and marijuana and grill smoke insinuated themselves into her contemplation. But she never saw anyone else looking at the moon, and presumed that no one outside her private scrap of nation could see it.
August 29, 2017
I enjoyed this series of connected vignettes, the underlying theme of Jewish diaspora underlined the magical realism of the story without needing to be explicitly discussed. I loved the author's dreamy watercolor writing that fit the subject perfectly. This is a story that I will end up recommending to just about everyone even if it's not their usual thing because it's a big payoff for such a small time investment.
Quote: "The laws of Tikanu may be added to, but never lost. So it is that holidays grow, like mint, from the new crises of each season."
Diversity highlights- Jewish characters/setting, LGBTQ+ character
Quote: "The laws of Tikanu may be added to, but never lost. So it is that holidays grow, like mint, from the new crises of each season."
Diversity highlights- Jewish characters/setting, LGBTQ+ character
July 30, 2015
Beautiful writing and artwork. A short story as fresh as the wild mint with many interesting ideas. The land of Tikanu is made up of many discontinuous small spaces and so does the structure of the story, a clear demonstration that it is not necessary to have all the pieces to provide an atmosphere or a sense of story.
September 4, 2016
I really like this author (and of The Deepest Rift in particular), but this short story really did not work for me. It reminds me a little of Lovecraft's dreamland stories (that I did not enjoy either).
January 6, 2015
This stream of stories makes for a beautiful meditation on the fantastic that presses close, if we can just find the door into it. It also has wild mint, which makes for a glorious scent and exhilarating tea.
August 21, 2014
I love secret magic-land stories, and I really like how this one interweaves personal stories into the roots of its infinite mint garden.
January 1, 2015
This little series of vignettes about people's interactions with an unseen land is just...joy. I want more stuff from Ms. Emrys in 2015!
September 13, 2014
This is quiet, pretty, and very charming portal fantasy – brief but full of wonder, and such a comforting joy to read.
September 24, 2014
Absolutely magical, loved the whimsy.
April 23, 2016
Probably more like 3.5 stars. Very interesting concept, with a land that exists in small hidden places in and around our world. I liked the way it was told as well.
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March 13, 2016We love this!
Featured in our Short Fiction column: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Featured in our Short Fiction column: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
May 25, 2016
I can't believe I missed this when it was published. Very good.
Read
July 14, 2016A charming, mint-scented tangent on all those magic worlds into which we used to dream of escaping.
January 9, 2017
The writing in this small volume is like a watercolor painting: hues merging with each other at varying intensities to reveal a soft-focus composition that is vibrant and alive.
November 9, 2017
Enjoyable little pastiche. I feel like it's about the connections that grow between people, regardless of genetics or country or whatnot.
March 26, 2020
I didn't get it (or, I got it, and didn't think it was all that.)
It didn't read as a short story to me, it read as a treatment for a longer book. Characters were names, events happened, and it was over. It's like reading a non-literary version of a myth, it's just there. Oh, and the events that happened? Not interesting. So what I'd been hoping to be a delicate, magical, wonderful experience, just wasn't. (Another metaphor: it's like reading the recipe, instead of eating the meal.)
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
It didn't read as a short story to me, it read as a treatment for a longer book. Characters were names, events happened, and it was over. It's like reading a non-literary version of a myth, it's just there. Oh, and the events that happened? Not interesting. So what I'd been hoping to be a delicate, magical, wonderful experience, just wasn't. (Another metaphor: it's like reading the recipe, instead of eating the meal.)
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews