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Companions on the Road and The Winter Players
In the first of these two works, a stolen chalice brings misery to those who covet it and in the second, a priestess decides to pursue the thief of the sacred relic of her people.
- GenresFantasy
222 pages, Hardcover
Published November 1, 1977
About the author
Tanith Lee
625 books2,013 followersTanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.
Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.
Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.
Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.
Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.
Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.
Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.
Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.
Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 19, 2018
Like many stories of Tanith Lee, I'm drawn to the role of women in these stories.
On the face of it, "Companions on the Road" is about three men, thieves who have unwisely appropriated a deeply cursed chalice and now either travel to a destination or run from pursuit. But their most visible of their three pursuers is a woman--a witch, ghost, witch-ghost, or something even worse--whose characterization is wholly in the dreamworld-eerie menace that she projects, and in the strange traces of her long golden hair. Likewise, while Havor of Taon is the single redeemable thief and protagonist, it falls to a briefly-met secondary character, a woman and witch, to provide the key to the curse, with little fuss or action. The main agent of menace is a woman, as is the main agent of dispelling that menace.
"The Winter Players" is more interesting in that Oaive's quest is at the provocation of men--to retrieve the shrine artifact and punish the thief--and the men goad her development and power specifically for their own purposes. As in: they need her to become powerful and need her to do certain things, therefore they act against her in specific ways. It is therefore upon her not just to develop or to become powerful, but to become something other than their football. Not just in terms of defeating the nefarious plot, but refusing to accept the timey-wimey status quo and to ultimately enact a real change. This is at tremendous risk and at personal loss when the easy path would guarantee comfort.
(The timey-wimey aspects of the story, incidentally, are extremely well done and only become apparent just as it all comes crashing together. That a happy ending comes cost-free from this is only a minor quibble.)
On the face of it, "Companions on the Road" is about three men, thieves who have unwisely appropriated a deeply cursed chalice and now either travel to a destination or run from pursuit. But their most visible of their three pursuers is a woman--a witch, ghost, witch-ghost, or something even worse--whose characterization is wholly in the dreamworld-eerie menace that she projects, and in the strange traces of her long golden hair. Likewise, while Havor of Taon is the single redeemable thief and protagonist, it falls to a briefly-met secondary character, a woman and witch, to provide the key to the curse, with little fuss or action. The main agent of menace is a woman, as is the main agent of dispelling that menace.
"The Winter Players" is more interesting in that Oaive's quest is at the provocation of men--to retrieve the shrine artifact and punish the thief--and the men goad her development and power specifically for their own purposes. As in: they need her to become powerful and need her to do certain things, therefore they act against her in specific ways. It is therefore upon her not just to develop or to become powerful, but to become something other than their football. Not just in terms of defeating the nefarious plot, but refusing to accept the timey-wimey status quo and to ultimately enact a real change. This is at tremendous risk and at personal loss when the easy path would guarantee comfort.
(The timey-wimey aspects of the story, incidentally, are extremely well done and only become apparent just as it all comes crashing together. That a happy ending comes cost-free from this is only a minor quibble.)
August 26, 2007
very early tanith lee, but wow. she had the gift from the very beginning. and i'm not even a fan of fantasy writing. but she always takes the big fat literature cake. organic and nutritious.
Want to Read
September 9, 2010*note to self. (copy from Al).
December 10, 2009
This book consists of two novellas. The first follows three soldiers who have just been discharged at the completion of a war. They have taken loot fromthe last city that was sacked and the story follows the three as they journey onward. The second story follows a priestess as she chases a thief who stole a relic frm her temple. Both storiest were good and contained the atmospheric and mysterious quality of Lee's that I love so much, but the second story was definitely my favorite of the two. The first story, while good felt a little too much like the characters were archetypal cyphers for qualities rather than fully developed individuals. The second story didn't have that problem, and further the heroine was so active and capable that I enjoyed her reactions to events. Occasionally, Lee's stories contain helpless heroines, but that complaint couldn't be leveled avaunt this story. Additionally, the way in which Lee brought all the elements of the story together at the end was both unexpected and satisfying.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews