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Mithgar (Publication) #15
Red Slippers: More Tales of Mithgar
In a tavern in Port Arbalin, a group of worldly travelers gathers together, drinking and telling action-packed tales of fantastical adventure set in the realm of Mithgar, including the story of a thief whose quest for a great jewel forces him into a confrontation with the dreaded Morgul, and the saga of Durek, a legendary Châkka adventurer.
380 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
401 people want to read
About the author
Dennis L. McKiernan
69 books519 followersMcKiernan was born in Moberly, Missouri, where he lived until he served the U.S. Air Force for four years, stationed within US territory during the Korean War. After military service, he attended the University of Missouri and received a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1958 and an M.S. in the same field from Duke University in 1964. He worked as an engineer at AT&T, initially at Western Electric but soon at Bell Laboratories, from 1958 until 1989. In 1989, after early retirement from engineering, McKiernan began writing on a full-time basis.
In 1977, while riding his motorcycle, McKiernan was hit by a car which had crossed the center-line, and was confined to a bed, first in traction and then in a hip spica cast, for many months. During his recuperation, he boldly began a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The publisher Doubleday showed an interest in his work and tried to obtain authorization from Tolkien's estate but was denied. Doubleday then asked McKiernan to rewrite his story, placing the characters in a different fictitious world, and also to write a prequel supporting it. The prequel, of necessity, resembles The Lord of the Rings; the decision of Doubleday to issue the work as a trilogy increased that resemblance; and some critics have seen McKiernan as simply imitating Tolkien's epic work. McKiernan has subsequently developed stories in the series that followed along a story line different from those that plausibly could have been taken by Tolkien.
McKiernan's Faery Series expands tales draw from Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, additionally tying the selected tales together with a larger plot.
McKiernan currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.
(Biography taken from Wikipedia)
In 1977, while riding his motorcycle, McKiernan was hit by a car which had crossed the center-line, and was confined to a bed, first in traction and then in a hip spica cast, for many months. During his recuperation, he boldly began a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The publisher Doubleday showed an interest in his work and tried to obtain authorization from Tolkien's estate but was denied. Doubleday then asked McKiernan to rewrite his story, placing the characters in a different fictitious world, and also to write a prequel supporting it. The prequel, of necessity, resembles The Lord of the Rings; the decision of Doubleday to issue the work as a trilogy increased that resemblance; and some critics have seen McKiernan as simply imitating Tolkien's epic work. McKiernan has subsequently developed stories in the series that followed along a story line different from those that plausibly could have been taken by Tolkien.
McKiernan's Faery Series expands tales draw from Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, additionally tying the selected tales together with a larger plot.
McKiernan currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.
(Biography taken from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 21, 2018
Telling Mithgar stories in an inn worked extremely well for McKiernan once, so he followed it up with this volume in 2004. The form allowed him to tell stories that didn't quite fit in with any of the novels and that didn't require book length narratives on their own. It also didn't require a lot of background exposition and explanation and introduction each time, so the stories flow much more naturally. Mithgar is one of the very best fantasy worlds.
April 23, 2013
Once upon a time, I read everything with the word "Mithgar" in them. I swallowed them whole and sustained my life through them. That was more than 10 years ago. However, for some reason I've never read the stories of Red Slippers, and I've had the book resting on the shelves for some years now. Until last night, when the book called for me...
This is a review-in-progress, starting at the very beginning.
The Red Slipper is the first story and serves as a small introduction to the inn called the Red Slipper, and the people who frequent it. It is amazing how easy it is to get back into this old world after all these years... (3 stars)
Gelvin's Doom is the story about a master thief who stole a gemstone from the Mogul and ended up with a cruel fate, a fate that gave birth to an even crueler fate to the world. The story is told from two perspectives which is a clever little trick, but at the end of it, the story remains nothing more than a simple myth. (2.5 stars)
The Well is finally a tale in the good old tradition of Conan the Barbarian. Three heroes set out for a fabled place in the far south where an epic wyrm is said to rest deep within a well. They must first find a way down, and tactics in case they happen upon the beast, because you see, being a hero is not always simple. It can be quite daunting and dangerous. I like this take on it, but is honestly of two minds about the ending. I liked it, but also think it was too fast and not as epic as I had hoped for. But... a solid and interesting read. (3 stars)
This is a review-in-progress, starting at the very beginning.
The Red Slipper is the first story and serves as a small introduction to the inn called the Red Slipper, and the people who frequent it. It is amazing how easy it is to get back into this old world after all these years... (3 stars)
Gelvin's Doom is the story about a master thief who stole a gemstone from the Mogul and ended up with a cruel fate, a fate that gave birth to an even crueler fate to the world. The story is told from two perspectives which is a clever little trick, but at the end of it, the story remains nothing more than a simple myth. (2.5 stars)
The Well is finally a tale in the good old tradition of Conan the Barbarian. Three heroes set out for a fabled place in the far south where an epic wyrm is said to rest deep within a well. They must first find a way down, and tactics in case they happen upon the beast, because you see, being a hero is not always simple. It can be quite daunting and dangerous. I like this take on it, but is honestly of two minds about the ending. I liked it, but also think it was too fast and not as epic as I had hoped for. But... a solid and interesting read. (3 stars)
June 2, 2014
Look, I was as excited for another Mithgar book as the next guy, but with so many loose-ends tied up this book feels a bit like fan-fic. Fine but nothing special.
September 4, 2018
It might not be fair to rate a book that's #17 in a series when you've only read five, but Red Slippers is kind of a b-side collection of Mithgar stories that didn't fit in any of the previous novels or collections. As such, I didn't know who most of the characters were, and the author treats them as if you do.
But the real problem is the conceit of the collection: these characters basically sit around in a tavern and tell stories. Which would be fine, but McKiernan also has them interrupt each other and take bathroom breaks (seriously) and constantly breaks the flow of stories for rounds of ale. Just like in real life, it's kind of annoying. There's even one story where the same story is being told twice, from different perspectives, with interruptions. It wasn't my favorite.
My favorite was the second-to-last story (Armor) which reads as the beginning of a larger story, a quest for, you guessed it, armor. It's the kick-off story to the larger Dragonstone War series by McKiernan, which I haven't read. I've always liked the start of grand adventures best (kind of like when you take off on a long road trip) so I enjoyed the story, even knowing that I was only going to get a tiny bit of it.
Honestly, I'd have been better off reading this book after reading most or all of McKiernan's other work. That may never happen, who knows, but if you have read a lot of McKiernan (the poor man's Tolkein) then you'll like Red Slippers.
But the real problem is the conceit of the collection: these characters basically sit around in a tavern and tell stories. Which would be fine, but McKiernan also has them interrupt each other and take bathroom breaks (seriously) and constantly breaks the flow of stories for rounds of ale. Just like in real life, it's kind of annoying. There's even one story where the same story is being told twice, from different perspectives, with interruptions. It wasn't my favorite.
My favorite was the second-to-last story (Armor) which reads as the beginning of a larger story, a quest for, you guessed it, armor. It's the kick-off story to the larger Dragonstone War series by McKiernan, which I haven't read. I've always liked the start of grand adventures best (kind of like when you take off on a long road trip) so I enjoyed the story, even knowing that I was only going to get a tiny bit of it.
Honestly, I'd have been better off reading this book after reading most or all of McKiernan's other work. That may never happen, who knows, but if you have read a lot of McKiernan (the poor man's Tolkein) then you'll like Red Slippers.
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January 6, 2025I really enjoyed this collection of short stories that spanned the entire chronology of Mithgar's history. McKiernan does an excellent job incorporating the stories into a larger overarching narrative of the Eroean's crew meeting and sharing around a tavern hearth in several late-night sessions of storytelling and camaraderie. He specifically focuses on bits of lore from all of the previous novels that never got explored fully, making this a very satisfying read to those who have read the previous thirteen books.
The book ends with what feels like a close to the entire Mithgar saga, but I checked and there's two more Mithgar novels after this. What a relief.
The book ends with what feels like a close to the entire Mithgar saga, but I checked and there's two more Mithgar novels after this. What a relief.
January 4, 2020
Fills in some info from the novels and brings out more detail on some characters.
did-not-finish-or-start
October 29, 2023DNS 10/28/23
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews