Tempting the Gods: The Selected Stories of Tanith Lee, Volume One

Selected Stories of Tanith Lee #1

by Tanith Lee

Book by lee, tanith (author)

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Ghosts, Dragons, Horror, Collections

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Tanith 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.

Reviews

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Profile: Tanith Lee, by Donald A. Wollheim - A short and glowing introduction to the author. All true, but although it's not mentioned, it wasn't written for this volume, or in 2009, as Mr. Wollheim passed away in 1990, and since then, DAW Books has dropped Lee (showing that Mr. Wollheim had better discrimination than his successors...)

**** Tiger I - By coincidence, I just finished reading Nicola Griffith's 'Yaguara' - this makes a nice companion piece. It makes for some interesting contrasts on the theme of the cat-woman. In Griffith's piece, the woman becomes part-cat, as part of a symbol of joining with an earthy, animal essence and a community that, although secret and separate, lives close to nature - but she gives birth to a human child who is taken back to 'civilisation.' In Lee's story, the woman finds her cat 'connection' as part of events that allow her to gain independence, self-esteem and the trappings of wealth and 'civilisation' - but also results in her isolation - rather than joining a community, her new qualities set her alone.) She gives birth to cats, which remain with her, at least on the surface, as 'pets.'

**** Death Loves Me - An historical piece about a charioteer who believes that the female figure of Death is haunting him, watching him from the stands, and bringing him bad luck. But a more prosaic explanation may exist, as a companion story unfolds, about a wife who seeks to recapture her husband's interest.

*****Anna Medea - I recently read Lee's werewolf novel, Lycanthia, and loved it. This is another great take on the werewolf legend. Into a formal household terrorized by two insufferable children comes a Mary-Poppins-like governess, Anna Medea, and all seems to be improving. The husband breathes a sigh of relief. But for some reason, the wife cannot stand Anna Medea, and wants her fired...

**** Ondralume - In a fantastic world, drought has struck. The priestesses pray for rain, and the people contemplate sacrifices. Meanwhile, in a more prosaic setting, a secretary seethes with anger over the boss she's been having an affair with going to Palm Springs with another woman. Out of revenge, she decides not to water his exotic plants over the weekend, or care for the other baubles that decorate his office...

*****After I Killed Her - A beautiful, powerful take on the myth of the dragon slayer, and truths about the destruction of wild nature.

*** God and the Pig - In a post-apocalyptic scenario, a pig speaks to God in a theological dialogue.

*** The Kingdoms of the Air - A pretty but somewhat meandering tale of a a knight's Quest and the magical things he encounters. Heavy on symbolism. I felt it went on a bit too long, getting a baker's dozen of archetypal elements in.

*** Eustace. A short and odd paragraph, not really a story.

**** These Beasts - A tomb robber's unsavory occupation catches up with him. Reminiscent of tales of Ancient Egyptian curses.

*****Cain - a rich boy is erotically haunted by the ghost of his twin, who died at birth.

*****The Lady-of-Shalott House - A graceful ghost story with a classic feel.

*****Where Does the Town Go At Night? - Another near-perfect story. A man, in town to pay off the mother of his unloved child, is accosted by a homeless man who seems compelled to tell him a dreamlike story of how the town, on certain nights, and for a certain few, mystically travels, becomes part of a fantastic, aquatic land. A powerful musing on the loss of dreams.



edit 6/15 - just adding in a link here to the NYTimes' very nice obit... the world is a less magical place without Tanith Lee, who left us far too soon. If you aren't yet familiar with her writing, this collection is a good introduction. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/boo...

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I keep thinking I haven’t read any Tanith Lee, but I think this is my third now. She has an interesting writing style: lush, rich, layered. Insinuating. I’m not always a fan of the darker themes that seem to run through her work (I disliked White As Snow because of the rape theme, for instance), but I can’t deny how lovely her writing is. Sometimes it’s a little too much, like a cake that’s too dense and too sweet. It reminds me a bit of Catherynne M. Valente’s work, though more solid.

As you can tell, her language is tactile, sensual; you can’t help describing it as a physical thing.

Some of these stories were just right for me, though. I loved ‘Death Loves Me’, ‘After I Killed Her’ and ‘The Lady-of-Shalott House’, for instance. She does enchantment so well, weaves the plots of her stories so carefully that you can almost see the solution before you get there, and yet it doesn’t feel predictable. Just right.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where have you been all my life, Tanith Lee?

[Loreley · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was wonderful. My favourite was "after I killed her" - hearbreakingly beautiful story.

[D.D. Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was first introduced to Tanith Lee when I read her short story Red and Yellow in the Weird: a Compendium of Dark and Strange Stories. That story was very creepy and eerie and even after reading this compilation that still remains my favorite story by Tanith. She is a very diverse writer and this shows not just in the various genres she writes in but also in the types of characters whose point of view she writes through as well. She is very good at twisting the conventions of whatever genre she writes. Here is my assessment of the stories she wrote from Tempting the Gods.

Tiger 1 – This first story in the compilation is an odd tale about a woman who can give birth to animals. It’s one of the stories I liked least.

Death Loves Me – One of the more challenging stories in the compilation there are two view point characters in this story whose stories at first seem unconnected. In the end they meet with a pretty sick twist. I really liked this one. The title is also very fitting.

Anna Medea – This short story just feels like a werewolf horror story early on but the end has a very surprising twist that totally turns the entire story on its head and will change your perception of the entire story. This is probably my second favorite in this compilation.

Ondralume – Of the stories in this collection this one is the only one I can say is truly science fiction and it’s a pretty interesting one.

After I killed Her – A conventional dragon except the hero feels sympathy for the dragon he kills. Hint the dragon’s gender is easy to guess. This is one of the most boring stories here.

God and the Pig – This one is a story new to this compilation. It’s a pretty short one so just read it and make what you will of it.

The Kingdoms of the Air – Quite possibly my favorite in this compilation. The imagery is absolutely vivid and awe striking. It’s a spin on the hero quest and quite possibly an allegory on salvation as well.

Eustance – This is just a short little vignette, not even a page long and it was Lee’s first short story she published. So make of it what you will, there isn’t much to say about it.

These Beasts – The main hero steals treasure from a very special tomb guarded by a giant black dog. Although he seems to manage to do what none have done before and survive this quest he is cursed afterwards. I won’t spoil the ending but it is hair raising horror-like even though conventionally this is a fantasy tale. Tanith Lee knows how to blend those two genres very well.

Cain – I won’t say anything about the content of this story except to say that it’s by far the most disturbing in this collection and probably best showcases her diversity as a writer. To write from the male perspective on sexual lust and experience….. and to make it believable…..and to get me to care about that character in turn…. it is quite the challenging thing to do and it works here. The clever twist at the end had me laughing. Many of her twists are very dark and twisted and don’t end well for our hero but in this case it was just funny.

The lady of Sharlott House – A well written and kind of nice ghost story. Nothing that’s going to scare you or even creep you out that much but it’s a pleasant enough story to read which isn’t saying much considering that Tanith Lee’s stories tend not to be very pleasant.

Where Does the Town Go at Night – Now this, now this is an absolutely amazing story, a heart wrenching tale and one of my favorites from Tanith. On certain selected nights the town goes riding over the sea like a boat and doesn’t return until morning and during this time certain chosen people are awake. In the end we don’t actually find out where the town eventually goes….

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd been meaning to check out Tanith Lee's writing for many years now, almost decades, because I'd long heard her mentioned as one of the leading female authors of fantasy, but I didn't get around to picking up one of her titles until after reading the praise-filled obituaries published in the New York Times and elsewhere after her death from breast cancer this spring.

All twelve stories contained herein are reasonably well-written, and I want to give credit where credit is due for the laudable fact that Lee is able to write a passable facsimile of a very broad range of literary prototypes/genres (the Southern Gothic ghost story, the Arthurian legend, the Arabian-Nights-flavored picaresque tale, the more-irony-laced-than-Oedipus-Rex Hellenistic yarn, the dystopian vignette, the modern werewolf story, and so on) -- no easy feat! The trouble I had here is that almost all the stories in Tempting the Gods are so morally vapid, so completely lacking in the moral underpinnings that make reading the best works of literary fiction -- and the best works of genre fiction -- worthwhile that I felt empty and even a little bit dirty after finishing each tale, worse off than I was before I began. Don't get me wrong: I'm not a religious person or even a particularly spiritual one. I'm simply saying that I don't feel enriched after reading a story like Lee's "After I Killed Her" wherein the moral stance is a straight-up "Humankind sucks, so you may as well give it all up and let an animal eat you" nihilism, and I turn to fiction because I want to feel morally enriched. So many of the stories here are marked by an aesthetic lushness with nothing of substance to hold onto beneath their glittering surfaces. This absence of any compelling moral vision beyond a suffocatingly flat aestheticism or sordid nihilism made most of these stories feel like a waste of time to me. (Could the short story format be partly to blame? Maybe.)

That being said, there are two short stories in this collection that I might recommend to others: "Where Does the Town Go at Night?" and "The Kingdoms of the Air." At first, "Where Does the Town Go at Night" seems to be merely a prettily written exposition of a fantastical concept: a European coastal village sails like a ship through the universe at night when only a select few are awake and aware. By the time the totally unpredictable ending rolls around, however, it is clear that, at its heart, this is a tale about an imperfect human being's moral growth, the story of a feckless young father learning to take responsibility for his family. The tale's fantasy elements, rather than being gratuitous, exist to further the story's moral arc, and consequently this story is more cohesive and emotionally effective than all the others. As for "The Kingdoms of the Air," it is just wonderful, infused with a subtly unorthodox, dogma-challenging morality like that which infused the best of the classic Arthurian legends, and the kaleidoscopic fluidity with which it massages old Arthurian tropes into new life is exhilarating.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanith Lee, or (since I am unacquainted with the writer dubbed as 'Scheherazade of Fantasy' by Arkham House) accurately spoken, her writing confuse me. She writes dreamy stuff, that has a very sharp and bloody edge always threatening to inducenightmares. Unfortunately, this particular collection of stories have lesser number of such stories, and is dominated by stories that are pornographic (distinctly inferior to the erotic-yet-taut works that she can conjure), boring, and plain vanilla soporific. Now let me give my opinion about the stories: -

1. Tiger I: Boring
2. Death Loves Me: Boring as well as pointless
3. Anna Medea: Brilliant (published in 1983, obviously one of her more creative years)
4. Ondralume: Boring
5. After I Killed Her: Superb. Only Tanith Lee can write such stories.
6. God and the Pig: Weird
7. The Kingdoms of the Air: AAbsolute rubbish. If you are feeling sleep-deprived, but can't sleep due to any reason (noisy neighbours, excessive coffee, wrecked nerves), try reading this story, sleep is guaranteed.
8. Eustace: Brilliant
9. These Beasts: Brilliant
10. Cain: Pornographic, nothing else. So, if access to certain sites get restricted, this one can extend its hand (pun intended).
11. The Lady-of-Shalott House: Predictable, but good.
12. Where Does the Town Go at Night? Sordid, macabre, painful, dreamy, wistful, lyrical, and sublime.

Now you decide whether to read this book, or not.

[ambyr · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Tanith Lee, but not, I think, my last.

I wish I'd found Tanith Lee when I was younger; ten years ago I would have been head over heels with this book. I'm still a hedonist at heart, but the older I get the less nihilistic I become, the more interested I am in genuine joy rather than decadence. And that's not Tanith Lee's shtick, at least not here. But I can still admire the lushness and craft in these jewel-like depictions of thwarted ambition, disaffection, and decay, and appreciate her effortless pastiche of different styles. Her writing even managed to overcome one of the flattest narrations I've listened through in a while.

Favorites for me included "Death Loves Me," for its irony but also for its depiction of the classical era, "Anna Medea," for its obvious but well-done twist and pitch-perfect oblivious protagonist, "The Kingdoms of the Air," for melding the Mallory I loved so well as a child with modern moral sensibilities, and "Where Does the Town Go at Night?" for lushness of description. Also, yes, "Cain," which I know is a controversial story but had a creeping claustrophobia that touched me in a way horror rarely does.

Least-favorites were "Ondralume" and "These Beasts," neither of which offered much interesting in terms of characterization, and "Eustace," which I will flat out admit I didn't understand at all. (If you'd like to explain it to me, feel free.)

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was feeling the need for some female-centric sf, so I was perusing the sci-fi/fantasy section of my local library and ran across this collection of stories by Tanith Lee. This looked to have a far lower sci-fi quotient than the wonderful collection Space is Just a Starry Night, but I was far more skeptical of everything else that caught my eye, so this is what I took home.

So, I was right, there was none of Lee's sci-fi that I love so well in this collection. And to be honest, some of the first stories sort of bored me. But then I was totally sucked in by "The Kingdoms of Air," which was the story of a questing knight, which ended up with an unexpected moral at the end.

But really, the occasional flash of brilliance here and there wasn't quite enough to overcome my lack of fondness for the short story format. I do still need more Tanith Lee in my life, but next time I'll be more picky and stick to her sci-fi.

Would be three stars, but I really, really liked "The Kingdoms of Air."

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really the best collection I've seen from Tanith Lee. Some of the stories were fairly mediocre and knowing Lee's penchant for certain plot twists, I knew the ending of some before I got there.

At her best, the stories in this volume are haunting and powerful, but at their worst they are meandering and try too hard to be evocative, so they just end up being obvious and kind of frustrating (I'm looking at you "Anna Medea" and "Cain").

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love just about anything and everything by Tanith Lee. This collection of short stories had some really awesome ones, and even the less awesome were still totally worth reading. She writes like no one else.

[Michael Samerdyke · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Tempting the Gods" is a reminder of what a brilliant author Tanith Lee was. She works in a number of different subgenres here, always very effectively.

All of the stories in this book are worth reading, but "The Kingdom of the Air" is the outstanding one for me. It is a 'quest for the grail' story, but each paragraph seems to bring more dazzling wonders. When one gets to the end of the tale, one finds that it is psychologically and religiously grounded as well. This was not showing off for the sake of showing off. Everything needed to be in this story.

"Tempting the God" is a splendid place to first encounter Tanith Lee as well as a terrific way to be reminded of her outstanding talent.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first time I ever saw a photo of the late Tanith Lee (may she rest in peace) years ago, I thought she had a sort of otherworldly beauty about her, a sort of mystical quality, and when I started reading her stories, I was not at all surprised that her writing had the same ethereal, sublime quality. She was proficient in fantasy, science fiction, and horror -- novels and short stories. This volume is a good sampling of the latter. Now I need to read the second volume!

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful short stories of fantasy , scifi and a bit of horror. Love it!!!

[M]

Tiger I: 4
Death Loves Me
Anna Medea
Ondralume
After I Killed Her
God and the Pig
The Kingdoms of the Air
Eustace
These Beasts
Cain
The Lady-of-Shalott House: 3,5
Where Does the Town Go At Night?

[SmokingMirror · Rating 4 out of 5]

I confess my wimpiness regarding the story "Cain." It's supposed to be disturbing, I prepare myself, but some internal psychological protector stops me from reading it all, or even some pieces of it. The rest of the collection is uneven, but the best stories are superb.

[Carlotta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick Word:Lee's writing was as hypnotizing as always, but I prefer her other works.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was ok, but I preferred stories in "Women as Demons" or "The Gorgon."

[scarlettraces · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5)

[Timothy Covel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep and troubling short stories, all of them are fantastic. In particular though, "Cain", "After I Killed Her", and "God and The Pig" each really had me hooked.

[Craig Laurance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fantasy short fiction