七星鼓

by Zen Cho

Reprinted in LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction Issue #7 [Goodreads entry here], Epigram Books (October 2016) and published online at journal's website ahead of issue's publication:

"We have an additional surprise today! Zen Cho’s wonderful tale “七星鼓 (Seven Star Drum)” appears as the lead-off story in our upcoming seventh issue, and we’re happy to present it here in its entirety, completely for free. Enjoy!" -- Jason Erik Lundberg, LONTAR Founding Editor

Author's Description:
The lion dance “is usually performed as a ceremony to scare away evil spirits and to summon luck and fortune” (Wikipedia). Prequel to 起狮，行礼 (Rising Lion–The Lion Bows).

The lion was gold and red and silver; its head was white-furred like the face of a kind grandfather; the bounce of its feet was like the dance of sunlight on water.

Originally self-published by author, March 2011.

Genres: Short Stories

ebook

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

I'm a Malaysian fantasy writer based in the UK. Find out more about my work here: http://zencho.org

Reviews

[Otone · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting short story that could be expanded.

[Nad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting idea, but as a standalone the story falls flat. Then I read author's notes that this was cut out from 起狮，行礼 - it would make much more sense there.