Troubled Waters

Merovingen Nights #3

by Mercedes Lackey (Editor), C.J. Cherryh (Editor), Nancy Asire

As winter's deadly cold threatens those who dwell on and around Merovingen's dank waterways and dark, twisting byways, the various forces seeking to wrest or retain control of the city are busily plotting new and desperate plans of treacherous betrayal.

And seeking a weapon with which to blackmail Thomas Mondragon into doing his bidding, Chance Magruder - ambassador, spy, master assassin, and chief strategist for the fantastical Sword of God - has seized the opportunity to kidnap Altair Jones. But what Magruder doesn't know is that by imprisoning Jones he and his allies in crime, the slavers of Megary, may have unleashed a new force in the power games of Merovingen, a force which, its anger once roused, may prove completely unstoppable in its quest for revenge!

Includes:
"Troubled Waters" essay by C.J. Cherryh
"A Tangled Web We Weave" novella by Mercedes Lackey
"By a Woman's Hand" novelette by Nancy Asire
"Strange Bedfellows" novelette by Lynn Abbey
"Nessus' Shirt" novelette by Roberta Rogow
"Treading the Maze" novelette by Leslie Fish
Afterword: "Epilogue (Troubled Waters)" essay by C.J. Cherryh
"Raj's Letters (Troubled Waters)" essay by uncredited
"The Prisoner" novelette by Janet Morris
"Saying Yes to Drugs" novelette by Chris Morris
"Merovingian Pharmacology 103, or, Poison in Jest" essay by uncredited
Merovingian Songs: "Partners" poem by Mercedes Lackey and C.J. Cherryh
Merovingian Songs: "A Song for Marina" short fiction by Mercedes Lackey and C.J. Cherryh

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

292 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 3, 1988

About the author

Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.

"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.

"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.

"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:

"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."

Also writes as Misty Lackey

Author's website

Reviews

[Macha · Rating 4 out of 5]

with this entry (#3) the shared worlds series of Merovingen Nights anthologies (which actually begins where C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union novel Angel With a Sword ends) hits its stride. though the writers are still credited separately, for the first time it feels more like a novel than a collection of stories. the overall setting is interesting because the genres overlap: this is a fantasy world nested inside the sf underpinnings of Cherryh's original creation. the inhabitants are perilously perched on a planet their ancestors clung to after their original settlement was destroyed by an alien race who meant to eradicate all their technology. current generations are either waiting for rescue from the absent earth-origin culture they belong to that seeded these stars, or conversely for the alien race to return to finish the job. this has led to an extreme stratification of society, a reluctant suppressing of the tech knowledge that remains, a politics of enclaves based on corruption and spying, and some interesting different religious sects with very different ideas on how they can best survive. all the characters (centered around engaging heroine Altair Jones, who just won't quit) are worth getting to know, and so is the resulting society and damaged ecosystem. there are a number of new and intriguing characters added here, and the momentum builds nicely out of well-developed plotlines.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Jones." Mondragon reached out and caught her wrist hard. "Jones, listen to me. I slept with Marina Kamat to get the rent—to keep Boregy from knowing I couldn't pay it—which would have meant Boregy knowing everything [...] It's money, Jones, it's fast money, it's not blood money... I'd have done it for a good meal, if I was hungry, Jones, that's the way I am. I didn't have to kill anybody for it. That's cheap, Jones, you don't know how cheap that is in my trade."

These books all have so many plot strands that it feels like there's never much overall progress in their 280ish pages, but they're kind of growing on me.

[Edward Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying the series.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this new addition to the Merovingen Nights series, we once again journey to high-rising spires, shady taverns and interlacing waterways that make up Merovingen, City of a Thousand Bridges. In Troubled Waters, C.J. and Company bring us new misadventures of these colorful characters. Sickness spreads throughout the city, both uptown and canal-side, political giants implement new schemes and the threat of Sharrh invasion hangs over the heads of all below. Now, one villain has done the unthinkable; kidnapped our sass-talking, tomboyish pole-boater Altair Jones, and she is not too happy by the whole affair. As Thomas Mondragon, the Takahashi brothers, the musical thieves Rif and Rattail, and the shadowy Black Cal race to stop the plots that could bring the whole thing tumbling down, this book is filled with thrills that will have you at the edge of your seat.