The Red Mother

The Red Mother

by Elizabeth Bear

The Red Mother is a fantasy novella by Hugo Award-winning author Elizabeth Bear.Auga, a wandering sorcerer, follows his brother's fate-thread into the village of Ormsfjoll, where he expects to deliver good news and continue his travels. What he doesn't anticipate is that to meet his brother he must first contend with the truth at the heart of the volcano that wreaks havoc on Ormsfjoll.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Dragons, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Historical, Magic

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 23, 2021

About the author

What Goodreads really needs is a "currently WRITING" option for its default bookshelves...

Reviews

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Simple. Kill the dragon, collect its gall. Raise a bunch of people from the dead and save the harvest. That’s what you want of me.”

“I’ll feed you breakfast first.”

Despite myself, when I met his gaze, I found myself smiling at the audacity in his smirk. That audacity is why I sailed with him. It’s why I did other things with him, too.

i fell in love with this story, but we didn't meet-cute. stop me if you think that you've heard this one before, but for several years now i have designated those few saturday morning hours before work as my 'read a free tor short' time. i overslept this past saturday and while i was thrilled to see that this week's was an elizabeth bear story, whose tor shorts have largely been exceptional, i was still pretty hungover sleepy and couldn't get into it and it seemed to be going on and on until i realized this was one of them novelette/novellas! i put it aside until i had more time, managing to squeeze it in riiigght under the wire on 6/30, thereby fulfilling my one-a-week personal goal, so PHEW.

the only tor-shorties i avoid more scrupulously than novelette/novellas (and those damn wild cards stories) are those connected to other stories/works i have not read, and although i clocked that references were being made here to past exploits, i thought it was just for narrative roundness and i only learned today that there IS a story before this one. it is called Hacksilver, it appears in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction March/April 2020 and i desperately want to read it.

because once this story hooked me, once i got the lay of the land, i fell for it hard—it's funny and engaging, i love the character, and i'm very glad i didn't just rush it out in a saturday-skim, because it's well worth the time it takes to read.





read it for yourself here:

https://www.tor.com/2021/06/23/the-re...

come to my blog!!

[carol. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elizabeth Bear does Vikings.

https://www.tor.com/2021/06/23/the-re...

[Peter Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Icelandic-saga style tale and a first-rate one. As one expects of E. Bear!
You'll want to read Tor's blurb, first. I'll wait.
Sample:
“Hmm,” it said. Then: “Do you like riddles, little witch?”

I closed my eyes.

I hated riddles.

“I have played at riddles a time or two.”

“Well then.” The dragon shifted its weight, settling into the mountainside like a great jarl settling into his broad, bearskin-adorned chair. “Come up a little closer, witch, and choose a stone to sit upon, and we can play at riddles for what you wish. But if you win, you must grant me a boon.”

How under the Wolf Sun of my fathers did I keep getting myself into situations like this?

Not to be missed. Online copy: https://reactormag.com/the-red-mother...

And I'm so pleased that the author's cancer surgery went well, she is healing, and promises to be back to writing again soon!

[Fiona Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eitr. There was a word I hadn’t heard in a while. A complicated word that could mean anger, or it could mean poison, or it could mean gall, in all the senses of gall—the sort that is spoken, and the sort that burns flesh less metaphorically. But eitr was also the source and the font of all life in the world.

Life and death are not so far apart, as it happens, and neither are venom and the truth.

Loved this - the fantasy, the conversation, the horses, and the Icelandic setting; everything came together into one delightful whole.

Free on Tor (it is genuinely ridiculous that they just make these available, long may it last): https://www.tor.com/2021/06/23/the-re...

[Alina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Red Mother by Elizabeth Bear - 3+/5★

A witty Viking story, with dragons and riddles.

The short story is found in Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2021 Edition and can also be read on Tor.com.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little Icelandic inspired fantasy short story that gave me Tolkien vibes with a dragon taking up residence in a volcano and the little witch blood bound to deal with it via riddles. Made even more special because I'm going to Iceland in a couple of weeks. I'm only half hoping I don't see any dragons.

[Karen ⚜Mess⚜ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally found something I liked! This is the first time I've read a story written by Elizabeth Bear. I thoroughly enjoyed her writing.

[Arden Powell]

I do enjoy a fantasy story that's kind to a lame horse.

[S.A Reidman · Rating 3 out of 5]

How good was the word of a dragon, anyway? Especially when exposed to a little frustration? - I mean ... it's a talking fire-breather, no no no
I need to get on SubwayTakes for fantasy nerds - My 2 cents? Yeah I don't like talking, laughing, philosophizing, maudlin, poignant dragons. An abomination. I prefer my dragons to be powerful animals not chatterboxes. Yes yes tis but a fantasy but still. I think I've liked maybe 🤔 2 or 3 talking dragons in general? Smaug being one. Now to the long and short of it - this was not grating. Perhaps I am becoming a "Chatty-Dragon" fan? Perish the thought.

I loved that Hacksilver was not a cheat at riddles - yes looking at you Bilbo Baggins, I mean, can't really cheat a behemoth creature that can fry your flesh with a cough. Still, it's the principle of it all.

The skalds and the seers tell us we ought to love war. And somebody must. There’s enough of it. - Well golly gosh, I've been "eating good" as they say. So far just one disappointment and this ain't it. I enjoyed the pacing of this, even in conversation. I'm terribly fond of all things Scandi-Norse, so this was delightful.

That Character:  I love Magni and the sacrificial fat horse (the basalt-colored horse.) Everyone else was a close second. Kidding. The characters were so nuanced.
That scene:  Bartering for bodies
Auga: “Simple. Kill the dragon, collect its gall. Raise a bunch of people from the dead and save the harvest. That’s what you want of me.”
Ragnar: “I’ll feed you breakfast first.”
Hacksilver braiding the Fate-cord into the horse
Favorite /Unique Quotes:
🖤  “Well, buddy, I hope this works,” (I mean he was already growing attached, but calling him buddy, well 🥰)
🖤Sitting on eggs must be extremely boring for a creature with wings to span the open skies. (lovely imagery)
Curious/Unique Concepts:
■ Skein, The life-yarn
■ the uncertainty of godly presence - be there dragons?
■ A boon! A wonderful wonderful boon🥚🐉
■ Ormr 🐎
Cover Cause I'm a Bird: T'was the big title that drew me in, didn't even notice the dragon
Re-readability:No. I'm trying to eliminate 1st person narrative going forward.
GR Rating: 3.5⭐
CAWPILE:6
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2027
Challenge Prompt: 150 Viking Inspired Books by 2027

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, yes. Straight up fantasy, in an Icelandic setting including a wandering old Viking, an active volcano, and a breeding dragon. Did I mention magic and a game of riddles? This is wonderful stuff, and now I must seek out the fantasy trilogy that is home-base for this story.

[Joe Crow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Auga Hacksilver, ex-Viking witch and wanderer, is looking for his exiled brother. He finds, instead, a dragon and a riddle-fight.
An excellent piece of work, this one. Also guest-starring Bears own horses, Magni and Ormr who I’m sure are totally thrilled.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Iceland, the story leads a male witch on a trail to find his brother to inform him that he has been pardoned for a crime which got him exiled. But he finds the trail leads to a farm which tells him he has to deal with a volcano and obtain an elixir from it before he can talk to his brother.

An interesting story that weaves together magic, compassion for a lame, potentially sacrificial horse and the telling of riddles.

[Amanda]

The skalds and the seers tell us we ought to love war. And somebody must. There’s enough of it.

I might have passed for a seer, but as for the man who loves war…I didn’t think that was me. I was the man who didn’t know what else to do with himself if he wasn’t fighting a war that he hated.

Viking was an easier way to make a living. Until you weakened.

I crouched and held my hand over the smoking eitr. I turned my face up to the dragon. I was gray with ash and streaked with tears.

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful read, taking place in a rich fantasy landscape with an engagingly complex main character and his equally engaging adversary. If you’re trying Elizabeth Bear for the first time, this isn’t a bad place to start.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable short story by Elizabeth Moon with a Nordic setting. Hope she revisits these characters.

[Andi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this short story. More adventures with this character!

[anautumnaldream · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished it yesterday but forgot to update it as usual.

[Janta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bear is one of those authors who I unfortunately forget I like; this does make running across works by her a pleasant surprise though! I did quite enjoy this novella/novelette, courtesy of Reactor Magazine. Off to find out if there are more stories in this setting! (I know there's at least one -- I found it before I found Red Mother. )

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚 Free short story from Tor 📚

Actual rating: 4.5 stars.

Icelandic setting + Highly lurvable MC + witches vs. naturalists + the hand-spun thread of life + hahahaha + volcanoes and dragons + rocks vs. dessicated pelvises (don't ask) + characterization so brilliantly done that even the horses are well-written and deserve to have their own spin-off + getting attached to one's bait + a dragon's verbal jousting (racy double meanings included) + nice fat ponies (yum) + “the onion riddle with all the dick jokes in it” =



✉️ A very private, personal message to Elizabeth Bear: you better write another story featuring this ever so slightly yummilicious character, or else...



But hey, no pressure and stuff.

Approx. reading time: 55 minutes.

· Introduction to this world: Hacksilver ★★★★



[Pre-review nonsense]

Well that was a Fun Little Fantasy Tale (FLFT™). And it comes fully equipped with a dragon, too!



Not exactly the type of dragon I had in mind but sure, whatever floats your boat and stuff.

➽ Review to come and stuff.

[Geraldine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth Bear is the author of one of my favourite Fantasy series - the Eternal Skies Trilogy - and this novella, set in the world of the Icelandic sagas, lived up to my high expectations. Retired Viking and wandering sorcerer, Auga Hacksilver, is in search of his brother. His brother's fate-thread leads Auga to a valley threatened by an erupting volcano where he hears grim news. Auge embarks on an almost hopeless quest to save his brother but what he finds inside the volcano changes everything...

This is a wonderful piece of story-telling which kept me enthralled. Auga narrates his own saga and his wily character is quickly established. Magic is sparingly but cleverly used and there are enough plot strands in Auga's adventurous past and uncertain future to keep most authors busy for an entire series. I don't want to spoil the plot of this miniature epic for new readers so I'll just say that it contains a riddle contest to compare with the famous one between Bilbo and Gollum in The Hobbit. Oh and that Bear can even turn an overweight horse into a character you come to care about.

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amusing adventure. Auga belatedly questions some of his life choices. As another reviewer notes, Ms. Bear throws her own Icelandic horse and a friend's horse into the story. This was a little disconcerting for me, since I'm a patron and get to read Ms. Bear's "Horse Story" posts along with posts about writing. However, Auga's treatment of horses reveals things about the character, too. He notices the feelings that the horses are having. Their senses are keener than his, so they're getting more information from the environment. They definitely have opinions, too.

Auga uses his magic more overtly in this story than the previous one. He also uses his wits. He ends up having to revise some of his plans on the fly, but he's pretty good at improvisation. Things don't turn out like he thinks they will, but apparently that's par for the course for Auga.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here be dragons! Bear gives a short but loving bit of fantasy in Viking settled Iceland. I always learn a bit with her writing..."TOLT, a four-beat lateral ambling gait mainly found in Icelandic horses."

This retired-from-Viking sorcerer loves his horses and applies the same to a larger animal living in a volcano.

Nice afternoon read. Bear can turn out a character driven story that may not have blood and guts but keeps your interest to the end. I hope she was testing ideas for a longer adventure with this setting.

[Jill Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely thing, a Locus short-list novelette. I should know by now that everything Bear writes is quite impressive, even when it’s not my jam. More, please.
Also in Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2021 Edition.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. The characters’ needs drive the plot, the feel of a Viking-like society well evoked, and had that unexpected event near the end that you realise what the hints were about after it happens, and most importantly, no one is hit with the idiot stick so the plot can happen.

[Miriam Michalak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grabbed this novella to see if I liked Elizabeth Bear's writing having never read her before. Turns out I do - off to buy more books for the TBR!

[Jabulile Dayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Far too short

Witty, interesting, intelligent, creative - a good Saturday morning read. Ten more words required so says Amazon and they are the dragon of this story.

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Auga, a wandering sorcerer, follows his brother’s fate-thread into the village of Ormsfjoll, where he expects to deliver good news and continue his travels. What he doesn’t anticipate is that to meet his brother he must first contend with the truth at the heart of the volcano that wreaks havoc on Ormsfjoll.

The Red Mother by author Elizabeth bear is a short historical fantasy story set in Iceland and is available as a free read on the Tor.com site https://www.tor.com/2021/06/23/the-re...

I really enjoyed this one. Elizabeth Bear does Vikings!

Themes: Iceland, Vikings, volcano, dragon, eitr, up the volcano with a fat lame horse, playing riddles with a dragon

4 Stars

[John Rennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of the novella as it gives the punch of a short story while allowing the author more room to expand their world, and in this novella Elizabeth Bear does this beautifully. She is an experienced writer and it really shows. The way she paints the world and her characters in just a few words seems effortless (I'm sure it wasn't!).

What really struck me was how much Hacksilver and the (anonymous) dragon have in common. They are both outsiders and seem comfortable with each other. Indeed Hacksilver seems more comfortable talking to the dragon that to his fellow men, though perhaps I am reading more into this than Bear intended. Whatever the case, I highly recommend this as a brief but thoroughly enjoyable read.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit slow to start but the stage had to be set. I struggled a bit with the incongruency of time setting and language. The story read like an old Icelandic myth but the conversations contained a mix of modern colloquialisms and earlier language phrasings. That said, I am still excited to read the next bit of this saga.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had trouble getting through books by this writer, so I figured I'd try something short. This was a nice little bit of Icelandic-inspired fantasy, with a well-researched, non-superficial setting. And riddles are always fun.