What do you think?
Rate this book
Bounded by Eternity
Bounded by Eternity is a novella in verse, telling the story of a woman who has forgotten her own name and history, by her own choice, through by a compact with Oberon, the king of the fey.
The story moves between future and past, interweaving myth and reality, memory and confabulation, and loss and survival, eventually transmuting fear to forgiveness.
"Deborah Davitt's ambitious new collection begins one autumn between wars with a woman's meeting with a fey king, and from there we are led on a lyrical journey into realms at once mysterious and familiar. You might know the name of Oberon, and yet not know him at all. You might recognize the Lady in the Black Domino, and then again, maybe not. Poignant themes of loss, searching and forgetting pervade this enchanting text. At one point, a character asks "Are you done denying who you are, denying those who help you, denying those you’ve lost..." and readers may well marvel at the way Davitt's poems explore the answer. Before long we learn the important, imaginative answers to such questions as what happens when we first meet ourselves or rescue one another, and sometimes, when we let go. Where do we find our true homes? Take your time with this compelling collection, and return to it" --Bryan Thao Worra, SFPA President
The story moves between future and past, interweaving myth and reality, memory and confabulation, and loss and survival, eventually transmuting fear to forgiveness.
"Deborah Davitt's ambitious new collection begins one autumn between wars with a woman's meeting with a fey king, and from there we are led on a lyrical journey into realms at once mysterious and familiar. You might know the name of Oberon, and yet not know him at all. You might recognize the Lady in the Black Domino, and then again, maybe not. Poignant themes of loss, searching and forgetting pervade this enchanting text. At one point, a character asks "Are you done denying who you are, denying those who help you, denying those you’ve lost..." and readers may well marvel at the way Davitt's poems explore the answer. Before long we learn the important, imaginative answers to such questions as what happens when we first meet ourselves or rescue one another, and sometimes, when we let go. Where do we find our true homes? Take your time with this compelling collection, and return to it" --Bryan Thao Worra, SFPA President
119 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2022
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Deborah L. Davitt
85 books38 followersDeborah L. Davitt was born at an Army hospital in Washington state, but spent the first twenty-two years of her life in Reno, Nevada.
She graduated first in her class from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1997, and took her BA in English Literature with a strong focus on medieval and Renaissance literature. In 1999, she received an MA in English from Penn State.
Since then, she has taught composition, rhetoric, and technical writing, and created technical documentation on topics ranging from nuclear submarines to NASA’s return to flight to computer hardware and software.
Her poetry has garnered her Pushcart and Rhysling nominations, and has appeared in over twenty journals; her short fiction has earned a finalist showing for the Jim Baen Adventure Fantasy Award (2018) and has appeared in InterGalactic Medicine Show, Compelling Science Fiction, Galaxy’s Edge, and Pseudopod.
Her critically-acclaimed Edda-Earth novels are available through Amazon. She's also known for the well-received, 3.5 million word fanfic called Spirit of Redemption that exposed her to a global audience.
In 2019, her first full-length poetry collection, The Gates of Never, will be available from Finishing Line Press.
She currently lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and son.
She graduated first in her class from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1997, and took her BA in English Literature with a strong focus on medieval and Renaissance literature. In 1999, she received an MA in English from Penn State.
Since then, she has taught composition, rhetoric, and technical writing, and created technical documentation on topics ranging from nuclear submarines to NASA’s return to flight to computer hardware and software.
Her poetry has garnered her Pushcart and Rhysling nominations, and has appeared in over twenty journals; her short fiction has earned a finalist showing for the Jim Baen Adventure Fantasy Award (2018) and has appeared in InterGalactic Medicine Show, Compelling Science Fiction, Galaxy’s Edge, and Pseudopod.
Her critically-acclaimed Edda-Earth novels are available through Amazon. She's also known for the well-received, 3.5 million word fanfic called Spirit of Redemption that exposed her to a global audience.
In 2019, her first full-length poetry collection, The Gates of Never, will be available from Finishing Line Press.
She currently lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and son.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 4, 2022
Disclaimer: I was given a free review copy.
This collection starts out strong with “A Captive of Free Will.” We get the sense of entering into a quite literal fairy tale. The collection plays with the trappings of such tales, but not in the traditional once-upon-a-time sense, instead we are sent to another place of timelessness, one which is “Between wars./Because there’s always a fine brace/of wars to stand between.” This collection for me is about the sorrows that fantasy cannot fix, that not all things can be escaped, even in escapism. It uses dream logic to point out the benefits and drawbacks of such a thing, reflecting this in the way it shifts between rhyme and free verse. That said, for all that Anderson plays with the conventions of genre and language, I think this collection is still really accessible because it’s narrative is relatively straightforward and easy to follow. A lot of the background is described without being overbearing. Similarly, this work is self aware in the way that the best books for readers always are. It knows what expectations are and how we might insert ourselves, and lives in conversation with that fourth wall without being too coy about it. Ultimately, this collection came across as beautifully honest with itself, the works its in conversation with, and the world as a whole. When the protagonist returns to reality it is its own fantasy, if in the form of nightmare. There are immutable forces that bind creatures in both realms, as the king of the fey muses, “Time’s not a horse; it can’t be lead—/no more than gravity’s a beast to be whipped.” But our human protagonist finds what she can do, and that is in the end enough for both realms.
This collection starts out strong with “A Captive of Free Will.” We get the sense of entering into a quite literal fairy tale. The collection plays with the trappings of such tales, but not in the traditional once-upon-a-time sense, instead we are sent to another place of timelessness, one which is “Between wars./Because there’s always a fine brace/of wars to stand between.” This collection for me is about the sorrows that fantasy cannot fix, that not all things can be escaped, even in escapism. It uses dream logic to point out the benefits and drawbacks of such a thing, reflecting this in the way it shifts between rhyme and free verse. That said, for all that Anderson plays with the conventions of genre and language, I think this collection is still really accessible because it’s narrative is relatively straightforward and easy to follow. A lot of the background is described without being overbearing. Similarly, this work is self aware in the way that the best books for readers always are. It knows what expectations are and how we might insert ourselves, and lives in conversation with that fourth wall without being too coy about it. Ultimately, this collection came across as beautifully honest with itself, the works its in conversation with, and the world as a whole. When the protagonist returns to reality it is its own fantasy, if in the form of nightmare. There are immutable forces that bind creatures in both realms, as the king of the fey muses, “Time’s not a horse; it can’t be lead—/no more than gravity’s a beast to be whipped.” But our human protagonist finds what she can do, and that is in the end enough for both realms.
January 12, 2022
I first read these poems when they were solitary things, bits and pieces offered over time. And then they came together, and now they're solid, a book delivered, a story I had to sit down and read even though I had other things to do and even though I've already read this several times before. Because they're so beautiful these words in this fairytale/fantasy story about pain and forgetting and remembering and love and ultimately grace. It's a novella told in verse (and is completely accessible if you don't tend toward poetry) perfect for those who like their love stories to swim in the deep end of the angst pool yet still find their way home by morning. Buy the book, read it out loud like I did until your voice cracks and then read it silently and maybe at the end like me you'll tear up. Because it's beautiful.
Disclaimer: I was given a free review copy
Disclaimer: I was given a free review copy
Read
March 24, 2022An absorbing journey between myth and reality, past and present, as a woman who has chosen to enter into a pact with Oberon to forget who she is struggles to locate her identity. At the heart are questions and therefore imagery anchored in self, love, loss, grief, forgiveness, and home.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews