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Pilum New Voices
The Wells of Ur: Dreams of a Lost City
Begin at the howling wells of ruined Ur, turn from the desert, and let Jon Mollison take you back to the dark trade behind our decision to live close to one another. Marvel at JB Jackson's demon-haunted 1977 Philadelphia, the city still intoxicated from its then-recent Bicentennial celebration. See, either far in the future or deep in the past, the moment when the White River is crossed and the towers of Im are improved. Visit Argentavis's thrilling World City, the one where you live now, a hive of vicious subhuman ferocity alive with the disorder brought on by a mysterious absence of statues.
If history were a bone, Jon Mollison's "The City at Dawn" would take us into history's marrow, or within whatever is deeper than marrow. He takes us beyond mute runes-a task too important to be left to mere language experts. Only audacious imaginations like Mollison's can render the moment when a city became socially possible. His fiction speaks louder than ruin.
JB Jackson's "Philadelphia" is-if not the slough of despond-then just upstream. The narrator's good humor and wit, while locally hilarious, are grim counterpoint to a general degeneracy.
Brian Renninger's "Across the White River" begins with a playful high drama, a chaos of weird churn which asks many questions. How do we know when greatness is born? How do we know when we have been given a gift? What do we do about the arrival of a stranger bearing a vision of order so strong it needn't be imposed, but takes root by itself? Finally, how can we build anything if we aren't willing to come to our city's defense?
Every city is patterned on an ur-city, an agglomeration of echoes. One can tease out Chicago, Milan, Córdoba, Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Budapest-even the towered farragoes of Jodorowsky, Moebius, and Hergé seem to loom over Argentavis's work.
lost city; ur; atlantis; legends; books for men; humorous; phantasmagoric; psychotronic; foundation legend; heavy metal; refugee; female protagonist; new voices in science fiction; journey by train; Prester John; Philadelphia; 1977; rock n' roll
If history were a bone, Jon Mollison's "The City at Dawn" would take us into history's marrow, or within whatever is deeper than marrow. He takes us beyond mute runes-a task too important to be left to mere language experts. Only audacious imaginations like Mollison's can render the moment when a city became socially possible. His fiction speaks louder than ruin.
JB Jackson's "Philadelphia" is-if not the slough of despond-then just upstream. The narrator's good humor and wit, while locally hilarious, are grim counterpoint to a general degeneracy.
Brian Renninger's "Across the White River" begins with a playful high drama, a chaos of weird churn which asks many questions. How do we know when greatness is born? How do we know when we have been given a gift? What do we do about the arrival of a stranger bearing a vision of order so strong it needn't be imposed, but takes root by itself? Finally, how can we build anything if we aren't willing to come to our city's defense?
Every city is patterned on an ur-city, an agglomeration of echoes. One can tease out Chicago, Milan, Córdoba, Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Budapest-even the towered farragoes of Jodorowsky, Moebius, and Hergé seem to loom over Argentavis's work.
lost city; ur; atlantis; legends; books for men; humorous; phantasmagoric; psychotronic; foundation legend; heavy metal; refugee; female protagonist; new voices in science fiction; journey by train; Prester John; Philadelphia; 1977; rock n' roll
216 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2022
8 people want to read
About the author
J.B. Jackson
4 books15 followersMusic freak, aesthete, and '70s aficionado, JB Jackson is a native of Fort Worth, Texas. He currently lives with his family in Sebastopol, California. He is an editor of art reference books and his fiction has appeared in Black Rose, The Wells of Ur, and Death Flex. Shagduk is his first novel. The second title in the De re dordica saga, Ursula of Ulm was published in August 2024.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 9, 2022
The Wells of Ur is the newest anthology from Indie publisher Pilum Press. Pilum, as you are probably aware, recently made waves within the S&S community with their kickstarter for the new edition of Schuyler Hernstrom's Thune's Vision which was a resounding success. Pilum has also published The Penultimate Men: Tales From Our Savage Future and Shagduk by DB Jackson. You can contact them via their website pilumpress.com.
The Wells of Ur is comprised of four stories with cities being the common thread. This is what Neal Durando had to say about the collection in his introduction:
So, here they are, two fictions which recount the bang from which urbanity begins. And two fictions recording the whimpers with which it ends. Or renews. (The choice depends on your politics.) All four seem as reliable a guide to any traveler resolved to the possibility of embarking at Camden Station, Baltimore, only to emerge at Salguero Street, or Café Groppi, or before the Synagogue at Budapest. Limits of time and space are nothing to these worthies.
The table of contents:
- New York City 1991; Buenos Aires 1939: An introduction by Neal Durando
- The Wells of Ur by Unknown translated by Norberto Argentavis
- The City at Dawn by Jon Mollison
- Philadelphia: an excerpt from Shagduk, a novel by JB Jackson
- Across the White River by Brian Renninger
- Elektra and the Laws by Norberto Argentavis
There is also a nice profile illustration by Schuyler Hernstrom on page 16 and another stirring piece of art by Penny Melgarejo on page 68 illustrating a scene from Across the River.
The City at Dawn
The Lion and Eagle clans are at war. The champion and leader of the Lion clan is most comfortable with a weapon in hand and seeks the subjugation of the Eagle clan. The Eagle chieftain is wily and works the Lions against themselves. The conflict will finally be resolved with a trial by combat. The result is all but certain, that is until the unexpected happens. This unexpected event will help forge the Eagle and Lion into something new and much stronger than before.
Even though it lacks any sorcery, The City at Dawn will appeal to fans of sword & sorcery fiction.
Philadelphia
This was an excerpt from the novel Shagduk. I enjoyed the nostalgia of the time period, but I was left with so many questions. So, the protagonist works for the library? Plays in a band? Goes to a conference with Diana, a woman we know nothing about, and bears a tattoo that also has significance that isn't explained. And our protagonist has an illness he must get regular injections for? It simply didn't stimulate my interest enough. Primarily because it is out of my normal wheelhouse.
Across the White River
Another story that will appeal to the S&S crowd. Written in first-person perspective.
A fragile peace is shattered when a personal vengeance is taken. In flight, the people must spirit their pregnant monarch home to their fortified city. The outcome looks bleak. That is, until a peerless warrior from out of time arrives and champions their cause as his own. This story is located somewhere between history and legend.
Electra and the Laws
I gave this one a shot, but it ended up as a DNF. This was completely out of my wheelhouse. I had trouble following the narrative. I assumed it was some future time, but things were just as primitive and barbaric as much of the past.
Pilum Press is another indie publisher to keep an eye on. I look forward checking out Thune's Vision and The Penultimate Men next.
The Wells of Ur is comprised of four stories with cities being the common thread. This is what Neal Durando had to say about the collection in his introduction:
So, here they are, two fictions which recount the bang from which urbanity begins. And two fictions recording the whimpers with which it ends. Or renews. (The choice depends on your politics.) All four seem as reliable a guide to any traveler resolved to the possibility of embarking at Camden Station, Baltimore, only to emerge at Salguero Street, or Café Groppi, or before the Synagogue at Budapest. Limits of time and space are nothing to these worthies.
The table of contents:
- New York City 1991; Buenos Aires 1939: An introduction by Neal Durando
- The Wells of Ur by Unknown translated by Norberto Argentavis
- The City at Dawn by Jon Mollison
- Philadelphia: an excerpt from Shagduk, a novel by JB Jackson
- Across the White River by Brian Renninger
- Elektra and the Laws by Norberto Argentavis
There is also a nice profile illustration by Schuyler Hernstrom on page 16 and another stirring piece of art by Penny Melgarejo on page 68 illustrating a scene from Across the River.
The City at Dawn
The Lion and Eagle clans are at war. The champion and leader of the Lion clan is most comfortable with a weapon in hand and seeks the subjugation of the Eagle clan. The Eagle chieftain is wily and works the Lions against themselves. The conflict will finally be resolved with a trial by combat. The result is all but certain, that is until the unexpected happens. This unexpected event will help forge the Eagle and Lion into something new and much stronger than before.
Even though it lacks any sorcery, The City at Dawn will appeal to fans of sword & sorcery fiction.
Philadelphia
This was an excerpt from the novel Shagduk. I enjoyed the nostalgia of the time period, but I was left with so many questions. So, the protagonist works for the library? Plays in a band? Goes to a conference with Diana, a woman we know nothing about, and bears a tattoo that also has significance that isn't explained. And our protagonist has an illness he must get regular injections for? It simply didn't stimulate my interest enough. Primarily because it is out of my normal wheelhouse.
Across the White River
Another story that will appeal to the S&S crowd. Written in first-person perspective.
A fragile peace is shattered when a personal vengeance is taken. In flight, the people must spirit their pregnant monarch home to their fortified city. The outcome looks bleak. That is, until a peerless warrior from out of time arrives and champions their cause as his own. This story is located somewhere between history and legend.
Electra and the Laws
I gave this one a shot, but it ended up as a DNF. This was completely out of my wheelhouse. I had trouble following the narrative. I assumed it was some future time, but things were just as primitive and barbaric as much of the past.
Pilum Press is another indie publisher to keep an eye on. I look forward checking out Thune's Vision and The Penultimate Men next.
February 17, 2024
Hey, full disclosure...I'm in this. An excerpt from my first novel Shagduk, that is. If I am allowed to say so, I'm pretty blown away at what Pilum Press is becoming. I hope they do more anthologies of new writers like this one. It reminds me of Lin Carter's Year's Best Fantasy series. He only did six of them (I think) but what a lot of great discoveries I made because of those books. Back to Wells of Ur...the elephant in the well here is Norberto Argentavis's Elektra and the Laws. Really freaking good. The language, first of all. You just don't get this kind of poetry in today's fantasy writing. I challenge anyone to find any single page published in 2022 that can stand up to any random page from Elektra where one may find such a command of words. I'm humbled and grateful that my work appears in the same collection. As for Mollison and Renninger, I had to think twice--are these timeless pieces from mythology or were they written this year? The night I read their stories, I dreamed of the Towers of Im, of Ur, and beyond. That's exactly what I demand of imaginative fiction. The Wells of Ur is a book I will read again as my colleagues have created places I wish to inhabit. ("My colleagues"...I am so proud to be able to say that!) Inhabit in my imagination, that is. In reality, one would probably get killed crossing Renninger's White River or lingering among the denizens of Mollison's dusty alleys. And Argentavis's city is simply harrowing because our own cities are halfway there.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews