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Jaguar Hunter
Fourteen of Lucius Shepard's most memorable stories are combined with a previously unanthologized novella, Radiant Green Star, to form a stunning sci-fi collection. In the Nebula Award-winning title story, a poor Honduran hunter is coerced into tracking the forbidden black jaguar of Barrio Carolina.
404 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
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752 people want to read
About the author
Lucius Shepard
296 books156 followersBrief biographies are, like history texts, too organized to be other than orderly misrepresentations of the truth. So when it's written that Lucius Shepard was born in August of 1947 to Lucy and William Shepard in Lynchburg, Virginia, and raised thereafter in Daytona Beach, Florida, it provides a statistical hit and gives you nothing of the difficult childhood from which he frequently attempted to escape, eventually succeeding at the age of fifteen, when he traveled to Ireland aboard a freighter and thereafter spent several years in Europe, North Africa, and Asia, working in a cigarette factory in Germany, in the black market of Cairo's Khan al Khalili bazaar, as a night club bouncer in Spain, and in numerous other countries at numerous other occupations. On returning to the United States, Shepard entered the University of North Carolina, where for one semester he served as the co-editor of the Carolina Quarterly. Either he did not feel challenged by the curriculum, or else he found other pursuits more challenging. Whichever the case, he dropped out several times and traveled to Spain, Southeast Asia (at a time when tourism there was generally discouraged), and South and Central America. He ended his academic career as a tenth-semester sophomore with a heightened political sensibility, a fairly extensive knowledge of Latin American culture and some pleasant memories.
Toward the beginning of his stay at the university, Shepard met Joy Wolf, a fellow student, and they were married, a union that eventually produced one son, Gullivar, now an architect in New York City. While traveling cross-country to California, they had their car break down in Detroit and were forced to take jobs in order to pay for repairs. As fortune would have it, Shepard joined a band, and passed the better part of the 1970s playing rock and roll in the Midwest. When an opportunity presented itself, usually in the form of a band break-up, he would revisit Central America, developing a particular affection for the people of Honduras. He intermittently took odd jobs, working as a janitor, a laborer, a sealer of driveways, and, in a nearly soul-destroying few months, a correspondent for Blue Cross/Blue Shield, a position that compelled him to call the infirm and the terminally ill to inform them they had misfiled certain forms and so were being denied their benefits.
In 1980 Shepard attended the Clarion Writers’ Workshop at Michigan State University and thereafter embarked upon a writing career. He sold his first story, "Black Coral," in 1981 to New Dimensions, an anthology edited by Marta Randall. During a prolonged trip to Central America, covering a period from 1981-1982, he worked as a freelance journalist focusing on the civil war in El Salvador. Since that time he has mainly devoted himself to the writing of fiction. His novels and stories have earned numerous awards in both the genre and the mainstream.
Toward the beginning of his stay at the university, Shepard met Joy Wolf, a fellow student, and they were married, a union that eventually produced one son, Gullivar, now an architect in New York City. While traveling cross-country to California, they had their car break down in Detroit and were forced to take jobs in order to pay for repairs. As fortune would have it, Shepard joined a band, and passed the better part of the 1970s playing rock and roll in the Midwest. When an opportunity presented itself, usually in the form of a band break-up, he would revisit Central America, developing a particular affection for the people of Honduras. He intermittently took odd jobs, working as a janitor, a laborer, a sealer of driveways, and, in a nearly soul-destroying few months, a correspondent for Blue Cross/Blue Shield, a position that compelled him to call the infirm and the terminally ill to inform them they had misfiled certain forms and so were being denied their benefits.
In 1980 Shepard attended the Clarion Writers’ Workshop at Michigan State University and thereafter embarked upon a writing career. He sold his first story, "Black Coral," in 1981 to New Dimensions, an anthology edited by Marta Randall. During a prolonged trip to Central America, covering a period from 1981-1982, he worked as a freelance journalist focusing on the civil war in El Salvador. Since that time he has mainly devoted himself to the writing of fiction. His novels and stories have earned numerous awards in both the genre and the mainstream.
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November 25, 2017
The Jaguar Hunter: Powerful, hallucinatory stories in exotic locales
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
I try to avoid excessive praise unless it is truly deserved, but I can say this without hesitation - Lucius Shepard was one of the best SF short story writers of the 1980s. His prose, imagery, themes, and style are so powerful, dynamic, and vivid that it’s a real crime that he didn't gain a wider readership when he was alive, though he did win many awards.
He burst on the scene with his short story collection The Jaguar Hunter, which won the 1988 World Fantasy Award and Locus Award for Best Collection. Many of the stories were nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards, with “Salvador” winning the Locus Award in 1985 and “R&R” winning the Nebula Award in 1987. His work is characterized by strong elements of magic realism, supernatural horror, Central American and other exotic locales, and hallucinatory depictions of futuristic warfare. In my opinion, he is one of the best stylists to ever work in the genre.
Lucius Shepard is one of those authors who seems compelled to travel and experience the world, working a host of unusual jobs to survive. You can get his bio details on the internet, but suffice to say he has travelled extensively in Europe, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America, and most of his stories are set in exotic locales with vivid details. His characters are generally dislocated ex-pats, spiritually-lost bohemians, soldiers trapped in hopeless Central American military conflicts, and they frequently encounter supernatural events that cannot be explained by science. His story "The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule” is very much a magic realist parable about evil and the power of art to combat it.
While not all of his books are still in print, you can get his most important ones: his short story collections The Jaguar Hunter (1987), The Ends of the Earth (1991), and The Best of Lucius Shepard (2008), and his novels Green Eyes (1984) and Life During Wartime (1987). If you are looking for an cheap intro to his stories, The Best of Lucius Shepard is available for just $2.99 on Amazon.
Here are the stories in the Kindle version (“R&R” is not in the original publication):
"The Jaguar Hunter" (1985) - The title story is a perfect example of Shepard’s favorite themes. A retired jaguar hunter named Esteban lives in the countryside of Honduras with his unhappy wife. She yearns for the trappings of Western material culture, so she buys a TV on credit from the local pawn shop without permission, putting Esteban into debt. Lacking the cash to pay this, the sleazy shop owner asks him instead to kill a deadly black jaguar that has killed eight other hunters. Despite his misgivings, he takes the assignment and soon encounters the black jaguar, which is far more formidable than he expected. The writing in this story is phenomal, and the story behind the jaguar is rich with mysticism and tragedy. One of my favorites, and here is a sample passage:
At length the jaguar left off its play and came prowling up the beach toward the jungle. By the set of its ears and the purposeful sway of its walk, Esteban recognized that it was hunting. It stopped beneath a palm about twenty feet from the house, lifted its head, and tested the air. Moonlight frayed down through the fronds, applying liquid gleams to its haunches; its eyes, glinting yellow-green, were like peepholes into a lurid dimension of fire. The jaguar’s beauty was heart-stopping— the embodiment of a flawless principle— and Esteban, contrasting this beauty with the pallid ugliness of his employer, with the ugly principle that had led to his hiring, doubted that he could ever bring himself to kill it.
"The Night of White Bhairab" (1984) - Here is another classic supernatural horror story set in exotic Kathmandu. Jaded expat Eliot is placed in charge of house-sitting for a wealthy Indian businessman with a bizarre taste for cursed objects. The community of hippies, backpackers, druggies, and locals is richly described. When Eliot meets Michaela, the disaffected girlfriend of the house owner, you can see trouble brewing a mile away. Things get very creepy with the deliver of a large box, and both Eliot and Michaela find themselves facing supernatural spirits of a very malevolent type. There are loads of sharp details of life in Kathmandu and the spiritual malaise of the ex-pats who seek vainly for salvation and purpose there.
He had settled in Kathmandu after his tour was up, his idea being to practice meditation, to achieve enlightenment. But it had not gone well. There was an impediment in his mind— he pictured it as a dark stone, a stone compounded of worldly attachments— that no amount of practice could wear down, and his life had fallen into a futile pattern. He would spend ten months of the year living in a small room near the temple of Swayambhunath, meditating, rubbing away at the stone; and then, during March and September, he would occupy Mr. Chatterjee S house and debauch himself with liquor and sex and drugs.
"Salvador" (1984) - This story is one of the highlights of the collection. It is about Dantzler, a US special forces soldier stationed in El Salvador hunting for Sandinista patrols. It has strong echoes of films like Platoon, as Dantzler’s ideals and admiration for the local culture are dashed by the casual contempt and mind-numbing violence of the military mindset, particularly a psychotic superior officer who has become a sadistic killing machine assisted by ampules to boost reflexes, alertness, and homicidal urges. It is a chilling but realistic depiction of war, yet Shepard’s writing remains lyrical and powerful nonetheless. Another passage:
The vegetation beneath the clouds was lush— thick, juicy leaves that mashed underfoot, tangles of vines, trees with slick, pale bark and waxy leaves— and the visibility was only about fifteen feet. They were gray wraiths passing through grayness. The vague shapes of the foliage reminded Dantzler of fancifully engraved letters, and for a while he entertained himself with the notion that they were walking among the half-formed phrases of a constitution not yet manifest in the land. They barged off the trail, losing it completely, becoming veiled in spiderwebs and drenched by spills of water; their voices were oddly muffled, the tag ends of words swallowed up.
"How the Wind Spoke at Madaket" (1985) - This is a rare story set in Nantucket, an isolated island set off the Cape Cod coast. It’s also a supernatural horror story with plenty of local culture, this time a small town local crowd that swells with tourists during high season. This time the villain is something quite unusual - a homicidal wind itself. It has quiet a high body-count and gruesome details, and I found it a tad overlong, but it still has Shepard’s powerful descriptions and imagery:
Sadler had spent much of his life in Los Angeles, where the sounds of nature were obscured, and to his mind the constancy of the wind was Nantucket’s most remarkable feature. Morning, noon, and night it flowed across the island, giving him a sense of being a bottom-dweller in an ocean of air, buffeted by currents that sprang from exotic quarters of the globe. He was a lonely soul, and the wind served to articulate his loneliness, to point up the immensity of the world in which he had become isolated; over the months he had come to feel an affinity with it, to consider it a fellow-traveler through emptiness and time. He half believed its vague speechlike utterances to be exactly that— an oracular voice whose powers of speech were not yet fully developed— and from listening to them he derived an impression of impending strangeness.
"Black Coral" (1984) - This is actually Shepard’s first published story. It is about another white expat living in the poor, lethargic seaport of Meecham’s landing in a Caribbean setting. The town if filled with drunkards and low-lifes, and there is little to admire. Shepard captures the island patois well, with its unique rhythms and cadences. The characters smoke the local black coral for hallucinogenic experiences, with mind-bending results. Here is one colorful example:
One by one the fires separated from the blazing ceiling and flowed down over the walls, settling on the creases and edges of things, outlining them in points of flickering radiance. Their procession seemed almost ordered, stately, and Prince thought of a congregation filing into their allotted pews preparatory to some great function. They illuminated the rumples in ragged shirts (and the ragged ends, as well) and the wrinkles in faces. They traced the shapes of glasses, bottles, tables, spiderwebs, the electric fan, light bulbs and their cords. They glowed nebular in the liquor, they became the smoldering ends of cigarettes, they mapped the spills on the counter and turned them into miniature phosphorescent seas. And when they had all taken their places, their design complete, Prince sat dumbstruck in the midst of an incredibly detailed constellation, one composed of ghostly purple stars against an ebony sky— the constellation of a tropic barroom, of Maud Price’s Golden Dream.
"R & R" (1986) - This story won the Nebula Award in 1987 and was later expanded to Shepards’ best-regarded full-length novel Life During Wartime. It is similar to “Salvador” in that it is features soldiers stationed in Guatemala for R&R in a break from bombing raids in Nicaragua. The Sikorsky helicopter gunship pilots use special high-tech helmets that link them to their machines, blurring the lines between, and yet the pilots are so superstitious that the refuse to remove their helmets even when on the ground. Mignolla and his buddies take R&R together out of a belief that if they follow the same routine each time they will survive unscathed. This is nearly novella-length, and much befalls Mignolla in hallucinatory, magic-realist, unnerving detail. I highlighted dozens of passages worth sharing, but will just choose just one at random:
Moonlight edged the wavelets with silver, and among those gleams it seemed he could see reflected the broken curve of his life: a kid living for Christmas, drawing pictures, receiving praise, growing up mindless to high school, sex, and drugs; growing beyond that, beginning to draw pictures again, and then, right where you might expect the curve to assume a more meaningful shape, it was sheared off, left hanging, its process demystified and explicable. He realized how foolish the idea of the ritual had been. Like a dying man clutching a vial of holy water, he had clutched at magic when the logic of existence had proved untenable. Now the frail linkages of that magic had been dissolved, and nothing supported him— he was falling through the dark zones of the war, waiting to be snatched by one of its monsters.
"The End of Life as We Know It" (1985) - Lisa and Richard travel to Guatemala City, Mexico in an attempt to save their troubled marriage. While trying to face the reality of their disintegrating relationship, they encounter a strange, unwashed and eccentric expat named Dowdy who claims to have given up a programming career in Silicon Valley to become apprentice to a local wizard and learn his arcane wisdom. The couple are skeptical, but out of boredom and curiosity they decide to meet with the old mystic with unexpected results. This is what he tells them:
The world is not one but many. Thousands upon thousands of worlds. Even those who do not have the power of clear sight can perceive this if they consider the myriad realities of the world they do see. It’s easiest to imagine the thousands of worlds as different-colored lights all focused on a single point, having varying degrees of effectiveness as to how much part they play in determining’ the character of that point. What’s happenin’ now is that the strongest light— the one most responsible for determining’ this character— is startin’ to fade and another is startin’ to shine bright and dominate. When it has gained dominance, the old age will end and the new begin.
"A Traveler's Tale" (1984) - This is a another story set in a squalid island town off the coast of Honduras. An older retired American expat meets a younger man named Ray. They exchange stories about the strange lights of the Burying Ground and the history of the island. During the course of the story we learn a lot about various types of travelers, with a surprising turn of events in the second half that I don’t want to spoil. Shepard has some great descriptions of expats and how they work. Clearly he is drawing from his own rich travel experiences and it shows:
Ray’s type, however, was of a more contemporary variety; he was one of those child-men who are to be found wandering the sunstruck ends of the earth, always seeming to be headed toward some rumored paradise, a beach said to be unspoiled, where they hope to achieve . . . something, the realization of a half-formed ambition whose criteria of peace and purity are so high as to guarantee failure. Travelers, they call themselves, and in truth, travel is their only area of expertise. They know the cheapest restaurant in Belize City, how to sleep for free on Buttermilk Key, the best sandal maker in Panajachel; they have languished in Mexican jails, contracted dysentery while hiking through the wilds of Olancho, and been run out of various towns for drug abuse or lack of funds. But despite their knowledge and experience, they are curiously empty young men, methodical and unexcitable, possessing personalities that have been carefully edited to give the least effrontery to the widest spectrum of the populace.
"Mengele" (1984) - This is a dark and twisted tale about an encounter in the Paraguayan jungle of a former Vietnam aerial pilot who crashes and wakes to find himself in a hidden compound run by none other than an ancient but still living Josef Mengele. The buildings are decorated all in classic Nazi style but Mengele seems strangely forthright about his identity. The staff have a strange, deformed manner, recalling forcefully H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau. Mingele explains his story thus:
I had never seen myself as an evil man. Only a committed one. And now the focus of my commitment— National Socialism— had failed. It was inconceivable to me, though, that the principles underlying it had failed, and I came to the conclusion that the failure could probably be laid to a misapprehension of those principles. Things had happened too fast for us. We had always been in a hurry, overborne by the needs of the country; we had been too pressured to act coherently, and the movement had become less a religion than a church. Empty, pompous ritual had taken the place of contemplated action. But now I had no pressure and all the time in the world, and I set out to understand the nature of evil.
The conclusion of the story is surreal and ominous. To be honest I didn’t fully understand it, but suffice to say that the main character recognizes something wrong in the world that conforms to the ideas of this evil man.
"The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule" (1984) - This is one of Shepard’s most famous stories, and the most clear homage to the legendary Latin American magic realists Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is difficult to do justice to it with a mere description, so perhaps the opening paragraphs are more instructive:
IN 1853, IN A COUNTRY FAR TO THE SOUTH, in a world separated from this one by the thinnest margin of possibility, a dragon named Griaule dominated the region of the Carbonales Valley, a fertile area centering upon the town of Teosinte and renowned for its production of silver, mahogany, and indigo. There were other dragons in those days, most dwelling on the rocky islands west of Patagonia— tiny, irascible creatures, the largest of them no bigger than a swallow. But Griaule was one of the great Beasts who had ruled an age. Over the centuries he had grown to stand 750 feet high at the midback, and from the tip of his tail to his nose he was six thousand feet long. (It should be noted here that the growth of dragons was due not to caloric intake, but to the absorption of energy derived from the passage of time.)
Had it not been for a miscast spell, Griaule would have died millennia before. The wizard entrusted with the task of slaying him— knowing his own life would be forfeited as a result of the magical backwash— had experienced a last-second twinge of fear, and, diminished by this ounce of courage, the spell had flown a mortal inch awry. Though the wizard’s whereabouts was unknown, Griaule had remained alive. His heart had stopped, his breath stilled, but his mind continued to seethe, to send forth the gloomy vibrations that enslaved all who stayed for long within range of his influence.
The story is a parable open to many interpretations, and is written very much in the style of Borges (who I am reading right now). It centers on the man Meric Cattanay and his proposal to destroy the dragon and its dark influence on the surrounding lands and people by painting its body with a wondrous mural. It pits art against a dark influence so subtle that it defies description. Meric devotes four decades to painting the dragon, going through the many vicissitudes of life, both ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments, and eventually reaches the end of his labors. It is a mysterious and ambiguous story, but well worth reading. Notably, Shepard wrote several more stories that share the same themes and framework, collected as The Dragon Griaule (2013) by Subterranean Press.
"A Spanish Lesson" (1985) - This is definitely an unusual story with a fantastical twist much like “A Traveler’s Tale”. It is the story of a young traveling expat who settles in a small Mediterranean fishing village that has an enclave of bohemian foreigners who spend much of their time taking and dealing drugs, dabbling in novels and poetry, and feeling superior to the surrounding locals. One day a very strange young pair of twins, blond, frail, and awkward, show up in their village and start to disrupt the rhythms of life. Things get extremely weird when the narrator finds a secret diary entry by the twins that reads as follows. That’s all the teaser I will provide.
The Führer had been dead three days, and still no one had ventured into the office where he had been exposed to the poisoned blooms, although a servant had crawled along the ledge to the window and returned with the news that the corpse was stiffened in its leather tunic, its cheeks bristling with a dead man’s growth, and strings of desiccated blood were hanging from its chin. But as we well remembered his habit of reviving the dead for a final bout of torture, we were afraid that he might have set an igniter in his cells to ensure rebirth, and so we waited while the wine in his goblet turned to vinegar and then to a murky gas that hid him from our view. Nothing had changed. The garden of hydrophobic roses fertilized with his blood continued to lash and slather, and the hieroglyphs of his shadow selves could be seen patrolling the streets. . .
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
I try to avoid excessive praise unless it is truly deserved, but I can say this without hesitation - Lucius Shepard was one of the best SF short story writers of the 1980s. His prose, imagery, themes, and style are so powerful, dynamic, and vivid that it’s a real crime that he didn't gain a wider readership when he was alive, though he did win many awards.
He burst on the scene with his short story collection The Jaguar Hunter, which won the 1988 World Fantasy Award and Locus Award for Best Collection. Many of the stories were nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards, with “Salvador” winning the Locus Award in 1985 and “R&R” winning the Nebula Award in 1987. His work is characterized by strong elements of magic realism, supernatural horror, Central American and other exotic locales, and hallucinatory depictions of futuristic warfare. In my opinion, he is one of the best stylists to ever work in the genre.
Lucius Shepard is one of those authors who seems compelled to travel and experience the world, working a host of unusual jobs to survive. You can get his bio details on the internet, but suffice to say he has travelled extensively in Europe, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America, and most of his stories are set in exotic locales with vivid details. His characters are generally dislocated ex-pats, spiritually-lost bohemians, soldiers trapped in hopeless Central American military conflicts, and they frequently encounter supernatural events that cannot be explained by science. His story "The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule” is very much a magic realist parable about evil and the power of art to combat it.
While not all of his books are still in print, you can get his most important ones: his short story collections The Jaguar Hunter (1987), The Ends of the Earth (1991), and The Best of Lucius Shepard (2008), and his novels Green Eyes (1984) and Life During Wartime (1987). If you are looking for an cheap intro to his stories, The Best of Lucius Shepard is available for just $2.99 on Amazon.
Here are the stories in the Kindle version (“R&R” is not in the original publication):
"The Jaguar Hunter" (1985) - The title story is a perfect example of Shepard’s favorite themes. A retired jaguar hunter named Esteban lives in the countryside of Honduras with his unhappy wife. She yearns for the trappings of Western material culture, so she buys a TV on credit from the local pawn shop without permission, putting Esteban into debt. Lacking the cash to pay this, the sleazy shop owner asks him instead to kill a deadly black jaguar that has killed eight other hunters. Despite his misgivings, he takes the assignment and soon encounters the black jaguar, which is far more formidable than he expected. The writing in this story is phenomal, and the story behind the jaguar is rich with mysticism and tragedy. One of my favorites, and here is a sample passage:
At length the jaguar left off its play and came prowling up the beach toward the jungle. By the set of its ears and the purposeful sway of its walk, Esteban recognized that it was hunting. It stopped beneath a palm about twenty feet from the house, lifted its head, and tested the air. Moonlight frayed down through the fronds, applying liquid gleams to its haunches; its eyes, glinting yellow-green, were like peepholes into a lurid dimension of fire. The jaguar’s beauty was heart-stopping— the embodiment of a flawless principle— and Esteban, contrasting this beauty with the pallid ugliness of his employer, with the ugly principle that had led to his hiring, doubted that he could ever bring himself to kill it.
"The Night of White Bhairab" (1984) - Here is another classic supernatural horror story set in exotic Kathmandu. Jaded expat Eliot is placed in charge of house-sitting for a wealthy Indian businessman with a bizarre taste for cursed objects. The community of hippies, backpackers, druggies, and locals is richly described. When Eliot meets Michaela, the disaffected girlfriend of the house owner, you can see trouble brewing a mile away. Things get very creepy with the deliver of a large box, and both Eliot and Michaela find themselves facing supernatural spirits of a very malevolent type. There are loads of sharp details of life in Kathmandu and the spiritual malaise of the ex-pats who seek vainly for salvation and purpose there.
He had settled in Kathmandu after his tour was up, his idea being to practice meditation, to achieve enlightenment. But it had not gone well. There was an impediment in his mind— he pictured it as a dark stone, a stone compounded of worldly attachments— that no amount of practice could wear down, and his life had fallen into a futile pattern. He would spend ten months of the year living in a small room near the temple of Swayambhunath, meditating, rubbing away at the stone; and then, during March and September, he would occupy Mr. Chatterjee S house and debauch himself with liquor and sex and drugs.
"Salvador" (1984) - This story is one of the highlights of the collection. It is about Dantzler, a US special forces soldier stationed in El Salvador hunting for Sandinista patrols. It has strong echoes of films like Platoon, as Dantzler’s ideals and admiration for the local culture are dashed by the casual contempt and mind-numbing violence of the military mindset, particularly a psychotic superior officer who has become a sadistic killing machine assisted by ampules to boost reflexes, alertness, and homicidal urges. It is a chilling but realistic depiction of war, yet Shepard’s writing remains lyrical and powerful nonetheless. Another passage:
The vegetation beneath the clouds was lush— thick, juicy leaves that mashed underfoot, tangles of vines, trees with slick, pale bark and waxy leaves— and the visibility was only about fifteen feet. They were gray wraiths passing through grayness. The vague shapes of the foliage reminded Dantzler of fancifully engraved letters, and for a while he entertained himself with the notion that they were walking among the half-formed phrases of a constitution not yet manifest in the land. They barged off the trail, losing it completely, becoming veiled in spiderwebs and drenched by spills of water; their voices were oddly muffled, the tag ends of words swallowed up.
"How the Wind Spoke at Madaket" (1985) - This is a rare story set in Nantucket, an isolated island set off the Cape Cod coast. It’s also a supernatural horror story with plenty of local culture, this time a small town local crowd that swells with tourists during high season. This time the villain is something quite unusual - a homicidal wind itself. It has quiet a high body-count and gruesome details, and I found it a tad overlong, but it still has Shepard’s powerful descriptions and imagery:
Sadler had spent much of his life in Los Angeles, where the sounds of nature were obscured, and to his mind the constancy of the wind was Nantucket’s most remarkable feature. Morning, noon, and night it flowed across the island, giving him a sense of being a bottom-dweller in an ocean of air, buffeted by currents that sprang from exotic quarters of the globe. He was a lonely soul, and the wind served to articulate his loneliness, to point up the immensity of the world in which he had become isolated; over the months he had come to feel an affinity with it, to consider it a fellow-traveler through emptiness and time. He half believed its vague speechlike utterances to be exactly that— an oracular voice whose powers of speech were not yet fully developed— and from listening to them he derived an impression of impending strangeness.
"Black Coral" (1984) - This is actually Shepard’s first published story. It is about another white expat living in the poor, lethargic seaport of Meecham’s landing in a Caribbean setting. The town if filled with drunkards and low-lifes, and there is little to admire. Shepard captures the island patois well, with its unique rhythms and cadences. The characters smoke the local black coral for hallucinogenic experiences, with mind-bending results. Here is one colorful example:
One by one the fires separated from the blazing ceiling and flowed down over the walls, settling on the creases and edges of things, outlining them in points of flickering radiance. Their procession seemed almost ordered, stately, and Prince thought of a congregation filing into their allotted pews preparatory to some great function. They illuminated the rumples in ragged shirts (and the ragged ends, as well) and the wrinkles in faces. They traced the shapes of glasses, bottles, tables, spiderwebs, the electric fan, light bulbs and their cords. They glowed nebular in the liquor, they became the smoldering ends of cigarettes, they mapped the spills on the counter and turned them into miniature phosphorescent seas. And when they had all taken their places, their design complete, Prince sat dumbstruck in the midst of an incredibly detailed constellation, one composed of ghostly purple stars against an ebony sky— the constellation of a tropic barroom, of Maud Price’s Golden Dream.
"R & R" (1986) - This story won the Nebula Award in 1987 and was later expanded to Shepards’ best-regarded full-length novel Life During Wartime. It is similar to “Salvador” in that it is features soldiers stationed in Guatemala for R&R in a break from bombing raids in Nicaragua. The Sikorsky helicopter gunship pilots use special high-tech helmets that link them to their machines, blurring the lines between, and yet the pilots are so superstitious that the refuse to remove their helmets even when on the ground. Mignolla and his buddies take R&R together out of a belief that if they follow the same routine each time they will survive unscathed. This is nearly novella-length, and much befalls Mignolla in hallucinatory, magic-realist, unnerving detail. I highlighted dozens of passages worth sharing, but will just choose just one at random:
Moonlight edged the wavelets with silver, and among those gleams it seemed he could see reflected the broken curve of his life: a kid living for Christmas, drawing pictures, receiving praise, growing up mindless to high school, sex, and drugs; growing beyond that, beginning to draw pictures again, and then, right where you might expect the curve to assume a more meaningful shape, it was sheared off, left hanging, its process demystified and explicable. He realized how foolish the idea of the ritual had been. Like a dying man clutching a vial of holy water, he had clutched at magic when the logic of existence had proved untenable. Now the frail linkages of that magic had been dissolved, and nothing supported him— he was falling through the dark zones of the war, waiting to be snatched by one of its monsters.
"The End of Life as We Know It" (1985) - Lisa and Richard travel to Guatemala City, Mexico in an attempt to save their troubled marriage. While trying to face the reality of their disintegrating relationship, they encounter a strange, unwashed and eccentric expat named Dowdy who claims to have given up a programming career in Silicon Valley to become apprentice to a local wizard and learn his arcane wisdom. The couple are skeptical, but out of boredom and curiosity they decide to meet with the old mystic with unexpected results. This is what he tells them:
The world is not one but many. Thousands upon thousands of worlds. Even those who do not have the power of clear sight can perceive this if they consider the myriad realities of the world they do see. It’s easiest to imagine the thousands of worlds as different-colored lights all focused on a single point, having varying degrees of effectiveness as to how much part they play in determining’ the character of that point. What’s happenin’ now is that the strongest light— the one most responsible for determining’ this character— is startin’ to fade and another is startin’ to shine bright and dominate. When it has gained dominance, the old age will end and the new begin.
"A Traveler's Tale" (1984) - This is a another story set in a squalid island town off the coast of Honduras. An older retired American expat meets a younger man named Ray. They exchange stories about the strange lights of the Burying Ground and the history of the island. During the course of the story we learn a lot about various types of travelers, with a surprising turn of events in the second half that I don’t want to spoil. Shepard has some great descriptions of expats and how they work. Clearly he is drawing from his own rich travel experiences and it shows:
Ray’s type, however, was of a more contemporary variety; he was one of those child-men who are to be found wandering the sunstruck ends of the earth, always seeming to be headed toward some rumored paradise, a beach said to be unspoiled, where they hope to achieve . . . something, the realization of a half-formed ambition whose criteria of peace and purity are so high as to guarantee failure. Travelers, they call themselves, and in truth, travel is their only area of expertise. They know the cheapest restaurant in Belize City, how to sleep for free on Buttermilk Key, the best sandal maker in Panajachel; they have languished in Mexican jails, contracted dysentery while hiking through the wilds of Olancho, and been run out of various towns for drug abuse or lack of funds. But despite their knowledge and experience, they are curiously empty young men, methodical and unexcitable, possessing personalities that have been carefully edited to give the least effrontery to the widest spectrum of the populace.
"Mengele" (1984) - This is a dark and twisted tale about an encounter in the Paraguayan jungle of a former Vietnam aerial pilot who crashes and wakes to find himself in a hidden compound run by none other than an ancient but still living Josef Mengele. The buildings are decorated all in classic Nazi style but Mengele seems strangely forthright about his identity. The staff have a strange, deformed manner, recalling forcefully H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau. Mingele explains his story thus:
I had never seen myself as an evil man. Only a committed one. And now the focus of my commitment— National Socialism— had failed. It was inconceivable to me, though, that the principles underlying it had failed, and I came to the conclusion that the failure could probably be laid to a misapprehension of those principles. Things had happened too fast for us. We had always been in a hurry, overborne by the needs of the country; we had been too pressured to act coherently, and the movement had become less a religion than a church. Empty, pompous ritual had taken the place of contemplated action. But now I had no pressure and all the time in the world, and I set out to understand the nature of evil.
The conclusion of the story is surreal and ominous. To be honest I didn’t fully understand it, but suffice to say that the main character recognizes something wrong in the world that conforms to the ideas of this evil man.
"The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule" (1984) - This is one of Shepard’s most famous stories, and the most clear homage to the legendary Latin American magic realists Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is difficult to do justice to it with a mere description, so perhaps the opening paragraphs are more instructive:
IN 1853, IN A COUNTRY FAR TO THE SOUTH, in a world separated from this one by the thinnest margin of possibility, a dragon named Griaule dominated the region of the Carbonales Valley, a fertile area centering upon the town of Teosinte and renowned for its production of silver, mahogany, and indigo. There were other dragons in those days, most dwelling on the rocky islands west of Patagonia— tiny, irascible creatures, the largest of them no bigger than a swallow. But Griaule was one of the great Beasts who had ruled an age. Over the centuries he had grown to stand 750 feet high at the midback, and from the tip of his tail to his nose he was six thousand feet long. (It should be noted here that the growth of dragons was due not to caloric intake, but to the absorption of energy derived from the passage of time.)
Had it not been for a miscast spell, Griaule would have died millennia before. The wizard entrusted with the task of slaying him— knowing his own life would be forfeited as a result of the magical backwash— had experienced a last-second twinge of fear, and, diminished by this ounce of courage, the spell had flown a mortal inch awry. Though the wizard’s whereabouts was unknown, Griaule had remained alive. His heart had stopped, his breath stilled, but his mind continued to seethe, to send forth the gloomy vibrations that enslaved all who stayed for long within range of his influence.
The story is a parable open to many interpretations, and is written very much in the style of Borges (who I am reading right now). It centers on the man Meric Cattanay and his proposal to destroy the dragon and its dark influence on the surrounding lands and people by painting its body with a wondrous mural. It pits art against a dark influence so subtle that it defies description. Meric devotes four decades to painting the dragon, going through the many vicissitudes of life, both ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments, and eventually reaches the end of his labors. It is a mysterious and ambiguous story, but well worth reading. Notably, Shepard wrote several more stories that share the same themes and framework, collected as The Dragon Griaule (2013) by Subterranean Press.
"A Spanish Lesson" (1985) - This is definitely an unusual story with a fantastical twist much like “A Traveler’s Tale”. It is the story of a young traveling expat who settles in a small Mediterranean fishing village that has an enclave of bohemian foreigners who spend much of their time taking and dealing drugs, dabbling in novels and poetry, and feeling superior to the surrounding locals. One day a very strange young pair of twins, blond, frail, and awkward, show up in their village and start to disrupt the rhythms of life. Things get extremely weird when the narrator finds a secret diary entry by the twins that reads as follows. That’s all the teaser I will provide.
The Führer had been dead three days, and still no one had ventured into the office where he had been exposed to the poisoned blooms, although a servant had crawled along the ledge to the window and returned with the news that the corpse was stiffened in its leather tunic, its cheeks bristling with a dead man’s growth, and strings of desiccated blood were hanging from its chin. But as we well remembered his habit of reviving the dead for a final bout of torture, we were afraid that he might have set an igniter in his cells to ensure rebirth, and so we waited while the wine in his goblet turned to vinegar and then to a murky gas that hid him from our view. Nothing had changed. The garden of hydrophobic roses fertilized with his blood continued to lash and slather, and the hieroglyphs of his shadow selves could be seen patrolling the streets. . .
September 17, 2021
Relatos cortos, cercanos al realismo mágico, muy originales y llenos de fuerza y lirismo, con unos personajes en conflicto consigo mismos que deben hacer frente a fuerzas externas sobrenaturales.
La ambientación refleja la vida viajera y aventurera del autor, ambientando mayormente sus relatos en lugares exóticos, como selvas en Sudamérica o Katmandú.
En la edición española el original de este título se dividió en dos libros: "El cazador de jaguares" y "El hombre que pintó al dragón Griaule". Yo tengo el primero.
Título de los relatos:
El cazador de jaguares, La noche del Bhairab blanco, El Salvador, Cómo habló el viento en Madaket, Coral negro, Los ojos de Solitario.
El que más me gustó fue El cazador de jaguares.
Una lectura muy recomendable.
La ambientación refleja la vida viajera y aventurera del autor, ambientando mayormente sus relatos en lugares exóticos, como selvas en Sudamérica o Katmandú.
En la edición española el original de este título se dividió en dos libros: "El cazador de jaguares" y "El hombre que pintó al dragón Griaule". Yo tengo el primero.
Título de los relatos:
El cazador de jaguares, La noche del Bhairab blanco, El Salvador, Cómo habló el viento en Madaket, Coral negro, Los ojos de Solitario.
El que más me gustó fue El cazador de jaguares.
Una lectura muy recomendable.
March 29, 2014
It was great that Arkham house published Mr. Shepard. This book came out the same year as "Life During Wartime" and a year after "Green Eyes". The man had magic in his writing, and was able to convey it to his audience. This is a great compilation of his stories.
January 21, 2014
Lucius Shepard no es un autor que se prodigue en exceso, y menos en las letras españolas. En español tiene traducidas tres novelas y dos antologías de relatos, que en realidad es una sola. Shepard es un escritor con una gran imaginación y un rico estilo narrativo, claro y directo. La mayoría de historias de Shepard están enfocadas desde el realismo mágico. Sus narraciones parten de conflictos psicológicos y morales, en oposición a fuerzas externas, tales como extraterrestres, tecnología o hechizos, más comunes en la ciencia ficción y la fantasía. La mayoría de sus relatos están ambientados en selvas de Sudamérica, Asia Oriental y el Caribe, donde los protagonistas, norteamericanos, deben hacer frente a la cultura y misterios del lugar.
‘The Jaguar Hunter’ (1987), antología que ganó el World Fantasy Award en 1988, se publicó en español dividido en dos volúmenes,’El cazador de jaguares’ y ‘El hombre que pintó al dragrón Griaule’. Estos son los relatos incluidos en este último:
Delta Dulce Miel (****). En la Guerra de Vietman, Randall, encargado de la emisora local, recibe extrañas emisiones. Muy buen relato, sobre todo en cuanto a ambientación y desenlace.
El ejercicio de la fe (****). El reverendo de una parroquia es capaz de ver y sentir todos los pecados de sus feligreses, y actuará en consecuencia. Buen relato.
El fin de la vida tal y como la conocemos (***). Un matrimonio estadounidense, de viaje por Guatemala, recibe unas revelaciones místicas que cambiarán su visión del universo. Buen relato.
La historia de una viajera (*****). Ambientada en la isla de Guanoja Menor, el vagabundo Ray Milliken decide establecer un culto a una entidad alienígena, basándose en la entrada del diario de Henry Meachem, un pirata del siglo XVIII. Impresionante relato.
Mengele (****). Un piloto en apuros se ve obligado a realizar un aterrizaje de emergencia en las selvas de oeste de Paraguay. El lugar más cercano es un pueblo dominado por un anciano de infausto pasado. Gran relato.
El hombre que pintó al dragón Griaule (*****). El joven artista Meric Cattanay se propone hacer lo que nadie ha logrado: matar al dragón Griaule, de más de un kilómetro de longitud, que permanece comatoso debido a un hechizo, haciendo uso de sus pinturas. Imprescindible.
Una lección española (*****). Es 1964, y Lucius, un joven e inexperto estadounidense, permanece vagando por las costas de Málaga, buscando mejorar su estado en la comunidad de expatriados. Al poco, se hará amigo de unos recién llegados, una pareja de mellizos, hermano y hermana, de extraño aspecto, cuyo lugar de origen guarda grandes secretos. Otro relato impresionante.
‘The Jaguar Hunter’ (1987), antología que ganó el World Fantasy Award en 1988, se publicó en español dividido en dos volúmenes,’El cazador de jaguares’ y ‘El hombre que pintó al dragrón Griaule’. Estos son los relatos incluidos en este último:
Delta Dulce Miel (****). En la Guerra de Vietman, Randall, encargado de la emisora local, recibe extrañas emisiones. Muy buen relato, sobre todo en cuanto a ambientación y desenlace.
El ejercicio de la fe (****). El reverendo de una parroquia es capaz de ver y sentir todos los pecados de sus feligreses, y actuará en consecuencia. Buen relato.
El fin de la vida tal y como la conocemos (***). Un matrimonio estadounidense, de viaje por Guatemala, recibe unas revelaciones místicas que cambiarán su visión del universo. Buen relato.
La historia de una viajera (*****). Ambientada en la isla de Guanoja Menor, el vagabundo Ray Milliken decide establecer un culto a una entidad alienígena, basándose en la entrada del diario de Henry Meachem, un pirata del siglo XVIII. Impresionante relato.
Mengele (****). Un piloto en apuros se ve obligado a realizar un aterrizaje de emergencia en las selvas de oeste de Paraguay. El lugar más cercano es un pueblo dominado por un anciano de infausto pasado. Gran relato.
El hombre que pintó al dragón Griaule (*****). El joven artista Meric Cattanay se propone hacer lo que nadie ha logrado: matar al dragón Griaule, de más de un kilómetro de longitud, que permanece comatoso debido a un hechizo, haciendo uso de sus pinturas. Imprescindible.
Una lección española (*****). Es 1964, y Lucius, un joven e inexperto estadounidense, permanece vagando por las costas de Málaga, buscando mejorar su estado en la comunidad de expatriados. Al poco, se hará amigo de unos recién llegados, una pareja de mellizos, hermano y hermana, de extraño aspecto, cuyo lugar de origen guarda grandes secretos. Otro relato impresionante.
April 22, 2008
I tried to read this collection before and loved the first two stories but not the third and gave up on the fourth. Not sure why I picked it up again but I read the novella “R&R” first and then had to read everything else in the book. “R&R” is the best novella I have read in recent times, a masterpiece like “Heart of Darkness” and “Death in Venice”; this one has it all, beautiful surreal prose, a vision of a future war that comments on Vietnam and our involvement in Guatemala and reads like Philip K. Dick vision (a war fought with psychics &drugs), stories within stories, demons and spirits, wild children, dark humor, an all around masterpiece. “The man who painted the Dragon Griaule” seems to me a forebear of the type of work Jeff Vandermeer and China Mieville have written in recent years and fans of them should read it. The rest of the book is a mix of pulpy content (other dimensions, ghosts, trapped aliens, brujos, drug visions, Nazis) mixed with great prose and character writing and as much potential for cheese as there seems to be in these stories they veer away from that and have the tone of surreal menace. Absolutely great collection…Shepard has finally won me over.
February 24, 2024
I only read The Jaguar Hunter, the titular short story in this collection, for my short story club. The others will have to wait.
The Jaguar Hunter is a nice story about materialism and greed overtaking the spiritual and natural world. It blends modernity with mythology, sort of like the many Celtic run-ins you see so often of nymphs and faeries, but based—probably, and refreshingly—on the Tsunki of Central America. Our main character is tasked with killing a jaguar in order to pay off his wife's impulsive purchase of a television set. While on the hunt, he confronts his spiritual side, one passed down to him from his ancestors, in the form of a beautiful shamanistic spirit woman.
There was some particularly good imagery, such as the way he described his wife and her friends watching TV.
More importantly, the story of The Jaguar Hunter forces you, face to face, with a the deep philosophical question about man's relationship to nature, one that has plagued us from the first moments of upright walk: if a panther were hot, would you boink it?
The Jaguar Hunter is a nice story about materialism and greed overtaking the spiritual and natural world. It blends modernity with mythology, sort of like the many Celtic run-ins you see so often of nymphs and faeries, but based—probably, and refreshingly—on the Tsunki of Central America. Our main character is tasked with killing a jaguar in order to pay off his wife's impulsive purchase of a television set. While on the hunt, he confronts his spiritual side, one passed down to him from his ancestors, in the form of a beautiful shamanistic spirit woman.
There was some particularly good imagery, such as the way he described his wife and her friends watching TV.
it seemed his home had been invaded by a covey of large black birds with cowled heads, who were receiving evil instruction from the core of a flickering gray jewel.
More importantly, the story of The Jaguar Hunter forces you, face to face, with a the deep philosophical question about man's relationship to nature, one that has plagued us from the first moments of upright walk: if a panther were hot, would you boink it?
April 16, 2016
-La cotidianidad íntima de lo fantástico.-
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. Recopilación de relatos del autor, casi todos publicados previamente en The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. El original se dividió en dos libros para la edición en español, por lo que los contenidos de este volumen se complementan con los de “El hombre que pintó al dragón Griaule”, del que ya hablaremos por aquí.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com....
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. Recopilación de relatos del autor, casi todos publicados previamente en The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. El original se dividió en dos libros para la edición en español, por lo que los contenidos de este volumen se complementan con los de “El hombre que pintó al dragón Griaule”, del que ya hablaremos por aquí.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com....
July 24, 2023
Una prosa cautivante que se desenvuelve con soltura entre los diferentes escenarios y condiciones a las que se ven sometidos sus protagonistas, desde extremas soledades a situaciones con altas dosis de violencia subyacente. Curiosamente me gustaron más aquellos cuentos sutiles y sensuales, melancólicos, lectura ideal para escapar del tedio urbano de cada día.
Acá mis favoritos:
"El cazador de jaguares": Bella historia de amor, magia y ambiciones en un paradisiaco escenario, el que más me ha gustado.
"El Salvador": sobre la locura de la guerra, un relato impetuoso y actual para los tiempos que corren.
"Como habló el viento en Madaket": el más largo, frío al empezar pero que de a poco resulta en un horror de lo más convincente, uno de los mejores relatos sobre vientos terroríficos que he leído.
"Los ojos de Solitario": regresamos al escenario del primer cuento, más oscuro y triste, pero igual de potente y bien escrito.
Satisfactoria primera mitad de la antología original, dan ganas de leer esa segunda parte.
Acá mis favoritos:
"El cazador de jaguares": Bella historia de amor, magia y ambiciones en un paradisiaco escenario, el que más me ha gustado.
"El Salvador": sobre la locura de la guerra, un relato impetuoso y actual para los tiempos que corren.
"Como habló el viento en Madaket": el más largo, frío al empezar pero que de a poco resulta en un horror de lo más convincente, uno de los mejores relatos sobre vientos terroríficos que he leído.
"Los ojos de Solitario": regresamos al escenario del primer cuento, más oscuro y triste, pero igual de potente y bien escrito.
Satisfactoria primera mitad de la antología original, dan ganas de leer esa segunda parte.
January 12, 2017
Lucius Shepard desi este vazut ca un scriitor de science fiction si fantasy, mai construieste deseori si alte lucrari ce apartin unui realism magic, multe dintre aceste povestiri fiind inchinate misterului si supranaturalului, cum este cazul si antologiei de fata. Prima povestire a aparut in 1983 iar primul sau roman, “Green Eyes” in 1984.
In 1985 a castigat John W. Campbell Award pentru cel mai bun debutant, urmat imediat in 1986 de premiul Nebula pentru nuvela sa “R&R” si in 1993 a castigat premiul Hugo pentru nuvela “Barnacle Bill the Spacer“.
In 2008 a recidivat si, listei lungi de premii despre care mai puteti afla si din foia de prezentare aflata la inceputul antologiei, i se adauga si premiul International Horror Guild la categoria Long Fiction pentru romanul “Softspoken” si premiul la categoria Culegeri de fictiune, cu “Dagger Key and Other Stories“, dupa cum am anuntat si anterior.
Jaguar Hunter a fost publicat pentru prima data in 1987 la editura Arkham House castigand in 1988 premiul World Fantasy Award pentru Cea mai Buna Colectie.
Povestile reunite in acest volum au aparut de-a lungul timpului in diverse reviste ca, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Universe si The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. In antologia de fata sunt cuprinse o serie de 12 povestiri cu teme care mai de care mai variate, insa in toate se reintalneste necunoscutul si misterul ca principale obsesii ale scriitorului, fraza prezentand o anumita poezie a intamplarilor si imaginilor, aducandu-mi aminte in unele momente de K.J. Bishop, daca ar fi sa fac o paralela.
Nu poti sa nu remarci abundenta intamplarilor in care se face referire la razboiul din Vietnam, sau chiar daca nu este aleasa aceasta locatie, orice alt razboi, planurile construindu-se atat pe scheletul unor intamplari fantastice cu radacini in scrierile lui Lovecraft cat si pe trairile interioare si framantarile personajelor confruntate cu ororile razboiului si diverse alte situatii limita.
Cu alte cuvinte se poate observa o puternica amprenta psihologica aplicata povestirilor sale, angoasa, nelinistea si uneori nebunia constituind adevarat puncte de reper si de inspiratie pentru scriitor, gravitand cu insistenta in conturarea diverselor caractere si personalitati ce-i populeaza si condimenteaza povestirile.
Una din povestirile ce mi-a placut in mod special a fost, “Cum glasuia vantul la Madaket“, ce impresioneaza prin forta si migala imaginiilor, tema abordata inlantuindu-se in jurul acestor constante cu fermitate, intr-un tablou de o gravitate sfarsaietoare. Totusi, daca povestirea are toate sansele sa tina in priza un cititor si sa-l conecteze cu succes la firul ei, finalul m-a lasat un pic frustrat deoarece contrazice intreaga idee si sentimentele consumate pentru a se ajunge acolo, antrenand un registru larg de resurse ce culmineaza cu sacrificiul suprem. Insa, probabil, frustrarea a venit tocmai din corespondenta cu realitatea a acestei evolutii, asemanatoare foarte mult cu natura umana, schimbatoare si capricioasa prin definitie, nemultumita mai mereu de statut si aspirand tot mai sus.
Povestirea mi-a adus aminte de filmul “Birds” regizat de Alfred Hitchcock, evocand cu acelasi succes, de aceasta data in scris, lipsit de forta aportului vizual, imaginea unui oras si a locuitorilor sai aflati sub asediul supranaturalului de obarsie necunoscuta, insa malefic prin actiunile sale.
“Omul care a pictat dragonul Griaule” dovedeste ca autorul poate scrie si fantasy, schimband cu usurinta registrul literar si obtinand un tablou descriptional desprins parca din Ambergris-ul lui VanderMeer prin puterea si stranietatea imaginilor oferite.
Totusi nici celelalte povestiri nu sunt de ratat, diversitatea ideilor abordate oferind marturie pentru capacitatile literare deosebite ale scriitorului, ce nu pierde niciun prilej de a oferi crampeie din propria viziune asupra lumii si motivatiilor din spatele actiunilor umane, poleite de evenimente si fapturi cu radacini bine ancorate in necunoscut.
Toate bune si frumoase, insa ( bine ca mi-am amintit) povestirea “Permisia” a abuzat cam tare de rabdarea mea, gasind-o prea lunga si alambicata pentru gustul meu, autorul schimband perspectivele chiar cand nu te astepti, iar cand ai presupune ca ar urma sa se intample ceva, vezi sa nu, rezulta un amalgam destul de spinos.
Despre “Radiant Green Star“, ultima povestire, adaugata ulterior antologiei de autor si castigatoare a premiului Locus in 2001, pot spune ca a fost o lectura usurica si placuta, cu nu prea multe elemente de sf, insa suficiente probabil cat sa-i aduca premiul respectiv, intriga fiind punctul forte in acest scenariu.
Si de aceasta data mi-a placut, ca desi are in jur de 800 de pagini, cartea nu s-a uzat vizibil, pastrandu-se proaspata si in forma pentru locul din biblioteca.
Cred ca iubitorii scrieriilor lui Lovecraft, Sturgeon, poate si o parte a fanilor curentului New Weird, alaturi de cei ce gasesc placere in deslusirea misterelor ce ne incojoara, pot gasi in cartea de fata o lectura placuta si agreabila, un adevarat punct de pornire spre cunoasterea scrierilor lui Lucius Shepard.
http://www.cititorsf.ro/2008/11/03/va...
In 1985 a castigat John W. Campbell Award pentru cel mai bun debutant, urmat imediat in 1986 de premiul Nebula pentru nuvela sa “R&R” si in 1993 a castigat premiul Hugo pentru nuvela “Barnacle Bill the Spacer“.
In 2008 a recidivat si, listei lungi de premii despre care mai puteti afla si din foia de prezentare aflata la inceputul antologiei, i se adauga si premiul International Horror Guild la categoria Long Fiction pentru romanul “Softspoken” si premiul la categoria Culegeri de fictiune, cu “Dagger Key and Other Stories“, dupa cum am anuntat si anterior.
Jaguar Hunter a fost publicat pentru prima data in 1987 la editura Arkham House castigand in 1988 premiul World Fantasy Award pentru Cea mai Buna Colectie.
Povestile reunite in acest volum au aparut de-a lungul timpului in diverse reviste ca, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Universe si The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. In antologia de fata sunt cuprinse o serie de 12 povestiri cu teme care mai de care mai variate, insa in toate se reintalneste necunoscutul si misterul ca principale obsesii ale scriitorului, fraza prezentand o anumita poezie a intamplarilor si imaginilor, aducandu-mi aminte in unele momente de K.J. Bishop, daca ar fi sa fac o paralela.
Nu poti sa nu remarci abundenta intamplarilor in care se face referire la razboiul din Vietnam, sau chiar daca nu este aleasa aceasta locatie, orice alt razboi, planurile construindu-se atat pe scheletul unor intamplari fantastice cu radacini in scrierile lui Lovecraft cat si pe trairile interioare si framantarile personajelor confruntate cu ororile razboiului si diverse alte situatii limita.
Cu alte cuvinte se poate observa o puternica amprenta psihologica aplicata povestirilor sale, angoasa, nelinistea si uneori nebunia constituind adevarat puncte de reper si de inspiratie pentru scriitor, gravitand cu insistenta in conturarea diverselor caractere si personalitati ce-i populeaza si condimenteaza povestirile.
Una din povestirile ce mi-a placut in mod special a fost, “Cum glasuia vantul la Madaket“, ce impresioneaza prin forta si migala imaginiilor, tema abordata inlantuindu-se in jurul acestor constante cu fermitate, intr-un tablou de o gravitate sfarsaietoare. Totusi, daca povestirea are toate sansele sa tina in priza un cititor si sa-l conecteze cu succes la firul ei, finalul m-a lasat un pic frustrat deoarece contrazice intreaga idee si sentimentele consumate pentru a se ajunge acolo, antrenand un registru larg de resurse ce culmineaza cu sacrificiul suprem. Insa, probabil, frustrarea a venit tocmai din corespondenta cu realitatea a acestei evolutii, asemanatoare foarte mult cu natura umana, schimbatoare si capricioasa prin definitie, nemultumita mai mereu de statut si aspirand tot mai sus.
Povestirea mi-a adus aminte de filmul “Birds” regizat de Alfred Hitchcock, evocand cu acelasi succes, de aceasta data in scris, lipsit de forta aportului vizual, imaginea unui oras si a locuitorilor sai aflati sub asediul supranaturalului de obarsie necunoscuta, insa malefic prin actiunile sale.
“Omul care a pictat dragonul Griaule” dovedeste ca autorul poate scrie si fantasy, schimband cu usurinta registrul literar si obtinand un tablou descriptional desprins parca din Ambergris-ul lui VanderMeer prin puterea si stranietatea imaginilor oferite.
Totusi nici celelalte povestiri nu sunt de ratat, diversitatea ideilor abordate oferind marturie pentru capacitatile literare deosebite ale scriitorului, ce nu pierde niciun prilej de a oferi crampeie din propria viziune asupra lumii si motivatiilor din spatele actiunilor umane, poleite de evenimente si fapturi cu radacini bine ancorate in necunoscut.
Toate bune si frumoase, insa ( bine ca mi-am amintit) povestirea “Permisia” a abuzat cam tare de rabdarea mea, gasind-o prea lunga si alambicata pentru gustul meu, autorul schimband perspectivele chiar cand nu te astepti, iar cand ai presupune ca ar urma sa se intample ceva, vezi sa nu, rezulta un amalgam destul de spinos.
Despre “Radiant Green Star“, ultima povestire, adaugata ulterior antologiei de autor si castigatoare a premiului Locus in 2001, pot spune ca a fost o lectura usurica si placuta, cu nu prea multe elemente de sf, insa suficiente probabil cat sa-i aduca premiul respectiv, intriga fiind punctul forte in acest scenariu.
Si de aceasta data mi-a placut, ca desi are in jur de 800 de pagini, cartea nu s-a uzat vizibil, pastrandu-se proaspata si in forma pentru locul din biblioteca.
Cred ca iubitorii scrieriilor lui Lovecraft, Sturgeon, poate si o parte a fanilor curentului New Weird, alaturi de cei ce gasesc placere in deslusirea misterelor ce ne incojoara, pot gasi in cartea de fata o lectura placuta si agreabila, un adevarat punct de pornire spre cunoasterea scrierilor lui Lucius Shepard.
http://www.cititorsf.ro/2008/11/03/va...
May 3, 2014
R.I.P. LUCIUS SHEPARD, 1947-2014
We lost a helluva writer today. Lucius Shepard wrote some of my favorite short stories of any genre. The Jaguar Hunter was particularly enjoyable, as was Life During Wartime.
He was an email pal for awhile, too, back in the early internet days. I'm shocked and sad that he's gone.
Thanks, Lucius!
You were a trip, man.
We lost a helluva writer today. Lucius Shepard wrote some of my favorite short stories of any genre. The Jaguar Hunter was particularly enjoyable, as was Life During Wartime.
He was an email pal for awhile, too, back in the early internet days. I'm shocked and sad that he's gone.
Thanks, Lucius!
You were a trip, man.
August 18, 2020
We begin to justify our casual overview of pain and suffering by portraying ourselves as do-gooders incapacitated by the inexorable forces of poverty, famine, and war.
I have tried to be as varied as possible during our quarantine. I must admit a dep disappointment with these stories. The first collection of Shepherd's that I encountered well over 15 years ago really affected me with their weird, almost gothic approach to the destruction of the World Trade Center and the subsequent War on Terror. I haven't found anything since which approximated that effect.
Salvador and R&R both capture that 1980s arrogance in our unrealized war for the hearts and minds of Central America. The other stories feature exotic locales a smattering of sex and an encounter with menace. I just wanted more.
2.5 stars
I have tried to be as varied as possible during our quarantine. I must admit a dep disappointment with these stories. The first collection of Shepherd's that I encountered well over 15 years ago really affected me with their weird, almost gothic approach to the destruction of the World Trade Center and the subsequent War on Terror. I haven't found anything since which approximated that effect.
Salvador and R&R both capture that 1980s arrogance in our unrealized war for the hearts and minds of Central America. The other stories feature exotic locales a smattering of sex and an encounter with menace. I just wanted more.
2.5 stars
April 21, 2012
Every single one of the stories in this collection is amazing in a different way – just as I thought there couldn't be a story better than the one I just read, one came along. The stories covered a massive spectrum of ideas – nazi doctors, alternate dimensions, wind spirits, aliens, futuristic war, drugs, etc., but the ideas are just the beginning, as Shepard uses them to delve into current affairs, the human soul, and other things that make the stories mere outlets. If you like your stories hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and, as another author once said about his own story, "weeping while they laugh," you will a collection like this came along more often.
May 31, 2022
An unexpectedly enjoyable collection of stories flavored with folklore, supernatural intrusions, and science fiction themes, each set in some different far-flung rural locale. Most felt very original and all were well paced and easy to read. I didn't, however, appreciate the author's sweaty 70s eroticism; his sensual palette for describing sex encounters includes ALL 5 senses: sight, sounds, feel, and, oh yeah Baby, smell and taste.
July 26, 2016
Most of these stories are very Shepard, down to the overuse of "as if" in description.
After the author's passing, as my personal observance I started to read the stories I wasn't already familiar with.
Even if the stories are nothing if not creative and the plots are very different, the stories are similar and idiosyncratic enough that I didn't feel like reading them one after another so finishing the collection took me some time.
There are awesome visions which sometimes irrupt in those stories... and sometimes plain off-the-wall insane stuff. But as a whole, I don't think they're nearly as good as R&R (see Life During Wartime) or even The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule. Some of these stories are too slow for my taste. Most of them are at least intriguing and some are remarkable for managing to remain grounded in spite of their weirdness.
While there are some ugly characters in there, Shepard isn't a one-note writer in that respect and there are some exceptions.
I guess I agree with conventional wisdom rating Salvador and the titular story pretty high (as well as Griaule) but it's only the inclusion of R&R that makes it a great collection really.
A Spanish Lesson has a quotable passage which I thought served well as a coda of sorts to Shepard's work. I had added it as a quote but it was deleted for some reason. So here's the first part that someone else has added: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1490...
And now the second: "In adopting this attitude we delimit the possibilities for action by letting events progress to a point at which, indeed, action becomes impossible, at which we can righteously say that nothing can be done. And so we are born, we breed, we are happy, we are sad, we deal with consequential problems of our own, we have cancer or a car crash, and in the end our actions prove insignificant. Some will tell you that to feel guilt or remorse over the vast inaction of our society is utter foolishness; life, they insist, is patently unfair, and all anyone can do is to look out for his own interest. Perhaps they are right; perhaps we are so mired in our self-conceptions that we can change nothing. Perhaps this is the way of the world. But, for the sake of my soul and because I no longer wish to hide my sins behind a guise of mortal incapacity, I tell you it is not."
After the author's passing, as my personal observance I started to read the stories I wasn't already familiar with.
Even if the stories are nothing if not creative and the plots are very different, the stories are similar and idiosyncratic enough that I didn't feel like reading them one after another so finishing the collection took me some time.
There are awesome visions which sometimes irrupt in those stories... and sometimes plain off-the-wall insane stuff. But as a whole, I don't think they're nearly as good as R&R (see Life During Wartime) or even The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule. Some of these stories are too slow for my taste. Most of them are at least intriguing and some are remarkable for managing to remain grounded in spite of their weirdness.
While there are some ugly characters in there, Shepard isn't a one-note writer in that respect and there are some exceptions.
I guess I agree with conventional wisdom rating Salvador and the titular story pretty high (as well as Griaule) but it's only the inclusion of R&R that makes it a great collection really.
A Spanish Lesson has a quotable passage which I thought served well as a coda of sorts to Shepard's work. I had added it as a quote but it was deleted for some reason. So here's the first part that someone else has added: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1490...
And now the second: "In adopting this attitude we delimit the possibilities for action by letting events progress to a point at which, indeed, action becomes impossible, at which we can righteously say that nothing can be done. And so we are born, we breed, we are happy, we are sad, we deal with consequential problems of our own, we have cancer or a car crash, and in the end our actions prove insignificant. Some will tell you that to feel guilt or remorse over the vast inaction of our society is utter foolishness; life, they insist, is patently unfair, and all anyone can do is to look out for his own interest. Perhaps they are right; perhaps we are so mired in our self-conceptions that we can change nothing. Perhaps this is the way of the world. But, for the sake of my soul and because I no longer wish to hide my sins behind a guise of mortal incapacity, I tell you it is not."
October 27, 2014
Tengo que reconocer que cuando me encontré este libro en una tienda de segunda mano a un precio irrisorio no conocía al autor, y si lo compré fue porque había ganado un premio y me interesó la temática de algunos relatos, no pensé que me iba a gustar tanto.
Ya ha pasado tiempo desde que Lucius Shepard ganó el premio World Fantasy de 1988 junto a la obra "El cazador de jaguares" y creo que es un escritor casi desconocido en nuestro país.
No me voy a detener en cada relato, creo que hay otros usuarios que han hecho una buena sinopsis de cada uno de ellos y una acertada crítica. Si tengo que destacar alguno sería, por supuesto, el que da título al libro, es un relato imprescindible, una auténtica joya, otro a destacar es "Historia de una viajera" o el impresionante "Una lección española".
Pero creo que todos los relatos son muy buenos. Este es un libro que nunca quieres que se acabe, de los que disfrutas cada palabra. Ahora me toca leer en cuanto pueda la otra parte de la antología: "El cazador de jaguares" y creo que no me va a decepcionar.
Recomendable al 100%
Ya ha pasado tiempo desde que Lucius Shepard ganó el premio World Fantasy de 1988 junto a la obra "El cazador de jaguares" y creo que es un escritor casi desconocido en nuestro país.
No me voy a detener en cada relato, creo que hay otros usuarios que han hecho una buena sinopsis de cada uno de ellos y una acertada crítica. Si tengo que destacar alguno sería, por supuesto, el que da título al libro, es un relato imprescindible, una auténtica joya, otro a destacar es "Historia de una viajera" o el impresionante "Una lección española".
Pero creo que todos los relatos son muy buenos. Este es un libro que nunca quieres que se acabe, de los que disfrutas cada palabra. Ahora me toca leer en cuanto pueda la otra parte de la antología: "El cazador de jaguares" y creo que no me va a decepcionar.
Recomendable al 100%
May 16, 2008
This was an excellent collections of short stories with a slight sci-fi or fantasy twinge that ook place in lots of exotic locales. The author moralizes about the decay of the human soul, a bit much, without offering a solution, even a trite one. But each of the stories were inventive and intriguing.
August 17, 2017
Read five stories - had enough. If you can't create a gripping story without invoking the supernatural you're not much of a writer. This is your typical college drop-out/pothead fantasy world. Unoriginal and boring.
January 6, 2024
[2nd reading]
Read
June 16, 2024The Jaguar Hunter by Lucius Shepard: Extended Summary
"The Jaguar Hunter," a novella by Lucius Shepard, is a masterful blend of magical realism, adventure, and socio-political commentary. The story is set in a fictional Latin American country, capturing the lush, vibrant yet dangerous essence of the jungle and the complex interplay between modernity and tradition.
Plot Summary:
The protagonist, Esteban Caax, is a skilled and revered jaguar hunter living in a small village on the edge of the rainforest. Despite his reputation, Esteban has retired from hunting, choosing instead to lead a peaceful life with his wife, Miranda. His deep connection with the jungle and its creatures, particularly the jaguars, symbolizes his respect for nature and the old ways of life.
Esteban's life takes a turn when Miranda purchases a television on credit from a local merchant named Onofrio. Unable to pay the debt, Esteban is coerced by Onofrio into hunting and killing a legendary jaguar known as El Patrón, believed to be a spirit or a god by the villagers. This jaguar has been terrorizing the nearby plantations, and its pelt promises to fetch a high price. Onofrio's proposition forces Esteban to confront his past and the mystical ties he shares with the jungle and its spirits.
Reluctantly, Esteban agrees to the hunt to clear the debt and protect his wife. As he ventures deep into the jungle, he encounters various mystical and symbolic elements that challenge his perception of reality. The journey is not just physical but also deeply spiritual, filled with memories of his earlier life and the teachings of his ancestors. The jungle becomes a character in its own right, teeming with life, danger, and magic.
Esteban's pursuit of El Patrón brings him face-to-face with the essence of his own identity and the cultural heritage he has tried to leave behind. The jaguar, embodying the spirit of the jungle, becomes a mirror to Esteban's soul, reflecting his fears, his strength, and his connection to the natural world. The hunt is portrayed not as a battle of man against beast but as a confrontation between modern encroachments and ancient traditions.
The climax of the story occurs when Esteban finally encounters El Patrón. Instead of killing the jaguar, he experiences a profound moment of understanding and connection. He realizes that El Patrón is not just an animal but a manifestation of the jungle's spirit and the ancestral spirits of his people. This epiphany leads Esteban to question the morality and purpose of his actions, ultimately deciding to spare the jaguar.
In sparing El Patrón, Esteban rejects the destructive forces of modernization and materialism represented by Onofrio and the plantations. He embraces his true identity and the wisdom of his ancestors, symbolized by his respect for the jaguar and the jungle. This decision brings a sense of inner peace and fulfillment, reconnecting him with the natural world and his cultural heritage.
Themes and Analysis:
"The Jaguar Hunter" delves into several significant themes:
Tradition vs. Modernity: The story explores the tension between traditional ways of life and the encroachment of modernity. Esteban's struggle reflects the broader conflict faced by indigenous cultures in the face of globalization and industrialization.
Nature and Spirituality: The novella emphasizes the deep spiritual connection between humans and nature. Esteban's relationship with the jaguar symbolizes the harmony that can exist between man and the natural world when respect and understanding prevail.
Identity and Heritage: Esteban's journey is also one of self-discovery. By confronting the jaguar, he reconnects with his roots and acknowledges the importance of preserving cultural heritage in a rapidly changing world.
Materialism and Exploitation: Onofrio and the plantations represent the exploitative forces of capitalism, seeking to commodify and destroy the natural world for profit. Esteban's resistance symbolizes a stand against these destructive practices.
Lucius Shepard's rich, descriptive prose brings the jungle to life, immersing readers in a world where the boundaries between reality and the supernatural blur. "The Jaguar Hunter" is a poignant and thought-provoking tale, blending adventure with profound philosophical reflections on life, nature, and the enduring power of tradition.
October 5, 2024
Mi nota es 7/10.
El cazador de jaguares es una obra que combina elementos de la ciencia ficción con una narrativa profundamente poética y evocadora. Lucius Shepard nos transporta a un mundo lleno de matices, donde la selva y el misterio de lo desconocido se entrelazan para crear una experiencia de lectura inolvidable.
La historia sigue a un cazador de jaguares que, en su búsqueda de la presa más majestuosa de la selva, se encuentra con una realidad que va más allá de la mera caza. La prosa de Shepard es rica y detallada, lo que permite al lector visualizar vívidamente la exuberante y a menudo opresiva jungla. Su estilo evocador sumerge al lector en un paisaje vibrante y lleno de vida, donde cada detalle cobra importancia.
Uno de los aspectos más fascinantes de la obra es cómo Shepard aborda temas como la naturaleza, la soledad y la lucha entre el hombre y la bestia. El cazador se convierte en un símbolo de la dualidad de la humanidad: por un lado, la ambición y el deseo de dominio; por otro, la conexión intrínseca con la naturaleza y la comprensión de su lugar en el mundo. Esta exploración de la condición humana es profunda y resonante, invitando a la reflexión sobre nuestras propias motivaciones y deseos.
A medida que avanza la historia, Shepard introduce elementos de realismo mágico, lo que añade una capa adicional de complejidad y fascinación a la narrativa. Las interacciones del cazador con las criaturas de la selva y sus propias luchas internas crean un ambiente de tensión que mantiene al lector intrigado.
Sin embargo, la profundidad de la prosa y la riqueza de los temas pueden hacer que la lectura sea un poco densa en ocasiones. Algunos lectores podrían sentirse abrumados por la complejidad del lenguaje y las capas de significado. No obstante, aquellos que se sumergen en la obra serán recompensados con una historia que trasciende la simple caza y explora las profundidades del alma humana.
En resumen, El cazador de jaguares es una obra cautivadora que desafía las convenciones del género y ofrece una mirada profunda y poética a la naturaleza humana. Con su rica prosa y temas resonantes, es una lectura que permanecerá con el lector mucho después de haber pasado la última página.
El cazador de jaguares es una obra que combina elementos de la ciencia ficción con una narrativa profundamente poética y evocadora. Lucius Shepard nos transporta a un mundo lleno de matices, donde la selva y el misterio de lo desconocido se entrelazan para crear una experiencia de lectura inolvidable.
La historia sigue a un cazador de jaguares que, en su búsqueda de la presa más majestuosa de la selva, se encuentra con una realidad que va más allá de la mera caza. La prosa de Shepard es rica y detallada, lo que permite al lector visualizar vívidamente la exuberante y a menudo opresiva jungla. Su estilo evocador sumerge al lector en un paisaje vibrante y lleno de vida, donde cada detalle cobra importancia.
Uno de los aspectos más fascinantes de la obra es cómo Shepard aborda temas como la naturaleza, la soledad y la lucha entre el hombre y la bestia. El cazador se convierte en un símbolo de la dualidad de la humanidad: por un lado, la ambición y el deseo de dominio; por otro, la conexión intrínseca con la naturaleza y la comprensión de su lugar en el mundo. Esta exploración de la condición humana es profunda y resonante, invitando a la reflexión sobre nuestras propias motivaciones y deseos.
A medida que avanza la historia, Shepard introduce elementos de realismo mágico, lo que añade una capa adicional de complejidad y fascinación a la narrativa. Las interacciones del cazador con las criaturas de la selva y sus propias luchas internas crean un ambiente de tensión que mantiene al lector intrigado.
Sin embargo, la profundidad de la prosa y la riqueza de los temas pueden hacer que la lectura sea un poco densa en ocasiones. Algunos lectores podrían sentirse abrumados por la complejidad del lenguaje y las capas de significado. No obstante, aquellos que se sumergen en la obra serán recompensados con una historia que trasciende la simple caza y explora las profundidades del alma humana.
En resumen, El cazador de jaguares es una obra cautivadora que desafía las convenciones del género y ofrece una mirada profunda y poética a la naturaleza humana. Con su rica prosa y temas resonantes, es una lectura que permanecerá con el lector mucho después de haber pasado la última página.
September 30, 2021
Mis relatos favoritos han sido:
"El fin de la vida tal y como la conocemos" y "El hombre que pintó al dragón Griaule".
Me gusta mucho cómo narra Lucius Shepard y la ambientación de realismo mágico.
Sin embargo, tengo bastantes problemas con su construcción de personajes femeninos (quizás se salve la protagonista de El fin de la vida tal y como la conocemos) y, sobre todo, las relaciones románticas que se dan. Sé que este libro está escrito por un hombre y hace mucho tiempo, pero en casi todos los relatos hay algún tipo de abuso sexual hacia una mujer, al que no se le da importancia (salvo en "el ejercicio de la fe", en el que el narrador no se ve a sí mismo como violador, pero debe asumir las consecuencias). Es muy difícil ignorarlo. Por ejemplo, "una lección española" hubiese sido uno de mis relatos favoritos si no hubiese incluido una escena en la que el sexo empieza sin que se haya dado consentimiento y no existe ninguna reacción o consecuencia a este acto. Lo peor no es que estén esas escenas (que ya me parece grave), sino que son completamente innecesarias. El sexo no aporta a la trama la mayoría de las veces y, cuando lo hace, debería ser consentido de principio a fin. Quizás este libro me hubiese gustado mucho más si no las incluyese, pero son difíciles de ignorar.
"El fin de la vida tal y como la conocemos" y "El hombre que pintó al dragón Griaule".
Me gusta mucho cómo narra Lucius Shepard y la ambientación de realismo mágico.
Sin embargo, tengo bastantes problemas con su construcción de personajes femeninos (quizás se salve la protagonista de El fin de la vida tal y como la conocemos) y, sobre todo, las relaciones románticas que se dan. Sé que este libro está escrito por un hombre y hace mucho tiempo, pero en casi todos los relatos hay algún tipo de abuso sexual hacia una mujer, al que no se le da importancia (salvo en "el ejercicio de la fe", en el que el narrador no se ve a sí mismo como violador, pero debe asumir las consecuencias). Es muy difícil ignorarlo. Por ejemplo, "una lección española" hubiese sido uno de mis relatos favoritos si no hubiese incluido una escena en la que el sexo empieza sin que se haya dado consentimiento y no existe ninguna reacción o consecuencia a este acto. Lo peor no es que estén esas escenas (que ya me parece grave), sino que son completamente innecesarias. El sexo no aporta a la trama la mayoría de las veces y, cuando lo hace, debería ser consentido de principio a fin. Quizás este libro me hubiese gustado mucho más si no las incluyese, pero son difíciles de ignorar.
September 1, 2023
To read THE JAGUAR HINTER, is to know Lucius Shepard, a blazing light of talent that burned out far too quickly, leaving the world with precious literary gifts, and heartache for more.
This book is a well-balanced collage of Lucius’ supreme talent and of his life, laid out in works of short fiction. Along with his vivid imagination, he drew heavily from real life adventures and travels, from his time living on Nantucket Island, captured in HOW THE WIND SPOKE AT MADAKET, to his wild exploits in Central America (THE JAGUAR HUNTER, R & R and SALVADOR).
Often Lucius’ writing feels almost autobiographical: “He had realized it was his story he wanted to tell - the woman, his loneliness, his psychic flashes, the resolution of his character…”. The main character in the last story is even named Lucius.
It is also noteworthy that this book contains the first appearance of the popular subject/“character” that makes several appearances in Lucius’ stories, including THE SCALEHUNTER’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER, absolutely colossal Dragon, Griaule.
This near perfect collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror will remain a lasting testament to a massively underrated writer. Rest in peace, my friend.
This book is a well-balanced collage of Lucius’ supreme talent and of his life, laid out in works of short fiction. Along with his vivid imagination, he drew heavily from real life adventures and travels, from his time living on Nantucket Island, captured in HOW THE WIND SPOKE AT MADAKET, to his wild exploits in Central America (THE JAGUAR HUNTER, R & R and SALVADOR).
Often Lucius’ writing feels almost autobiographical: “He had realized it was his story he wanted to tell - the woman, his loneliness, his psychic flashes, the resolution of his character…”. The main character in the last story is even named Lucius.
It is also noteworthy that this book contains the first appearance of the popular subject/“character” that makes several appearances in Lucius’ stories, including THE SCALEHUNTER’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER, absolutely colossal Dragon, Griaule.
This near perfect collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror will remain a lasting testament to a massively underrated writer. Rest in peace, my friend.
June 1, 2019
This felt more "the best of Lucius Shepard". All the stories are consistently remarkable (huh, except maybe the one about the wind, even if Hitchcock could do something with it).
"He was one of those child-men who are to be found wandering the sunstruck ends of the earth, always seeming to be headed toward some rumored paradise, a beach said to be unspoiled, where they hope to achieve . . . something, the realization of a half-formed ambition whose criteria of peace and purity are so high as to guarantee failure. Travelers, they call themselves, and in truth, travel is their only area of expertise. They know the cheapest restaurant in Belize City, how to sleep for free on Buttermilk Key, the best sandalmaker in Panajachel; they have languished in Mexican jails, contracted dysentery while hiking through the wilds of Olancho, and been run out of various towns for drug abuse or lack of funds."
"He was one of those child-men who are to be found wandering the sunstruck ends of the earth, always seeming to be headed toward some rumored paradise, a beach said to be unspoiled, where they hope to achieve . . . something, the realization of a half-formed ambition whose criteria of peace and purity are so high as to guarantee failure. Travelers, they call themselves, and in truth, travel is their only area of expertise. They know the cheapest restaurant in Belize City, how to sleep for free on Buttermilk Key, the best sandalmaker in Panajachel; they have languished in Mexican jails, contracted dysentery while hiking through the wilds of Olancho, and been run out of various towns for drug abuse or lack of funds."
February 12, 2024
Continúa la prosa elaborada que desborda emoción, angustia, deseo, manteniendo lo alcanzado en el primer volumen. Los relatos se desarrollan casi siempre en lugares extravagantes, (sobre todo uno fantástico insuperable), en ambientes de guerra, religiosos, románticos y donde casi siempre el toque fantástico aparece al final, misterio que a veces realza la historia, en otras no tanto.
Los que más me gustaron:
Delta dulce miel: sobre la locura de la guerra de Vietnam y una emisión radial fantástica. Muy bien lograda la atmósfera de angustia y sorpresa, pero creo el final pudo haber sido mejor.
La historia de una viajera: Mezcla exótica de CF y terror, atrevida y calurosa.
Mengele: inquietante y siniestro. Quizás le falte un climax pero deja pensando al final.
El hombre que pintó al dragón Griaule: una fantasía hermosa, nada más vaporoso y mágico que el medio ambiente creado en el dragón. Lo mejor del libro.
Los que más me gustaron:
Delta dulce miel: sobre la locura de la guerra de Vietnam y una emisión radial fantástica. Muy bien lograda la atmósfera de angustia y sorpresa, pero creo el final pudo haber sido mejor.
La historia de una viajera: Mezcla exótica de CF y terror, atrevida y calurosa.
Mengele: inquietante y siniestro. Quizás le falte un climax pero deja pensando al final.
El hombre que pintó al dragón Griaule: una fantasía hermosa, nada más vaporoso y mágico que el medio ambiente creado en el dragón. Lo mejor del libro.
July 28, 2017
In another review I described how some authors while writing what could be considered today as science fiction were published by houses which do not usually publish science fiction, and thus escaped the sci-fi writer brand intentionally or not (Ayn Rand, Kurt Vonnegut, etc).
It turns out the reverse also holds: there are a number of authors which I would not qualify as science fiction or fantasy who publish in specialized houses and are considered as such (Lucius Shepard, Connie Willis, etc).
This is exactly the case with this collection: stories on the very edge between sci-fi, urban fantasy, or magical realism either, with a very annoying writing style, poor idea and boring plot.
After starting 5 or 6 and not caring enough to finish either of them I put it away and blacklisted the author.
It turns out the reverse also holds: there are a number of authors which I would not qualify as science fiction or fantasy who publish in specialized houses and are considered as such (Lucius Shepard, Connie Willis, etc).
This is exactly the case with this collection: stories on the very edge between sci-fi, urban fantasy, or magical realism either, with a very annoying writing style, poor idea and boring plot.
After starting 5 or 6 and not caring enough to finish either of them I put it away and blacklisted the author.
August 17, 2021
A couple of decades ago, in a Yugoslavian SF Magazine (Sirius) I read a wonderful story, about a man that hunted Jaguars in the old way. It was not hard sf, which I usually liked better, but the writing and the atmosphere were exquisite, and I loved and remembered the story.
However, life got in the way, and I completely forgot about it, and never followed up on the author, even when the Internet became a thing :)
Recently, a collection called "The Jaguar Hunter" came into my hands, and all the good memories came back, as I read the titular story once more. I'd still say that it's one of the best stories of all time - up there with "Nightfall"
The rest of the stories are told in a similar tone of voice, full of lyricism and sorrow and trauma. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection, even if it's a slow-paced read.
However, life got in the way, and I completely forgot about it, and never followed up on the author, even when the Internet became a thing :)
Recently, a collection called "The Jaguar Hunter" came into my hands, and all the good memories came back, as I read the titular story once more. I'd still say that it's one of the best stories of all time - up there with "Nightfall"
The rest of the stories are told in a similar tone of voice, full of lyricism and sorrow and trauma. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection, even if it's a slow-paced read.
January 11, 2022
Good writing here. I enjoyed it, and the stories. Alas for me, I don't enjoy collections of short stories as much as being lost in a good novel. I used to enjoy them, but after each story ends, I pause, getting a drink or doing something else. When I go back, I am sufficiently past dwelling on the preceding story to start another. This book was like that. It took me many days to complete. I recommend it highly if you enjoy collections of stories by a single author. The Jaguar Hunter, the Wind at Madaket, The Man Who painted the Dragon Griaule, and The Spanish Lesson were particularly creative and absorbing. I was fascinated, despite my suspicion that Lucius Shepard wasn't as great a writer as I'd been led to believe by various reviewers. I may be wrong.
February 19, 2020
The idea of the dragon Griaule has fascinated me for decades so it's no surprise that I'd pick up a book by Shepard when I got a chance. I enjoyed several of the stories in this collection: the titular Jaguar Hunter, The Night of White Bhairab, How the Wind Spoke at Madaket, and of course, The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule (not the story I've originally read, I can't recall the title of that one). As for the other stories, they are creative and well-written, but also include themes that don't interest me a lot, such as relationships or soldiers, have narrators that look down on everybody else, or present disability as being grotesque or pitiful.
June 3, 2020
Este libro es un conjunto de relatos, al principio nose si por la forma de escribir del autor o por lo que contaba me costó leerlo,poco a poco eso cambió, poco a poco pude comprender la visión bizarra de la fantasía de lucius shepard y su originalidad, una explosión de novedad, pude sentir de nuevo la sensación de ver otros puntos de la realidad fantástica como con Lovecraft.Si te gustan las teorías dimensionales, las rarezas en la realidad y un toque humano este será un libro que te guste(aunque en mi opinión va mejorando historia tras historia, a lo mejor las primeras no os gustan, quién sabe).
June 21, 2023
Descriptivo y lento para llegar al punto.
Se nota que está escrito por un hombre por como retrata sus interacciones con las mujeres (simples seres sexuales los cuales existen solo para dar placer al protagonista).
Son cuántos cortos retratando las vidas después de la guerra de Vietnam
Se nota que está escrito por un hombre por como retrata sus interacciones con las mujeres (simples seres sexuales los cuales existen solo para dar placer al protagonista).
Son cuántos cortos retratando las vidas después de la guerra de Vietnam
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