Sea, Swallow Me and Other Stories

by Craig Laurance Gidney

Ancient folklore and modern myth come together in these stories by author Craig Laurance Gidney. Here are found the struggles of a medieval Japanese monk seduced by a mischievous fairy, and a young slave who finds mystery deep within the briar patch of an antebellum plantation. Gidney offers a gay teen obsessed with his patron saint, Lena Horne, and, in the title story, an ailing tourist seeks escape at a distant shore but never reckons on encountering an African sea god. Rich, poetic, dark and disturbing, these are tales not soon forgotten. This collection contains the story "A Bird of Ice," which was a finalist for the Gaylactic Spectrum Award.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Queer, Fiction, LGBT, Romance, Horror

206 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2008

About the author

Author of SEA, SWALLOW ME & OTHER STORIES (Lethe Press) ;BEREFT (Tiny Satchel Press), . SKIN DEEP MAGIC (Rebel Satori Press), THE NECTAR OF NIGHTMARES (Dim Shores Publications); A SPECTRAL HUE (Word Horde). Plus numerous short stories. 3-Time Lambda Literary Award Finalist. NPR’s recommended books of 2019. Current novel, HAIRSBREADTH, is being serialized.

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

Woah. I don't often read short stories, but this collection was amazing. No wonder Gidney is winning awards. Fantasy stories, mostly contemporary, protags mostly gay and black, but veering off to Rimbaud and Japanese monasteries and suchlike, just because the author can. Stunning writing, stunning imagination, very unsettling. I just bought Skin Deep Magic: Short Fiction on the back of this, and am pretty much going to work through everything I can get my hands on. A really excellent writer.

[Elisa Rolle]

This is really a strange anthology and not a romance at all; some of the characters are gay men, both modern or myth or figures from the past, but it's not them being gay that linked all the story, it's more the unexpected and the legend, the faith and the myth mixed together.

The Safety of Thorns: Israel is a slave boy who lives in a plantation; he is very young (don't know exactly the age but he is still working little jobs around, so I believe he is nothing more than a child). One day, near the briar patch he sees a strange man. Israel believes him to be the Devil, even if the man reassures him that it's not true. But from that moment on, Israel's life is no more the same and terrible things happen around him. Maybe the man was not the devil, but probably he opens Israel's eyes to who he is and where he stays, and that was worst than a damnation.

Etiolate: Oliver is an African American artist; as an artist, with an artist's eyes, he likes the pretty thing, above all the pretty boys. But Oliver is not an handsome man and he is not even wealthy and famous, and so the pretty boys don't like him. One more night he sees the reject in the eyes of one of that boys, and probably his desire is so strong that he unveal something terrible, a curse or similar... or maybe he only frees his true self, one who sees the beauty also in the horror of death.

Her Spirit Hovering: Howard was a young man with big dreams of becoming a famous and adored artist. He had the skills, he was good, but he had also a overbearing mother who always crushed his dreams. Not only that she also managed to ruin every important relationship Howard had, first with Kamela, a young Indian girl he met at school (and being of a different culture was not good for his mother) and then with Ned, a talented man he lived with (and obviously being a man was not good for his mother). Now his mother is passed away, and Ned is probably thinking that he know can start living, but grudge and regret are bigger than the wish to start, and the weight of his presence is almost as present as when she was alive. But it's true that it's all his mother's fault, or maybe it's Howard that doesn't have the courage to take his life in his hands?

Come Join Me: Aime is a young boy with a gift, he can see the spirits of his dead relatives. But only his grandmother thinks at that like a gift, all the others, his mother first, want to cure him. Will Aime learn to live with his spirit friends, or will he join them?

Sea, Swallow Me: Jed has always searched for something, someone bigger than life. And maybe he finally meets him in a seaside village, in the deep of the sea.

Circus Boy Without a Safety Net: C.B. is a boy with a wonderful voice and a love for the old stars, in particular Lena Horne. When he was young his parents supported his dream allowing him to dream day and night about his favorite star, but when he became a young man, a teen, and this passion still was wih him, they feared him being gay and try to repress his dreams. He was a good singer, but he couldn't be himself in the choir of the church. When C.B. finally will leave home and enter the unknown world of New York, so far and strange in comparison to his little town, will he be finally free?

Strange Alphabets: in this short story the author romances a moment in the life of Arthur Rimbaud, when he first left his family home and his mother to find his true self in the big and alluring Paris. Arthur will learn that being free it is not always so good, and great pain will wait him, but the lure of poetry and the extasy of flesh is too strong to resist.

Magpie Sisters: a little scene on a little thief girl who is drawn by shiny little thing.

A Bird of Ice: Ryuichi is a Japanese monk; he lives in a peaceful monastery along a lake and one day he "saves" a swan which is drowning. Despite the warning of his brother, he takes care of the animal, and he is strangely attracted but it. And when the animal leaves, it marks Ryuichi with a kiss / bite. From that moment on Ryuichi is no more the same and he will have to see deeply inside himself to understand what he wants and who he is.

Catch Him by the Toe: Sambo is an African tamer and Simba is his beautiful Asian tiger; Sambo and Simba, Africa and Asia, man and animal, they are both strange and beautiful. Maybe too strange and beautiful for the little American town of Azalea, which can't see beyond its own fear of what is unknown and extraordinaire.

As I said, the anthology is not simple, but it's mesmerizing. It's full of color and flavor, an intoxicating mix that catches you while reading and lingers afterward. All the tales are mostly sad, but not without hope; the romance is not the target of the characters and so it's not even the final point of the stories; they are almost all self discovery journey, and the ending point of the journey not always is a light and beautiful paradise.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1590210662/?...

[Bogi Takács]

My review is now live on Tor.com!

https://www.tor.com/2018/05/16/quiltb...

[Mark Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection was in a word sublime. Gidney's use of language is masterful. His prose is lyrical in a way that doesn't feel overworked or like he's trying too hard; instead it feels effortless. His stories are unique and original, bold and electrifying. He introduces me to mythologies with which I'm unfamiliar, but with them delivers satisfying tales that leave me hungering to learn more about the myths. My favorite stories in the bunch are "Circus Boy Without a Safety Net" (which is the kind of story I craved to find as a younger reader who felt invisible in genre fiction), "A Bird of Ice" (which is a beautiful and sexy fairytale/allegory), and "Catch Him By the Toe" (which is a powerful origin story for a modern myth). I highly recommend this collection because it is the work of a master storyteller.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not honestly sure what I thought of this collection. The writing is really strong, and I found that I had to keep turning the pages to get more of it — but some of the stories just grossed me out so much and made me feel really uncomfortable. They’re undoubtedly powerful, but not really a style that I enjoy. There’s a bit in the Goodreads description that about sums this set of stories up: “rich, poetic, dark and disturbing”. Yep.

One of the most powerful of the bunch is definitely the most disturbing to me; if you want warnings about what ‘Etiolate’ contains, I can let you know.

Reviewed on The Bibliophibian.

[Mike Thorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen to Craftwork S1E7: Weird Angels, Maximalism, & the Taste of Prose w/ Craig Laurance Gidney.

"Oliver was flesh, dark, impure, and he was now with an elemental. Fucking the sea."

Craig Laurance Gidney is such an exuberant and impassioned voice, a self-described maximalist who decorates his socially urgent stories with equal parts magic, menace, and mystery. Sea, Swallow Me contains multitudes: dance clubs, remixed folktales, ghosts, circus performers, Arthur Rimbaud spec fic, and much more.

"Etiolate" stands out as one of the most exciting pieces of contemporary fiction I've read this year. I was also moved by the tender "Circus Boy Without a Safety Net" and "Come Join We", a subtle Gothic reimagining.

[Stephen Poltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories which was nominated for the Lambda Literary Award for SF/Fantasy/Horror. Most of the stories would fall into the Fantasy category, and perhaps under the subheading of Urban Fantasy. Almost all have to do with some sort of spiritual or mystical experience. The prose is absolutely beautiful and the characters developed nicely for short stories. The protagonists are mostly gay and/or black, with a few exceptions being a young Buddhist monk in a monastery, and a white Frenchman. It’s a wonderful collection that I was glad to finally get around to.

Come visit my blog for the full review…
https://itstartedwiththehugos.blogspo...

[Ian Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Craig Gidney's debut collection of what may be reductively and inadequately described as 'dark fantasy' is an impressively accomplished one. His voice is one that speaks to both the gay perspective and the black American one, and to the complex intersections between them, but not at the expense of having a story worth telling or the skill to tell it.

That may not be unique among writers, but it's sufficiently uncommon that I've yet to encounter it among Gidney's peers in this broad category of darker forms of short fiction. And there's a contradiction here which I've yet to adequately reconcile whereby I'm simultaneously glad of his fresh perspective and voice, and yet hoping for the day wherein it won't be at all remarkable.

These stories are surprisingly diverse for the early output of an author, as Gidney flows easily from the oneiric to the realist and from his contemporary USA to an antiquated Asian monastery. There's no sense of contradiction in it though, so deft is his execution. Even in the midst of the fantastical or the horrific one has a feeling of emotional sincerity from his characters.

This is particularly apparent in the more realist-leaning Bildungsroman 'Circus-Boy without a Safety Net', which is frankly heart-rending in its portrayal of a homosexual boy in Christian America. It certainly suggests hints of autobiography. But this emotionally engaging characterisation is found in all of the stories to a greater or lesser degree, and marks Gidney apart from the average horror or fantasy author.

Better copy editing would have been nice. The story 'A Bird of Ice' seems particularly prone to typos that could have been picked up by a proofreader who was half awake. And like any author, Gidney has his share of quirks such as saying 'bought' instead of 'brought' and 'lightening' instead of 'lightning'. Thankfully his prose is mellifluous and charming enough to carry the reader through such distractions.

At first glance, Gidney's work may seem a little niche, but if anything I think he has the skillset and the style to appeal to a broader audience outside genre than most of his peers. This is an excellent debut collection.

[Patrick Niemeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My only beef with this book is the typos. They're everywhere, and if a casual reader who isn't even looking for typos can spot them left and right, you know you have a problem. That said, it's a really good book. Craig Laurance Gidney weaves together fantasy, folklore, and reality so deftly that it's quite easy to get lost in his world. It's definitely not light reading, nor would I recommend it to anyone who can't handle a little sex and violence. But it's gorgeous work all the same. Without getting too preachy, Gidney shows how race and sexuality shape our identities, always have, always will. It's not always pretty. But it's pretty consistent, whether the story is set in present-day America or Japan or the antebellum South. This is a really good book. I hope it finds a wider audience.

[Michael Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning collection of short stories. Many are written from the perspective of gay, black men, but not entirely so. Gender identity, sexuality, religion, culture, and race are all strong elements of Gidney's work, however, and are handled deftly and compassionately throughout. All of the stories feature elegant, well crafted, highly poetic prose, and have a touch of the supernatural to them. Characters in these tales venture into fairy-tale like moral lessons, and confront mythic personifications of human fears and desires. The stories range from urban fantasy, to dark erotica, and even to the traditional ghost-story end of the spectrum. There are some incredibly powerful and important works in the collection, and any fan of speculative literature would be better for having read them.

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wildly inventive and gorgeously written. I don't often reread books, but I would love to pick this up in print form so I could linger over the language more. That said, the audiobook is beautifully and feelingly narrated.
This is top-notch speculative fiction. Don't miss it!!

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of beautifully written stories with specific elements.

[Thoraiya]

Been following his blog for over a year, now, and haven't gotten off my behind and bought the book. Julia Rios's rec is just what I needed to make me actually go to the bookshop and order it :)

[Thistle & Verse · Rating 5 out of 5]

The collection has a mix of genres, but even the stories about everyday life have a magical/ surreal tinge to them. Gidney writes beautiful, uncanny, emotionally complex stories.

[Sean Meriwether · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story collections can be challenging to review since they often span genres, styles and periods. Some stories are naturally going to be more appealing to some readers than others. Gidney’s collection is no different, but there are several threads that are woven into his collection, Sea, Swallow Me. The first is music, which sets the pulse of each story. Whether it is ethereal music sung live in concert or overheard at a bar, or unearthly songs sung by the devil or a bewitched group of parishioners summing up the god of the sea, Gidney’s writing flows with lyricism. The second thread is the supernatural, with characters who have second sight or who encounter the supernatural, but the stories stay rooted in reality by focusing on some of the mundane details that makes them believable. The final thread that ties this collection, and for me the most interesting, is that all the work is told from the point of view of the Other, outsiders who don’t quite fit (and often choose not to). The collection also bridges society's self-determined divisions of gender, sexuality, and race. Where I saw Gidney shine was in the opening story, “The Safety of Thorns”, where Israel Jones, an orphan child in a southern slave state, encounters a folkloric devil and his wife; the story is at turns sensual, dreamlike and sad and left the strongest haunting impression.

[Entazis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sea, Swallow Me was a hard book to swallow (don't hate me for the bad pun 😅). It talks about some heavy topics like explorations of slavery and racism; its legacy of pain and dehumanization. It depicts what it means to be both Black and queer. It talks about desire, guilt and pleasure. And it doesn't pull its punches.

The book is filled with religious imagery and dream-like quality bordering on nightmarish. It paints the world of the stories in melancholic strokes and you can feel the deep sadness between pages, and the discomfort they bring. So yes, it's not a light read. It's not a fun book. But it's hauntingly mesmerizing, and worth your time.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Challenge 2018: book set at sea. This delightful book of short stories includes mythological creatures and deities from pantheons that are not often discussed. Orisha from Africa, kami and yosei from Japan. The language was elegant and description, providing mental pictures of the story. The style reminded me of Barker's erotic horror stories. The tales were unique and fresh, leaving me with my thoughts as I tried to wrap my head around them. I will definitely seek out more from this author.

[Audrey Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

What struck me most about this book was the author's talent in describing colours. Every story is full of colour, rendered in vivid, sensuous prose. Some of the stories are harsh, some funny (in a way), and others mysteriously intriguing. The ones I enjoyed in particular are "Etiolate," "A Bird of Ice," and the title story, "Sea Swallow Me." This was a different reading experience for me, and it was definitely worthwhile.

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 but rounding down because a lot of the stories i just. didn't care abt. that being said i thought the safety of thorns, circus boy without a safety net, magpie sisters, and catch him by the toe were good but overall i never felt called to pick this book up for any reason other than "i should finish this" which is never a good sign for a book. one hundred percent think this is my fault not the book's though so it's still worth checking out if you think you'll be into it

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always hard to rate short story collections. My major beef with this book is all the typos...just, like, infinite typos. For instance, my favorite story of the collection was hands-down 'A Bird of Ice' except that I'm 99 percent sure the name of the Shinto sun goddess is Amaterasu, not...however it was spelled in the story, I can't remember. Still a beautiful piece though.

[Sydney Blackburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never DNF'd a book I think so highly of before, but I can't handle the horror elements. The stories in this book (that I've read) tackle institutionalized racism and generational trauma from an often queer perspective, through a mythological lens. I might come back to finish it, when I feel up to the horror elements.

[P.L. Winn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminds me why I spent years reading nothing but short stories. Fantastical and yet relatable, the author delivers punchy stories without a need to ease in or out. There's a wide variety here, and they're all good.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lush and intriguing, some horrific. Like the variations in narrator, setting, time (esp. the one as Rimbaud).

[joost · Rating 5 out of 5]

a pro among prose

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting short stories from a variety of perspectives with some fantastical and mythological elements

[Monique Jackson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would not recommend this book

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly I wasn't really impressed with this book. There were a few stories I really liked and the rest were just okay. Also, the copy I have is an ARC, so it's got a lot of mistakes, which hopefully were corrected in the final proof (the most annoying one was in the Japanese story, where Amaterasu was misspelled as Amaratsu throughout the story).

[Tyrannosaurus regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not everything worked equally well for me, which is usually the case with collections, I thought "Circus-Boy Without a Safety Net" was wonderful, and closing the collection with "Catch Him By the Toe" left a deep and lasting impression.

[Jeffrey]

waiting for my copy to arrive from amazon

[Sage · Rating 4 out of 5]

The language was super pretty reading it. I think my favorite story out of it was Come Join We. Each story was original and full of life which made them great reads!