Eisele, Michael - The Girl With The Peacock Harp
A strong assortment, this, that reminds me of classic fairy tales. Grimm, not Anderson. Darkness pervades throughout. For those who worry about the “workshop” style,” Eisele is no formula clone.
“The Beginning” - one not written yet, the true beginning is the music. Purity and soaring inspiration. We open, however, on discord. The couple of opposites, whom time and obligation have riven farther apart. There is a child, as there so often is, over whom the parents feud passionately.
“The Music” cries from the weathered violin, gripped by the dying practitioner. As Fate would have it, the performer is heard. Not when mimicking show tunes for shallow ears, but when he is alone, playing for the muse with abandon.
The captain, no longer a seafaring man, retires to the coast, near the sound of waves and tang of spray. Of savings, alas, he has little. So he accepts an easy job, manning “The Lighthouse.” Beforehand, he had been interviewed, and asked, did he believe in “fancies”. Would you wonder at such a query?
“Monkey,” at 40 pages, is the longest story in this collection. Nadia, after hacking the University database, is assigned probation in the form of community service. Saint Andrew’s Rest Home is hardly what the name indicates, she realizes after one day. While some might recognize patient mistreatment, Nadia concentrates on the patient derisively called Monkey. This tale makes numerous turns, bold and unexpected, and is as satisfying as a carnival ride.
“Rolf” is written in dialect, a technique that exasperates me. I stuck with this, though, and was glad I did. The youthful trainee, gifted yet perhaps over-proud, chisels in the stone masons guild where he catches the eye of the black robed stranger. In any guise, the devil seeks another apprentice.