Short Story Sunday 29: R. Garcia y Robertson and Thomas Ligotti

Another year another doomed-to-fail attempt at blogging regularly here at Shared Universe Reviews. Join me in the hopes of being present when I post the site’s last entry of 2022 sometime later this month.

As is routine, I’m going back to Year’s Best Fantasy 2 to read a couple of stories and write reviews. Let’s get on with it.

“Firebird” by R. Garcia y Robertson
Read in Year’s Best Fantasy 2 (2002), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer (uncredited)
Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (May 2001), edited by Gordon Van Gelder

Set in his fictional world (it might be a country in his fictional world) of Markovy, “Firebird” plays with familiar genre conventions to tell a story that moves along at a nice pace and entertains form start to finish. Katya was sold to the Bone Witch years ago. She helps care for the Bone Witch’s hut and runs errands for her gathering materials in the forest. During one of her adventures in the forest she witnesses the destruction of Byeli Zamak, the White Castle. She follows one of the survivors and in doing so sets off a series of events that jeopardizes the relative peace of the forest and her very life.
 
Rating: 4 stars
There is a familiarity to the setting and players to this story that could easily have made it feel tired and boring. The fact that it isn’t shows just how skilfully it is told by Robertson. The story feels comfortable rather than clichéd. There are some small surprises to enjoy in addition to the fun adventure plot. They might not be all that surprising to regular readers of fantasy, but Robertson’s style and dialogue keep it enjoyable. I would like to read more stories in this setting, particularly some with the knight character Sir Roy d’Roye, Chevalier de l'Étoile, le Baron de Roye. Thankfully there are more stories set in Markovy according to Hartwell’s introduction to “Firebird”.
 
After some light research online it appears that the story was expanded and released as a novel in 2006. I read a preview on the publisher’s site it looks like the elements of the story are slightly modified and serve as the beginning of a larger story that fills out the page count to novel length. I’m intrigued enough to give the novel a try if I ever find a copy on the cheap. As it stands, “Firebird” is a good choice for a Sunday afternoon read for fans of the genre or anyone looking for something that has fairy story feel.
 

“My Case for Retributive Action” by Thomas Ligotti
Read in Year’s Best Fantasy 2 (2002), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer (uncredited)
Originally published in Weird Tales (Summer 2001), edited by Darrell Schweitzer and George H. Scithers
 
A nameless narrator writes to an acquaintance about the start of his new job. His office operates under “indefinite” hours and it’s widely known by all employees that they are understaffed. Their employer has no plans to address this and thus everybody has to continuously work at a rapid pace and for very long hours. The company they work for is the Quine Organization. They employ a large part of the small town where the narrator recently moved.
 
The narrator tries to adjust to his new life while recounting the events of how he ended up at a desk at Q. Org. He is approached by a colleague who tells him of his predecessor and what befell him and necessitated his replacement. There are some eerie parallels with the narrator’s story and soon he starts to life a similar fate as the now disappeared Hatcher.
 
Rating: 4 stars
“My Case for Retributive Action” was published in Weird Tales. That seems like perfect place for this story to be published based on my knowledge of some of the classic writers of the early decades of the magazine. You can notice the influence of the style and tone of H. P. Lovecraft, but with more polish and a more modern sensibility. What made this story enjoyable is the style. The anguish of corporate life and treatment of all sorts of ailments and depression with overmedication are used to great effect. The language helps to set a tone that is palpable and makes up for the somewhat rushed and uneven ending. Small details of our lives can bring meaning to the chaos of living and this story explores how easily everything can unravel when small pleasures are taken away.