Mother Aegypt and Other Stories (Kage Baker)

[ase]

A collection of stories, most standalone and some set in the same universe as her series. Serii? The first three ("Leaving His Cares Behind", "The Briscian Saint", "Desolation Rose") are set in the same universe as her novel The Anvil of the World. The bulk of the book is standalones - "Miss Yahoo Has Her Say", "What the Tyger Told Her" , "Nightmare Mountain" (the Cupid and Psyche myth mets a vaguely Poe or Gaiman-ish sensibility), "Merry Christmas From Navarro Lodge, 1928" is an elegant one-trick time travel short; "Her Father's Eyes", set shortly after WWII, is inspired by Tam Lin according to Baker's website, but seems to be only the first half the story; "Two Old Men"I think is about God and the Devil making a deal; "The Summer People" is the meeting of California trailer trash with Hollywood-ish Elf types (not happy Tolkien Elves, the morally chancy sort from ballads); I don't know what "How They Tried to Talk Indian Tony Down" is; "Pueblo, Colorado Has the Answers" deals once again with time travel technology, this time with government cover-up; "Mother Aegypt" is the story of a swindler out to get rich, a Zeus Company Immortal who desperately wants to die, and the Immortal's strange servant Emil. The standalones are dominated by stories set in California, often told by or about fairly normal people caught in the fringe of strange events. Subtly strange little stories. When's the next Company novel due out again?

Comments

[herewiss13.livejournal.com]

Another one down. Lovely collection of stories. Forgotten just how amusing Erdwynr (sp?) was.

"Two Old Men"I think is about God and the Devil making a deal

It was a clear re-interpretation of the story of Job as played by Kennedy (I'd thought they were talking about MLK Jr. at first, but then it seemed to be Kennedy).

"Pueblo, Colorado Has the Answers" deals once again with time travel technology, this time with government cover-up

That was a hoot. That poor old man was so oblivious, sending in for alien traps;-)

...and Mother Aegypt was pure Kage Baker fun. ;-)