Lone Star Stories #24, December 2007

The first story in the December 2007 issue of Lone Star Stories, “Dragon Hunt” by Sarah Prineas, is a short tale with a lot to it. King Kenneret earned his position by killing the last dragon, or so the legend goes. But when a village head comes to a feast, begging the king to help slay the dragon terrorizing his town, the king’s advisor jokingly sends Kim, an assistant librarian, to confirm there is no dragon. But of course there is, and nothing, not character nor dragon, in this story is precisely what it seems. This is as much a tale of political intrigue and deceiving appearances as of dragons and knights. Readers looking for something more than epic adventures and picture perfect fantasy will like this one.

“A Soul Cake” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman is a seasonal tale laced with a dark need to be perfect, driven by the sort of relatives that most people dread, the nitpicking kind who never actually raise a finger themselves. But it’s not completely downbeat. Nora, burdened with the task of creating the perfect holiday meal, may not have any present-day help, but she does have help from the past, support from the spirits and memories of all the women who have upheld the tradition before her. Like the holiday, Hoffman’s story is both sad and sweet, in ways outright hopeful, and a much better way to spend time that watching Home Alone reruns.

“Angels of a Desert Heaven” by Marguerite Reed is a western-themed urban fantasy that follows a Hopi psychic, Siwa, who is being paid by an up and coming rock star to help him figure out his strange out-of-body experiences that occur during shows. When Siwa ventures to one of his shows to see the events for herself, she is startled to discover that, to her extra senses, her musician sprouts eagle wings during his performance. Could the Native spirits be connecting with humanity through a skinny white man? Sad and sweet, this story doesn’t rely on clichéd natives and hidden magic. Reed blurs the boundaries of race and proves that assimilation is a strange and powerful thing indeed.