Read This: Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology
Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology is a lovely tribute, indeed. From the first tale to the last, a deep love and admiration for Lee’s life and work shines through in each authors’ interpretation of her distinctive style and voice. These sixteen stories capture the spirit of Tanith Lee’s fiction with their elaborate world-building, complicated consequences, and wild magic everywhere.
It is a wonder to see how unique and yet how familiar this anthology feels.
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“Makers” by CL Hellisen–class, religion, lust, and misogyny shape the choices of a young woman with an extraordinary talent.
“On Her Head a Crown of Twelve Stars” by Rocío Rincón Fernández– a unicorn, a transformation, and heroic godhood test the bonds of friendship.
“The Jealous Wives of the Sea” by Alaya Dawn Johnson–patriarchy has its grip on power and religious ritual loosened by women wielding folk magic and a different set of beliefs.
“Where Walls Once Rose” by Marisca Pichette– a being reclaims its world after humans have brought it to ruin. A beautiful story full of sorrow and hope.
“Blight” by Michael Yuya Montroy–a myth intertwined with a long marriage, as a couple discovers that the secrets they kept from each other kept them together. Cool, spare, and haunting.
“Data Ghost” by Martha Wells– in deep space, a cybernetically-enhanced person struggles to maintain a pure sense of self despite their implants and the lure of an aggressive rogue program.
“After the Light Fails” by Starlene Justice –-a strange, unresolved study of loss, memory, belief, and unwanted proof.
“Criswell Predicts!” by Andy Duncan–prophecies collide with inner-earth aliens in an alternate history where The Amazing Criswell became a religious prophet. Odd, and oddly endearing.
“Vortumna” by Mike Allen–a piece of performance art explores extinction in deeply personal, and unintended, ways.
“Moons Over Sea” by C.S.E. Cooney–a fairy tale of how families are created and bound together as a group of foundlings leave their adoptive parents in search of their origins.
“The Ogress Queen” by Theodora Goss–another fairy tale, combining familiar fantasy elements with common bigotry and raw politics to create a powerful story of love and loyalty.
“Like It’s Golden” by Nisi Shawl–a woman takes part in an experiment that becomes a way to bring back her dead wife. Time travel, guilt, and sacrifice, beautifully told.
“Zugunruhe” by KT Wagner– the myth of swan-maidens retold against the backdrop of a poisoned, dying world.
“Death Valley ’71” by Amelia Mangan–an absolutely stunning weird tale of lost souls and a search for meaning and purpose that leads deep into…somewhere else. My favorite here.
“Another Face” by Getty Hesse– a grim fantasy set in the halls of a temple to a cruel goddess, where a stranger brings an unexpected chance for something other than pain. Subtle, bleak, and touching.
“In Your Shadow” by Maya Deane– a sweeping tale of the complicated and recurring war between humans and elves, and the two champions who try to end it.
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In Storyteller, the editorial team of Julie C. Day, Carina Bissett, Craig Laurance Gidney, and Julia DeRidder have done an impressive job of keeping Lee’s memory alive through the work of admiring authors. Tanith Lee influenced the work of so many other writers with her jarring, gorgeous visions and seductive intimacy. Some of that legacy is captured here, a reminder of what we lost, as well as what we can still carry forward. I recommend it highly.