This story breaks the rule of fantasy in being unrealistic. It is a story of individuals caught and changed between evil and good, but the good doesn't carry water, being too simplistic and primitive to come up against the "evil" of the expanding Myetra and its strangely sparse expedition of manifest destiny. And the fliers make for a strange suspension which does not bear the weight of disbelief. The writing is lovely, the issues too important to be framed so flimsily. ( )

Old Delany, polished up. As described in a foreword, he wrote an initial version after his first novel, The Jewels of Aptor, in 1962. James Sallis, little known now but popular in the New Wave, contributed some material, and the story was reprinted in two places, but never collected in book form. In 1992, Delany returned to the original pre-Sallis story and wrote this short novel. Also included are two short stories set in the same world, one from 1962, one from 1992.

This is a fairly simple story, well-told, with typical Delany sensuality, and interesting use of slightly misplaced brief interjections to interrupt the flow and force the reader to pay more attention. A brutal army on a Sherman-like march to sea targets the bucolic utopian weapon-less village of Ciron. Like Steinbeck's The Moon is Down, the village responds, with the help of a bat-like race of human-sized creatures with their own agenda.

The fantasy setting might be science fictional -- the army has power guns (blasters), electric lights, and loudspeakers -- but none of this is really fleshed out. It is there primarily to provide additional contrast between the two cultures. Characterization is strong and you read this primarily because of the people involved and the sure-footed writing.

Recommended. ( )

In the category of mildly interesting minor works by authors of significance whose major works I've yet to read. Time to tackle Dhalgren. ( )