The Third Magic
(1988) by Welwyn Wilton Katz is a young adult fantasy by a Canadian author that
re-imagines and redirects the familiar Arthurian story. It begins on the world
of Nwm, where the First Magic of water and circles is worked by the women
Sisters, and the Second Magic of fire and iron worked by the men of the Line.
Morrigan (Rigan) and her twin brother Arddu live in Nwm, but they are separated
when Rigan is missioned to Earth’s past to take part in the struggle with
M’rlendd (Merlin) to raise Arthur.
Meanwhile in the twentieth century, young Morgan Lefevre, who is
visiting Tintagel with her Canadian television-producer father, and who has
some visions from the past, is spirited away to Nwm, where she is befriended by
Arddu. Gradually they learn the complex plot which the Sisters are attempting
to bring about, and make their own plans to alter its fulfillment. The main
plot is fairly straightforward, but the implications of their actions get
complicated, and as a whole the story is an ambitious one that is not entirely
effectively realized.
Yet it is
nonetheless an intriguing and worthwhile book.
Embracing the Dark
(1991), edited by Eric Garber, is a collection of eleven tales of horror and
alternative sexuality. In the introduction, Garber notes that with few
exceptions most horror writers “seem overwhelmingly misogynous, antisex, and
homo-hostile.” This collection is intended to provide stories counter that
trend, and in that aim it succeeds.
However, one wishes that the results made for better stories.
The best ones are among the five reprints:
“Cheriton” by Peter Robins, from his 1977 collection
Undo Your Raincoats and Laugh!; and a new
translation from the German of an 1885 story “Manor” by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs,
an early proponent of the gay movement.
A few original stories (those by Nina Kiriki Hoffman and Jewelle Gomez)
are reasonably well-done, if unambitious, but some of the others are
disappointing—“Blood Relations” by Jeffrey N. McMahan is simply-written
and clichéd; “The Strawberry Man” by Jon
Peyton Cooke is simply stupid. A mixed collection overall.
The Third Magic
(1988) by Welwyn Wilton Katz is a young adult fantasy by a Canadian author that
re-imagines and redirects the familiar Arthurian story. It begins on the world
of Nwm, where the First Magic of water and circles is worked by the women
Sisters, and the Second Magic of fire and iron worked by the men of the Line.
Morrigan (Rigan) and her twin brother Arddu live in Nwm, but they are separated
when Rigan is missioned to Earth’s past to take part in the struggle with
M’rlendd (Merlin) to raise Arthur.
Meanwhile in the twentieth century, young Morgan Lefevre, who is
visiting Tintagel with her Canadian television-producer father, and who has
some visions from the past, is spirited away to Nwm, where she is befriended by
Arddu. Gradually they learn the complex plot which the Sisters are attempting
to bring about, and make their own plans to alter its fulfillment. The main
plot is fairly straightforward, but the implications of their actions get
complicated, and as a whole the story is an ambitious one that is not entirely
effectively realized. Yet it is
nonetheless an intriguing and worthwhile book. 
Embracing the Dark
(1991), edited by Eric Garber, is a collection of eleven tales of horror and
alternative sexuality. In the introduction, Garber notes that with few
exceptions most horror writers “seem overwhelmingly misogynous, antisex, and
homo-hostile.” This collection is intended to provide stories counter that
trend, and in that aim it succeeds.
However, one wishes that the results made for better stories. The best ones are among the five reprints:
“Cheriton” by Peter Robins, from his 1977 collection Undo Your Raincoats and Laugh!; and a new
translation from the German of an 1885 story “Manor” by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs,
an early proponent of the gay movement.
A few original stories (those by Nina Kiriki Hoffman and Jewelle Gomez)
are reasonably well-done, if unambitious, but some of the others are
disappointing—“Blood Relations” by Jeffrey N. McMahan is simply-written and clichéd; “The Strawberry Man” by Jon
Peyton Cooke is simply stupid. A mixed collection overall.
