Clarkesworld July 2008 features When The Gentlemen Go By by Margaret Ronald

3 thoughts to “Clarkesworld July 2008 features When The Gentlemen Go By by Margaret Ronald”

1. More of a brief impression than a full review but…

   Margaret Roland’s story “When the Gentlemen Go By” as read by Cat Rambo is a haunting, mildly disturbing tale of an old Faustian bargain with ongoing consequences. Likely inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s odd poem “Smugglers’ Song” from “Puck of Pook’s Hill” the story expands upon the poem as it re-imagines it.

   Set in a vague, fictitious locale, The Hollow, this story tells of one family’s struggle against a community’s unequal bargain with mysterious supernatural forces. (What is it about hollows and supernatural forces? Valley’s rarely have anything worse than an occasional Gwangi.).

   This is a well written dark fantasy, that is perfect for a gloomy foggy evening. It’s not a fun story; it’s not meant to be. Instead, it is a story to awaken the listeners’ imaginations and emotions. Definitely worth the few short minutes that it takes to listen to it.

   I haven’t said anything about Cat Rambo’s reading yet, because when a reader reads a story flawlessly and their voice fits the story so well, I tend to forget the reader and just experience the story. This is as good as reading gets.

2. Very nice Dave. Now that Quasar Dragon is up and running again, I hope to see more posts from you here! :)

   Gwangi – hadn’t heard of that. Wikipedia…

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Valley_of_Gwangi

   Thnks!

3. Thank you so much!