Tag Archives: The Coyote Road

A Tale for the Short Days by Richard Bowes

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for coyote road book cover

Title: A Tale for the Short Days
Author: Richard Bowes
In: The Coyote Road (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Family, Tricksters
Dates read: 29th March 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: And the others were very impressed despite themselves.

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Synopsis

The God of Tricksters has been called on to help bring balance to a family in the Roaring Twenties. But, he is called on again and again throughout the following generations to try and find a way to correct the outlook of the family.

Thoughts

The mirror of folklore by using the idea of three aspects, or parts, of the trickster worked really well in this story. Part one tells the story of a young lady beseeching help from the trickster. Part two provides a little more of a mid-life crisis and lets you question the role of the trickster in the beginnings of the modern world. And, finally, part three highlights the end of an era, and the start of a new one. One in which the Trickster will either adapt and change or drown in the new world.

I love how this story takes the common themes of the trickster and twists and turns them to see how they fit into the modern world. But, not just alongside the modern world, but rather as an aspect of change as we’ve moved from old understandings to new.

A Tale for the Short Days is fun and thrilling. The kind of short story that I will be able to read again and again. Picking up something new each and every time.

 <- The Fiddler of Bayou Teche ReviewFriday Night at St Cecilia’s Review ->
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The Fiddler of Bayou Teche by Delia Sherman

Book Review, , ,
Overview
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Title: The Fiddler of Bayou Teche
Author: Delia Sherman
In: The Coyote Road (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Music, Tricksters
Dates read: 24th March 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: Another man turns up with a washboard and a spoon, and he and Ulysse jump up on the table as ‘Dres Petitpas climbs down.

Synopsis

Cadence was bought up in the depths of the bayou, dancing her way through life happily. But, when her Tante passes away and she is accidentally spotted by ‘Dres Petitpas, her life of blissful peace is ended and a new one is about to begin.

Thoughts

I have a slight obsession with bayous and creole culture. Every time I read stories surrounded by this, I’m unable to look away. They’re beautiful and fun and there is just… something about them that makes me deliriously happy. Which is why I loved this story so much. It had the feeling of a fairy tale but was filled with a cultural backdrop that I know next to nothing about, and always want to know more of.

This had such a beautiful fairy tale and folklore feel to it. There wasn’t a trickster in it specifically (like other stories in The Coyote Road), but the spirit of the trickster ran through.  Not only in the setting of Bayou Teche, but also in the idea of a fiddler making a deal with the devil and a small swamp sprite gaining the upper hand.

I’m more than a little disappointed that this was such a short story. The setting, the characters and the theme all make me feel like I want to be sucked into this story for an entire afternoon, rather than minutes.

<- Realer Than YouA Tale for the Short Days ->

Image source: Amazon

Realer Than You by Christopher Barzak

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for coyote road book cover

Title: Realer Than You
Author: Christopher Barzak
In: The Coyote Road (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Japanese mythology, Tricksters
Dates read: 23rd March 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: My dad’s boss, Mr. Fujita, got my dad acclimated to the area quickly, so I don’t think he ever felt that vertigo.

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Synopsis

It’s hard to find yourself, but when you’ve moved across the world to a country you don’t understand, it can be even more difficult. But a visit from a trickster spirit could help this young boy figure out what his new path to happiness will be.

Thoughts

We all know the feeling of not belonging. Of being a fish out of water, so to say. Sadly, not many of us necessarily know how to get rid of this feeling. And, sometimes when people are teenagers, they never move beyond this. Which is all the kinds of feelings that this short story reminded me of. The feeling of not belonging and loss. And, quite honestly, the suicide forest that I’ve heard of in Japan. It just had that beautifully and tragically eerie feeling to the tale that I just didn’t quite know what to do with.

I really like the idea of kitsune in the Japanese folklore, but I don’t know much about it. Nor have I read much based on this (as I am writing this review, I’m also ordering some novels to fix this gap in my reading). This didn’t give me much more information than I already have, but it did help to fill my need to find out more. After all, this is a mythology I’m not familiar with, in a culture that I think is fascinating and beautiful. And I’m especially obsessed with tricksters, so it just makes the book nerd in my salivate all the more.

I was kind of expecting a bit of a sad ending in this short story. After all, it immediately reminded me of suicide forests and tragedy. Luckily, it didn’t end in this way. And I had the privilege of closing the final page with a smile on my face.

 <- The Listeners ReviewThe Fiddler of Bayou Teche Review ->
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The Listeners by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Book Review, , ,
Overview
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Title: The Listeners
Author: Nina Kiriki Hoffman
In: The Coyote Road (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Greek mythology,Tricksters
Dates read: 15th March 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: Nysa went down to the gate with her shoulders bowed, her gaze on the ground.

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Synopsis

Nysa is a slave unwilling to face the future that is laid out before her. A prayer to Hermes might help to set her feet on a whole new path, but will it be one that she truly wants to follow?

Thoughts

I’ve always been fascinated by Greek Mythology. Ever since I was a tiny child. But I wasn’t expecting to find such a story in a collection of tales about Tricksters. I don’t know why, since Hermes is the god of thieves (and in a way tricksters). And Zeus… well, the amount of insane shenanigans that man gets up to… well, there is seriously no reason that the Greek Mythos shouldn’t find it’s way into this collection. And Hoffman did this brilliantly.

Although I have read quite a few stories on Greek Mythology, I haven’t read many that are based in Ancient Greece. The fact that this story is not only set within this time, but also around a young slave, worked brilliantly. It was both completely different to what I’ve read before, and so similar. Nysa is incredibly relatable in some ways, she’s a young woman who is trying to find a path that works for her. That has hope for the future. Okay, she’s a slave being put in situations that she really isn’t happy with. But the general gist of wanting to find a path that works for you is something that I think we can all relate to.

 <- Wagers of Gold Mountain ReviewRealer Than You Review ->
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Wagers of Gold Mountain by Steve Berman

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for coyote road book cover

Title: Wagers of Gold Mountain
Author: Steve Berman
In: The Coyote Road (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Historical fiction, Mythology, Tricksters
Dates read: 5th March 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: The hatchet man turned to Yuan.

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Synopsis

Yuan just wants to help his brother survive, but a deal with a pair of tricksters could be his downfall… or his salvation.

Thoughts

I really wasn’t expecting a Trickster story with a Chinese spin on it when I started reading this story. I was kind of expecting another Native American / Coyote story. But I really liked the fact that there was a very different spin on the Trickster tale. For starters, it is based in California during the Gold Rush and features a time long gone.

The duality of an immigrant moving to a new country is reflected in the duality of the trickster which Yuan comes across. There is the Chinese inspired woman who is a little blood thirsty and kind of terrifying, and then the fat American trickster who is a lot more pompous and self-centred. They work as two sides of the same coin… the impact which the gold rush and movements of immigrants into California during the period.

Most Trickster tales I’ve read involve the trickster getting the better of the victim. Instead, the tables are flipped and he spends his time figuring out the trap that has been laid for him. And, eventually it is the victim of the deal who is able to gain the upper hand.

 <- Coyote Woman ReviewThe Listeners Review ->
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Coyote Woman by Carolyn Dunn

Book Review, , ,
Overview
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Title: Coyote Woman
Author: Carolyn Dunn
In: The Coyote Road (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Poetry, Tricksters
Dates read: 5th March 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Poem
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: no sealing string,

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Synopsis

Coyote is normally seen as a man, but this beautiful poem investigates what it would be like if he was a woman.

Thoughts

I’m getting more and more into poetry as time passes. There is just something about the lyricism of the words and the symbolism they often impart. It just works beautifully. And the use of a female coyote in this story was just fantastic. I love that Dunn finds a way to impart the femininity of tricksters and can share this in so few pages.

This poem is beautiful and fun, easy and enthralling. I read it twice in a row and could go back for thirds so easily. There is just something quaint, beautiful and fun about it that made me fall in love again and again and again.

 <- One Odd Shoe ReviewWagers of Gold Mountain Review ->
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One Odd Shoe by Pat Murphy

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for coyote road book cover

Title: One Odd Shoe
Author: Pat Murphy
In: The Coyote Road (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Mythology, Tricksters
Dates read: 5th March 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: You’ll find small pools here and there.

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Synopsis

If there’s a shoe on the side of the road, it’s probably best not to pick it up… it could be Coyote teaching someone a lesson.

Thoughts

This was a really cute, funny story. I loved the narrator’s voice as it unfolds. There is a sense of wandering storytelling that isn’t common in a lot of other stories. It made me feel like I was being told the story by the woman in the story – sitting next to her as she told me about Mark, who really should have known better.

I’ve always loved tricksters – they’re equalisers and neither good nor bad. Any stories which have a grey area make me happy to be honest. And this short story epitomised the idea of equalising. Mark is obviously not the best person in the world, so Trickster decides to mess with him. And teach him a lesson. And show him how to be a little less not-good and a little more… better.

Now, every time I see a single shoe lying beside the edge of the road, I’m going to wonder about who is getting their comeuppance. And who is learning a new lesson.

 <- The Coyote Road ReviewCoyote Woman Review ->
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