The stories in Ann Leckie’s Lake of Souls hover somewhere between The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits in regard to their content and endings. There are a number of ironic twists, there is a story that absolutely isn’t a First Contact, a story that isn’t quite Cosmic Horror and a story that seems to have Bertie Wooster in it as an expy. (Sadly, there is no Jeeves, but the protagonist manages to muddle along well enough on his own.)
The collection is a mix of stand alone fantasy and sf stories, Imperial Radch stories and Raven Tower stories. All of the stories were excellent, and I liked many of them, but these are the ones that stood out to me:
Lake of Souls: “Lake of Souls” is the story that isn’t quiet a First Contact. It is not a First Contact story because it is actually a coming of age story. Spawn is a young person who may or may not have a soul who ends up going on a quest in hopes of finding the mythical Lake of Souls. What Spawn finds instead are the unfamiliar customs and language of another community, philosophical questions about personhood and a “prodigy.” This story’s switch in perspective from a First Contact/save-the-natives-from-exploitation story to coming-of-age is sharply pointed. (And in some ways reminds me of John Scalzi’s remix of Little Fuzzy.)
Hesperia and Glory: “Hesperia and Glory” is the story that is not quite cosmic horror. It gets near to cosmic horror. It gets pretty close to the abyss, but it never actually sets a toe in. This is a epistolary story that takes the form of a letter written by the protagonist who is angry due to people saying he has a well in his cellar. (Reader, he does not have a well in his cellar. He is very sure about that. Very, very sure.) Our protagonist receives two visitors who claim they need to see the well in his cellar. One of them claims to be a Martian Prince. Our protagonist is very skeptical about this…and may also be more than he seems (or actually knows).
Footprints: “Footprints” heads right off into The Outer Limits. The protagonist is following a little girl with a teddy bear who is definitely not a little girl with a teddy bear. The teddy bear is also not a teddy bear, and keeps saying horrifying things that may or may not reveal the entity’s true intentions. The little girl and the teddy bear are supposed to be guiding him to where the other people are. They may or may not being doing that, though their actual intentions are in question. The protagonist doesn’t know what’s going on and suspects he’s being lied to, but keeps following. From the things the teddy bear is saying, the reader can guess, and it’s not good. This story was very much science fiction-horror, and extremely creepy.
She Commands Me and I Obey: “She Commands Me and I Obey” is an Imperial Radch story, but takes place somewhere outside the Radch.
The story takes place in a monastery and the protagonist is a twelve year old novice monk. This particular monastery is dedicated to a goddess called She Who Sprang from the Lily. One of the major rites performed by this monastery is a ball game is used to elect politicians. This rite ends with the losing team captain being sacrificed. Our Protagonist is witness to an attempt to interfere with the game, and has to decide what he’s supposed to do about it.
The Unknown God: “The Unknown God” is a Raven Tower setting story. Our Protagonist is a god who is having an existential crisis due to a failed courtship. (She said no. He did not handle this well. Since he’s a god, you can imagine the level of “didn’t handle it well” that would result in an existential crisis.) This is a story full of conversations about ultimate truth, atheism in a world full of gods , and the necessity of fraud prevention. What is so fascinating about the Raven Tower setting is the various different ways the gods interact with humans. You have responsible gods and indifferent gods, con artist gods and gods who are just looking to make a living here.
Saving Bacon: “Saving Bacon” also takes place in the Raven Tower setting. In this, our Protagonist is a young man with very little motivation in life and no plans. His aunt endeavors to arrange a marriage for him, and he goes to great lengths to avoid marriage. He is assisted in his efforts by the local mercantile god and by his cousin. This was a fun story with a lot of humor to it. And as I mentioned, the protagonist has a very strong Bertie Wooster vibe that really makes the story.
This review was based on a galley edition received from NetGalley.
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