Peter S. Beagle

Stand-alone novels:

A Fine and Private Place — (1960) Publisher: Conversing in a mausoleum with the dead, an eccentric recluse is tugged back into the world by a pair of ghostly lovers bearing an extraordinary gift — the final chance for his own happiness. When challenged by a faithless wife and aided by a talking raven, the lives of the living and the dead may be renewed by courage and passion, but only if not belatedly. Told with an elegiac wisdom, this delightful tale of magic and otherworldly love is a timeless work of fantasy imbued with hope and wonder. After multiple printings since 1960, this newest edition will contain the author's recent revisions and will stand as the definitive version of an ageless classic.

The Innkeeper's Song — (1993) Publisher: Set in a shadowy world of magic and mystery, a fantasy novel in which a young man sets off on a wild ride in pursuit of the lover whose death and resurrection he witnessed.

The Innkeeper's Song: A vivid, bittersweet dream... but of what?

The Innkeeper's Song is a one-volume fantasy for mature readers that is by turns (or even simultaneously) lyrical and maddening. Lyrical because much of its language is, in contemporary fantasy, on par with only Patricia McKillip and Guy Gavriel Kay. Maddening because — despite the full-throttle beginning, intricately woven characters and a world made wondrous without a map or long descriptions but simply by names and prosaic brushstrokes — the promise of the beginning and middle absolutely fizzles to a all-but-incomprehensible anti-climax in which none of the characters' skills, virtues or flaws seem to matter. It's the equivalent of dreaming oneself into a world of rich and dread beauty, flying over that world so freely as to go beyond dreaming entirely... and then being slapped awake to find oneself flailing at the air and wondering, "What might have been..."

Sigh.

The tale concerns three women who arrive at an inn in the course of their quest to protect their ancient magician-friend from a renegade apprentice so that he might die in peace and not rise as a tormented ghost. The three are a warrior-nun who has escaped her convent; a legendary thief-sailor-swordsman; and a village girl whom the thief raised from a drowning death with the magician's ring. Added to these memorable figures are the earnest stable-boy; the gruff innkeeper; the nun's companion (a fox); and the stubborn boy who was betrothed to the village girl and follows her in the hope of reclaiming their lost love.

Each chapter proceeds from the first-person viewpoint of a different character (central or not), which works well overall but sometimes proves tiresome, especially when the author chooses (or is forced to) use a minor character as the "camera" for a particular scene or plot development or when the character's "voice" is confusing or not quite right. However, the chapters told by the thief are particularly well done; and she emerges as one of the most admirable, engaging characters in contemporary fantasy. (One actually wishes for more tales of Lal, Sailor Lal, Swordcane Lal, Lal-after-dark.)

Recommended as a library loan for dedicated fantasy buffs, fans of Kay or McKillip, or those looking for something completely different. —Rob Rhodes

Tamsin — (1999) Publisher: Arriving in the English countryside to live with her mother and new stepfather, Jenny has no interest in her surroundings until she meets Tamsin. Since her death over 300 years ago, Tamsin has haunted the lonely estate without rest, trapped by a hidden trauma she can't remember, and a powerful evil even the spirits of night cannot name. To help her, Jenny must delve deeper into the dark world than any human has in hundreds of years, and face danger that will change her life forever...

A Dance for Emilia — (2000) Publisher: Even lifelong friendships can't outlast death... or can they? Award-winning author Peter S. Beagle presents a deeply personal story of dreams abandoned and recovered, friends loved and lost, and the strength it takes to let go...

Giant Bones — (1996) Young adult. Nominated for the World Fantasy Award, The Mythopoeic Awards, 1998 Best Books for the Teen Age. Six breathtaking stories set in the bestselling world of The Inkeeper's Song.

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons — (2007) Ages 9-12. Publisher: Dragons are common in the back water kingdom of bellemontagne, coming in sizes from mouse-like vermin all the way up to castle-smashing monsters. Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus thrax (who would much rather people just call him robert) has recently inherited his deceased dad’s job as a dragon catcher/exterminator, a career he detests with all his heart — in part because he likes dragons, feeling an odd kinship with them, but mainly because his dream has always been the impossible one of transcending his humble origin to someday become a prince’s valet. Needless to say, fate has something rather different in mind...

We Never Talk About My Brother — (2009) Publisher: Modern parables of love, death, and transformation are peppered with melancholy in this extraordinary collection of contemporary fantasy. Each short story cultivates a whimsical sense of imagination and reveals a mature, darker voice than previously experienced from this legendary author. In one tale the Angel of Death enjoys newfound celebrity while moonlighting as an anchorman on the network news, while in another the shortsighted ruler of a gentle realm betrays himself in dreaming of a "manageable war." Further storylines include an American librarian who discovers that, much to his surprise and sadness, he is the last living Frenchman, and rivals in a supernatural battle who decide to forgo pistols at dawn, choosing instead to duel with dramatic recitations of terrible poetry. Featuring several previously unpublished stories alongside a bevy of recently released works, this haunting compilation is appealing to both genre readers and mainstream literature lovers.

We Never Talk About My Brother

We Never Talk About My Brother, published by the small but estimable Tachyon Press, is a collection of ten of Peter S. Beagle’s recent stories. Eight were previously published from 2007 through 2009, demonstrating that Beagle has been as productive in his late 60s as he was at the age of 19, when he wrote A Fine and Private Place. Certainly his late work shows a mature intellect and imagination, as well as a perspective on his youth, that flavors his fiction with nostalgia, regret and a deep appreciation for life.

The title story is told by the narrator to a reporter who comes searching for news about the narrator’s brother, who used to be a famous news anchor. Esau Robbins, the news anchor, disappeared entirely from the scene years before. His brother Jacob knows why and is willing to tell the story. It seems that Esau didn’t exactly report the news; he made it. He made it by reporting it. He was a sort of Angel of Death, telling tales of horrible doings and thereby causing them to be done. How does one stop such a man? Jacob figures it out, and thereby hangs his tale.

“We Never Talk About My Brother” is a sharp, tight story, but for my taste, “Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel” shows a lot more of that mature intellect and imagination that I spoke of earlier. Beagle states in his introduction that the story is one of only a few he has told that draws specifically from his New York Jewish childhood, and it makes me long for a memoir tinged with fantasy from him. This story is about an angel who comes to pose for his Uncle Chaim, who is an artist. The angel simply shows up one day and announces that she is his only model now — and a great model she proves to be, too, able to hold a pose seemingly forever. But there are a few problems. For one thing, almost no one else can see the angel except in Chaim’s paintings (though the young narrator of the tale can). For another, there’s something just plain weird about this particular angel. We find out what that weirdness is, and experience an unusual act of kindness and bravery, in the climax to this gentle, lovely story.

I’d come across “The Last and Only, or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French” before in Eclipse One (2007), an original anthology of science fiction and fantasy edited by Jonathan Strahan. It’s about a Jewish-American man who slowly becomes French after visiting France on his honeymoon. He loses his ability to speak or read English, becomes very rude to those who speak (or attempt to speak) French with accents of which he doesn’t approve, and, ultimately, becomes more French than the French themselves. It’s a strange story that should be simply funny, but is ultimately melancholy.

I loved “Spook,” about a duel by bad poetry. Beagle says in his introduction that he can’t wait to record the audiobook version, and I can certainly see why. I don’t think I’ve ever read worse poetry in my lifetime, and I say that as someone who wrote sad, sad poetry about unrequited love at the age of 16 and read it again at the age of 40. I hope very much never to have to read the poetry of Theophilus Julius Henry Marzials ever again (sample lines: “And the shrill wind whines in the thin tree-top/Flop, plop/A curse on him”).

“Chandail” is set in the universe of The Innkeeper’s Song, and is about Lal’s encounter with one of the title species. It is an accomplished story in which two creatures completely alien to one another reach an accommodation and even, perhaps, something more. “By Moonlight” is a conversation between a highwayman and a preacher who was once Titania’s lover, and seeks to be once again. “King Pelles the Sure” is an antiwar tale about a king “who dreamed of war,” and thought he could have just a little, manageable one, just big enough to ensure that he would be remembered as a hero; “Nobody is ever remembered for living out a dull, placid, uneventful life,” he complains. He comes to rue those words. “The Unicorn Tapestries” is a poetry cycle about the tapestries hanging in The Cloisters in Manhattan’s Fort Tryon Park. “The Stickball Witch” is a slight story about children playing on the streets of the Bronx, and their adventure one fine day with the neighborhood witch — or at least the poor immigrant widow in the neighborhood that they all feared, for some unknown reason (that is, unknown even to them).

“The Tale of Junko and Sayuri” is my least favorite story in the book, about a man who works his way up in a Japanese court with the help of his mysterious wife. I was not convinced by the setting or the characters, and nothing about the tale spoke to me of Japan; it could as easily have been set in England if the names were different. Perhaps I like my Eastern mysticism to be a bit more mystical, but this story just fell flat for me.

This is one of those collections that I read nearly straight through, barely pausing to set the book down. Many single author collections tend to have much of a sameness about them, I have discovered, and suffer from that sort of reading. Not Beagle; not this collection. The stories are varied in theme and tone, though alike in craftsmanship.

This slim volume is not only worth reading, but worth adding to your library, for you are likely to find yourself returning to these stories again and again. If you are a reader, you will find sheer pleasure in them on each rereading. If you are a writer, you will explore them to find out just how Beagle does it. He is one of the most able writers of the fantasy short story working today. —Terry Weyna

The Secret History of Fantasy — (2010) Publisher: Featuring innovative authors, such as Robert Holdstock, Stephen King, Gregory Maguire, Francesca Lia Block, Steven Millhauser, and Jeffrey Ford, this volume provides stories that highlight the new path that fantasy literature has taken in the past 30 years. Merging the mythology, fairy tales, and archetypes of older fantasy classics with the sensibilities of new modern literature, these stories redefine fantasy and give it a fresh, exciting voice. An imaginative interpretation of the genre, the diverse collection ranges from the dreary depths of an English forest to a TV-lit room with the Lone Ranger and Tonto.

Return: An Innkeeper's World Story — (2010) Publisher: Every adventure has a beginning and every truly great adventure has an ending. In 1993 Peter S. Beagle, author of the beloved classic, The Last Unicorn, took an old song lyric of his and spun it into the Locus Award-winning fantasy The Innkeeper's Song, an enchanting tale of three powerful women, each with a secret past, a stable boy, and an innkeeper who set in motion a series of events that bring them face to face with the forces of magic and the workings of fate. Four years later Beagle took us back to their world in the World Fantasy Award nominated story collection, Giant Bones, and in the novella 'Lal and Soukyan' continued the adventures of two of his most-loved characters. In the decade that followed, Beagle touched on their world in powerful stories like'Quarry,' 'Chandail,' 'Barrens Dance,' and 'What Tune the Enchantress Plays.' Now, after a hiatus of six years, he comes back to the story of Soukyan (once known as Nyateneri) in Return. Return is a major new fantasy novella in which Soukyan turns to face the evil he has fled for most of his adult life, finally confronting the powerful forces that both made him and that have tried so tirelessly to destroy him. The end of the adventure is nearly here...

Return: An Innkeeper's World Story

Return: An Innkeeper's World Story was my first Peter S. Beagle read, but it certainly won't be my last. I've just put his The Innkeeper's Song on my TBR list.

Return is a slim novella (only 104 pages) which tells the story of Soukyan's return to that place where he was raised and from which he's been running for years. He's ready to put an end to those who've been hunting him, but he'll have to face them, and the strange power behind them, before he can be free.

Peter S. Beagle writes lively clear prose that's passionate, beautiful, smart, and occasionally dryly humorous. His plot is purposeful and tight with a hint of mystery and horror. Beagle's characters are intelligent and full of life — even those who are referred to but not seen (I can't wait to meet Lal in The Innkeeper's Song).

Return: An Innkeeper's World Story is exactly my kind of story except that it’s much too short. I am eager to read more in this world, and more Peter Beagle in general!

By the way, this is the third novella that I've received from Subterranean Press this year that has introduced me to a new (for me) author who I'm now expecting to become one of my favorite writers. Sub Press is putting out wonderfully unique titles that are especially appealing to those of us who love excellent fantasy literature. This is not mass market printing, so it's not sold at mass market prices, but Sub Press publishes unique high-quality literary works which often include gorgeous cover and interior art. It's even a joy to get their newsletter in my email inbox because it usually features at least one lovely painting. You can sign up for the newsletter and take a look at their catalog at the Subterranean Press website. —Kat Hooper

Sleight of Hand — (2010) Publisher: Abundant with tales of quiet heroism, life-changing decisions, and determined searches for deep answers, this extraordinary collection of contemporary fantasy explores the realms between this world and the next. From the top of the Berlin Wall to the depths of the darkest seas, gods and monsters battle their enemies and innermost fears, yet mere mortals make the truly difficult choices. A slightly regretful author and a vengeful-but-dilapidated dragon square off over an abandoned narrative; the children of the Shark God demand painful truths from their chronically absent father; and a bereaved women sacrifices herself to change one terrible moment, effortlessly reversed by a shuffle of the deck. Whether melancholic, comedic, or deeply tragic, each new tale is suffused with misdirection and discovery, expressed in the rich and mesmerizing voice of a masterful storyteller.

Sleight of Hand

Peter S. Beagle will probably always be best known for The Last Unicorn, the 1968 fantasy novel many consider his masterpiece, but the author has assembled a long and impressive bibliography since this perennial classic, including several excellent short story collections. The most recent of these is Sleight of Hand, recently released by Tachyon. If all you know of Peter S. Beagle is The Last Unicorn, this is as good an opportunity as any to jump in and explore the author’s shorter works.

Sleight of Hand offers thirteen stories that stretch to the far corners of the fantasy field, from cute children’s tales to ghost and werewolf stories, from traditional, straightforward narratives to more challenging fiction, and from humor to the most painful emotions. With such variety, you’re more or less guaranteed to find something you like here.

Peter S. Beagle has one of the most distinct and recognizable voices in fantasy fiction. His writing style sometimes reminds me of the lyrics of Paul Simon, because Beagle has the same ability to sound at the same time tentative and utterly exact in his choices. His writing is never overbearing, often gently humorous, always subtle and eloquent. In fact, it’s so gentle and unassuming that it’s easy to miss how delicately each sentence and paragraph have been constructed. It’s all easily enjoyable and readable, but there aren’t very many people out there who could put a story together with such precision.

Nevertheless, as with almost any collection, some stories in Sleight of Hand are stronger than others. While none of them are anything less than good, the book contains a few stories that feel considerably less substantial than the others, which is a shame in a collection that’s already short at under 300 pages. Interestingly, I felt that most of the stronger stories were clustered toward the end of the book, with some of the less impressive ones appearing early on.

Here are three of the most memorable stories:

• “Dirae” is probably the most challenging story in Sleight of Hand, as well as the one that’s least recognizable as a Peter S. Beagle story. I won’t try to summarize it here because it’s best to let you approach it without any preconceived notions, but “Dirae” is a true tour de force that bears reading and rereading a few times.
• “Vanishing” is a chilling and touching story in which a former American soldier, now an old man, mysteriously finds himself transported back to the Berlin Wall during the Cold War. He encounters the Russian soldier who faced him in the corresponding checkpoint on the other side of the Wall, as well as a younger man who has been drawn there for a different, but ultimately connected, reason. “Vanishing” is one of those stories that will stick with you for a long time, because of its dark, claustrophobic atmosphere and emotional conclusion.
• One of my favorite stories by Peter S. Beagle is “Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel” (from 2009’s We Never Talk about My Brother), because it mixes fantastical elements with very realistic (and, I believe, somewhat autobiographical) impressions of growing up as a young Jewish boy in New York in the middle of the last century. Sleight of Hand offers a similar and equally wonderful story in “The Rabbi’s Hobby,” about a boy studying Hebrew for his upcoming bar mitzvah, and his rabbi who grows increasingly more fascinated with a mysterious girl pictured in old magazine advertisements. This is one of those perfect pieces of fiction in which literally not a single word could be changed without making it less perfect.

While these three are my personal favorites in this collection, there are several others that are more than worthy of mentioning. “La Lune T’Attend” is a great Cajun werewolf story set in the Deep South. “The Rock in the Park” is another one of Peter S. Beagle’s eloquent evocations of childhood, this time describing a young boy’s meeting with a family of centaurs in Central Park. “Oakland Dragon Blues” is a neat meta-fictional account of a dragon’s meeting with the writer who created him. “The Woman Who Married the Man in the Moon” is a story about The Last Unicorn’s Schmendrick, whereas “What Tune the Enchantress Plays” is set in the same world as Beagle’s The Innkeeper’s Song.

Just like all the great authors working in the genre, Peter S. Beagle uses fantasy to examine the most straightforward, non-fantastical, human aspects of our lives. In Sleight of Hand, he offers thirteen excellent examples of why he’s one of the better fantasists working today. Recommended. — Stefan Raets

The First Last Unicorn — (2012) Publisher: Featuring previously unpublished and uncollected treasures from a much-beloved fantasy icon, this lovingly curated collection is a hoard of riches and surprises. A romp through the filing cabinet of Peter S. Beagle’s imagination, it is an unexpected glimpse into the curios, curiosities, and capstones of his later fiction. Included is a novella-length adventure of the last unicorn, in which she bands together with a duo of ambivalent demons to seek out her lost brethren. Additional chapters from A Fine & Private Place, from the unpublished novel Mirror Kingdoms, and even snippets from Beagle’s childhood and teenaged years are included. Correspondence, running commentary, and interviews give delightful insight into the creative process of this beloved master of the genre.