Mythangelus by Storm Constantine
Storm Constantine has frequently taken inspiration from the legends of the angels. Mythangelus is a collection of her angel-themed short fiction. The stories deal with issues of religion, gender, and sexuality; and are filled with lush prose:
At first light, a flock of birds known as the guardabarrancas, the guardians of the ravine, wake Silva with their tinkling song. It sounds as if a thousand wind chimes are being subtly excited by a tantalising breeze. The light, when Silva opens her eyes, is opalescent, glowing. Gold-green radiance falls in spears across her bed, shining motes held in the beams. The air is cool, caressing, and has a sparkling taste, like fern wine. Silva is caught in a transient moment of pure Earth beauty, those times when the planet unveils itself, when it does not realise it is being observed by a member of the hungry race it spawned.
Constantine‘s Grigori series was inspired by angelic lore, and as it turns out, so was her Wraeththu series. Each of these universes is represented by several stories in this collection. In addition, there are a number of standalone stories, ranging from fairy tales to urban fantasy to science fiction. Constantine provides an extra treat in the back: “Story History,” in which she talks a little bit about where each tale came from. (I love it when authors do that!)
My favorites were:
- “The Green Calling,” the science-fiction story, which explores themes of aging and decay.
- Urban fantasies “Return to Gehenna” and “The Oracle Lips,” both of which revolve around
young women looking for an escape from the hellish drabness of their lives. I especially
loved the drinks in “Return to Gehenna,” which contained emotions rather than alcohol,
and the way the protagonist of “The Oracle Lips” inhabits a strange middle ground
between being sympathetic and being a little creepy. - The fairy-tale cycle, which consists of three stories concerning Jadrin, a miller’s son who
falls in love with a King. Note: When making bargains with supernatural beings, be careful
about the wording!
I highly recommend this collection to fans of mythic fiction. These strange, haunting stories will draw you in, and then leave you thinking about their themes (and in some cases, their ambiguous endings) afterward.
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