800 words
The Eye of Sounnu is a collection of new and reprinted stories by Schuyler Hernstrom. It was released in 2020 by DMR Books and is one of the finest books in their catalog. DMR specializes in reprinting old and publishing new sword and sorcery, weird fiction, as well as some science fiction and interplanetary romance.
I’ve never liked the term "speculative fiction." It always bothered me that the term lumped together science fiction and fantasy. These two genres feel fundamentally different to me. Fantasy is antiquarian, romantic, escapist, and has a magical way of seeing the world, whereas science fiction is more cerebral, analytical, and often browbeating in its intellectual ambition. Admittedly, these demarcations have subsided since I first heard the term in the 1990s.
This is why I find "weird fiction" so charming, and a genre category into which I’d place The Eye of Sounnu. Weird fiction captures the wonder of technology without the afterthought of realism. It gives us an unbridled imagination of the unreal with none of the constraints of real engineering, technology, and science. Hernstrom does this masterfully. His worlds are all the wonder of fantasy, mixed with youthful admiration of scientific gadgetry, but there’s nothing of the banality of the actual scientific process. Perhaps, I’d even give his works their own genre term: "science and sorcery."
The opening story, "The Gift of The Ob-Men," which features the titular Eye of Sounnu, captures this essence and sets the tone for the entire collection. The story is grim, even depressing, but the joy of discovery is there, and it offsets the doombringing tone, creating a mixture of darkness and light. (Consider listening to The Sorcerer's Sanctum (ep. 2), a ten-minute conversation about this great story).
The next story I want to highlight is "The Tragedy of Thurn." This story captures the spirit of Robert E. Howard's pulp sword and sorcery works in a way few others have achieved. One can read Howard for sheer escapism, but there was always a deeper subtext there, e.g. the Wheel of Civilization, the epic scope rise and fall of nations: bad times make strong men, strong men make good times, good times make weak men, and weak men make bad times. This story deals with the cycle of chaos and order, which one can see in Moorcock and Le Guin’s Taoist-influenced work. In "The Tragedy of Thurn," a great warlord has come who wants to break the cycle, ushering in true chaos and destruction. The weak men of the decadent age have no heroes who can oppose him. So, they must find a hero of the past who was one of the strong men made by bad times. I found this utterly sublime. Without being overtly political, this story reminded me that it feels like we’re at the bottom of that cycle for some of us. Maybe allegorical symbolism that gets people thinking can be more meaningful than overt political commentary, which often just generates unproductive debate? Anyway, I see myself in the wizards of this tale and my paternal grandfather--who fought in WII--as the hero of this story.
I briefly want to touch on "Image of the Goddess." Hernstrom is clearly influenced by Jack Vance. To be frank, I don’t like Vance's work very much. I found the Cugel the Clever saga just ugly and cruel. The nihilistic humor did not appeal to me. This story captures that humor, I think, though in a more positive way. Let’s just say what the image turns out to be is quite funny.
I’ll close with "Mortu and Kyuss in the White City." I genuinely think this is one of the best pulp stories I have ever read. The story takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. The two characters are a barbarian and a Christian monk trapped in a monkey's body. The two ride an alien motorcycle they call a stead. What could be more evocative to youthful imagination than that?
A key element of this story is its quasi-Tolkienesque fusion of Christian and Pagan virtues. Ever since the North American release of The Lord of the Rings in the late 1960s, there has been steady criticism of Tolkien. I find all these arguments unconvincing because Tolkien achieved something no one else has: he captured the best of Christianity and the best of Paganism’s virtues, and expressed them in a deeply human way. I dare say "Mortu and Kyuss in the White City" achieves the same balance. The pair has this witty banter between the Christian perspective of Kyuss and the Warrior Pagan views of Mortu. I’ll quote a couple abridge lines between the duo.
"Wanton slaughter is not the way! These people must face justice!"
"Justice is what I mean to dispense."
"Justice does not come from a blade’s edge."
"It most certainly does…You may talk of cities and Justice all you wish. Tonight, the pagan wins. My anger will be sated and these people brought to ruin."
What could be more sword and sorcery than this exchange?
As The Eye of Sounnu makes clear, Hernstom is a master of the craft. As someone also writing neo-pulp, I do not wish to copy his voice, but I do consider that voice the North Star, in whose direction I should aim.
About the Reviewer: J. Thomas Howard is an aspiring fantasist from the receding woodlands of Southeastern Pennsylvania. You can follow his works at his blog; https://jthowardpulp.wordpress.com. He also occasionally tweets at @J_skald.
About Spiral Tower Reviews: The authors who maintain the pulp genres of sword and sorcery and cosmic horror merit support. Financial support is key but there are other ways the cash-strapped can show support: engaged reading and thoughtful analysis. Literary movements emerge through the interactions of editors, authors, publishers, and amateur literary journalists. Learn more about contributing your review here. Note: We are specifically interested in working with amateur reviewers.
