Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
031825
Lee, Mary Soon, 2025 (illustrated print edition), The Sign of the Dragon, JABberwocky, ISBN 978-1-625674-91-3, 580 p.
“Holy bat burgers,” said Robin, “the whole is indeed more than the sum of its parts!”
The Sign of the Dragon is a true novel in verse. It is a narrative of breathtaking scope recorded as a series of poems ranging in length from a few lines to a couple of pages each. Each poem is more or less equivalent to a short chapter in a prose novel. The Sign of the Dragon is high fantasy. There are knights, warriors with unusual powers, dragons, and monsters. The story follows Xau, the young king of Meqing, a small country that strongly resembles medieval China in its culture. Neighboring countries are barbarians of various sorts, and bear resemblances to other cultures of Earth's past. Over the course of the narrative, Xau has to contend first with a dragon, who determines whether he is fit to rule. Next, with his youth and inexperience as he takes the throne of Meqing (his father and older brothers all having died). He then has to face a powerful neighbor in war. He successfully deals with this threat through the force of his personality, the loyalty of his men, and through the application of a supernatural power (he is, in essence, a horse whisperer). Other challenges include dealing with natural disasters, and threats of war with another neighboring country. Ultimately, Xau is challenged by an implacable foe of all humanity, a monster to rival the creations of Lovecraft in appearance, if not in philosophy.
The Sign of the Dragon is high-octane adventure, but good is ultimately victorious, although not without cost. Xau rises to each challenge because of his inner strength of will, and with this support of his loyal men (and horses). Even though the ultimate outcome is never in doubt, the journey is much more than half the fun in this far-reaching and uplifting fantasy adventure.
This volume was illustrated by Gary McCluskey, who provided both the color cover and black-and-white interior drawings. The art is very well done, but I think in most cases the illustrations don't really add much to the book. They illustrate what you've read, but don't show anything more than that. One exception is the illustration showing the dragon and the young prince, late in the book. The dragon really isn't described anywhere, which makes McCluskey's beautiful illustration a nice addition.
I had read some of these poems before, because many were published first in various periodicals, and the first part of the saga was previously published in book form. I enjoyed reading them whenever I found them, but the poems on their own lack the grandeur of the overarching story that they compose. I was astonished at how much fun this book was to read. Lee's work is known to me and I have long respected her ability, but here she has transcended everything else I have seen from her. She is a worthy successor to the high fantasists of previous generations. If you like high fantasy or dragons then you owe this book to yourself.
Monday, March 17, 2025
The Elgin Awards
The Elgin Awards are presented by the SFPA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, for the best speculative poetry collections of the year: chapbooks and full-length books. My 2022 collection, Some Disassembly Required, won the 2023 Elgin for full-length book. This year, Unwelcome Guests, published in 2024 by Weird House, is up for the same award. if you are a card-carrying member of the SFPA you can nominate this, as well as any other 2024 speculation collection you fancy, for the award.
Unwelcome Guests is the newest full-length collection of dark speculative poetry from SFPA Grand Master and Rhysling winner David C. Kopaska-Merkel
There’s relatability and strangehood in the offerings, some miniature in haiku, a beautiful symmetry and ominous obscurity in the text, dread in the unspoken.
Where some poets hero the impact of the closing line, Kopaska-Merkel’s poems strike in the power between the lines. The reader can never predict what potency the text might disgorge
Unwelcome Guests is a spectral lover’s touch—tender, yet dooming. It’s a perfect marriage of poetry and prose, warm and chilling, starkly intelligent and reachable. Ideal for anyone.
--Eugen Bacon, Aurealis
"At turns disquieting and quirky, playful and poignant, the poems in Unwelcome Guests, like their titular subjects, will stay with you long after you've put the book down and gone to bed (perhaps leaving the light on). A welcome addition to any genre poetry lover's collection!"
-- Marsheila Rockwell, Rhysling Award-winning poet and author of the Scribe Award-nominated Shard Axe series
The first half of Unwelcome Guests slithers in and out of side-alleys in Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, while the second strides avenues of science fiction. Gotta love “June Lockhart’s Recurring Nightmare”. And when “Medusa Buys a Car”. There’s so many environs of speculative poetry visited here, penned with a convincing voice and deft whispers of experimentation.
— Robert Frazier, author of Phantom Navigation
David Kopaska-Merkel’s poetry is like a twisted vein of black gold, with subtle tweaks of darkling humor. He brings to the fore other images that are like watching a glistening pool of oil, beneath which something moves. Whether disturbing sites near Carcosa, the unsuspecting traps of relationships, or unusual visitations, his poetry will inspire, entertain and make you think.
--Colleen Anderson
Rhysling Award winner
MERELY THE BUCKET LIST POEM (ON PAGE 79) IS WORTH THE ACTION ON MY MIND AND MY FUNNY BONES (MORE THAN ONE)
--Edward Mycue
Author of I Am A Fact Not A Fiction
Unwelcome Guests is the newest full-length collection of dark speculative poetry from SFPA Grand Master and Rhysling winner David C. Kopaska-Merkel
There’s relatability and strangehood in the offerings, some miniature in haiku, a beautiful symmetry and ominous obscurity in the text, dread in the unspoken.
Where some poets hero the impact of the closing line, Kopaska-Merkel’s poems strike in the power between the lines. The reader can never predict what potency the text might disgorge
Unwelcome Guests is a spectral lover’s touch—tender, yet dooming. It’s a perfect marriage of poetry and prose, warm and chilling, starkly intelligent and reachable. Ideal for anyone.
--Eugen Bacon, Aurealis
"At turns disquieting and quirky, playful and poignant, the poems in Unwelcome Guests, like their titular subjects, will stay with you long after you've put the book down and gone to bed (perhaps leaving the light on). A welcome addition to any genre poetry lover's collection!"
-- Marsheila Rockwell, Rhysling Award-winning poet and author of the Scribe Award-nominated Shard Axe series
The first half of Unwelcome Guests slithers in and out of side-alleys in Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, while the second strides avenues of science fiction. Gotta love “June Lockhart’s Recurring Nightmare”. And when “Medusa Buys a Car”. There’s so many environs of speculative poetry visited here, penned with a convincing voice and deft whispers of experimentation.
— Robert Frazier, author of Phantom Navigation
David Kopaska-Merkel’s poetry is like a twisted vein of black gold, with subtle tweaks of darkling humor. He brings to the fore other images that are like watching a glistening pool of oil, beneath which something moves. Whether disturbing sites near Carcosa, the unsuspecting traps of relationships, or unusual visitations, his poetry will inspire, entertain and make you think.
--Colleen Anderson
Rhysling Award winner
MERELY THE BUCKET LIST POEM (ON PAGE 79) IS WORTH THE ACTION ON MY MIND AND MY FUNNY BONES (MORE THAN ONE)
--Edward Mycue
Author of I Am A Fact Not A Fiction
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