Diving Mimes, Weeping Czars and Other Unusual Suspects by Ken Scholes

Note: Diving Mimes, Weeping Czars and Other Unusual Suspects was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by Fairwood Press.


Ken Scholes can tell a good story. In his first collection, Long Walks, Last Flights and Other Strange Journeys, he blew me away with his storytelling gusto. He has since gone on to write the very well received Psalms of Isaak series, which began in the novel Lamentation. Fairwood Press and Scholes have teamed up to release a second collection of Scholes’ stories.

Fans of Scholes’ novel series will find a couple pieces of particular interest, as two stories take place in the same setting. Set well before the novels, “A Weeping Czar Beholds the Fallen Moon” sets up a number of engaging elements that make this a wonderful story, even for those who, like me, haven’t read the series yet. “Of Missing Kings and Backward Dreams and the Honoring of Lies” works as a follow up to “Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing with the Sunrise” (found in the previous collection, Long Walks, Last Flights). The story is as brilliant as its predecessor, and shows the richness of the world Scholes was creating. Another must read.

Other top stories, in my mind, include “Four Clowns of the Apocalypse and the Mecca of Mirth,” “The Boy Who Could Bend and Fall,” and “There Once Was a Girl From Nantucket (A Fortean Love Story).” However, that isn’t to say that any of the stories are lacking. You would be hard pressed to find a non-great story in this volume. Fans of the genre must pick this one up.

Interview with Ken Scholes

Those of you who read my review of Ken Scholes' powerful collection Long Walks, Last Flights & Other Journeys know just how highly I thought of it. Therefore, you can easily understand why I was more than just a little excited about getting the opportunity to ask Ken some questions.

Ken, thank you for the interview!

First off, I want to congratulate you on an incredible collection, Long Walks, Last Flights & Other Strange Journeys. You are a master of the short form. Do you have any more short stories coming out soon? Plans for any future collections?

Thank you, Luke. I'm so glad you enjoy my short fiction. It's a form I love to write in and it's where I've practiced my skills the most over the years. There are still stories in my inventory that will appear here and there but lately all of my writing effort has been going into The Psalms of Isaak, my five volume series with Tor. Still, in the gaps between books I hope to generate more short stories.

And yes, there are plans for a second collection possibly as soon as 2010. I'm putting together the table of contents now and it will include some of the pieces that have come out since then, including "A Weeping Czar Beholds the Fallen Moon" from Tor.com and "Grail-Diving in Shangrilla with the World's Last Mime" from Subterranean Online along with other stories that have shown up over the last year or so and a few earlier pieces that didn't make it into the first collection.

The breadth of your topics is vast, to say the least, covering historical figures such as Hitler, Hodgson, and Lewis, venues such as Hell, nursing homes, and Japan, and managing to work in folktales and cultural references. How much research do you have to do for most of your works?

The research largely depends on the topic of the story. For the stories with roots in history, literature or mythology, I do end up spending some time becoming familiar. And sometimes I do the research as I'm actually writing. When Sean Wallace asked for a Japanese fantasy, I spent about four evenings researching and writing "Hibakusha Dreaming in the Shadowy Land of Death." It probably went the fastest of my research-heavy tales. I needed to spend time looking at Japanese folklore, conditions in post-war Tokyo and a bit about Ed Deming but I was able to do it on the fly. With "Edward Bear and the Very Long Walk" I saturated myself with A.A. Milne for a few weeks before attempting the story. In "The Man With Great Despair Behind His Eyes" I spent a good deal of time both in the Lewis and Clark journals, biographies of Lewis and what little we know of the D.B. Cooper case. With "Into the Blank Where Life is Hurled," I skimmed several Houdini biographies along with several of Hodgson's novels.

I enjoy research though I don't write as many stories that require it these days. Still, I'll hope to go back and tackle more once I'm more established as a writer with my series.

Your have a new novel out from Tor entitled Lamentation. Can you tell us a little bit about it? How about the series, Psalms of Isaak, in general?

Happy to talk about it. Lamentation is based on the short story "Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing with the Sunrise," a story that did pretty well in the world when it came out in the August 2006 issue of Realms of Fantasy. It was my first pro-level publication after winning Writers of the Future and after I saw the art they commissioned Allen Douglas to create for it, I realized there was much more to Isaak and Rudolfo's story than meets the eye. I conceived of four interconnected short stories that would tell the larger story of who destroyed Windwir and why. When the second story was rejected for not standing alone quite as well as it could have, I was encouraged by my friends, family and even the editor at Realms of Fantasy to finally go and write a novel. Lamentation uses the first and second short stories as bookends and fills in the gap between. It follows the lives of four people as they witness the destruction of Windwir and are changed by it. The five volume series continues that exploration with action, intrigue, war, and plots within plots as the characters unravel the mystery and are transformed by the circumstances. The first book has received a good deal of critical acclaim and generated a lot of nice fan mail. Canticle, the second volume, is due out in October. I'm working on the third volume, Antiphon, and am nearly finished.

Finally, what can we expect in the future from Ken Scholes?

Well, I reckon more of the same. I'll always come back to short fiction because I enjoy it so much. And I'm learning to love the novel form, now, too. So certainly more of those. But I've also always had my eye on other forms of storytelling because so many of those forms influenced me as a writer. I'd like to dabble more in screenwriting at some point -- I have a collaboration there that is slowly coming together around one of my short stories. And comic books are high on my list as well. Of course, until I'm able to go full time and pour more energy into the writing, I'm pretty limited. I'm hoping the work I'm doing with The Psalms of Isaak will create a foundation that will let me diversify a bit and explore other forms of storytelling while at the same time staying firmly rooted in novels.

Long Walks, Last Flights & Other Strange Journeys by Ken Scholes

Following the short story trend, I moved on to Long Walks, Last Flights & Other Strange Journeys, a collection of short fiction by Ken Scholes. After reading the preface by Patrick Swenson (head of Fairwood Press) and the introduction by James Van Pelt (whose novel Summer of the Apocalypse was one of the best novels to come out so far this decade), I dove into this collection with a large amount of excitement, ready to be thrilled and awed. Below is a story by story review, followed by a review of the whole collection.

“The Man With Great Despair Behind His Eyes”: In this enthralling tale, the secret task given to Meriwether Lewis before the famous trek of Lewis & Clark is revealed. Before the expedition, Lewis meets with President Jefferson, who has a very mysterious piece of money from 1971. With very few clues, Lewis sets out to meet the original owner of the bill. This story flows by without the reader even noticing, so smooth is the prose. Scholes treats us to vivid dream sequences, plenty of twists, and a tormented character whose actions and words ring true throughout.

“Action Team-Ups Number Thirty-Seven”: This tale of superheroes past their prime was truly heartwarming. Our aged heroes and villains learn the power of forgiveness and the joy of life. I poignant story, and touching enough to illicit far more than a smile from the reader.

“Soon We Shall All Be Saunders”: A weird tale, with sections that are almost lyrical or prose poem-ish, in which one man’s sarcastic “If only we could all be like Saunders” gets treated to the “Be careful what you wish for” trope, with interesting results. Another winner from Scholes, this one more for atmospherics than for story.

“A Good Hair Day in Anarchy”: This western on another planet was a very entertaining tale, one without a real villain. Ed the Barber interacts with a hunter who is searching for the dread Slope Dobbins. A really fun, light piece.

“Into the Blank Where Life is Hurled”: This tale of William Hope Hodgson, Harry Houdini, and Hell is another deep, original experience provided by Scholes. Throughout, we learn of Scholes’ vision of Hell, and the power of good and hope. This was yet another powerful tale.

“The Satnaman Cycle”: Santa the messiah? In this tale, yes! An odd short piece, that was a little less powerful than some of the others in this book, we are treated to the myth of a Santa that appears as a messiah to a people in search of a new world. While yes, this one wasn’t my favorite, the lowest quality story so far in this anthology is still a very decent tale.

“Hibakusha Dreaming in the Shadowy Land of Death”: This touching tale of life after World War II in Japan packs a powerful emotional punch. We are introduced to a group of friends who meet for group psychotherapy sessions with an American therapist. We learn of their past lives, and their hopes for the future. This story hurts in all the right places, and shines everywhere. A beautiful story.

“One Small Step”: This odd tale of chimpanzees taking over a moon laboratory is packed full of suspense and this interesting working to make you sympathize with both the human and chimpanzee characters. The human-like chimps really show the development they made while being experimented, and how they gained some unexpected traits. A story that was impossible to put down.

“Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing with the Sunrise”: In what apparently will be expanded upon for a five book series from Tor, Scholes creates a very intriguing tale that draws you in with the wonderful language and style. While it does feel like the beginning of something, and not the entirety of a tale (it ends right in the middle of things), it creates a couple characters that are very memorable. I must pick up a copy of his first novel when it comes out in paperback.

“So Sang the Girl Who Had No Name”: In this tale of redemption found in Hell, Scholes treats us to a beautifully sweet vision of Hope. Once again, Scholes excels at presenting very human characters that never once fall out of character.

“Edward Bear and the Very Long Walk”: Winnie-the-Pooh and an epic journey just don’t seem to go together, right? Well, turns out we’re both wrong. Edward Bear goes on a fun, intriguing, and eventually bittersweet journey to save the lives of countless people who are depending on him. While this one moved a tad slower at times, it still had an ending to pull the heartstrings.

“That Old-Time Religion”: A strange modernization of the fall of man into idolatry, and how God saves the few who stayed faithful. This tale depicts a view of God that some may be uncomfortable with, but as a fantasy tale, I thought it was entertaining.

“East of Eden and Just a Bit South”: Another “religious” story, this time Scholes tells us the “true” tale of Cain and Able, from Cain’s point of view. This was a fun, light tale if not taken too seriously, and there are hints throughout (the tale is as true as aliens cloning JFK!) that one shouldn’t. Not the most powerful of tales, but still fun.

“Fearsome Jones’ Discarded Love Collection”: I like this story, in large part because I don’t. This tale of a down on his luck man named Fearsome who finds a baby to care for was at turns touching and suspenseful, but the ending (or lack thereof) was horrible. Like life, not all of the questions are answered, in fact most aren’t. The non-ending in which, all of a sudden, is just over, drove me nuts, but I’m not entirely sure that that wasn’t the point. Beautiful writing throughout.

“The Doom of Love in Small Places”: A tale of love at the bottom of the world. This is another story in which a lot isn’t fully explained, but we are given an intriguing plot, characters that you would bleed for, and even a tie in to a previous story (See “The Santaman Cycle”). A wonderful piece of fiction that explores love, loneliness, and hope. One of the best stories in a stellar collection.

“Summer in Paris, Light from the Sky”: A powerful tale of three men in France in 1941: Chuck Chaplin, Ernie Hemingway, and the future savior of the Jews, Adolf Hitler. This alternate history tale shows how things could have been different, as Hitler has a good childhood, and falls in love with a beautiful woman in France, who happens to be Polish, Jewish, and black. This story is truly powerful stuff, with a beautiful ending.

“Last Flight of the Goddess”: People in love frequently try to write love stories, tender collections of beautiful prose packed with emotion. I know I’ve tried my hand at more than a few dozen. When these sorts of tales work, they achieve a state that surpasses most anything when it comes to joy and hope and, of course, love. In the story of Andro Giantslayer we are treated to an incredible example of the power of a love story, as Andro learns to live after the loss of his beloved wife. The perfection summation to a powerful collection. Enough good cannot be said about “Last Flight of the Goddess.”

While short stories have made up the majority of my most recent readings, it is rare anymore to read short stories in a quantity even near novels. This is a truly sad thing, as short stories are capable of so much power. One would be hard pressed to find a better example of this in modern science fiction and fantasy than this incredible collection by Ken Scholes. I am awe-struck by the sheer story telling abilities displayed here. By far the best new short story collection to come out in the past year, if not far longer.

10/10