Dark tales of ghosts of war, blood from the Autumn of Terror, the wrath of nature, an unusual murder and a cynical vampire. Twisted poetry of loss and mayhem.
Some adult themes and language.
Winner of the 2021 best short story award on NN Light Book Heaven
The Dancer whirled and twirled in the field, clad in nought but leaves of gold, red and bronze, on her skin of moss green and brown. Her legs splayed wide as the roots they were before they snapped together with the crack of wood on wood. Arms weaved, branches all, in the complicated ritual only her kind knew and scattered about acorns for the birds, squirrels and other creatures who knew her secrets. Wind curled around her, laden with moisture and clouds of ash-grey tumbled in the sky. Yet the Dancer had seen it all before, year after year, the Dance continued. Even when the Goddess had become angry at the human meddling and brought the storms which battered human, beast and tree alike. Of late the Goddess was angered a good deal, and the land suffered.
This year, as so many times before she had been Dancing since the Spring brought the thaw, and tentative green coloured her limbs. A slow Dance, unsure, just awakened from slumber yielded to the frenzy of the summer, with her crown of brightest green and the glory of her canopy. Yet she knew, as did all her kind, that such dances could not last. Such power, such energy, such glory called for a price and so once more her dance was closing. Some fell to the wind; some fell to sickness or weakness, and some to the axe. Some fell when the Great Slumber came, the land froze, and the sun hid and when the Goddess slept. Each year the dance became a little harder, the wind a little stronger, and the summer a little shorter and the Goddess despaired all the more.
| Language | Status |
|---|---|
|
Dutch
|
Already translated.
Translated by Saskia Werkhoven
|
|
|
Author review: Great translation and communication |
|
Italian
|
Already translated.
Translated by Alessandra Gazzella Furfaro
|
|
Portuguese
|
Already translated.
Translated by Fernanda M. Souza
|
|
Spanish
|
Already translated.
Translated by Andrea Navas C.
|
