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In all the commotion involved in preparing Whetstone issues for publication, I rarely get to slow down and simply enjoy some of the fiction we are fortunate enough to publish. This is why I want to write a few essays, something of a retrospective, about a few great stories published in Whetstone.
The first one I want to write about is "Undulations" by B. Harlan Crawford, published in Whetstone 7. It's an excellent sword and sorcery tale set in Ancient Greece of myth.
First, a summary (plot spoilers throughout): King Crantor, the lord of the City-state of Epirus, has been betrayed by his chamberlain, the cowardly and traitorous Terpsion. Terpsion helped kill the bodyguards of King Crantor and his wife, the mysterious Queen Audata, who is whispered to be a witch. After committing this heinous act, Terpsion, not confident enough to rule the City-state himself, proceeds to help the warlord, Abbryas of Passaron, invade Epirus in its moment of weakness. Abbryas attacks the city with his army and very nearly conquers it, but Queen Audata and her bodyguard, the Aesir swordswoman Sigyn, prevent this. How so? Audata gets her loyal bodyguard Sigyn to behead her. How does this help, you might ask? Although it is unknown to Sigyn, this beheading is part of a dark magical ritual that will transform Queen Audata into a six-armed serpentine monster who will avenge her and her husband against Terpsion and Abbryas. Eventually, Abbryas' forces are thrown back by this horrible monster, and while pressing his attack into the city, Abbryas is violently killed by an avenging Sigyn. At the very end of the story, there is an intriguing moment where Sigyn learns of Audata's dark magic and her role in the ritual that transformed her friend into a monster.
My summary doesn't do the story justice, and it's even more impressive that Crawford was able to tell such a compelling, multi-faceted story in under 2500 words (our hard limit). At no point in the story do you feel rushed, or that you are reading neutral exposition (although there is a lot of exposition that happens but in a seamless, dramatic way). Moreover, the form of the story is clever. It begins with a creepy and mysterious event, the beheading of a queen by her friend and bodyguard. You can't help but be confused by this inciting incident and must read on.
In addition to the rich and complex plot, Crawford is able to create a rich, immersive world of ancient myth. He intersperses his characters' dialogue with several allusions to Greek mythology and ancient Greek history. For example, characters swear by Zeus, come from recognizable locations in antiquity, and speak in an appropriate antiquated way. Here's an example: Queen Audata, transformed into a monstrous serpent, sibilantly whispers the following to Terpsion in response to his many insults (just before she crushes him): "Let [your insults] comfort you as you bargain with Charon for passage into hell." There are other references that bring the Greek mythology milieu to life. For example, Sigyn is described as a pale-skinned warrior woman of the Aesir. Audata has bargained with Hecate for her transformation. There are several more allusions skillfully embedded into the narrative, making the world feel visceral, full, and ancient.
In addition to the plot and setting, Crawford creates intriguing characters. Even a character who isn't part of the story, the tragic King Crantor, is interesting, and he is only characterized through the narrow perspective of his hateful enemy, the traitorous Terpsion. Of Crantor, Terpsion says, "The chamberlain had long despised Crantor as an effete, henpecked tool of the scheming witch-queen Audata. That Crantor had produced no heir reinforced Terpsion’s opinion that the king was incapable of impregnating the queen due to some unknown physical shortcoming." You get a sense that Terpsion the traitor hates what he sees in Crantor, and this is outlined by the ridiculousness of the insult: nobility, heroism, and equipoise. I am not quite sure how I know, but I got the sense that Crantor was a noble king, beloved by Audata, and the fact that he was betrayed and killed by a worm like Terpsion makes the traitor even more fun to hate.
There are other compelling character dynamics. For example, the relationship between Audata and Sigyn is very fascinating. For example, Audata feels guilt for having her beloved bodyguard participate in such a dark ritual without the Aesir's knowledge; Audata knows that by asking her friend to kill her, she is asking a lot, asking her to work against her bodyguard instincts. Later, after Audata's magic is revealed, there is an intriguing dialogue wherein Audata, transformed into a serpentine demon, apologizes to Sigyn, who, in killing Abbryas, has just avenged her and her husband. Audata's apology to Sigyn is worth quoting at length:
What I have done to you is unforgivable, but it is the least of my sins. I had hoped to die once my vengeance was complete, but that is not Hecate’s will. Until she allows me to die, I will remove myself from the sight of men. Remember me as I was, Sigyn, not as I am. Look upon all this as a nightmare from which you will awake to a fresh new day. Farewell!
There is more I can celebrate about this story: the way characterization happens through dialog and flows indirectly through point of view, the excellent and economic descriptions of action scenes and battle, and the overall theme that the pursuit of vengeance, the poison of hate, causes us to become monsters, a lesson Audata learned.
"Undulations" is truly an accomplishment in sword and sorcery fiction, and we were fortunate to publish it.
You can read this excellent story for free here: Whetstone Issue 7.
What do you think of this story? Share your thoughts in the Whetstone Discord.
Art by Geraldo MarinhoInstagram: @oldsky.art
Email: geraldinho.art@gmail.com
