Mortality Bridge by Steven R. Boyett

I was so excited when I saw a new book out by Boyett. Years and years of silence, then two new novels within a year! I loved Ariel, and was happy to read the end of the saga in Elegy Beach, but this latest just wasn't my cup of tea, as they say.

The book blurb on the slipcover says "...remixes Orpheus, Dante, Faust, the Crossroads legend, and more..." It did, indeed. The story is about a rock guitarist named Niko, who makes a deal with the devil, selling his soul for stardom, and being cured of his substance addiction problems (not sure whether that was a side effect or actual clause in the contract). But the fine print allows the devil to take anyone in Niko's family's sould as well. Probably seemed like a good idea at the time, as he'd already lost his only brother in a car wreck, and his parents were long gone.

So, when the woman he loves, Jemma, dies of lingering cancer, her soul is whisked away and Niko attempts to bargain at first, but when that is unsuccessful, he journeys into the underworld to win her back from that land of pain and suffering.

There were some interesting touches, like crossing over into Hell in a black taxi cab, and witty dialog with demons, on occasion, but for the most part it's a horribly depressing and brutal tale of depravity and graphic torture of the souls in Hell. I got about halfway through before I stopped caring what happens to Niko. If you like dark, brooding, black humor, this might be a good read.

Elegy Beach by Steven R. Boyett

If you've been wondering for the last thirty years whatever happened to Pete and Ariel, from Boyett's novel of The Change, then this is your opportunity to find out, in a story set thirty years later in that world. The novel takes place for the most part near Del Mar, California, from the viewpoint of Pete's son, Fred. Yes, Pete named his son after his sword; something Freudian there, perhaps.

Fred is apprenticed to the resident spell caster in town, nicknamed Pay Pay, and is chafing a bit at the pace that he's being taught. He and his friend, Yan, have begun experimenting with spell casting, working from some "libbed" grimoires. There's a type of spell called a stasis spell, that turns objects into shimmering silver statues, basically, and which is impervious to all forces. No one has ever figured out how to remove a stasis spell, but it's theorized that time doesn't pass inside of the spell, so there would probably be all kinds of nifty uses for a counterspell, especially in a world without refrigeration.

One of the things that Boyett gets into a bit more in this novel is the idea that some of the old laws of physics still seem to work, while others don't, though the characters never exactly figure out why one thing is allowed and not another. Simple pumps still work, while gears will not (I think Boyett violates this in one scene where they jump into a car on a grade and use it to coast downhill faster than their enemies can run - the steering still works - aren't there gears in a steering box?). Not quite sure why crossbows still work, if they have to be cranked to cock. Some minor inconsistencies here and there, but it doesn't really distract from the story.

Fred and Yan eventually come up with a way to create a stasis spell with a flaw in it that will allow it to be removed at a later time. They take some of these pre-packaged spells to a local flea market to drum up business. The great thing about these spells is that anyone can use them, if they have the unlocking words. Yan's experiments finally get out of hand when he takes revenge on Pay Pay after he figures out the password to some of his and Fred's new toys, and Yan burns down his shop in retaliation. Fred confronts him and tells him he must leave town before Fred has to tell his father and the rest of the town who is responsible for the fire.

Yan leaves, but continues to work with magic, finally discovering a way that he thinks he can reverse The Change. No one, least of all the magical creatures, thinks this is a good idea. Around this time, Ariel shows up, and the big reveal, which we readers probably already have figured out is that Fred's dad is Pete from the earlier book. Yan has killed Ariel's companion, another unicorn, and stolen his horn. Unicorn horns are objects of great power, and it's part of the spell he is building that will destroy the world as we know it now.

And so the quest begins, not so much different from the quest in Ariel. Pete, Fred, Ariel and Yan's father decide they have to stop the rogue magician before he can complete his evil plot. They set out on a long journey to the villain's lair, with plenty of magic and mayhem along the way.

Nice to finally wrap the story up, after all these years.

Ariel by Steven R. Boyett

Harlan Ellison wrote a short story/novelette a long time ago called A Boy and His Dog. From what I understand, the movie adaptation was horribly mangled, but the general idea of both was that in a post-apocalyptic world, the boy and his dog roamed the world, trying to survive. In the end, he had to make a choice between the love of a girl, and the life of Buck, the dog. Ellison left the ending deliberately vague, and you had to go back and read it a couple of times to really figure out what had happened, but the tag line was, approximately "sure I know what love is. A boy loves his dog."

Anyway, Ariel, by Boyett, is eerily reminiscent of that Ellison story. It takes place in a post-technical world after The Change, when the physical laws that allow gunpowder to explode, airplanes to fly, and electricity to power the world have failed, and magic and its creatures have returned. The copy I own was published in 1984 (the image in this post is a 2009 reprint), and aside from one other novel I possess, Boyett disappeared from the scene, only to reappear with a new novel of the world of Ariel called Elegy Beach. Of course, I bought a copy and went back after almost thirty years to re-read Ariel in preparation for the new story.

When the world as he knows it ceases to exist, Pete Garey survives on his own for a while, using his camping skills and things he learns from abandoned libraries to get by. One day, while bathing in a lake, he spots a unicorn with a broken leg near the shore, and swims over to investigate. As he is a virgin, the unicorn allows him to touch her, he plays Androcles and the lion, splinting the leg, and they travel together from that day forward. Several years later, a group of people, having heard that the horn of a unicorn is a very powerful and valuable item, try to take Ariel away from Pete. Pete acquires a couple of stray allies in this battle, one of the Star Trek red shirt variety, the other called Mordecai Lee, who is as close to a samurai warrior as one will find in this day and age. They dispatch the first group of attackers readily, but when the minion of the Necromancer who controls New York City shows up on his griffon to make his play for the unicorn and horn, things start to get really serious.

After the griffon rider is barely sent packing, Mordecai decides he needs to head to New York with his canine companion to try to do something about the menace there, and tells Pete and Ariel to run and hide. They decide instead to follow him surreptitiously, reasoning that they may be able to help him, and if he fails on his own, the Necromancer and his forces will track them down eventually. As they travel, they accumulate a couple more refugees, a young boy with a broadsword who has been sent on a manhood-proving quest by his father to slay a dragon, George (The Dragon and the George, anyone?) and a young woman named Shaugnessy who becomes entranced by Ariel and follows them on her own until they finally give in and let her accompany them.

The novel has a bittersweet ending, after a good bit of travel adventure and action - one of the best bits is when a force attacking the Necromancer, who has made his headquarters at the top of the Empire State Building, hang glides from the top of the World Trade Center (wonder if the 2009 version changes this to some other nearby building?). It's not as wonderful now as I thought it was when I first read it, it's pretty much a young adult novel, and I was a lot younger then. I am, however, ready to "hit the Beach".