by Oliver Brackenbury
in Issue 114, July 2021
The Red Man and Others
Remco van Straten & Angeline B. Adams
Turnip Lanterns, $11 USD, 201pp
The difference between a good and a great book, for me, is that a great book makes me feel something special beyond “This story was very enjoyable”. What The Red Man and Others made me feel was hope! I felt hope the sword & sorcery genre has a future beyond rehashes of the genre’s past, and that it can expand and grow, while still being recognizable as sword & sorcery. As someone with a deep love for the genre, currently outlining my own sword & sorcery novel, this was a welcome feeling indeed.
But also, the story’s very good! In the lovely additional material at the back of the book, it is said that the authors often aim for Robert E. Howard and end up sounding like Fritz Leiber. I’d say that’s a fair assessment. Their characters are their own; no Fafhrd & Grey Mouser clones here, though there is a sense of roguish humor mixed with the odd, effective drop of tragedy that drives these stories. When it reminded me of Leiber, it reminded me of him at his best. I was also reminded of Fafhrd & Grey Mouser by the structure, which is to tell a story of one main character, then the other, and in the third chapter uniting them for the big adventure, much like Leiber created that structure in Swords & Deviltry by stitching old and new stories together.
First we have Kaila the sell-sword and Sebastian the teenage con-artist meeting on the road, then deciding to work together to take revenge on a religious cult by way of a theater performance. This is followed by an intimate tale following Ymke, the farm girl who later goes on to become an unlicensed scribe, as she struggles with limits of knowledge, the body, her small life on the farm, and the social constraints of a very “northern” feudal society at war. All three protagonists come together for the big finale, to duel with the religious cult returning from the first story, by pulling the dangerous scam of turning Sebastian into a false saint. In-between the hijinks and more traditional conflict, these stories come bearing a rich emotional palette, exploring challenges in relationships between parents and children, carers and the cared-for, marks and cons, and more.
This would have been plenty to enjoy. However, again, Adams and Van Straten go beyond. The climactic main story is followed with what felt like a wonderful cool-down of sorts: several slim chapters, flitting by like a montage, of added context for the three stories you’ve just finished. I loved this.
True to the genre, our three main characters are outsiders who live by their own moral code. They’re as concerned with helping themselves as they are with helping others, which is not only true to sword & sorcery, it’s true to most people in real life! Despite living a very different existence than Kaila, Sebastian,and Ymke, I found myself immersed in their lives, driven as they are by very human needs. Watching their ‘found family’ group dynamic form, then operate, is a pleasure, and one I hope I’ll get to see develop further in new stories one day.
While I’m quite happy to read stories about mighty-thewed, Teutonic Caucasian fellas or the like, it was rather refreshing to read sword & sorcery adventures featuring POC, LGBTQ+, and disabled representation in its protagonists. This representation isn’t treated as a theme in the stories, instead it is used to provide greater variety in the experiences we get to enjoy reading. Pushing the genre forward while making their love for the classics clear, Adams & Van Straten include several black and white illustrations of their characters in various scenes, allowing us to see this more varied representation with our eyes as well as our imaginations. The full-color, painted cover feels very much of the historical era the stories evoke, and I’d happily display it outward-facing on my bookshelf… if only I had enough room to do so!
As with the art, in the creation of their stories’ setting, Adams and Van Straten have a good eye for where to be specific versus where it’s better to be broadly evocative. Did I learn something new about how medieval theater stages were constructed? Yes, but only as it served a wonderful moment of swashbuckling by Kaila the sell-sword! Did I learn details of the dominant religions, grand wars, and the history of a great city? Yes, but only as much as I needed to be drawn in, and always from the classic sword & sorcery, bottom-up perspective of the outsider protagonists.
Despite a lack of long explanations covering every tax-code and nematode, there is a satisfying, specific sense of place to the land in which Kaila, Ymke, and Sebastian survive by their weapons and their wits. Both Adams and Van Straten reside in Northern Ireland, while the latter is of Dutch origin, and they make it clear in the extra material at the back of the print edition that they have each drawn from their backgrounds to infuse the book with an authenticity it greatly benefits from. It’s not hard to imagine why authors living in Northern Ireland could bring added texture to stories set in a divided land, where religion is often used as a cudgel. Or take Ymke, who lives with a disability similar to Van Straten’s mother’s, while growing up in relative isolation, with a single parent, as Adams did.
Finally, I would like to compliment them for including that extra material at the back of the book. I’ve always loved the opening chapters of Vonnegut’s novels where he lays out how he came to tell the story you’re about to read. Having spent countless Saturdays at a speculative fiction archive and researching the history behind beloved stories, getting behind-the-scenes material for the novel I’d just read was a welcome treat. The ‘Making of’ section is followed by an interview with the authors, covering their influences, their thoughts on sword & sorcery, and much more.
Would I recommend The Red Man and Others? Well, after reading my own copy I bought a couple more to give to friends, so you can infer from that what you will. Who exactly would I recommend it to? Certainly fans of sword & sorcery, as well as the fantasy genre at large, would do well to give it a read. I’d also recommend it to those who enjoy ‘found family’ stories, queer romance, thoughtful satire, oh yes and fun, did I mention there’s plenty of fun in this? Well, there is! Who doesn’t need a bit more fun in their lives?
The Red Man and Others is available in print and ebook formats through Amazon.
©July 2021, Oliver Brackenbury
Oliver Brackenbury is an author, screenwriter, sword & sorcery scholar, and host of the genre literature discussion podcast “Unknown Worlds of the Merril Collection”. You can learn more about his work at www.oliverbrackenbury.com and follow him on Twitter as @obrackenbury.