Death, Sweet Suitor Mine

Chris Anne Wolfe
Windstorm Creative
159092049X

Windstorm Creative has released another short story in it's Delimit Nonpareil series. Death, Sweet Suitor Mine examines the "relationship" between Death and a woman struggling with a life threatening illness. As Chris Newport mentions in her introduction, "This isn't a light read." (5) She is quite correct. Death, Sweet Suitor Mine is a first person and intimate exploration of how the narrator views death. A touching, even haunting story, it lingers in the reader's mind. This is especially true given that this story was written by the late Chris Anne Wolfe, who died in 1997 after several years of struggling with cancer. Wolfe saw four fantasy adventure novels published in her life. Each of them is wonderful and it appears that her skill with short stories was equally impressive.

Windstorm Creative has taken some effort in creating this book, described as handmade, 50 pages, and full color. However, this reader was disappointed with the aesthetics of the project. The book is actually 24 pages with a large font, unusual margins -- very wide on top and bottom, yet very narrow on the sides -- and the pages of this copy are not cut square to the print. Much of this formatting appears to be to make more of an approximately 3000 word, at the most, short story. Perhaps least forgivable in a book of this nature and length are the typographical errors. The cover is quite attractive -- a recognizable portrait of Wolfe with a shadowed profile of an African American woman -- yet somewhat disturbing in its implication, which to this reader was not defined by the author's work.

The handmade and environmentally friendly elements not withstanding, Death, Sweet Suitor Mine does not justify the price. It is not a pleasing gift book format. Nor is it long enough -- regardless of the quality of the writing -- for the price. And the repeated color photograph on each page does not compensate, regardless of publisher expense. There are a number of possible formats that could have been used to create a more enjoyable tribute to Wolfe's legacy. Newport's introduction also mentions that Wolfe gifted several unpublished short stories, novellas, and novels to Windstorm Creative in her will. Hopefully, the press will not attempt to dole out each of Wolfe's stories in this manner.

Finally, Windstorm Creative has the annoying habit of requesting in a front peice that readers buy their books, rather than borrowing them, bemoaning the difficulties faced by small presses. This reader is very sympathetic toward small, independent publishers and values their struggles to provide access to non-mainstream books, especially titles with positive lesbian characters. Having said that, the best way to increase book sales, is to release more good books. Lecturing the reader tends to create the opposite effect. Death, Sweet Suitor Mine is disappointing in everything except for Wolfe's writing. If you have the opportunity to read it, do so. . . . Perhaps you'd like to borrow my copy?

-MJ Lowe

Fires of Aggar

Chris Anne Wolfe
Windstorm Creative
1886383421

Originally published in 1994, Fires of Aggar is a re-release of the second "Aggar" planet sci fi/fantasy novel by Chris Anne Wolfe. Occurring some 500 years after the events of Shadows of Aggar, Wolfe took this opportunity to explore the impact of the relationship between the Amazon Diana N'Athena and her "shadow" and life partner, the blue-eyed, Aggar woman, Elana, two characters from Shadows. In the intervening years, Aggar's ruling Council and the women of "dey Sorormin " (a planet populated by lesbians, known as the sisterhood) forged an alliance that led a colony of "dey Sorormin" women to settle on Aggar in the Valley Bay.

The war that was postponed in Shadows eventually consumed the Terran Empire. In the last five centuries, the descendants of those Terrans stranded on Aggar continue to clutch at their former, and now decaying, technology. They struggle with Aggar's natural habitat and against the native population.

Fires opens with a request for Gwen'l N'Athena, Royal Marshal to the council, to go to the aide of the Dracoon, the heir apparent of the city state of Khirla located to the South. Gwen is a "Niachero" or "daughter of the stars." This is the name given to those "dey Sorormin" that carry the appearance of the women of the N'Athena House or "Amazons." The Dracoon, Llinolae is a very gifted Blue Sight, a skill she has been carefully hiding. Fires is an espionage thriller with government intrigues and spies between various factions. Gwen is assisted by Ty and Ril, a pair of sentient sandwolves, and two shadow bound Amazons, Sparrowhawk and Brit.

Wolfe creates a refreshingly non-homophobic society on Aggar that values the strengths of "dey Sorormin" and respects their integrity. This is illustrated by the farmer who Gwen assists on her trip south, as well as the acceptance by the general population of same sex romantic relationships.

Finally, Fires of Aggar is a love story. Gwen and Llinolae, faced with a political knot, must balance their respective duties with their personal desire and the possibility of a future together. Fires draws the reader into their struggles to root for their success on personal and professional levels. Thankfully, the publishers have re-released this enchanting fantasy. Regretfully, they've changed the cover from the original illustration. The new image is not an improvement. Ignore the cover; enjoy the book.

-MJ Lowe

Shadows of Aggar

Chris Anne Wolfe
1886383308
Pride Productions

Diana n'Athena is ready to go home. An "Amazon" from the all female planet of "dey Sorormin" (which Wolfe translates as the Sisterhood), Diana is a sociologist employed by the Terran Intergalactic Empire for the last 20 years as a Cultural Liaison and Feild Operative. Approaching forty, Diana has served the last five years on Aggar, a patriarchal, pre-industrial, semi-feudal planet located on the Empire's border. Over six foot tall, lean, strong and brown-eyed, Diana must pass as male to work effective on Aggar. Such a charade is not uncommon for Amazons serving on "primitive" planets, but it does wear on their spirits. Facing her last mission before she can return to her home world, Diana must locate and rescue a Terran pilot. He carries information that may mean the salvation of the Empire which is on the brink of war.

After years of working alone, Diana is not pleased when Aggar's ruling Council of Ten assigns her a native "Shadowmate." Shadows are individuals trained for years to act as guides, protectors, linguists, trackers, companions and whatever else is needed to aide the individual whom the Council has determined is important to the future of Aggar. Such assignments are one of the ways the Council "tips the balance" of fate for pivotal individuals and gently guides the planet's future.

Diana's Shadow, Elana is particularly special. In addition to her training and expertise, she bears the rare "Blue Sight." This extrasensory gift (genetically linked with blue eyes) allows her to read people's intent via their aura and create illusions. For years Elana has been training to become a Shadow. For the last five years she's been experiencing dreamlike visions of the Amazon that she is to Shadow.

Shadows of Aggar is a classic heroic quest. As such, the journey itself, what happens to both women during the trek and what they learn from the various encounters, is as important as the result of the quest. -- Although having the end of the empire as it is known hang in the balance does build the suspense! -- There are some similarities between Aggar and some other fantasy realms. Yet these parallels reflect cultural archetypes and Wolfe, who died in 1997, created some interesting, unique details and characteristics for three cultures: Aggar, Amazon and Terran. For example, imagine a race of humans whose skin color changes with excitement or exertion, thus making the racial differences we know, moot. Furthermore, Wolfe created the basics of a language for the "dey Sorormin" and provided a glossary of words from Aggar and the Sisterhood in the back for reference.

"Shadows" was originally released in 1991, and this reader has returned to it at least twice in the last decade. The story and characters hold up to re-reading. The same is true of Wolfe's second Aggar novel, Fires of Aggar. Happily, the publisher has made a commitment to keep Wolfe's titles in print. The new covers of both titles are disappointing and distracting. Yet, to coin a phrase, don't judge the book by it's current cover. If you like fantasy stories with strong female leads that explore complex issues of gender roles, societal pressures to conform and their impacts on the individual -- not to mention a good old fashioned adventure with a touch of lavender romance -- you'll enjoy Shadows of Aggar. Pick up a copy of it and its companion book, Fires of Aggar.

-MJ Lowe

Annabell and I

Chris Anne Wolfe
1883573963
Windstorm Creative Ltd.

The author, Wolfe says of Annabel & I in her introduction that she wrote the story as "a romance to celebrate magic and joy." She was quite successful. Annabel & I is an enchanting tale of the power of love in overcoming the restrictions of time itself.

The novel is the story of Jennifer Cassel. A shy tomboy, Jenny is struggling to deal with the loss of her mother and her emotionally distant father. She finds home and family every summer that she spends at Chatauqua, New York, where her uncle runs a lakeside lodge. It is also the story of Annabel, a girl that Jenny meets the first summer after her mother's death. Their friendship develops over the years as the two spend every summer of their adolescence together.

As the girls grow older they become more aware their differences. For Jenny, born in 1960, is growing up through the 1970s and 80s; while Annabel, born in 1879, is living in the 1880s and 1890s. Annabel's grandmama, the family matriach makes it clear that the girls should enjoy their friendship and not question the impossibility of it.

As a young adult Jenny finds herself attracted to women and eventually realizes that she is in love with Annabel. There are a few required misunderstandings before the two young women recognize that their love and attraction is mutual. Just as the young women discover the depth of their love for one another, their happiness is threatened by Annabel's brother, Richard. Having recently gained control of the family business, Richard is determined to force his "head strong" sister into a marriage that would increase the family assets. In a desperate effort to outwit Richard's machinations, Jenny and Annabel come to understand the magic of their time together and the plans, past and future, that Grandmama has been working on for years.

Annabel & I is a delightful little romantic fantasy that only asks the reader to suspend her disbelief and enjoy. Several pen and ink illustrations by Chris Storm are included and add an old fashioned charm to the story as well. It is a perfect love story for a lazy afternoon.

-MJ Lowe

Roses & Thorns : Beauty and the Beast Retold

Chris Anne Wolfe
Windstorm Creative
1886383642

Roses & Thorns is a touching retelling of the "Beauty & the Beast" fable with a lavender twist. We all know the old story. A young, handsome noble whose cruelty and selfishness had caused pain to many was cursed. He was condemned to appear to be the beast he had behaved until he could learn responsibility, compassion, how to love and finally be freely loved by a young woman.

The author, Chris Anne Wolfe, did not merely place a lover of women in the role of the callous beast. Instead she took an opportunity to explore how a hateful and homophobic society condemns those seen as different. Thus forcing the condemned to shamefully hide who they are in an effort to win acceptance, approval and possibly even love.

Years ago, Drew, a young noble woman was condemned as "the most perverted, grotesque of creatures known to our earth" because she loved another woman. Sadly the object of Drew's affections had more interest in gaining access to her father's wealth and having Drew cursed was part of the plan. ...Drew was cursed to live in a parallel, magical time and place until she could find another woman who would love her in return.

Drew internalizes this hate to the point of not expecting or believing that she could or should be loved freely by another woman. Drew's shame prompts her to cloak her female identity from any accidental visitors to her realm. Over centuries no young woman was willing to look beyond Drew's mask to know her as a person, let alone love her freely. It seemed to Drew that her damnation was deserved.

Bound by the curse, Drew once again barters for the hand of a traveling merchant's daughter. But Angelique, this latest young woman to arrive in Drew's domain, is different. She's not afraid of Drew. This charming, romantic fantasy is a delightful way to pass an afternoon. Quite enjoyable, it is unnecessary to read the fable as more than a love story. However, elements of the story returned to me after reading it. This is not just a "simple" retelling of the beauty and the beast story.

The late Ms. Wolfe succeeded in creating a new fable for the lesbian (and gay) community from this old tale. She reminds us that there are many "beasts" in this world who would like to condemn us for being different. People who use fear of that difference to achieve some personal gains. She points to our love as our ironic redemption in the face of such hate and fear. This multifaceted story is what fables are supposed to be. Read it and be charmed.

-MJ Lowe

BN: This title was originally published under the title, Bitter Thorns by Pride Productions, in 1994. The cover was based on Wolfe's illustrations and not as evocative as the new cover, however, if you can locate this edition, do so. There were editorial errors in the new edition.