The Twilight Year: 12/31/07
The January issue starts off with a dark ages tale called "The Twilight Year" which takes place in England during a freak summer snow storm. McMullen explains that in the mid-530s, Krakatoa erupted and blanketed skies in a twilight for an entire year.

The story is narrated by a bard who makes his living singing of the mythical Arthurian. The bard finds himself in the middle of a land skirmish between a representative of the Roman empire and a group claiming local independence. The bard uses the myth of Arthurian to save his own neck.

When the story first began I was reluctant to read it, afraid I'd be reading another rehash of the Arthurian legend but Sean McMullen's tale is more a historical fiction that explores the power of propaganda than an actual Arthurian tale. Arthur here is secondary to the political machinations of the different factions.

fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | sean mcmullen

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