Ellen Kushner, host of PRI's Sound & Spirit, has brought together
15 brilliant new stories by award-winning authors of fantasy and science
fiction embodying the infinite variety of the power of music.
Stories cover musical styles and settings ancient and modern, mythic and
contemporary. From a Cajun fiddler to a concert virtuoso . . . the harp of
the god Apollo to AIDS and opera in modern Central Park . . . these lyrical
stories transport you to realms where music is magic and magic is real.
Like her weekly radio show, Ellen's introductions to each story give its
musical and cultural background, plus a discography for each style of music.
This collection includes Delia Sherman's short story "Sacred Harp," originally broadcast on the Sound & Spirit program also titled Sacred Harp and available for the first time here in print.
Sound & Spirit host Ellen Kushner is also the World Fantasy
Award-winning author of the novels Swordspoint and Thomas the Rhymer.
Here's a complete list of the stories included with an indication of the music involved:
Jennifer Stevenson: Solstice
(music jam across the centuries- electric guitar, fiddle, etc.)
Jane Emerson: The New Tiresias
(18th-19c opera & parlor music)
Gus Smith: Josh & the Fairy Melodeon Player
(North England folk music)
Jack Womack: Audience
(museum of sounds)
Elizabeth Wein: The Bellcaster's Apprentice
(17c English change-ringing)
Delia Sherman: Sacred Harp
(American shape note singing)
Ray Davis: Done by the Forces of Nature
(hip-hop)
Michael Kandel: Acolytes
(Goblin piano recital)
Gene Wolfe: Flash Company
(Oklahoma player piano)
Lucy Sussex: Merlusine
(Cajun/French)
John Brunner: The Drummer and the Skins
(jazz)
Susan Palwick: Aida in the Park
(opera)
Roz Kaveney: Brandy for the Damned
(classical violin)
Terri Windling: The Color of Angels
(Celtic & World, incl. June Tabor, Sheila Chandra,
etc.)
Ellen Kushner: The Death of Raven
(another Doomed Minstrel)
The Horns of Elfland, Original Tales of Music and Magic from John Brunner, Terri Windling, Gene Wolfe and 12 other award-winning authors, edited by Ellen Kushner, with Delia Sherman & Donald G. Keller. Paperback, 348 pages, retail $5.99
