The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window

by Rachel Swirsky

Naeva is a sorceress in a matriarchy. After being fatally injured, she is persuaded to allow her spirit to be bound, so that she can be summoned and thus continue to advise her queen. However, after the queen has herself died, Naeva continues to be summoned — first by the queen's successor, and then by people from civilizations later than hers. She grows into a legendary figure, part of a group of similarly bound souls called Insomniacs.

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy

60 pages, ebook

Published January 1, 2010

About the author

Rachel Swirsky holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop and is a graduate of Clarion West. Her work has been short-listed for the Nebula, the Hugo, and the Sturgeon Award, and placed second in 2010's Million Writers Award. In addition to numerous publications in magazines and anthologies, Swirsky is the author of three short stories published as e-books, "Eros, Philia, Agape," "The Memory of Wind," and "The Monster's Million Faces." Her fiction and poetry has been collected in THROUGH THE DROWSY DARK (Aqueduct Press, 2010). A second collection, HOW THE WORLD BECAME QUIET: MYTHS OF THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, is forthcoming from Subterranean Press.

Reviews

[Jinan]

Pretty good. 7/10

[Rahn Moyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Conceptually interesting novella with some neat descriptions of magic. Suffered from exaggerated 2D characters and some odd pacing.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some pretty dark magik fantasy. Fast paced and well written.