'Worse Things Than Serpents'

 This is part of a running review of Lost Estates by Mark Valentine (Swan River Press 2024)

The title of this story comes from an innocent remark by a character in Thomas Hardy's first published novel. Hardy's reference is to a musical instrument. But in this tale, Mark Valentine's bibliophile narrator finds something far stranger. 

Anyone who has visited Hay-on-Wye knows that there are bookshops without shopkeepers, where you can leave money in an honesty box after taking some obscure paperback from a somewhat straggling array. In this tale the protagonist finds himself in an isolated shop full of books on one particular theme - the Brazen Serpent. I am sadly ignorant of the significance of this entity but significant it certainly is. 

The atmosphere is well evoked. Do I take something and leave the money? Do I leave a note of my address so I can pay later? The book hunter decided to do the latter, but then a sudden tempest arises, the lights fail, and he encounters strange, tactile sensations in the darkness. This M.R. Jamesian touch is neat, as is the later suggestion that leaving any form of document in such a place might be hazardous. 

A slight story, perhaps, built around a single incident, but a good one nonetheless. I look forward to the next tale from the Lost Estates.

'A Chess Game at Michaelmas'

This is part of a running review of Lost Estates by Mark Valentine (Swan River Press 2024)

Chess is a fascinating game at which I am very bad. Fortunately I have yet to inherit a country estate where the requirement of the lease is that I should be prepared to play chess with the King should he ever drop by at Michaelmas. This seems like a fictionalised version of one of those quirky English traditions that foreigners find charming. (A genuine tradition, the peppercorn rent, is explained by the author here.) 

As the story, unfolds, we discover that perhaps something altogether stranger and more hazardous than a quirky legal arrangement is involved. The narrator, a man of antiquarian pursuits, is called in to offer advice on the mysterious chess game, which has never actually been played. He meets both the heir to a pleasant if somewhat run-down house and lands, and a young woman with some knowledge of local folklore. 

LOST ESTATES by Mark Valentine (Swan River Press 2024)

I recently received a copy of this handsome volume (thank you very much to Swan River) and will offer my thoughts on the contents in a running review. In the meantime, consider the lovely cover. Two of the stories will be familiar to ST readers as they first appeared in the magazine.

Contents


“A Chess Game at Michaelmas”
“Worse Things Than Serpents”
“Fortunes Told: Fresh Samphire”
“The House of Flame”
“The Seventh Card”
“And maybe the parakeet was correct”
“Laughter Ever After”
“Readers of the Sands”
“The Understanding of the Signs”
“Lost Estates”
“The End of Alpha Street”
“The Fifth Moon”

“Sources”
“Acknowledgements”
“About the Author”