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In a world half of light, half of darkness, where science and magic strive for dominance, there dwells a magical being who is friendly with neither side. Powerful magical entities live on the night side of the planet, and for the most part the entities’ magical powers emanate from distinct loci. Jack of Shadows (also known as Shadowjack), is unique among the magical beings in that he draws his power not from a physical location but from shadow itself. He is nearly incapacitated in complete light or complete darkness, but given access to even a small area of shadow, his potency is unmatched. Jack is a thief who finds himself betrayed and unjustly punished. So he embarks on a vendetta. He wanders through strange realms, encountering witches, vampires, and, finally, his worst enemy: the Lord of Bats. He consults his friend Morningstar, a great dark angel. He is pursued by a monstrous creature called the Borshin. He journeys from nightside to dayside, casting aside his soul in his quest for vengeance – and possibly redemption.
Welcome to the Sanctum Secorum podcast. Tonight start our year off with a work by Roger Zelazny coupled with Harley Stroh’s The Jeweler Who Dealt in Stardust.
There’s a traveling man the Carolina mountain folk call Silver John for the silver strings strung on his guitar. In his wanderings John encounters a parade of benighted forest creatures, mountain spirits, and shapeless horrors from the void of history with only his enduring spirit, playful wit, and the magic of his guitar to preserve him. Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John is one of the most beloved figures in fantasy, a true American folk hero of the literary age.
Colin Songsmith sings a song to an old witch who takes an unlikely revenge. The witch’s granddaughter rescues him from the dire threat of being eaten alive by the cat. She hears the song, which happens to concern her recently married sister and a gypsy. Convinced that she has to save her sister, she takes the minstrel, the cat, and her magical resources to Rowan Castle. The story is rich with descriptive details of setting and encounters with magical and fantastic creatures such as a talking cat, a lovesick dragon, and a bear prince.
The haunted, treacherous and doomed albino sorcerer-prince is one of the great creations of modern fantasy. An introspective weakling in thrall to his soul-eating sword, Stormbringer, he is yet a hero whose bloody adventures and wanderings lead inexorably to his decisive intervention in the war between the forces of Law and Chaos.
