Blogetary (Weblog + Commentary = Blogetary)

Back in April of this year, I hosted Sarah Avery on this blog for a Drollerie Press Blog Tour for Poetry Month. At the time I meant to read her two novellas with Drollerie Press, Closing Arguments and Atlantis Cranks Need Not Apply, so I could know her work and write a better introduction, but I just ran out of time. Recently, however, I actually had some time and so I sat down to read them.

While Closing Arguments was written before Atlantis Cranks, and takes place before the events in Atlantis Cranks, you can read them out of order and not feel like you missed out on anything. I did. Both stories are about the same group of people (though each focuses on a different person) who are covenmates in New Jersey.

Closing Arguments follows Bob, an altruistic lawyer, as he, and his sister Sophie, a college drop out, and their friends (covenmates of Rugosa Coven and family friends in the Theosophical Society) sort through their parents’ effects after the parents die of simultaneous heart attacks while shopping. While the circumstances around their deaths are peculiar, other events prove to be even more peculiar. Bob and Sophie not only have to puzzle through the maze of material possessions their parents left behind in the family manse, but also the odd instructions left by their parents. While Bob and Sophie are well acquainted with “odd” – having Theosophical parents and being Wiccan themselves – these are beyond even what they are used to.

I began reading Closing Arguments last night, around 7 p.m. or so, and I only put it down for a cup of tea and toast before finishing it around 11 p.m. It was a fast read. I was pulled in quickly (though that could have been because I had read Atlantis Cranks previously) and my belief was adequately suspended even though I wasn’t sure at first what a Theosophical Society was and just figured it out as I read along.  I can honestly say I never felt pulled out of the story, well, maybe once. There was a period missing at the end of a chapter, plus there was one bit towards the end where one of the covenmates, Jane, is a distraction for Bob. I didn’t understand how it contributed to the story until a little later. But other than that, I was pulled through by the mystery that Bob was trying to solve, as well as caring enough about him to want things to work out well with him. While I particularly enjoyed the group interaction of the coven and their friends, there were specific parts I enjoyed most. One was towards the end, so I won’t say too much since it’s part of the climax. Let’s just say it involves several types of dogs in various incarnations. During this scene Bob has to put both his physical and mental prowess to the test. I also enjoyed watching Bob with his family. I would have liked to see more of that simply because it was interesting to see how a Wiccan and a Methodist can be together and how they choose to raise their children. But what I read I enjoyed. I definitely recommend downloading a copy.

Atlantis Cranks Need Not Apply follows Jane, one of the covenmates of Rugosa Coven, as she and the rest of her coven try to figure out where the mysterious person they found on the beach came from. He doesn’t speak English, or any other recognizable language, doesn’t know what to do with clothes, and has gills. This last fact throws Jane, the empiricist of the coven, for a logic loop. Jane is attractive, intelligent, logical, and a CPA who works for H&R Block. Though Wiccan, Jane can be seen as the No-Nonsense Doubting Thomas of her tribe. She doesn’t believe anything that hasn’t been proven or experienced with her own senses. In addition, she’s just gotten through a messy divorce and is trying to get her whimsical roommate, Sophie, to be practical about things like incoming hurricanes and dating mysterious strangers found on the beach. A LOT goes on in this story. It is not an easy time for Jane.

Unlike Closing Arguments, it took me a couple of tries before I could get past the first page of Atlantis Cranks Need Not Apply. I think it’s because Avery was packing a lot of information into that first page and my brain kept tripping over it. For some reason, I kept having brain hiccups trying to visualize coven ritual materials and incense in Tupperware and Rubbermaid containers. Makes complete sense, but that’s part of what I was tripping over. That, and the skyclad bit. However, after I got past that first page, the story moved rather quickly.

Jane is not like Bob from Closing Arguments. Bob is immediately likable. There are probably not many people in the world who wouldn’t mind having a coffee or a beer with Bob. He’s just a nice guy who will have your back if he’s friends with you.  Jane is different. Jane is prickly. She’s smart. She’s snarky. She snaps at people. She gets irritated and irritable and irritating and experiences ire at people on a regular basis. But I, at least, still really liked Jane. I couldn’t help but like her because I’ve felt that prickly myself, too. And I’ve had friends who are just as irritable. Her covenmates like her and do what we all do – brazen it out until she gets over what it is that’s bothering her.  Through Jane, the reader experiences her consternation as some of her beliefs are basically bowled over by what she sees and experiences. The first belief to be knocked down, for example, is that she believes Atlantis is a myth, yet she now knows someone with gills.

What pulls the reader along through this story is Jane and Sophie, and the rest of their coven, trying to find out more about the man they found on the beach and how to help him. In the middle of it all, Jane is still dealing with left over emotions and artifacts from her marriage to an addict, an old rivalry with a former covenmate, and her emotions about what is going on now with her roommate and the mysterious man. This tale flowed smoothly, yes, but not as smoothly as Closing Arguments. That could be because of the main character. I don’t remember being pulled out of the story by anything, so that’s good. But, I do know that by the end, though it was a good resolution, I wanted more of a resolution. Or something. I wanted a little bit more closure at the end. It could be Avery was keeping it open for her next story in this world, and that’s not to say that the plot isn’t tied up, because it is. I just wanted a little bit more. But, again, this was definitely a pleasant read and I’m really glad I downloaded and took the time to read it.

I hope to read more stories in this reality. I think they could be fun. If you want to read more about Sarah Avery, check out her blog.