2024 Reading Summary: May (+ Writing Update)

Completed reads for May:

  • The King of Elfland’s Daughter, by Lord Dunsany
  • The House on the Borderland, by William Hope Hodgson
  • The Book of Wonder (collection), by Lord Dunsany
  • Fifty-One Tales (collection), by Lord Dunsany
  • Magna Carta (1215)
  • The Creole Village, by Washington Irving
  • Tales of Wonder (collection), by Lord Dunsany
  • Tales of Three Hemispheres (collection), by Lord Dunsany
  • Book of Marvels, by Phlegon of Tralles
  • Long-lived Persons, by Phlegon of Tralles
  • Olympiads (fragments), by Phlegon of Tralles
  • The Charwoman’s Shadow, by Lord Dunsany
  • The Golden Key, by George MacDonald
  • The Light Princess, by George MacDonald
  • The Giant’s Heart, by George MacDonald
  • The Carasoyn, by George MacDonald
  • Port in a Storm, by George MacDonald
  • Papa’s Story, by George MacDonald
  • Life of Apollonius, by Philostratus
  • History of the Roman Empire since the Death of Marcus Aurelius, by Herodian of Antioch
  • The Priapeia
  • The Book of Am-Tuat
  • The Book of Gates
  • The Egyptian Heaven and Hell, by E.A. Wallis Budge
  • The Shipwrecked Sailor, by Anonymous
  • The Tale of Horus and the Pig, by Anonymous
  • The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, by Anonymous
  • The Story of Sinuhe, by Anonymous
  • The Satire of the Trades, by Anonymous
  • The Tale of the Two Brothers, by Anonymous
  • Egyptian Love Poetry (collection), by Anonymous
  • Stanza the Third: Mehy Poem in P. Chester Beatty I, by Anonymous
  • King Neferkare and General Sasenet, by Anonymous
  • A Ghost Story, by Anonymous
  • The Mouse as Vizier, by Anonymous
  • The Tale of a Herdsman (fragment), by Anonymous
  • The Wax Crocodile [Westcar Papyrus], by Anonymous
  • The Story of the Green Jewel [Westcar Papyrus], by Anonymous
  • Djedi the Magician [Westcar Papyrus], by Anonymous
  • The Birth of the Royal Children [Westcar Papyrus], by Anonymous
  • The Taking of Joppa, by Anonymous
  • Truth and Falsehood, by Anonymous
  • The Tale of the Garden of Flowers (fragments), by Anonymous
  • Wenamen’s Journey, by Anonymous
  • The Literary Letter of Wermai, by Anonymous
  • Princess Ahura: The Magic Book, by Anonymous
  • The Tale of the Doomed Prince, by Anonymous
  • The Bentresh Stela, by Anonymous
  • Prince Khamuas and Si-Osiri, by Anonymous
  • New Kingdom Love Poetry (collection), by Anonymous

Phlegon is the Hansen translation. The MacDonald stories from The Light Princess to Papa’s Story (not The Golden Key) were part of a collection I had previously read in May 2017. Normally, I would just list the title of the collection and move on, but the title was The Light Princess and Other Fantasy Stories… which apparently is a very common title for diverse MacDonald collections. In the interest of actually remembering which short MacDonald stories I have read, I decided to list them individually here.

Philostratus is the Conybeare translation. Herodian is Echols. The Priapeia is the Smithers and Burton translation. The Book of Am-Tuat, Gates, and Heaven and Hell is Budge. The Shipwrecked Sailor, The Taking of Joppa, and Princess Ahura are Petrie. The Tale of the Two Brothers is Moldenke. A Ghost Story is Gardiner. The Mouse as Vizier is Brunner-Traut. The Westcar Papyrus stories and the Doomed Prince are Mackenzie. The Garden of Flowers is Chabas. Wenamen’s Journey and Bentresh Stela are Breasted. The Literary Letter is Moers. Prince Khamuas is Griffith.

Another very good month for writing:

  • Seven Days to Save Bakatam (4100-words): Written for a fantasy anthology, with a theme of community. This one owes a fair amount to a real-life historical event, but is otherwise notable for being a story set in the world of Wise/Old Phuul. At least in theory.
  • The Echo of Memory (1300-words): A modern twist on the Narcissus story from Classical myth. Notable for Ovid’s Garden Centre, and a scene where an Artemis stand-in and Echo are in the car together, singing “We’re Going On A Bear Hunt.”
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals (4600-words): Written for a Pirate Horror anthology, this is historical fantasy-horror, set during the fifth century AD.

I can also report that The Sweetest Flower of Nuulath and The One Who Saw Too Much have both earned rejections, albeit the latter was one of those close-run things. The former suffers, I think, because it follows the plot of a particularly awkward fairy tale – I might do some additional surgery on it at some point.

Leave a comment