By DAVID GULLEN (Eibonvale; 2019)

Another dreamy fantasy from Eibonvale Press, a tantalizing glimpse of a city located quite literally at the edge of the world. This place, perched on the edge of a vast cliff over which kite riding men soar, is marked by a waterfall that appears to defy the laws of physics, odd stone gods (described as “asymmetric hybrids of human, animal, and other”), pterodactyls and a vast cauldron. It is, in short, a quintessentially Eibonvale setting, with a hallucinatory air that likewise seems quite representative (with THIRD INSTAR making for a good companion-piece to Eibonvale titles like TOMORROW, WHEN I WAS YOUNG and THE UNEASY).

The protagonist is a petty grifter identified, initially, as Mazehew. In the midst of a Grand Parade he meets Frayel, a beautiful young woman with whom he begins what appears to be a long-lasting romance. But when she elects to take flight, to “fall and fly…couple like the Gods,” Mazehew can’t bring himself to join her. She ends up falling over the side of the cliff, after which Mazehew is attacked by a mob and tossed into the cauldron. In this enclosure he’s lowered down the side of the cliff in some kind of execution ritual, a descent that lasts for some time but ultimately leads to a “second life.”

In this new existence, which occurs in the same cliffside location as his previous one but in a different time period, Mazehew is identified by his first name, Alain. As such he meets a new set of people, embarks on a rampage of destruction and ultimately attains a most unexpected redemption.

This story, obviously, has real metaphoric significance in its imagery of flying people, a vast cliff and an endless descent. The book adroitly straddles the borderline between dream and reality, yet it works primarily due to the author’s descriptive power and world building.

David Gullen, whose other publications include THE GIRL FROM A THOUSAND FATHOMS and SHOPOCALYPSE, describes his approach thusly: “I make stuff up and I don’t know how to stop.” That sense of feverish invention is on full display here, with an impressive amount of incident and detail packed into just 54 pages, which conclude on an appropriately haunting note.