'Of All Possible Worlds' – Eneasz Brodski



I don't know where this week has gone but I do know that there was no time for any reading, not really. I'm going to see what I can do about that, over the weekend, but here's what I thought of a short story that I did manage to find time for today; just to keep things ticking over in the meantime...

'Of All Possible Worlds' is taken from the 'Swords v. Cthulhu' anthology, incidentally one of only a handful of books that I've bought when drunk. Seriously... I was coming home from the work Christmas party and thought I'd sober up in Waterstones, 'Swords v. Cthulhu' ended up coming home with me and has proved to be quite the drunken purchase with pretty much all the stories hitting the mark. 'Of All Possible Worlds' isn't quite the highlight of the collection but it's a favourite of mine (and it's only twelve pages long so was a good choice for today's reading).

Marad's life depends on whether the Emperor takes pleasure in the entertainment that Marad provides as part of the Games. Purely by chance, Marad has stumbled upon a barbarian wizard who can give the Emperor something that no Roman has ever seen before; all he must do now is get the wizard to repeat it... A ritual must be completed first but as the city spirals into madness around him, has Marad helped awaken something that was best left sleeping...?

For a story that sits as part of a collection of 'Swords v. Cthulhu', I've got to say that you don't actually see a lot of swordplay here. A little bit of gladiatorial action and the climax of this tale, almost like a token mention just so the story could sneak into this book. Not the most action packed story then but when it does happen, Brodski clearly knows his stuff and is able to switch gear effortlessly, bringing 'Of All Possible Worlds' into line with the rest of the collection.

Griping about the lack of swordplay though is a surefire way to totally miss the point of what this story actually is; a trip into the world of dreams, both ours and the dreams of a certain Elder God. When dreams overlap, who is the dreamer and what is the dream? And what happens when the dream ends? Brodski foreshadows this question when Aurelius begs Marad not to wake up and we get to see the answer to that question played out on a larger scale when Cthulhu itself begins to stir. That's when Marad sets himself against a God with nothing but a spear to help him. And that is so Lovecraftian in its way. If man cannot comprehend the true nature of the universe, and those that dwell in the darkness between the stars, why wouldn't he take on Cthulhu with a spear? I like that.

With it's twisting and turning through the Realm of Dream, 'Of All Possible Worlds' is a trippy read that will have you second guessing everything by the time you get to the end. And you will make it to the end if you're anything like me, the questions raised here have to be answered and there's also the whole issue of Cthulhu (never named but it is him...) looming in the background, waiting to be resolved one way or the other. It's a tale that I have to finish, every time I read it, because of how its dreamlike qualities slowly become the cold reality of the Mythos and that reality must be stood against, by the reader as much as any hero of the page.

Can you tell that I like 'Of All Possible Worlds'...? I don't think I'll ever escape the feeling that this story sneaked into 'Swords v. Cthulhu', when no-one was looking, but I'm so glad it found a home.
You can read 'Of All Possible Worlds' for free Here (consider, leaving a tip though, it's worth it)

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