‘These Deathless Bones’ – Cassandra Khaw (Tor Books)

Page Count: 19 Pages

Life did its thing again, last night, and didn’t leave me a lot of time for reading; that’s the way life goes though and at least there was some good (hanging out with my eldest daughter) to offset the bad (after a drunk chap took a nasty fall outside the house, he’s ok now). So it was then that ‘These Deathless Bones’ was promoted from ‘todays commuting read’ to last nights ‘quiet time reading’. At only 19 pages. ‘These Deathless Bones’ was just the right length for what ended up being not a lot of quiet time. Oh well… ;o)

The other reason I grabbed myself a copy of ‘These Deathless Bones’ was that I’d picked up a copy of ‘The Salt Grows Heavy’ and thought that a much shorter work would be a good way to get a feel for Khaw’s work before picking that book up. If ‘These Deathless Bones’ is anything to go by, I think I’m going to be in for a bit of a treat.

All the King ever wanted was for his second wife to love her step-son but it is far easier to hate, especially when the darkness in the Prince runs far deeper than just the wiles of a spoilt child. But the Witch Bride is known as such for good reason and enough light lies in her that she must stand against this evil before it grows older and more deadly.

Sometimes, a tale can just grab you when you’re least expecting it and sweep you up in what it has to say, not letting you go until it decides that it’s time. That was my experience with ‘These Deathless Bones’ and I’m looking forward to reading more of the same with ‘The Salt Grows Heavy’.

This is a very quick read, you saw the page count at the top, so I’m not going to say too much about the plot or its execution. You really need to read it for yourself, I will say that it’s dressed up in the most beautifully evocative language though. It’s so easy to lose yourself in a rich world here, both in the castle and the hints of what lies beyond. And Khaw makes it so easy to get inside the head of the Witch Bride and sympathise with someone where it really looks like they have embraced their darkness for all the right reasons, or have they?

And again, I don’t want to give too much away other than to say that ‘These Deathless Bones’ is a dark fairy tale that follows all the best traditions of its ilk and hints at a wider story that I’d love to read if Khaw ever expanded on this tale.

And while you’re reading this post, I’m still reliving what plays out between the Queen and her step-son; that should tell you all you need to know about this tale.