Piper in the Night [Paperback]

Dave Smeds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2005

Dennis Short thought his tour of war was over . . . but now another war has taken its place. Short, a Navy medical corpsman stationed in Hawaii after a tour of Vietnam, is looking forward to his two-week sojourn to the island of Kahoolawe. He's there as the medic for a team of forward observers whose job it is to coordinate the bombing, strafing, and shelling of Kahoolawe, and all he anticipates doing is working on his tan, watching the fireworks, and, on days off, getting in a little fishing and hunting on an exclusive, untamed preserve . . . But this trip is not like the other visits to Kahoolawe that Short has enjoyed. From the first day, he is plagued by an oppressive sense that he is being manipulated. And beginning then, the first night, he slips into a dreamlike world of half-human creatures, creatures of myth who tempt him, frighten him, force him to become part of their battles with one another. . . He only thought Vietnam was hell. The real hell on earth is an island paradise called Kahoolawe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nebula Award nominee Smeds (The Sorcery Within; The Schemes of Dragons; etc.) should only enhance his reputation with this well-crafted dark fantasy set during the Vietnam War. Dennis Short, a navy medic just back from Vietnam, is assigned to the staff of the navy target range on the uninhabited Hawaiian island of Kahoolawe. Uninhabited, that is, except for herds of feral goats and (on another plane) nymphs, satyrs and the god Pan out of classical mythology. Short opens a path between the mundane and the mythic planes by finding Pan's own pipes and by becoming the beloved of the nymphs. But he also becomes Tragos, the archenemy of Pan, and both hunter of the satyrs (and their avatars, the goats) and their quarry. The tension rises steadily as Tragos and Short engage in a deadly struggle for the possession of the corpsman's body and soul. A taut, understated narrative makes the scenes of blood, terror and desire all the more convincing. The author also has done exceptionally fine work with the characters, starting with Short and including Jones, the street-smart African-American; Potter, the novice who wants to grow up; and Priest, the ensign who is more grown up than anyone realizes. Mixing distinctly diverse elements into a coherent story with a success that would have eluded most genre authors, Smeds has created one of the better fantasies to come out of the Vietnam experience.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Wildside Press (May 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809544768
• ISBN-13: 978-0809544769
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,241,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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