 | Casting Fortune John Ford Date: 01 June, 1989 — used only — Book Rating: |
Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories
These stories are set in a world that is shared, apparently. Liavek is a city where magic is common, but revolves around luck; a wizard is one who contains his luck in a vessel on his birthday, and every subsequent birthday the luck must be set free and recontained. The first story didn't grab me, and in fact didn't seem to make much sense. The second one was much better, a charming little parable about love and the consequences of messing with something you don't understand.
But the third story, the novella, is the one that earns the five stars. "The Illusionist" is about acting, and plays, and being haunted by the ghosts of the past— or the people in your life. It involves four actors who really need the core of acting, and a somewhat tyrannical director who is a genius, and whose play I really really want to see. (Mr. Ford, have you actually written it? Or even just have an outline?) It's a lovely piece, and fully deserves the rating. Of course, one will get more enjoyment out of this particular story if one has a background in acting, or if one has seen a truly great production of Shakespeare (I recommend the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the second-best in the world, if you can't get to England to see the very best.)
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