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Here's an online copy, from F&SF (1968), translated by Damon Knighthttps://archive.org/details/Fantasy_S...Interesting review: https://beyondvictoriana.com/2011/06/...-- courtesy of Ed Chang @FB. He liked it, too.
When I pull a Dim Shores illustrated mailer out of the mailbox I know Im in for a treat. The amount of thought and effort that go into each book they release is quite clear. Michael Bukowski art is fantastic. The story, which I had not heard of before, is excellent. When the natives went to war with the aliens it felt very Karl Edward Wagner in style and flow but thats my amateur opinion. Scott Nicolay's piece On "Les Xipéhuz" was really interesting and informative. Go get this before it sells o...
AKA "The Shapes" Much less dated than many "modern" works though written in 1887.
I can’t say the entire story held my interest, but the idea of “lasers” being stirred up before the word was even coined and Scott’s afterwords in the back of book summed up the book for me.Gotta love that cover though!This is copy number 111/200
1887
For its age, The Xipehuz holds up surprisingly well, with an inventive "monster", some beautifully lyrical passages, and a protagonist whose battle between empathy and the necessity for conflict gives him an interesting, complex edge.It didn't exactly blow my mind, but this version, published by the always excellent Dim Shores, is elevated by translator Scott Nicolay's wonderful essay at the end of the book, and Michael Bukowski's crystalline illustrations.
The best I can come up with for the novella "The Xipéhuz" by J. H. Rosny is a hearty "so what", and allow me to explain. I read Book I of this story concerning geometric shapes from the beyond appearing in the jungle to a nomadic tribe known as the Pivhou tribe. I was so unimpressed with both the writing and the story I skipped to the "afterword" written by Scott Nicolay attempting to see why I might be so far off base.I greatly admire Mr. Nicolay, both his writing, and his insights, and his int...
The original fiction was written by a contemporary of HG Wells, so it is easy to feel jaded by the story because we're well over a hundred years detached from when it was written. Nicolay does a good job in the appendix giving the story context and emphasizing its significance.I struggled with the text because the absence of dialog left it feeling a bit dry.I still have hopes that our conical overlords live on out there, somewhere.
