Fiction by AHS

PUBLISHED AS A.H. STURGIS

“The Scent of Apples”
In Writers for Relief 3: An Anthology Written by Fantasy’s Finest to Benefit Those Who Suffered in Oklahoma edited by Davey Bauchamp and Stuart Jaffe, 2013
Originally published in Glyph: The Journal of Fantasy and Legend No. 8 (Spring 2002)

PUBLISHED AS MORGAN STUART

“The Scent of Apples”
Originally published in Glyph: The Journal of Fantasy and Legend No. 8 (Spring 2002)

Review by Howard A. Jones for Tangent:

“The Scent of Apples” by Morgan Stuart: This was the standout story of the issue. Stuart managed to tell an Arthurian tale from a fresh perspective, no easy thing, and gave us an ending I certainly didn’t see at the story’s opening. To discuss very much is to give the ending away–suffice to say that the narrator is none other than the Lady of the Lake herself, come to collect King Arthur after his mortal wound. The characters and setting are well-conceived and well researched, the pacing excellent. I could quibble with sentences here and there (the opener is a bit of a clunker) but this is a good story, and I imagine we’ll see it in an anthology soon.


Review by Daniel E. Blackston for SFReader.com:

The final selection of fiction in #8 is “The Scent of Apples”, by Morgan Stuart. This Arthurian tale takes up where Mallory left off, just after the final battle of the Knights of the Round Table against Modred’s rebellious army. Fatally wounded by his son in a mutually lethal clash of arms, Arthur is carried by his surviving troops to the Lady of the Lake, who, by Cosmic design, must ferry him to Avalon.

Stuart broaches a difficult theme and backdrop for his story. In the hands of one of the aforementioned homogenized “pro” writers, this story would have probably spawned a much more tame and predictable ending. The story is, indeed, shocking and almost Shakespearean in its romantically intense and tragic denoument. The problem here is not so much with Stuart’s prose and emotional vitality, both of which are quite keen–but with the task of telling this tale at all. Perhaps the Arthurian myth leaves little room for such dramatically grandiose re-visioning, or perhaps I am personally resistant to Mr. Stuart’s vision…. In the end, I felt that the story had been more of a catharsis for the writer than his audience, though this tale is still a dynamic and imaginative piece.

“Lailoken”
Originally published in Alternate Realities, Issue 16 (April/May 2000)

Review by Silviu Genescu for Nuketown News:

“Lailoken” by Morgan Stuart (4.5 of 5 stars) is a fantasy story that proves to be an innovative vision of the Arthurian legends. It tells the drama of a spirit — Merlin — captured for ages in countless incarnations, all of which are inferior to its might. It is tormented by madness, and it awaits its final (?) encounter with the mysterious Servant / Lover / Messenger, which he believes will free him from his long imprisonment.

The plot unfolds gently getting Summer, the girl who fought hardly to get her GED at the exams and to overcome her sickness. She is, however, the unknowing vessel for the power, trapped, wizard.

Gareth, the stranger who Summer meets on a confusing morning, lifts the spell of madness cast on Merlin for centuries “for poor judgment”. Gareth could be his Nimue once again (interesting twist as the two lovers finds themselves in “reversed” bodies) and then both rejoice the others to shape the future of the mankind. Yet, Merlin, free again, chooses to live Summer’s existence now that the curse was lifted and live a life without the help of sorcery. Does he/she really break from the ways magic? Well, there seems to be a hint: “Maybe I can even get a real position in the next campaign.” It’s a great story and a must for the readers of Alternate Realities. Hope to see more works of this author on the web.

“Blessed Are”
Originally published in Seattle Fiction (Summer 2000)

“The Unspeaking Center”
Originally published in The Sidewalk’s End, Volume 1, Number 4 (December 1999)