THE RIVER KEEPER AND OTHER TALES

Wilkie presents a collection of seven short stories set in a fantastical realm of magic, danger, and profound lessons.

The common thread weaving through these tales is that they all take place in the imaginary Kingdom of Imlay, a coastal locale where magic and spirits exist alongside humans. Beyond that, each tale is unique in its characters, morals, and adventures. The collection opens with “The River Keeper,” featuring the bright and outspoken child Ya, who reports to her mother, Myranda, that the river dividing Imlay into its northern and southern provinces is cloudy and “sick.” The local Council approves an expedition to follow the waters east to discover the source of its sickness. Myranda leads the exploratory group, but Ya is the true hero when she finds the legendary River Keeper and receives a monumental responsibility that will change her life. In what may be the book’s most haunting offering, “A Dream for a Dream,” children and adults are inexplicably separated from one another: “The Children didn’t know their parents. In fact, they didn’t know what parents were….Every so often, a new Child would appear in their midst. No one questioned this because they had each, in their own turn, appeared in a similar manner.” The children begin having cryptic dreams that may hold the key to where they are and from where they came. “The Day After Tomorrow”is perhaps the book’s most traditional offering: a tale of a king who wishes to see the future in order to prevent disaster and to better rule his kingdom. When a court magician grants his wish, the monarch discovers that there’s a price to be paid for such a gift.

Although the subject matter varies, Wilkie infuses a similar dreamlike feel throughout all seven tales by incorporating elements of the magical alongside the realistic. Often, the reader must wait a bit to encounter the particular magic of a given story, creating a kind of tension that generates momentum. Wilkie’s writing style is simple yet effective, with a slight tendency toward the old-fashioned, as in “The Day After Tomorrow”: “One particular morning in midsummer, the King woke with the dawn bell in a cold sweat and a dreadful premonition.” Each work is accompanied by Alemanno’s occasional black-and-white sketches, adding to the wispy, ethereal tone that permeates the collection. The beliefs expressed are familiar ones, such as the importance of taking care of the earth (in the title story, which may strike readers as reminiscent of some Native American folklore) and the price of greed (“The Pit of Truth,” whose talking animals lend it a particularly mythic feel). Some readers may find the morals to be familiar to the point of being redundant, but they do make the stories feel like fairy tales that have been passed down from one generation to another. Although readers don’t get much time to get to know and love the protagonists, the strength of the narratives lies in their imaginative takes on well-worn lessons.

A dreamy assortment of tales that contain kernels of worldly truth.