“I smiled with every page. This collection
of whimsical fables, fun and fantastic, can be devoured in one sitting.
From the sladlours, to the frupnids eating garshun seeds, to the enthused
trobligors and the arguing cojolitors—a great romp. And it deftly
answers that burning question: Just how many toes does a fekkerash have?”
— Jean Rabe, author of the Piper Blackwell mysteries
"Those looking for literary proof of alternate
quantum timelines will find ample evidence in Fables From Elsewhere. The
stories (and illustrations) are compellingly crisp and charmingly imaginative.
Dexter Dogwood's work will appeal to those who enjoy Italo Calvino and Stanislaw
Lem. Critter-driven, world-building morality tales from another universe
... yet (sometimes disturbingly) resonant."
— Rick Kleffel, "The Agony Column," California Public
Radio
"Look past today’s needs to tomorrow’s—and beyond.”
“Don’t underestimate those you don’t know or understand.”
“Imitation leads to dead ends … maybe even to death. But your true self—and even your deficiencies—can lead to success … maybe even to survival.”
“Honesty’s not just ‘the best policy’; it’s also a gift to others—one that’s often returned.”
“Conformity blinds societies, states—even whole species. And silence sustains and perpetuates that blindness.”
“Sometimes, the solution is right there in the ‘solution’—the liquid: beer, grak, or whatever. So, ferret out the ‘fly (or slime slubber) in the ointment’.”
“Others may not possess your gifts and skills, but they have different ones. Respect these … or, ignore them—to your detriment.”
“Those locked into pointless conflict and unprofitable competition miss out on opportunities—thereby handing opportunities to perceptive (and discreet) others.”
“Teamwork and collaboration beat combat and predation.”
“Look before you leap—and before you eat!”
“A team wins, or loses, depending on its leader.”
“Love and friendship conquer, well, almost all. And when they don’t conquer, they still yield a moral victory … and an honorable end.”
Aesop, Shmaesop! (Or, at least:
Aesop, you’ve met you match!) For, the lessons I’ve summarized
above—all of which this book’s publisher, Walkabout, wisely
offers herein to humankind (and all of which humankind had damned well better
learn!)—ring as true as any that the Ancient Greek fabulist/storyteller
himself imparted, way back when.
Another link between Aesop’s and these Fables: in both cases, the
attributed authors may well be apocryphal. But I’m not here to determine
if determined-as-hell Dexter Dogwood is a visionary scribe, or if he’s
“merely” an ingenious transcriber, de-coder, and translator.
After all, does it even matter?
As a very minor Shakespeare scholar, I take issue with Bard-of-Avon deniers. My friend Michael York is one of them. Arguably, as a Shakespearean-trained actor, he ought to know; still, I believe ol’ Will to be the authentic author of all of the works credited to him.
But: as with Shakespeare, so with Dogwood: I’d suggest, Lear-like, that we “reason not” who is/ was real, nor who wrote (or translated) what! For, at the end of the day—or thaw, or cycle, or Season of Living—it’s the tales themselves that count.
The tales—and the characters.
And the themes.
And the insights.
…And the language deftly deployed to bring all of the above vividly to life—and to light, even in the Season of Darkness … a Season that, whether “real” (as depicted within Fables from Elsewhere) or not, is all too real in our own oft unenlightened world.
Wait. Did I just compare Dogwood to Shakespeare? You bet your ass (or your ass-headed “Rude Mechanical” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream … or your local Frupnid’s freshly grown carapace), I did!
For, in the case of both the Bard’s vast canon and the far shorter Double-D stories-suite (itself, by the way, but one volume, out of ten diverse ones) that you—lucky you!—are about to read, the tales woven impart timeless, invaluable, universal and even inter-Univers-al lessons. Not only are these Fables, like Shakespeare’s plays, utterly relevant in today’s 21st-Century world— but we ignore them at our peril.
To take one example: Surely, the opening Fable’s cautionary message of “Look past today’s needs to tomorrow’s—and beyond” is a timeless yet usually ignored one (albeit not by North America’s indigenous people: “Act with an eye toward the Seventh Generation beyond our own.”). It’s also a message we must heed, lest human-caused global warming necessitate a mass, across-space migration of humans to the Tarsaillius system. (We’d better bring presents!)
And, speaking of presents: “Others may not possess your gifts and skills, but they have different ones…” I believe that our human race, indeed our very planet, will either survive-then-thrive, or fail-then-fall, based largely on whether we build either walls or bridges vis-a-vis our current areas of division: sex/gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion (or absence thereof ), nationality, dis-/ability status, physical appearance, etc. If we follow the cited Fable to its logical end, then we see that the recognition of diversity, and of the gifts it affords, has the power to heal the world—theirs, and ours.
Moreover—and, again: just as with Shakespeare—these stories aren’t “just” smart, savvy, entertaining, thought-provoking, relevant and beautifully composed (each of these attributes being a huge accomplishment in and of itself ); they’re also moving. Head and heart are both fully engaged.
You see, as much as I’m stirred by Edmund’s “Nature, Thou Art My Goddess” soliloquy in King Lear Act I, Scene 2 (...”Why ‘bastard’, wherefore base? / When my dimensions are as well compact / My mind as generous, and my shape as true / As honest madam’s issue?…”), I would place Fables’ glorious finale, “The Blind Kowchost and the Fekkerash,” right alongside Edmund’s monologue. Yeah, “The B.K. & the F.” is gonna move ya, all right…
But… Don’tcha dare skip ahead! There’s a reason why, in my capacity as Dexter’s editor, I insisted on which Fable must go last: because this mini-masterpiece (just under 1,000 words) proves most effective, and most affecting, if preceded by all of the other tales.
Ah, but I’ve yet to mention the illustrations! Again: whether Dex-drawn, or legitimate alien art—“Fine word, ‘legitimate’!” sneers Edmund later in his soliloquy. (Sorry!)—these evocative compositions are perfect for Fables’ purposes.
For, like the works of one of my favorites among our own planet’s painters, Wassily Kandinsky, Fables’ illos occupy that peculiar, pulsing place at the juncture of representation and abstraction. And that Land of the Liminal is, finally, the realm of the magical.
Just ask the shaman while he’s contemplating—much as you’ll soon contemplate these unique graphics—the waterline around a partially submerged rock: a line, at once, both water and rock. Or ask the voodooist at the moment when, having stepped (or leapt) onto a sacred veve (an intricate, mandala-like grain pattern, that she herself helped create atop the naked earth), she commences dancing this divine design into oblivion.
Or, for that matter: Ask the jeskaster!
But, enough.
A brief book demands a brief Foreword (well, brief-ish, with—Apologies!—tons of tangents and asides … for instance: How do you tell a legitimate [what, that again?], published book, like this one, from a self-published one? The former may have a Foreword; the latter may have a “Forward” [sic].) (Meaning: Sell that Book “Back[ward]!”)
Again, and finally: Enough! Move along, promptly, to the good stuff. Just let me close with the Native-American saying that long has served as the core of my own conception of, and approach to, fiction writing:
“The events I’m about
to share with you may or may not have happened…
“But the story is true.”
— Paul McComas, award-winning author of Unforgettable
This is a wonderful book! It's a surprising blend
of whimsy and thoughtfulness wrapped up in a SciFi setting. By turns funny,
clever, and touching, it's an amazing piece of work from a first-time author.
And it comes in nice, illustrated, bite-sized pieces. Each fable stands
on its own, though the collection paints a larger picture as well. And did
I mention it's a breezy, FUN read? When the advance copy came to my desk,
I had no idea what to expect, but I immediately fell in love with this alien
world and it's charming characters. The whole thing is so different from
anything I've ever read, and yet so relevant to our own world. This, of
course, is the trick with a fable, whether from Aesop or Dexter Dogwood:
whimsy plus relevance. I LOVE this book, and I think you will, too -- and
I can hardly wait for Dogwood's next effort! Fables from Elsewhere is unique
-- a gem among new SciFi stars!
— Stephen D. Sullivan, award-winning author of
Manos: The Hands of Fate
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