Shark Hat

Gold dragon head ornament with silver teeth, China, Six Dynasties Period, 220-589 AD

A tour of nineties Fantasyland, with stops along the way in California, Minnesota, Shannara, Valdemar, Derkholm, Dalemark, and the 'Maggots' entry in the Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997).

"A consummation greatly desired," Jeeves agreed.

"The forces of darkness vanquished, the rightful king upon his throne, and all that. And, even more importantly, Tuppy Glossop disengaged from that horsy female and returned to the bosom of my cousin Angela."

"Indeed, sir."

"Rather a shock running into the Reverend Aubry Upjohn riding that fell beast, what?"

"I though you displayed great alacrity in relocating to that ditch in the nick of time, sir."

Far below us, the molten lava did a rather spirited impersonation of boiling soup. I mopped the p. off the b. with a handkerchief I'd improvised from an orc loincloth. I had been to some deuced uncomfortable country estates in my time, don't you know, but at least there one had been able to toddle downstairs and pour oneself a quick W. and S. as needed to stiffen the sinews. Galadriel's Buck-U-Uppo was excellent at vitalizing the limbs to forge on the last dreadful mile and all that, but it lacked the comfort that speaks to the soul.

I contemplated the glowing river. "Redirecting the army of Aunts to that Isengard place was a stroke of brilliance, I thought."

"You are too kind, sir."

"Still, all things must end, as they say. Travel is broadening to the mind and all, but it is past time to attend the call of heart and home. Among other considerations, I think something took residence inside this mithril shirt somewhere around the Morgul Vale and has been wandering about biting hither and thither ever since, and I am filled with the desire to strip it off and do battle with the blighted thing."

"Understandable, sir."

"I heard rather a good one the other day: Sing hey! for the bath at close of day that washes the weary mud away! -and by Jove if I don't think they were on to something, Jeeves."

"It is undeniably felicitous to be surrounded by the comforts of home," he assented, and yet I couldn't escape a certain sense of firmness about his gaze.

I sighed, for I knew what he wanted. Well, I mean, I'm all for taking a firm stance and not being trodden on in one's own home and all, but as far as rallying around to save the young master goes, none could have rallied more greatly than Jeeves. If a little firmness was the price I had to pay, well, so be it.

Slowly I undid the old school tie from around my neck. It was harder work than one would have thought; as if it could hear what was rattling around in the old brain, the ring that was threaded on it put in a last surge of effort in the gleaming and enticement department, filling my mind with heady visions: Freddie Widgeon gnashing his teeth as I sank yet another dart into the bullseye, Aunt Agatha wreathed in tears and begging my forgiveness for ever having misjudged me, Jeeves gazing admiringly as I displayed my newest waistcoat for his edification…

It was the last that broke the spell. Cursed objects of all-consuming power were all well and good in their sphere, but there were limits, don't you know? And yet I hesitated. "You don't think I could slip it on and just have a quick total domination of the world before I toddle around to the Drones for a stiff one?"

Jeeves gave a gentle cough of reproof. "I think you will find it for the best, sir."

It was a wrench, but one could not deny the man had earned it. With a heavy hand, I held the ring out to him. "Take it, then. You will know what do with it, I'm sure."

He took it from me with the sort of shimmer that showed he was exceptionally gratified. "Thank you, sir."

I watched as the ring fell from his hand into the depths below. It hit the lava and rested there for a moment before slowly sinking beneath the glowing surface, and as they caught fire I almost felt that the Old Etonian colors glowed brighter in approval. That Wooster, they seemed to say: not much in the brains department, but he gets the job done.

Outside, there came a hideous wailing as of something ages old abruptly losing the power which bound it to this mortal plain and all that, which I took as our signal to leg it down the nearest drainpipe before things got sticky. The road goes ever on and on, what? Yet I paused there, at the end of all things, because some things have to be said.

A Traveler From India Graffitied His Name on Five Ancient Tombs in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings 2,000-Years-Ago

Researchers have discovered 30 inscriptions written in Indian languages, which provide new evidence that visitors from India spent time in Egypt between the first and third centuries C.E.

Some 2,000 years ago, a man from India named Cikai Korran scratched his name in several places inside rocky tombs in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, the sacred burial site of pharaohs and elites, including Tutankhamun.

Korran’s graffiti, written in the Old Tamil language, appears eight times across five tombs. It’s surrounded by similar etchings made by several others, all of which date to between the first and third centuries C.E. Altogether, these nearly 30 inscriptions—written in four Indian languages and found inside six tombs—provide new evidence that people from South Asia visited ancient Egypt.

“We knew that traders from Tamil Nadu visited Egypt through other inscriptions found in the ancient port cities,” Ingo Strauch, a scholar at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, tells the Times of India’s A. Ragu Raman. “This shows that they did not only come with ships and return, but they also stayed here for a longer period of time. They took time even to visit sites that are far away.”

Twenty of the inscriptions, including this one, were written in Tamil.

Strauch and Charlotte Schmid, a scholar at the French School of Asian Studies, presented these findings last month at an academic conference in India. Their discovery adds to previous scholarship on Indian inscriptions found at Berenike, an ancient Red Sea port, and Socotra, an island off the coast of Yemen.

The discovery was rather serendipitous. Strauch was visiting the Valley of the Kings, which opened to tourists more than a century ago, and was surprised when he recognized Indian languages among the other well-documented graffiti in languages like Greek.

Assuming that somebody else had already noticed the text, he took photographs of the lines that piqued his curiosity. After he returned home, he realized he may have stumbled upon something new. Twenty of the 30 inscriptions are in Tamil, while the others are in languages such as Sanskrit, Prakrit and Gandhari-Kharoshi, according to the Times of India.

A 2,000-year-old inscription by Cikai Korran

“It seems that the reason that the Tamil graffiti in tombs in the Valley of the Kings went unrecognized is essentially that no one with adequate knowledge noticed them before,” Steve Harvey, an Egyptologist who was not involved in the research, tells the Art Newspaper’s Hadani Ditmars. “Very few scholars who focus on languages of India tend to study graffiti in Egypt—whereas Greek and Aramaic graffiti have been recognized and studied for a very long time.”

The writings of Korran stood out to the researchers not only because there were so many, but because they were also written in hard-to-reach places. In one instance, inside the tomb of Ramses IX, Korran’s inscription is written 16 to 20 feet above the tomb’s entrance.

“It’s weird, to be frank,” Schmid said during the presentation.

Ancient graffiti.

The name “Indranandin” also appeared in Sanskrit among the graffiti. According to the researchers, Indranandin described himself as a messenger of King Kshaharata, referencing a dynasty that ruled over western India during the first century C.E.

“It is possible that Indranandin arrived by ship at Berenike [on the east coast of Egypt], perhaps together with other Indians, and from there continued inland to the Valley of the Kings,” Strauch tells Live Science’s Owen Jarus. Strauch wonders whether he traveled to Egypt on his way to Rome, which controlled Egypt at the time.

The researchers were particularly struck by how some graffiti messages appear to be in dialogue with each other. Inside one tomb, writings in Sanskrit and Tamil reference another inscription written in Greek, suggesting some level of cross-cultural engagement.

“These new inscriptions show the integration of people of Indian origin from all parts of the subcontinent into the society of Roman Egypt,” Strauch tells the Art Newspaper. “This discovery makes it likely that additional Indian inscriptions or other Indian artifacts may yet be found in Egypt.”

By Christian Thorsberg.

D: A Tale of Two Worlds, by Michael Faber: the letter D starts disappearing one day. Main character Dhikilo gets called Hikilo; people walk their ogs, not their dogs; a child protests "I in't o it!" instead of "I didn't do it!". Dhikilo goes through a portal to another world to find out where the letter D went

The Stranger Times, by CK McDonnell: a young woman gets a job at a newspaper that covers strange phenomena, and they end up uncovering an actual conspiracy involving immortals. Very funny, tho with a lotta swearing

Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik: a Jewish retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, where a young woman is granted the power to turn silver into gold by the fae. Minimal romance in this one

Uprooted, by Naomi Novik: the story of a young woman in a village surrounded by a malevolent forest, who becomes apprentice to the wizard who guards her village and keeps her safe. A bit more romance in this one, and an explicit sex scene farther along

The Book Eaters, by Sunyi Dean: low fantasy/scifi (it can be considered either genre, really) about a woman who's a book eater - someone who eats books to absorb their knowledge, and who in fact can't live off of normal human food. Her son is a mind eater (he consumes people's memories and personalities instead), and she's on a quest to find a cure for him that'll turn him into a normal book eater. Again, minimal romance, though there is sex with some dubious consent

Vespertine, by Margaret Rogerson: in a world where the dead have to be given special rites to prevent them rising again as malevolent spirits, a young nun binds herself to one of the most powerful spirits there is to save the kingdom from an attack by the undead. Extremely minimal romance (two side characters are implied to get together, that's it)

Once There Was and Bird of a Thousand Stories, by Kiyash Monsef: a young girl who's a vet to fantasy creatures. The second book sets up a third, though it's just the two of them for now. Minimal to no romance (slight mention of the MC getting a crush, that's all), but as she's a vet there's a lot of discussion of animal injury

The Moorchild, by Eloise McGraw: this is an older one at this point, but it's about a young changeling who slowly discovers who she is

Guest, by Mary Downing Hahn: another changeling tale, this one about a girl who accidentally opens the door for the fae to steal her brother. She take the changeling with her to get her brother back

The Ballad of Perilous Graves, by Alex Jennings: a young boy in a fantasy version of New Orleans who has to track down magical songs that have begun to go missing, which will destroy the city if they aren't restored

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. Vaguely Greek-mythology inspired, with gods who take an active interest in people/countries who they are patrons to. A scruffy thief is hauled out of prison to break in to an uncrackable deserted cave fortress and steal a stone that confers leadership; shenanigans with heart ensue. Has (amazing) romance in the sequels but none in this one.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin. Outcast is suddenly taken to a city above the clouds and told she's in contention for heir to the throne; there are scheming cousins and captive gods (who have their own agendas).

Nobody should be losing lives at this rate. What is wrong, Christopher?

In our first episode of Season Three, the brilliant @singlecrow joins us for a discussion of bureaucracy, cricket boys, Burton and Kipling, and the limitations of escape into fantasy,