Search Worlds Without End

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, April 2018.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Fantasy writing, like literature in general, provides a powerful vehicle for challenging the status quo. Via symbolism, imagery and supernaturalism, fantasy constructs secondary-world narratives that both mirror and critique the political paradigms of our own world.

This critical work explores the role of the portal in fantasy, investigating the ways in which magical nexus points and movement between worlds are used to illustrate real-world power dynamics, especially those impacting women and children. Through an examination of high and low fantasy, fairy tales, children's literature, the Gothic, and science fiction, the portal is identified as a living being, place or magical object of profound metaphorical and cultural significance.

"He has been taken. And you are his only chance."

That wasn't something Jan expected to hear--especially from strangers who'd just rescued her from some mysterious and ferocious creatures. And she really hadn't expected her rescuers to be shape-shifters....

Now it turns out her boyfriend, Tyler, hasn't gone missing, he's been stolen--and Jan's the only one who might be able to get him back.

From Elfland.

Yeah, Jan's pretty sure the entire world's gone crazy. Even if the shifters claim that the naturals (like her) and the supernaturals (like them) belong in this world...but the preternaturals, what humans call elves, don't. And they've found a portal into our world. A doorway they can use to infiltrate, to take, to conquer.

And now Jan's not just Ty's only hope--she's got to rescue humanity, as well....

Save the world--early and often

Three months ago Jan learned that elves were real, our world wasn't safe and it was up to her to save her boyfriend--and the world--from being englamoured into slavery. Now Jan has a new deadline--ten weeks, ten days and ten hours. That's when the truce she arranged between our world and the elves' realm ends, and the invasion starts.

While supernatural creatures work to defend humanity, Jan and the kelpie Martin have to find the preter queen, and use her to force the portals closed. But when magic mixes with technology, shutting it down isn't as simple as closing a door or pulling a plug....

Jan's geek-girl know-how might have gotten her this far, but they're going to need technical skills and magic to shut the portals for good....

And their time's nearly up.