His most recent novel, Iron Council(2004),
follows the adventures of a group of rebels un-
happy with the government of New Crobuzon.
The main plot involves the hijacking of a railroad
train. The Tain(2003) is a short novel about the
creatures who live on the other side of the mirror
and what happens when they get tired of mimick-
ing humans. The story moves closer to horror than
fantasy, and although very effective, it is not of the
same caliber as his longer works. All of Miéville’s
novels have been strong contenders for the field’s
various awards. He is an exciting and skilled writer
who has quickly acquired a following and is already
widely acknowledged as one of the major talents in
contemporary fantasy.
The MistStephen King(1980)
Horror writers know that it is usually much more
effective to suggest the nature of a menace than to
describe it graphically and in detail. The things
that hide in the shadows, waiting for their chance,
are much more terrifying and literarily successful
than giant reptiles destroying cities or even pre-
dictable vampires rising from their coffins to prey
on the living. This short novel by Stephen KINGis
one of the best illustrations of this principle, with
its various creatures lurking in a mysterious mist
that overwhelms a small town.
The story opens with a particularly devastat-
ing storm that, we later learn, somehow upsets
things at a secret government research facility.
Like most residents, Dave is clearing away the af-
termath, slightly puzzled by the lack of official re-
sponse to the emergency. The local radio stations
are not transmitting. The power is out generally,
but he feels no particular concern when he, his
son, and a neighbor set out for town, leaving his
wife to begin the cleanup. They find long lines ev-
erywhere as people try to stock up on supplies,
eventually accumulate most of what they need in a
local grocery store, and are waiting to check out
when things begin to take a darker turn.
Dave had previously noticed a bank of fog or
mist on a nearby lake that seemed denser and
more distinct than usual, but it did not appear to
be a matter of any great concern. However, when
the mist moves into the town, everyone caught up
in it vanishes, often screaming wildly as they disap-
pear. Although most of the people in the store rush
out to escape, a handful remain inside waiting to
see what develops. Before long they are under
siege, unable to see anything through the windows
but quite able to hear the sound of moving things
all around them.
Predictably and quickly, the trapped people
begin to experience a variety of intense emo-
tions—fear, panic, concern for loved ones, religious
piety, confusion, and anger. An effort to repair the
store’s generator backfires when one of their num-
ber is seized by tentacles and carried off into the
mist. Unable to confront their attackers directly,
the survivors begin to turn on one another, at first
only with words and later physically. King uses this
small group of people as a way to reflect upon how
people in greater numbers react to unknown situa-
tions, compressing the stages of terror and distress
so that the monsters that lie within us are exposed
as just as dangerous as those physical beings lurk-
ing just out of sight.Modesitt, L. E., Jr.(1943– )
Leland Exton Modesitt, Jr. began writing science
fiction in the early 1970s but did not publish fan-
tasy until The Magic of Recluce(1991). This was
the first in a lengthy series of novels set in a uni-
verse where magic works and where Order and
Chaos are opposed forces, but one that is logically
constructed with rules of magic that provide a
sense of orderliness. Although there are sometimes
common characters, most of the novels can be
read in any order, as they jump around in time and
place. The opening volume rather typically de-
scribes the emergence of an unlikely hero who dis-
covers he has the power to defeat the currently
dominant wizard. Modesitt immediately followed
up with The Towers of Sunset(1992), actually a
prequel, in which the protagonist escapes the
threat of an arranged marriage and establishes a
new political entity.
Science and magic are intertwined in The
Magic Engineer(1994). The protagonist is exiled
from the lands where Order dominates because of
his development of questionable technology, but
he finds a new home in the lands of Chaos, whereModesitt, L. E., Jr. 241