Kingdom of the Grail(2000) is set some time
after the death of Arthur and the fall of Camelot.
Merlin is a prisoner until he is rescued by the leg-
endary Roland. Pride of Kings(2001) is one of her
best books and returns to the time of Richard the
Lionheart. He has been offered the throne of
Faerie in addition to his authority in Great Britain
but turns it down, setting in motion a crisis that
will cause unrest in both worlds. He reconsiders in
The Devil’s Bargain (2002), responding to the
depredations of an evil sorcerer. Their battle finally
concludes in House of War(2003).
Rite of Conquest(2004) is somewhat similar in
structure to the Richard novels. This time the pro-
tagonist is William the Conqueror, who has hidden
magical powers that he learns to use thanks to the
intercession of a perceptive governess. Another in-
carnated goddess walks abroad in ancient Egypt in
The Shepherd Kings(2001). Tarr invokes Alexander
the Great again in Queen of the Amazons(2004),
this time describing his encounter with a culture in
which women serve as warriors.
Tarr’s short fiction has yet to be collected
and includes several good stories, including
“Piece de Resistance” (1986), “Death and the
Lady” (1992), and “I Sing the Maiden” (1992),
but she seems most comfortable at book length
and with historical rather than contemporary or
completely imaginary settings. Tarr also collabo-
rated with Harry TURTLEDOVEfor Household Gods
(1999), which pokes considerable fun at the ro-
mantic images of the past portrayed in time travel
romance novels. A woman from our time finds
herself back in ancient Rome and, while initially
pleased, discovers that the drawbacks far out-
weigh the advantages.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” Edgar Allan Poe
(1843)
The narrator of this particularly spooky story by
Edgar Allan POEconfesses from the outset that he
has been ill but insists that his illness led to a
heightening of his senses rather than their confu-
sion and that his hearing has become unusually
acute in recent days. By the end of the second
paragraph, we already understand much of his
character and the background for what is to come.
He has become obsessed with an old man, who he
freely admits he loved and who had done him no
harm. The elderly man has a deformed eye that
upsets the narrator, who is clearly insane, because
of which he decides to kill his friend.
He approaches during the night on several oc-
casions, but since the old man is always asleep and
has his eyes closed, it is impossible to act. The nar-
rator is determined to strike when the eye is open
and aware, because it is the eye and not the old
man that he hates. One night he slips slightly as he
is spying, and the old man wakens, after which the
two are frozen like statues in anticipation. When
at last the narrator allows a little light into the
room, he sees that the eye is open and knows that
his opportunity has come at last. In the dark and
silence, the only thing he can hear is the beating of
the other man’s heart.
At last he strikes, driven even madder by the
heartbeat, killing the old man and then dismem-
bering his body. The severed remains are con-
cealed beneath the floorboards, and all signs of
struggle are removed. Unfortunately, the distur-
bance was heard by the neighbors, and the police
arrive. The narrator is able to put them at their
ease and convince them that nothing untoward
has happened. While they are speaking, however,
he begins to hear the rhythmic beating of a heart, a
sound that upsets him to the point he finally con-
fesses his guilt.
The resolution can be read ambiguously, al-
though it is probable that Poe meant us to under-
stand that the deathly heartbeat was imaginary
rather than supernatural. Guilt and its effect on
unhealthy minds is a recurring theme in his work.
Although this is one of Poe’s shortest stories, it
manages to incorporate more insight into the
human mind as well as a fully realized atmosphere
of horror than most contemporary horror writers
can manage with an entire novel.Tepper, Sheri S.(1929– )
Sheri Tepper made an immediate favorable impres-
sion with her first published fantasy fiction, the
True Game series, which began with King’s Blood
Four(1983), set in a world that is actually an elab-
orate game. All the inhabitants are governed by346 “The Tell-Tale Heart”