the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty and recast it
in rationalized form, set during the days of the
Holocaust in Nazi-dominated Europe. She used a
very similar setting for a young adult novel that
also highlights the horrors of that age, The Devil’s
Arithmetic (1988), which involves time travel.
Cards of Grief(1984) also mixes genres, in this
case using a world where magic works as back-
ground and introducing outsiders in the form of
curious visitors from another planet.
Sister Light, Sister Dark(1988) addresses a very
powerful theme. The young protagonist believes
that she is fated to become a sort of messiah for
her people, a future that is daunting as well as flat-
tering, although the reader might suspect that she
is simply being fooled by a series of coincidences.
Her life becomes far more complex and dangerous,
and the issue is not resolved until the sequel, White
Jenna(1989), the two books later combined as The
Book of Great Alta (1990). After several years
Yolen added a third volume, The One-Armed
Queen(1998), in which Jenna’s hold on the throne
is troubled not only by rival political factions and
outside interests but by her own restless children.
Other novels of interest to older readers in-
clude The Magic Three of Solatia(1974), which
consists of four related stories wherein various
characters learn how to control magical powers,
and Merlin’s Book(1986), a collection of stories in
an Arthurian vein although mostly dealing with
Merlin. Yolen also made use of the legend of Mer-
lin for children in her Young Merlin trilogy, which
includes Passager(1996), Hobby(1996), and Merlin
(1997), as well as in The Dragon’s Boy(1990) and
Merlin and the Dragons (1997). The Mermaid’s
Three Wisdoms(1978) is a touching story about a
deaf girl who makes friends with a mermaid. Nep-
tune Rising(1982) is a collection of stories and
poems about “merpeople” and the sea and contains
some of her most memorable tales. One of her
darker stories is The Wild Hunt(1995), set in a fan-
tasy realm that is dominated by fear of a band of
mysterious huntsmen.
Most of her children’s books can also prove re-
warding for a wider range of readers. Yolen has a
genuine flair for fairy tales, and whether she is
retelling old favorites or creating new ones, there is
always a sense of authenticity about her worlds and
their characters. Some of her best include a series
of collections of stories and poems on specific fan-
tastic subjects, starting with Here There Be Dragons
(1993), followed by Here There Be Unicorns
(1994), Here There Be Witches(1995), and Here
There Be Angels(1996), each of which mixes prose
and verse. Twelve Impossible Things before Breakfast
(1997) is one of the best of her many collections of
short stories.
The Tartan Magic series includes The Wizard’s
Map(1999), The Pictish Child (1999), and The
Bagpiper’s Ghost(2002), in which children visiting
in Scotland find a magic deck of cards that con-
nects them to a sorcerer from another age. Other
titles of particular merit are The Transfigured Hart
(1975) and Wings(1991), which retells the story of
Daedalus and Icarus. Her recent Sword of the Right-
ful King(2003) is another return to the world of
King Arthur and Camelot. Although Yolen is
clearly best known as a writer for children, she has
a large and loyal following among readers of all
ages and is one of the most important names in
contemporary fantasy.“Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper”Robert Bloch
(1943)
The real-life Jack the Ripper, who terrorized Lon-
don in 1888, was undoubtedly a mortal person, but
that has not prevented a number of writers from
ascribing supernatural powers to him and placing
him in a variety of situations and settings, even in-
cluding an episode of the television series Star Trek
and another episode in the world of Babylon 5.
There have been entire anthologies of short stories
featuring the London killer or very similar charac-
ters, including The Harlot Killer,edited by Allan
Barnard (1953), Red Jack,edited by Martin Harry
Greenberg, Charles Waugh, and Frank McSherry
(1988), and Ripper!,edited by Gardner Dozois and
Susan Casper (1988). Robert BLOCH, who also
wrote a novel about the real incidents, Night of the
Ripper(1984), is the author of the most famous
short story about the most famous serial killer of all
time.
The setting is contemporary Chicago. Sir Guy
Hollis works at the British Embassy, but he is more
interested in his life-long obsession, an effort to“Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” 397