that powers unknown to the rest of us, and origi-
nating perhaps in a version of Egypt that is at vari-
ance with the one we know—hence the title—are
clandestinely shaping the fate of the world. The
story is continued in Love and Sleep(1994) and
Daemonomania(2000), the latter taking on a much
darker aspect involving the rise of cults and the
possible end of the world. A fourth and concluding
volume is planned but has not yet been an-
nounced. Most of Crowley’s short fantasy fiction
has been collected in Antiquities(1993), of which
“Missolonghi 1824” is the best, a story of Lord
Byron’s encounter with a mythical creature. The
uncollected short story “An Earthly Mother Sits
and Sings” (2000) is also outstanding. Despite
Crowley’s dominant position in literary fantasy, his
vision is so unique that he has no serious imitators.
Little, Big and the novella Great Work of Time
(1990) both won the World Fantasy Award.
Cunningham, Elaine(1957– )
For most of her writing career Elaine Cunningham
has been content to produce game tie-in novels
rather than produce work set in a world of her
own making. Her debut novel was Elfshadow
(1991), set in the sprawling FORGOTTEN REALMS
universe. Despite occasional awkwardness, Cun-
ningham creates an interesting murder mystery
against that backdrop of magic and swordplay, but
her next novel, The Radiant Dragon(1992) is de-
cidedly inferior, at least partly because of the na-
ture of the Cloakmaster game system to which it
was linked. Elves and other legendary creatures
interact awkwardly in a space travel format, deal-
ing with a crisis that rises when rumors begin to
appear that one side in an ongoing battle has de-
veloped a secret weapon.
Elfsong (1994) returned to the Forgotten
Realms with a more traditional plot this time. A
company of adventurers seeks to discover the na-
ture of the curse that troubles their land and even-
tually lift it. The Unicorn Hunt(1995) is a minor
quest story set in the DRAGONLANCEuniverse and
seems to indicate that its author is willing to re-
work familiar story lines indefinitely. Her next sev-
eral novels all returned to the Forgotten Realms
shared world, sometime using common characters.
Daughter of the Drow(1995, but revised in 2003) is
considerably better, featuring a competent female
protagonist whose magical quest shows flashes of
considerable originality and whose subsequent
troubles are described in the slightly less interest-
ing Tangled Webs(1996).
The protagonist of Elfshadowsreturns in Silver
Shadows(1996) for some fairly standard but better-
written adventures. Thornhold(1998) and Evermeet
(1998) show clear progress in Cunningham’s writ-
ing skills, particularly in her characterization, but
the plots are so constrained by the limitations of
the shared universe that the degree of her improve-
ment is not immediately clear. The Dream Spheres
(1999) is considerably more original and more satis-
fying, a mystery adventure involving the illegal
trade in dangerous magical artifacts. The Mage-
hound(2000) is largely a series of chases, exciting
but unmemorable, and The Floodgate (2001),
though well written, is yet another account of a
major battle between the forces of good and evil,
competently done but offering nothing particularly
new.
Cunningham’s last two novels in that setting
follow the same pattern, but The Wizardwar(2002)
brings a sequence of battles and quests to a re-
sounding and satisfying conclusion. Windwalker
(2003) brings the series begun with Daughter of the
Drowto a satisfying close. Despite her obvious tal-
ents and marked improvement, Cunningham
seemed content to produce interesting but minor
work until recently. Her most recent novel, Shad-
ows in the Darkness(2004), is a contemporary fan-
tasy involving a very well-portrayed female private
detective who discovers that there is magic in the
world after all. It is too early to predict whether
she will continue this character’s career with addi-
tional titles, but if she does so they are likely to
help Cunningham break out of her former mold
and become a more significant fantasy writer with
a wider audience. Most of her short fiction has also
been in the Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms set-
tings, but “The Knight of the Lake” (2002) is an
interesting exception.74 Cunningham, Elaine