Remembering Light

Is the title of a story by Marie Brennan. And I must say, I'm all for any story set in the world of Driftwood-- a strange, mist-shrouded land in which all worlds come to die. How does one come up with a concept like that?

I mean, I have heard that we write what we know, but how does Ms. Brennan know such things (and why do I never seem to have such good ideas). I suppose it is not all that far off from concepts like the apocalypse and Ragnarok, but it is a very different way of addressing the end (and one I had not come across in myth before).

However, despite the curious nature of Driftwood and the terrifying crush, the most compelling thing about Ms. Brennan's writing is the way she addresses the lives of the people of this "world" and in particular the life of the man called Last. How does one survive the end of the end? How do you cope when your world becomes smaller and smaller by the day--swallowed up by the worlds crushing in around you?

One thing that had not occurred to me at first, but must indeed be a huge issue in a place like Driftwood is the language barrier. It sounds interesting, even fun, to run around in so many worlds and see fragments of so many places. But how do you keep from getting lost when the language a few miles from your fragment of a homeworld might be entirely different than the one you speak, and how do you find your way around when the landmarks are constantly being swallowed by the grinding of worlds?

Driftwood is a fascinating place to visit and that has not changed since the first time I became aware of its existence in her short story "Driftwood". In "Remembering Light" we learn a little bit more about Last, a woman named Noirin, her world of Surnyao and the nature of people who are not quite human in shape but very real and human in nature.

Remembered Light
Driftwood