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The Two Paupers
Sculptor Gideon Alderwood can't decide if he worships Analise or loathes her. Novelist Analise Field is pretty sure that if Gideon cuts her one more time with the sharp side of his tongue, she'll grab a sledgehammer and break something other than his beautiful clay statues.
Neither can bear to live more than one wall apart from each other in the Seafall city garret they call home.
Gideon is determined that Analise will never discover the secret of his statues, lest her life be in as much danger as his. He will do anything to protect her, even if it means destroying their tenuous chance to be together. Analise will not stand by and watch any friend of hers fight an impossible war alone. If she has to walk through the shifting walls of Breaker House and into another world to help him, that's what she'll do.
But in order to go up against a magical Gentry army, Analise Field needs allies. Maybe even one she has to steal right out from under Gideon Alderwood's nose.
Neither can bear to live more than one wall apart from each other in the Seafall city garret they call home.
Gideon is determined that Analise will never discover the secret of his statues, lest her life be in as much danger as his. He will do anything to protect her, even if it means destroying their tenuous chance to be together. Analise will not stand by and watch any friend of hers fight an impossible war alone. If she has to walk through the shifting walls of Breaker House and into another world to help him, that's what she'll do.
But in order to go up against a magical Gentry army, Analise Field needs allies. Maybe even one she has to steal right out from under Gideon Alderwood's nose.
88 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 22, 2015
About the author
C.S.E. Cooney
176 books297 followersC.S.E. Cooney lives and writes in Queens, whose borders are water. She is an audiobook narrator, the singer/songwriter Brimstone Rhine, and author of World Fantasy Award-winning Bone Swans: Stories (Mythic Delirium 2015).
Her work includes the novella Desdemona and the Deep (Tor.com 2019), three albums: Alecto! Alecto!, The Headless Bride, and Corbeau Blanc, Corbeau Noir, and a poetry collection: How to Flirt in Faerieland and Other Wild Rhymes. The latter features her 2011 Rhysling Award-winning “The Sea King’s Second Bride.”
Her short fiction can be found in Ellen Datlow’s Mad Hatters and March Hares: All-New Stories from the World of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, the Sword and Sonnet anthology, edited by Aidan Doyle, Rachael K Jones, E. Catherine Tobler, Mike Allen’s Clockwork Phoenix 3 and 5, Rich Horton’s Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018), Jonathan Strahan’s The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume 12, Lightspeed Magazine, Fireside Magazine, Strange Horizons, Apex, Uncanny Magazine, Black Gate, Papaveria Press, GigaNotoSaurus, The Mammoth Book of Steampunk, and elsewhere.
Her work includes the novella Desdemona and the Deep (Tor.com 2019), three albums: Alecto! Alecto!, The Headless Bride, and Corbeau Blanc, Corbeau Noir, and a poetry collection: How to Flirt in Faerieland and Other Wild Rhymes. The latter features her 2011 Rhysling Award-winning “The Sea King’s Second Bride.”
Her short fiction can be found in Ellen Datlow’s Mad Hatters and March Hares: All-New Stories from the World of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, the Sword and Sonnet anthology, edited by Aidan Doyle, Rachael K Jones, E. Catherine Tobler, Mike Allen’s Clockwork Phoenix 3 and 5, Rich Horton’s Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018), Jonathan Strahan’s The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume 12, Lightspeed Magazine, Fireside Magazine, Strange Horizons, Apex, Uncanny Magazine, Black Gate, Papaveria Press, GigaNotoSaurus, The Mammoth Book of Steampunk, and elsewhere.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 12, 2016
A simply delightful fantasy. Or maybe not so simple... Loosely echoing various myths, such as Tam Lin, Pygmalion, etc., the end result here feels wholly original.
Gideon is a sculptor, a rich boy seemingly slumming by living in his artist's garret. Across the hallway is Analise, an author who's come to the big city to pursue her writing career. The two enjoy - or possibly don't enjoy at all - a fraught and intense relationship, sliding between viciousness, repressed attraction, and uneasy friendship. But what bothers Analise the most is Gideon's seemingly self-destructive urge to smash all of his beautiful sculpture - sculptures which seem magical in their beauty - and just plain magical. One day, she steals one, to save it... and from there, a deadly drama involving the otherworld of the fey will ensue....
I think this would appeal to fans of Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher, and of Sarah Monette's 'Doctrine of Labyrinths' series.
Most delightful of all - after finishing this I found out that it's actually second in a series(?) of three related novellas. More to read!
Gideon is a sculptor, a rich boy seemingly slumming by living in his artist's garret. Across the hallway is Analise, an author who's come to the big city to pursue her writing career. The two enjoy - or possibly don't enjoy at all - a fraught and intense relationship, sliding between viciousness, repressed attraction, and uneasy friendship. But what bothers Analise the most is Gideon's seemingly self-destructive urge to smash all of his beautiful sculpture - sculptures which seem magical in their beauty - and just plain magical. One day, she steals one, to save it... and from there, a deadly drama involving the otherworld of the fey will ensue....
I think this would appeal to fans of Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher, and of Sarah Monette's 'Doctrine of Labyrinths' series.
Most delightful of all - after finishing this I found out that it's actually second in a series(?) of three related novellas. More to read!
September 30, 2018
The stone it called to me
And now I see the things the stone has shown to me
A rock that spoke a word
An animated mineral it can be heard
And though I once preferred a human being's company
They pale before the monolith that towers over me
The statue got me high
And now I see the things the stone has shown to me
A rock that spoke a word
An animated mineral it can be heard
And though I once preferred a human being's company
They pale before the monolith that towers over me
The statue got me high
December 26, 2021
Read as part of the "Dark Breakers" anthology.
June 13, 2015
(I do very little in any proper order, so I'm speaking to the second in a series first.)
First, I ADORE C.S.E. Cooney's writing! Just had to state that. Her words feed my soul.
Second, this book and it's predecessor are probably great to read at anytime, but I read them in chapter bites while laying in bed. The nights I read, I always had such amazing dreams. Falling dream-wise into the lands of the not-so-gentle gentry is delightful. I relish any story that can tumble me so.
Third, ANALISE!!! Do I want to hug you or smack you? I shall do neither, but my heart aches, aches, ACHES for you! I have been there!!! Watching the love I want to rescue from him/herself is such pain. To save him over and over again... you foolish woman! (Your folly has been my folly... I know it well!) Also, you're a freakin' hero!
Fourth, Gideon... *glares* I know you can't help it... But really?
Fifth, while I'm okay with a bit of romance in my fantasy, I rarely like it to take up too much space. This book might just be my one exception.
First, I ADORE C.S.E. Cooney's writing! Just had to state that. Her words feed my soul.
Second, this book and it's predecessor are probably great to read at anytime, but I read them in chapter bites while laying in bed. The nights I read, I always had such amazing dreams. Falling dream-wise into the lands of the not-so-gentle gentry is delightful. I relish any story that can tumble me so.
Third, ANALISE!!! Do I want to hug you or smack you? I shall do neither, but my heart aches, aches, ACHES for you! I have been there!!! Watching the love I want to rescue from him/herself is such pain. To save him over and over again... you foolish woman! (Your folly has been my folly... I know it well!) Also, you're a freakin' hero!
Fourth, Gideon... *glares* I know you can't help it... But really?
Fifth, while I'm okay with a bit of romance in my fantasy, I rarely like it to take up too much space. This book might just be my one exception.
March 4, 2018
Delicious.
The first Dark Breakers book is an appetizer for The Two Paupers. I loved Gideon from the first moment he appeared in The Breaker Queen. I loved Analise and her easy fire. This was such a treat!
The first Dark Breakers book is an appetizer for The Two Paupers. I loved Gideon from the first moment he appeared in The Breaker Queen. I loved Analise and her easy fire. This was such a treat!
July 28, 2016
Many things hold true power in this world and in others just beyond the Veil: love, kindness, and creation [as in honest, unfettered artistic creation]. But none of these is necessarily the easiest path, and that is the crux of their power.
With a rogue's tone not unlike Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards and a convoluted relationship between this realm and a Fae realm, such as in Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, this novella presents a stand-alone sequel [indeed, I haven't read the first, but will now . . .] in which two talented but struggling artists dance around some very grave issues. Gideon, the well-heeled sculptor, has been cursed to carve statues that come to life like warrior golems. He destroys them almost as soon as he makes them. Analiese, the farm-born writer living next door, sees one not yet destroyed the moment its eyes open. Knowing its fate, she steals it away to save it.
She hides the golem away at her newly married friend Elliot's house. He's a talented painter and married to the ex-Queen Nix of the Fae Realm. It's one of the usurpers in Nix's absence that has cursed Gideon to make warrior golems in order to build an army and secure secession to the throne.
Loyalty to each other, wit, talent and artistic vision all play an intricate role as each tries to secure the best outcome for all the players involved and keep the others safe from harm . . . In a word, this tale is brilliant.
This tale appears in The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2016 edited by Rich Horton, which I received directly from Prime Books. I've previously read this author's "Witch, Beast, Saint: An Erotic Fairy Tale".
With a rogue's tone not unlike Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards and a convoluted relationship between this realm and a Fae realm, such as in Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, this novella presents a stand-alone sequel [indeed, I haven't read the first, but will now . . .] in which two talented but struggling artists dance around some very grave issues. Gideon, the well-heeled sculptor, has been cursed to carve statues that come to life like warrior golems. He destroys them almost as soon as he makes them. Analiese, the farm-born writer living next door, sees one not yet destroyed the moment its eyes open. Knowing its fate, she steals it away to save it.
She hides the golem away at her newly married friend Elliot's house. He's a talented painter and married to the ex-Queen Nix of the Fae Realm. It's one of the usurpers in Nix's absence that has cursed Gideon to make warrior golems in order to build an army and secure secession to the throne.
Loyalty to each other, wit, talent and artistic vision all play an intricate role as each tries to secure the best outcome for all the players involved and keep the others safe from harm . . . In a word, this tale is brilliant.
This tale appears in The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2016 edited by Rich Horton, which I received directly from Prime Books. I've previously read this author's "Witch, Beast, Saint: An Erotic Fairy Tale".
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews