The Castle of Dark

British science-fiction and fantasy author Tanith Lee (1947-2015) debuted her first full-length novel, The Dragon Hoard, in 1971. She amassed a robust career that featured over 90 novels and 300 shorts. She was awarded both the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement in Horror as well as the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award. I've picked up a few of her paperbacks over the years and wanted to sample her work. I chose The Castle of Dark, a fantasy/horror novel that was first published by Macmillan London in 1978 and then later in 1984 by Unwin Paperbacks, which is the version I reviewed.

The book is set in the Middle Ages with a narrative that revolves around two main characters, a young woman named Lilune and a minstrel (traveling musician) known as Lir. In the early chapters, the author introduces these characters in very different scenarios. As the book progresses, naturally these scenarios will clash, intertwine, and ultimately create a finale. Creative Writing 101.

Lilune's situation is right out of The Brothers Grimm fairy tales. She is being held captive by two old hags in the Castle of Dark. But, there are some unique offerings here that spin Brothers Grimm into Hammer Horror. Lilune sleeps in a casket during the day and prowls the castle and its barren surroundings at night. She burns in the sunlight and she doesn't eat food. Quacks like a duck, walks like a duck – bound to be a bloodsucking Vampire enchantress, right? But Lilune has a different type of curse that I won't spoil here.

Lir is a pretty good harp player and gets noticed by a wise old musician that may be the Devil. He informs Lir that he has a special musical talent and instructs him to create a new harp made from bone. Lir peddles around the graveyard and tombs to make his morbid instrument. He then feels a spiritual tug that leads him on a short journey to the Castle of Dark. Here's where things get really interesting. 

In the closest populated town the upstanding citizens encourage Lir to go to the castle (never mind those rumors of supernatural occurrences and dead people roaming at night) and check out a young girl that was taken there by her mother when she was a babe. Lir's arrival at the castle is met with abrasion (naturally) and he is led to free Lilune from her eternal imprisonment. But, be careful what you ask for. Little does he know that he is traveling with a....I can't give it away.

The Castle of Dark is a short read at just 178 pages, but the page count just breezes by. I was done in just a few reading hours and felt extremely satisfied with the character development, the central mystery regarding Lilune, and the “darkness” that envelopes the town. What I really enjoyed about the location is that near the castle is another town that is completely uninhabited - empty buildings to explore by moonlight. I felt like I was with Lilune as she would effortlessly glide through the fog into this little abandoned village. The hints at a vampire tale are steady, but for fantasy fans there is a good mix of action and adventure as Lir takes on the quest in true monomyth style...only he's brandishing a harp instead of a savage blade. 

If you want to read something really different, try Tanith Lee's The Castle of Dark. Get a copy HERE