Tales of the Minstrel Tongue by Narrelle M Harris

Title: Tales of the Minstrel Tongue

Author: Narrelle M Harris

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Dangerous Charm/Draft2Digital

Published: 30^th November 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 90

Price: $31.04

Synopsis: In Kitty and Cadaver, Kitty Carrasco, funeral parlour beautician, gets the shock of her life when the recently departed, whom she’s making presentable for their funerals, all sit up in their coffins. Instinctively, she sings a song that releases them from whatever animates their corpses. Soon she joins forces with a band with a history going back to the 13th Century to discover what’s raising the dead in Melbourne and fight the supernatural dangers coming for them.

The short stories of Tales of the Minstrel Tongue explore the history of this band and others who are born with the gift of ‘the Minstrel Tongue’ – the ability to wield magic through music, and so protect humanity from monsters. This magic also manifests in other creatives – dancers and crafters can also weave magic through their art and actions.

Through this collection, you will encounter grieving gods and grieving girls, poorly summoned demons, elemental powers, and talking ravens – and those with magic in their veins and voices, who seek to put the world back into balance.

~*~

Death is an inevitable part of life – and often part of crime, mystery, fantasy, and many other genres. In Narrelle M Harris’s new book, Tales of the Minstrel Tongue, an exploration of the history of a band from the 13^th century, linked to a previous story by Narelle about a funeral parlour beautician called Kitty, who can sing reanimated corpses back to being still.

It’s a fantastic premise – corpses coming to life and being sung back to death is clever, and the need to travel back in time works well too. I loved that Kitty was the one chosen to find out what is raising the dead in Melbourne, even if that means heading into the past to fight the impending supernatural dangers. There’s something unique and clever in these stories, bringing the past and present to life, showing what it means to explore life and death through time travel and song.

Grieving is not something only felt by humans. These short stories show that gods grieve just as much as girls. Demons are summoned, but poorly with dire consequences that make the stories thrive on darkness and intrigue. It is the elemental powers threaded through this book, and the talking ravens that also bring things to life. But can the combination of these people, powers and birds restore the balance that is missing from the world?

Everything in these short stories is cleverly used and manipulated to create what might feel like a dark story, but it is exquisitely done, and I wanted more, because there were so many layers to unpack and explore, and they have made me want to track down Kitty and Cadaver when I get a chance – there are just so many good books out there, and so much to read. I think these short stories are a good way to draw people into Kitty’s world if they haven’t discovered her already, or to continue her story if they have. I am looking forward to reading more about Kitty when I can, and another book of short stories Narelle sent me for review.