Sunday, March 18, 2018

This Week's Oz Short Story

For the second story of the 1990 edition of Oziana, two of the top talents of Oz fan fiction teamed up for the first time, as Phyllis Ann Karr's tale "The Guardian Dove" featured illustrations by Melody Grandy. So yeah, this one's pretty good! The story opens in the Kalidah Woods where cub Kericot is proving to be an unusual child. She manages to capture a monkey, but instead of eating him, she lets him go. This is witnessed by a dove, who promises to keep her secret and claims that her compassion may help her out some day. As Keri gets older and ventures out into the world with her brother Radicot, she meets other animals, but contrary to a Kalidah's nature, she doesn't eat them, which rubs Radi the wrong way. Finally, they encounter an ond Munchkin woman and her grandson. Her reluctance to eat them causes Keri and Radi to fight, with Keri getting the best of her brother and chasing him off. The old Munchkin turns out to be a witch who enchants Keri, but the dove intervenes and shows her Keri's true nature. Thus, Keri, realizing she can never return to the Kalidah Woods, sets out to wander Oz and discover new things. I'm sorry Keri the Considerate Kalidah never made any more appearances, as she's a good character. I think she deserves a series of adventures. And then there's that dove. Who or what is he? I like to think he's Ugu, but there's no indication here that that's the case.

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