A Long Day in Lychford

A Long Day in Lychford (2017) Paul Cornell

This is not my favorite of the Witches of Lychford stories. It isn’t bad, but the three main characters are separated for part of the book, and their interactions are often the best parts of the book.

Not to say that there isn’t plenty of amusement.

A sign loomed ahead in the summer night. “Lychford,” he said to the phone.

“I do not recognise the location,” the phone replied.

“Of course not.”

“I do not understand the instruction.”

“Oh, go to hell!”

“Changing route now.”

“No! Stop!”

Autumn is awakened by the police (in the person of Shaun Mawson–son of Judith) at her door, with questions about her previous evening. Which she doesn’t quite remember.

Autumn felt . . . bloody awful. Not actually entirely . . . hungover, not yet. It was like the hangover was literally hanging over her, waiting to expand to its full dimensions, but had first just wanted to knock on her door to tell her it was getting ready to do its thing. We have a delivery for you, it was saying, and we will not hand it to a neighbour, but intend to unpack it in your every special place.

Judith has her own problems.

For the umpteenth time, she put that matter to the back of her mind. What was worrying her more right now was this note she’d found attached to her fridge by a magnet. It made no sense. The note said:

Remember that your parents are dead, you great fool.

Which was ridiculous, because Judith’s parents still lived next door like they’d always done. Only . . . no, that wasn’t true, was it?

That is a rather depressing portion of the story, as you might guess.

I also had a little trouble with the magic in this story–I wasn’t quite sure I understood the boundaries in the first place, so learning that something went wrong didn’t help. It wasn’t a huge issue, because I didn’t have to know how, just that it was a problem.

But it was still interesting, and I still want to read more about the Lychford Witches.
Rating: 7.5/10

Publisher: Tor.com

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