{"id":5880,"date":"2016-05-29T09:51:02","date_gmt":"2016-05-29T13:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5880"},"modified":"2021-09-22T18:29:45","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T22:29:45","slug":"witches-of-lychford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5880","title":{"rendered":"Witches of Lychford"},"content":{"rendered":"

Witches of Lychford<\/a><\/em> (2015) Paul Cornell<\/a><\/p>\n

\"lychford\"<\/a>I thoroughly enjoyed London Falling<\/em>, and so ordered both the sequel, and also this unrelated short story, when I saw them.<\/p>\n

However, London Falling was a very complicated story that required my attention to keep things straight, so I put off reading The Severed Streets<\/em> and this short story, because I’ve been too distracted to keep things straight.<\/p>\n

But since this was a short story, I decided to give it a try.<\/p>\n

It’s marvelous.<\/p>\n

Here’s the cover blurb:<\/p>\n

The villagers in the sleepy hamlet of Lychford are divided. A supermarket wants to build a major branch on their border. Some welcome the employment opportunities, while some object to the modernization of the local environment.<\/p>\n

Judith Mawson (local crank) knows the truth — that Lychford lies on the boundary between two worlds, and that the destruction of the border will open wide the gateways to malevolent beings beyond imagination.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Judith is wonderful.<\/p>\n

Judith hated nostalgia. It was just the waiting room for death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The telemarketers who called her up now seemed either desperate or resigned to the point of a mindless drone, until Judith, who had time on her hands and ice in her heart, engaged them in dark conversations that always got her removed from their lists.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

she was looking at Shaun, her son, in his uniform. He was pointing at her in surprise. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re here. You\u2019ve taken a side.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I was very much hoping\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThat I wouldn\u2019t.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cJust so we\u2019re clear\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t throw anything.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSee that you don\u2019t. I don\u2019t want to have to arrest you. Again.\u201d He pointed to his eyes and then to her, and, with another glance at her over his shoulder, marched back to his place at the back of the hall.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And that brings me to the dialog, which I absolutely adored.<\/p>\n

There are two other main characters, Autumn and Lydia, and they are also lovely.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018 DNA\u2019 my arse. If you\u2019re coming along, I don\u2019t want you coming out with bloody science all the time. You\u2019ll be looking at everything through the smallest window.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe smallest window,\u201d said Autumn, \u201cmight have the clearest glass.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t. It\u2019s muddy.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut the other windows will stay as they are, but this window could be replaced by . . . a big set of French windows, when science catches up with magic.\u201d <\/p>\n

Judith rolled her eyes. \u201cI\u2019m trying to show you the ineffable and you\u2019re planning an extension.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cYou said he was a being of tremendous power and evil, but I\u2019ve looked him up. He\u2019s got a wife and family. He\u2019s on LinkedIn.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love well-written short stories, and this is almost perfectly done. <\/p>\n

I highly recommend this–it won’t take much of your time, but the time you spend will be enjoyable.
\nRating: 10\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Tor.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Witches of Lychford (2015) Paul Cornell I thoroughly enjoyed London Falling, and so ordered both the sequel, and also this unrelated short story, when I saw them. However, London Falling was a very complicated story that required my attention to keep things straight, so I put off reading The Severed Streets and this short story, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,30,2,48,8,35,16],"tags":[113,111,217],"class_list":["post-5880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-10","category-british","category-fantasy","category-female","category-mystery","category-short-story","category-supernatural","tag-lychford","tag-paul-cornell","tag-witches"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1wQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9341,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9341","url_meta":{"origin":5880,"position":0},"title":"A Long Day in Lychford","author":"Michelle","date":"October 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/a-long-day-in-lychford.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6176,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6176","url_meta":{"origin":5880,"position":1},"title":"The Lost Child of Lychford","author":"Michelle","date":"November 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lost Child of Lychford (2016) Paul Cornell It's December in Lychford, Lizzie's first Christmas as Reverend of St. Martin\u2019s--the busiest and most stressful time of the year in the church. \u201cThe song \u2018I Believe in Father Christmas,\u2019\u201d she continued to Sue and Oliver, her elderly churchwardens, twelve hours later,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"the-lost-child-of-lychford","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Lost-Child-of-Lychford.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5168,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5168","url_meta":{"origin":5880,"position":2},"title":"London Falling, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"March 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"London Falling, Audio Book (2014) Paul Cornell narrated by Damian Lynch (The Shadow Police) I really liked the audible version of London Falling. Detective Inspector James Quill is heading the investigation (which includes undercover officers Costain and Sefton) to take down crime lord Rob Toshack. Intelligence analyst Lisa Ross has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"London Falling","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-e1511017057893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-e1511017057893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-e1511017057893.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25524,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25524","url_meta":{"origin":5880,"position":3},"title":"London Falling, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"London Falling, Audio Book (2014) Paul Cornell narrated by Damian Lynch (The Shadow Police #1) Trigger Warnings: there are not detailed descriptions, but if a bad thing can happen, it likely happens in this series. \u201cMight as well look as if we\u2019re together,\u201d said Sefton, under his breath, as he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"London Falling","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-197x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23205,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23205","url_meta":{"origin":5880,"position":4},"title":"London Falling, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"February 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"London Falling, Audio Book (2014) Paul Cornell narrated by Damian Lynch (Shadow Police) TW: child abuse, child death, murder, torture, faked suicide, general horribleness. He\u2019d been out, sort of, at his last nick. A few of the lads had asked, so he\u2019d told them. And then his DI, Pete Grieves,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"London Falling","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-e1511017057893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21336,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21336","url_meta":{"origin":5880,"position":5},"title":"London Falling, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"London Falling, Audio Book (2014) Paul Cornell narrated by Damian Lynch (The Shadow Police) Pretty much all the trigger warnings for this book: child death, child harm, gore, violence, serial killer.. This series is so dark, and yet its darkness doesn't bother me, possibly because it's almost over the top.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"London Falling","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-e1511017057893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5880\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}