You Came to the Tower
Shaenon: An illustration I drew based on my non-comics story You Came to the Tower, up now on Future Science Fiction Digest. There’s a podcast version too! It’s I Capture the Castle crossed with We Have Always Lived in the Castle in space, so if any of that appeals to you, have a look.
Channing: Shaenon’s work is, as always, lyrical and deeply character-driven. I recommend you give it a try.
Fascinating story!
I’m wondering if this is the Ballad of Fiddler’s Green mentioned (it’s the one I know) – it kind of fits!
Fiddler’s Green
As I went by the dockside one evening so fair
To view the still water and take the salt air
I heard an old fisherman singing this song
Won’t you take me away boys my time is not long
CHORUS
Wrap me up in me oilskin and jumper
No more on the docks I’ll be seen
Just tell me old shipmates
I’m taking a trip, mates
And I’ll see you one day in Fiddler’s Green
Now Fiddler’s Green is a place I’ve heard tell
Where fishermen go when they don’t go to Hell
Where the skies are all clear and the dolphins do play
And the cold coast of Greenland is far, far away
Where there’s always a breeze and there’s never a gale
And the fish jump on board with a swish in their tail
and you lie at your leisure, there’s nothing to do
And the captain’s below making tea for the crew
When you get to the dock and the long trip is through
There’s pubs and there’s clubs, and there’s lassies there too
and the girls are all pretty and the beer it is free
And there’s bottles of rum growing from every tree
I don’t need a harp or a halo, not me
Just give me a breeze and a stiff rolling sea
And I’ll play me old squeeze box as we roll along
When the wind in the rigging will sing me this song
I’ve always loved that song; the tune’s both cheerful and haunting. I heard it played live by some small band that was opening for Silly Wizard years and years ago (wish I knew their name, they were great) and it stuck in my mind for ages.
Tim Hart and Maddy Prior recorded a lovely version in the late 1960’s. Give it a listen if you haven’t heard it before.
Here it is… (as all the old folkies come out of the shadows…)
The story is not only non-comics, it’s non-comical. Very comprehensive, though. It may be one of the softest hard science stories I’ve ever read.