Nebula Award nominee Smeds (The Sorcery Within; The Schemes of Dragons; etc.) should only enhance his reputation with this well-crafted dark fantasy set during the Vietnam War. Dennis Short, a navy medic just back from Vietnam, is assigned to the staff of the navy target range on the uninhabited Hawaiian island of Kahoolawe. Uninhabited, that is, except for herds of feral goats and (on another plane) nymphs, satyrs and the god Pan out of classical mythology. Short opens a path between the mundane and the mythic planes by finding Pan's own pipes and by becoming the beloved of the nymphs. But he also becomes Tragos, the archenemy of Pan, and both hunter of the satyrs (and their avatars, the goats) and their quarry. The tension rises steadily as Tragos and Short engage in a deadly struggle for the possession of the corpsman's body and soul. A taut, understated narrative makes the scenes of blood, terror and desire all the more convincing. The author also has done exceptionally fine work with the characters, starting with Short and including Jones, the street-smart African-American; Potter, the novice who wants to grow up; and Priest, the ensign who is more grown up than anyone realizes. Mixing distinctly diverse elements into a coherent story with a success that would have eluded most genre authors, Smeds has created one of the better fantasies to come out of the Vietnam experience. (June)
