Ter Ziele
Esther Scherpenisse
93 pages
published in 2014
Esther Scherpenisse is an up and coming Dutch fantasy writer, whose debut “Het prismaproject” in 2005 won the Paul Harland Prize in the best new writer category. Last year she managed to win the Paul Harland Prize again, but now for overall best story with “Ter Ziele”. For those unfamiliar with it, the Paul Harland Prize is an annual open competition for Dutch language science fiction, fantasy and horror stories; past winners include Thomas Olde Heuvelt, who went on to get two Hugo nominations this year and last. That last story is now available electronically as a chapbook, together with another of her short stories, “In de Mist”. That’s one of the advantages of ebooks, that you can publish chapbooks for a reasonable price rather than as expensive collectables, ideal to sample a new author.
Which is why I bought it yesterday after Esther tweeted that it was available. I’m still finding my way through the Dutch fantastika landscape after decades of not paying anything that didn’t come out in English. When I started investigating, Esther was one of the writers who had a critical buzz going for them and judging by the two stories here, that buzz is justified. These are well written stories that are as good as any published in English and I hope these will be translated sooner rather than later.
“Ter Ziele” especially touched me, both for its writing as for personal reasons, which I’ll come to later. It opens strong, with the protagonist looking on at his own grave, ready and waiting for his funeral tomorrow. Samuel however won’t be there, as he has made a deal with Death. That happens occassionally, that instead of dying Death can take you away to the middernachtsland, the midnight land, where the departed if not the dead live.
In the palace where Death delivers Samuel, all is stasis and he’s unsure how long he stands there staring at the walls, mourning the life and family he had to leave behind, when somebody starts talking to him. Erik, as he introduces himself, was taken by Death after a traffic accident over a century ago, when he was slightly younger than Samuel. Amongst the generally passive population of the palace, he stands out as does Samuel as one of the latest arrivals and they become friends, slowly telling each other their stories. Erik has a theory about why Death has taken them and not others, why they’re there and he needs someone to help him get away.
Meanwhile, in alternating chapters, Scherpenisse tells why Samuel had to make his deal. Twenty years old and with cancer recurring for the third time and this time it can’t be surpressed, his parents want him to take the deal so at least he won’t die, even if they will never see him again. These chapters are the heart of the story, that struggle with grief and mortality and not wanting to see your loved ones suffer, either from the pain of cancer or of having to watch you die.
The key scene is when Sam and his father are driving home and he explains to Sam why he wants him to take Death’s offer, because when he was the same age as his son, he had to watch his grandfather die slowly over the course of half a year. He’s scared shitless to see the same happen to his son: ‘Ik ben voor weinig dingen bang, Sam. Maar ik ben als de dood dat ik je op die manier zal verliezen.’ – “Few things frighten me, Sam. But I’m scared to death to lose you that way.”
That hit me hard, not in the least because tomorrow is the three year anniversary of my wife’s death, who died after a long illness of her own choosing, who had perhaps the best death she could’ve had in the circumstances, but it was still the hardest thing I ever had to do to watch her slowly slip away. I can so see why both Sam and his family would want to avoid this, even if the end result for his family is the same…
What I like about “Ter Ziele” is that isn’t overwrought or highly emotionally, but almost matter of fact about these matters. It’s exactly the right tone to keep the story grounded.
The other story, “In de Mist” is less emotionally draining, though shares the same themes. In a fishing village cut off from the world by thick banks of fog, each night the Fisherman comes to bring the people to sleep and to take those to him who are … different. Rika has already had her husband taken away and is fearful for her son. When her neigbour Kai, who has lost both wife and children tells her that he found where the fog ends and the Fisherman doesn’t come, she sets out with him and her son to live in freedom, only to find out that her freedom brings its own fears… A classic sort of fantasy puzzle story.
Even without the extra impact “Ter Ziele” had for me, these were two great, satisfying stories. I can’t wait to read more of Scherpenisse’s work and would like to see it translated to find a wider audience.
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