Danielle Cain is a freighter-hopping, anarcho-queer hero whose adventures are shared by solidaristic crews of spellcasting, cryptid-battling crustypunk freaks and street-fighters. In *Immortal Choir*, the action opens with Danielle and a motley band around a campfire in a dark Idaho woods, surrounded by the night-screams of some distant demonic presence. It's Samhain, and the veil between the realm of the living and dead is as thin as it gets. Bad things are stalking the night.

3/

To save themselves, they must court their own dead, welcoming them to their circle. They pile a camp-plate high with food for the dead to eat, build the fire up, and begin the tell the stories of their dead comrades, summoning them as a defense against the monstrous forces that stalk the All Saints night. This is the setup for the three linked short stories that make up this short book.

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This is a great setup: a group of endangered comrades, huddled together against the darkness without, telling tales to buoy up their bravery. It's the framing device that makes *The Decameron* an enduring classic after 800 years and counting. In Killjoy's hands, it sings.

The first story is "The Troll King's Court," a ghost story about a Norwegian troll cult that came to America in a failed Manhattan-Adjacent Project to create a mystical superweapon with which to win WWII.

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It's ultimately a story about how the competent people who have their shit together in our lives are just as broken as the rest of us, and about the many ways that release, fulfillment and actualization can take place. It's spooky as *fuck*.

The middle story is "The Fairies of the Spring," which summons up the old, mean roots of the Fair Folk, the cruelty behind their beauty and merry laughter.

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Pratchett did one of these (*Lords and Ladies*), and so have many others - but no one's done it where the resistance comes from a motley band of queer punk club-owners in a rural town, who team up with local shitkickers to hunt the elves and banish them to their realm.

The final tale is "The Battle of Miami," a story about a streetfighting anti-globalist battle. It's a tale of Black Bloc tactics and true queer love, that lights up with joy.

7/

Killjoy's really onto something with this series. She's tapping into the deep roots of fantasy - maybe the socialist parables woven into William Morris's stories. She's also connecting with the roots of urban fantasy (I was delighted to see a reference to Terri Windling's *superb*, absolutely *amazing* Borderland series).

8/

These three tales stand alone, so there's no need to read the previous volumes before diving into this one. But you *should* read the other two, because they're great:

* *The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion* (2017):

reactormag.com/excerpts-margar…

* *The Barrow Will Send What It May*: (2018):

reactormag.com/excerpts-the-ba…

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The Barrow Will Send What It May - Reactor

Margaret Killjoy’s Danielle Cain series is a dropkick-in-the-mouth anarcho-punk fantasy that pits traveling anarchist Danielle Cain against eternal spirits, hypocritical ideologues, and brutal, unfeeling officers of the law.

^{Margaret Killjoy (Reactor)}

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel *Picks and Shovels*.

Catch me in #PDX with BUNNIE HUANG at Barnes and Noble on FRIDAY (Jun 20):

stores.barnesandnoble.com/even…

And at the #TUALATIN Public Library on SUNDAY (Jun 22):

tualatinoregon.gov/library/aut…

More tour dates (#London, #Manchester) here:

martinhench.com

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