Something is rotten in the town of Refuge. Scratch beneath the peeling paint of this rural coastal town and you will uncover things best left hidden.
The Refuge Collection Vol 1 is the first book in a series of short story anthologies which revolve around the town of Refuge, an aptly-named haven for the unwanted and the unnecessary. All profits from the books will go to supporting charity in aid of real-world refugees through Sanctuary Australia.
Successful anthology series are few and far between. George RR Martin’s Wild Cards series comes to mind, as does Thieves’ World, the brainchild of Robert Asprin. In both of these series the editors gave their world life and left it for others to play in. Doing so explores the world more thoroughly and from more diverse viewpoints than a single writer could have ever done. Here editor Dillon starts the same way, penning the opening story, The Empath’s Tale, with more of an eye to world-building than anything else, but this can be forgiven, as it is also the first part of a longer narrative to be continued in subsequent volumes.
The second story, The Thief’s Tale by Lee Murray, introduces us to the town from a different point of view: that of a petty thief out for whatever she can get. In this case it turns out to be a deservedly-cursed Fabergé egg.
Third in line is the delightful The Death of a Cruciverbalist by Martin Livings, and if you don’t know what a cruciverbalist is you soon will as a young man addicted to crosswords begins to read between the lines.
By this point the reader has begun to form a very strange picture of Refuge indeed. A few non-sequiturs have begun to worm their way through the safety of the walls and the unreality is settling in. There have been murders both natural and supernatural, on and off the page. Things are not right. Recurring images of fish and hornets are beginning to raise their subtle heads.
In Steve Dillon’s The Wrong Path we are introduced to a young man who, after a lover’s tiff, is led astray and along into the wilderness.
Things take a nautical turn in Dillon’s The Fighter’s Tale as a young man, eager to escape from the past, takes a short ride in a leaky boat before learning that sometimes when you think you are escaping, you’re only running closer to your destiny.
The last story, by Dillon once more, is The Housewife’s Tale. This rounds out the book in suitably gruesome style when a woman finds refuge not with her husband, but with the spirits of the dead.
Given the anthology style, the book is a conglomerate of ideas, some strong and some not so strong. There are many influences here, with the eldritch of Lovecraft standing side by side with the weird of a Blackwood or a Le Fanu.
There are good stories here.
Reviewed by D C White
Rating out of 10: 7
Sales of The Refuge Collection support the Sanctuary Australia Foundation and the UK’s Refugee Action.
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