On the verge of becoming a man, John travels a river that is an admixture of time-flow and
liquid metal—or possibly of magic and science—with the goal of finding out about a father
whom he barely remembers.
John followed the boot tracks away from the launch. They led inland, so there was no time
pressure to fight. His clothes dried out as he walked beneath a shimmering patch of
burnt-goald worldwall that hung tantalizingly behind roiling clouds.
DEBUT
“Down the River Road,” in After the King: Stories in Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien,
edited by Martin H. Greenberg (Tor Books, January 1992).
VARIANTS
Debut. “Down the River Road,” in After the King: Stories in Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Martin H. Greenberg (Tor Books, January 1992).
John followed the boot tracks away from the launch. They led inland, so there was no time
pressure to fight. His clothes dried out as he walked beneath a shimmering patch of
burnt-goald worldwall that hung tantalizingly behind roiling clouds.
1 English variant