The White Stag and Other Stories

A dying man trudges holloways deep in winter's frigid grip. He clings to life only to see the birth of his grandson but then a white stag appears and changes everything. A lame woman ekes out an isolated existence until a broken-winged angel crashes to earth. It's not his first visit, nor her first life, but is she finally ready to welcome him in?

A young man drowns in the Australian Outback, his death no different to that of countless other young men who rest in lonely, sunbaked cemeteries. But he finds no peace-until the storm arrives.

The beautiful Velven, Genn, rejects the advances of the gloriously handsome Orin, a Waiwin who longs to lock wings with her. She believes him unworthy of trust but when a great she-dragon dies and leaves behind a single, precious egg, Genn is faced with a terrible choice.

What does fantasy offer us apart from exotic tales full of bravery, beauty, and battles for all that is good and true in the world? What insights can it deliver as we pursue our more mundane lives?

Deep Fantasy suggests answers to these questions as it explores the second, hidden stories that our unconscious minds recognise even while our conscious minds remain blind to them. And it is these hidden stories, told through symbols and metaphors, and drawing on the timeless archetypes of myth and dream, where the real power of fantasy lies. The Deep Fantasy retellings of The White Stag and Other Stories reveal that things are rarely what they seem.

Dr Karen Simpson Nikakis holds a Ph.D in Joseph Campbell's hero myth applied to a female hero and an M.Ed (Hons) in the purposes of dragons in fantasy.