The Dynamiter - Robert Louis and Fanny Stevenson

The Dynamiter: More New Arabian Nights (Stevensons, 1885)

For the "sequel" to New Arabian Nights, Robert Louis Stevenson teamed with his wife Fanny, and the two created a fascinating, unique work. Through a series of stories within stories, couched within yet another framing story, the Stevensons deliver what might be the first work of terrorist fiction, deadly serious but leavened with humor.

The framing story: three young blokes down on their luck decide to follow the next adventure that comes their way, whatever it may be. One is made a fool of by a seeming damsel in distress; another rents rooms to an ominous tenant; and the third falls in love with a mysterious stranger. All three become entangled one way or another with a group of anarchists bent on overthrowing the government through terroristic acts against civilians, using an insidious new invention: dynamite.

The portions dealing with the actual plots of the anarchists are quite chilling. One of the episodes sees a bomber toting his precarious cargo in a suitcase across London. Prevented from leaving the bomb where he had originally planned, he desperately seeks a new target as the timer clicks down. Rather than dropping the bomb at random, he is determined to find a victim, even trying to leave his suitcase with a small child who is saved by her mother at the last minute from taking the "gift". The stories don't shy away from the truly evil intentions of the revolutionaries.

Thankfully, there is a healthy dose of humor, even if some of it is quite dark. One of the anarchists is a master at spinning wild tales about her past to hide her identity, while another is an "amateur professional" at bomb construction, whose attempts fail as often as they succeed. A third, the bomb mule, constantly complains about medical ailments to mask his uneasiness at carting dynamite around town. The connected stories provide a fascinating look at a dark chapter of England's history, and at the murky beginnings of a new breed of modern evil.

Arbitrary rating: 4.5 out of 5 insidious new inventions

New Arabian Nights - Robert Louis Stevenson

New Arabian Nights (Stevenson, 1882)

Stevenson's first published fiction, New Arabian Nights collects two story cycles (The Suicide Club and The Rajah's Diamond), plus a couple other unrelated short stories. The story cycles involve a character called Prince Florizel of Bohemia, who is a precursor to Sherlock Holmes in some degree, but the New Arabian Nights contain more suspense than mystery.

The three stories that make up The Suicide Club exemplify both the strengths and weaknesses of Stevenson's unique approach. Each has a clever premise and each is well executed, but the stories almost seem like glimpses into a larger unwritten tale that would have been much better.  The idea of the Suicide Club alone could have made a full-fledged suspense classic. The four stories in The Rajah's Diamond hang together more comfortably and give a fuller picture of the complete story underlying each individual episode. Since it's about the trouble caused by the theft of a priceless diamond, it incorporates a bit of humor as well.

The seven stories in the New Arabian Nights form the bulk of the volume, but the two additional stories are not to be missed.  "The Sire de Maletroit's Door" puts a young man in the wrong place at the wrong time, while "Providence and the Guitar" is a hilarious, heartfelt story about an itinerant musician couple's exceedingly harsh reception at a small town. It includes a realistic reflection on married love, especially when the husband is an artist instead of a reliable breadwinner.

Arbitrary rating: 4 out of 5 unwritten suspense classics

Kidnapped and Catriona - Robert Louis Stevenson

Kidnapped and Catriona (Stevenson, 1886 & 1893)

Two very different books, but each with an entrancing tale to tell and a healthy dose of action. Kidnapped, the more famous of the two, chronicles David Balfour's adventures on sea and across Scotland as he tries to reclaim his inheritance from a treacherous uncle. The sequel, Catriona, sees David entangled in a corrupt Scottish legal system and falling in love with the daughter of a Highland scoundrel.

These novels were very personal to Stevenson (one of his family names is Balfour), and in them he tried to pour all the art of his storytelling, plus all the authentic Scots dialogue he could muster.  The Scots dialogue is what really hampers these stories and makes them inaccessible to all but the doggedly devoted. After awhile, it does start to get a little more natural, and a bit entrancing, but it takes work. Make sure your edition has a glossary in the back - muckle guid will't do ye.

Kidnapped is chock full of colorful characters and incidents - the aforementioned treacherous uncle, drunken slave traders, Scottish feuds, and the unlikely friendship between David and the bold Highland rebel Alan Breck Stewart. Set in the 1750s, shortly after the Scottish Jacobite rebellion, a lot of the action relates to (or is taken right out of) history, and Alan and David must flee from peril to peril through an oppressed and brutal country.  Perhaps the best scene is David's sojourn on the tide island after the shipwreck - a grim survival story intertwines with philosophy to present a striking picture of the deadly trap ignorance can become.

As good as Kidnapped is, it suffers from an abrupt ending that leaves poor Alan hiding in the woods. Catriona picks up right where Kidnapped left off, but almost immediately marks itself as a different book entirely, more concerned with the dangers of civilized Edinburgh than the wild Highlands. As David seeks to help Alan escape to France and provide eyewitness testimony to clear the name of Alan's relative, he finds himself once again in danger, but this time from people (including the crown's officials) who would suppress his evidence. In the midst of all this, David meets Catriona, a beautiful Highland girl seeking her father's release. Their story is simple, honest, and refreshing, with the perfect balance of romantic tension, youthful misunderstandings, and moments of pure beauty that bloom into lifelong love. The second half of the book is one of the most perfectly written love stories around, in my opinion. Highly recommended.

Arbitrary rating: 4.5 out of 5 bold Highland rebels