The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains is a fantasy short story (technically novellette, it’s 30 pages) by Neil Gaiman. It was first published in the collection Stories: All New Tales, but it’s soon to be part of a Folio collection of Gaiman’s short stories. Side note: If you’re interested in illustration, The Folio Society will soon (June 4, 2024) be announcing the long list of illustrations for its yearly competition. And the story from which the contestants had to illustrate a scene? The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains. It will be interesting to see different artist interpretations of the story, especially if you’ve already read the story yourself.
Back to the review. The story is about a search for a magical cave of gold, but it’s much more than that. It’s about the consequences of getting what you want. It’s about assumptions and what you perceive things to be versus what they actually are. It's about forgiveness and retribution.
We read this story twice and we’re glad we did. The first time we thought it was good, not great. From the first read we loved the atmosphere. Although it never specifically says, it seems to be set in Scotland and the setting is lush and immersive. Mist wraps around you, moss soft under your feet, the black mountains loom in the distance and you feel like you’re on a journey with the unnamed narrator and his guide, Calum MacInnes.
We liked the story much, much more the second time we read it. We think this is a sign of a good short story, finding more connections and themes subtly woven in the closer you read, (or maybe that we didn’t have enough coffee on the day of the first read). This is, in part, a story about the meaning of treasure and treasures can be found in the story itself if you look for them.
While this story is technically classified as Fantasy, the magical elements are used more to emphasize the themes than they are a central aspect. So we say, no matter the genre your typically gravitate towards, read it, maybe even twice.