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In a Florida that is not quite our historical Florida, Johanna “Jonnie” Brunner is renowned throughout the town of Sawgrass for her ability to ride and train the limerunners, the deadly water horses that live in the swamps and streams flowing from the nearby Okeechobee Lake. Elizabeth “Bess” Ramsey, on the other hand, is known for working at her family’s inn, The Nag’s Head, and for her “little nothings”: knots, braids, embroidery stitches, and rhyming couplets taught to her by Maria, Jonnie’s mother, a runaway from a Carolina plantation. Maria and Bess both use this homespun magic to help the local woman look pretty (but not too pretty), bless marital unions, and to offer protection to Jonnie as she runs messages (also stitched in code by Bess) to the Union Army. But when Confederate soldiers overtake Fort Leon, and hatch a plan to exploit limerunners in general and Jonnie in particular (despite her being a girl, and a Black one to boot) in preparation for the imminent war, Bess’s magic may not be enough to keep her beloved Jonnie safe.
Little Nothing is a delightful mixture of the familiar and the that-seems-familiar-but-not-quite. For example, anyone who has read historical fiction set during the nineteenth century will feel right at home (there’s even a reference to Godey’s Lady’s Book); even the little nothings of Bess would not be out of place in any nineteenth-century fantasy (e.g., Orson Scott Card’s Tales of Alvin Maker). Juxtaposed with these familiar elements are the limerunners, who seem analogous to the kelpies of Celtic folklore (minus their shape-shifting abilities) but are just as dangerous (and apparently native to Floridian swamps).
Additionally, Holloway’s research into our historical Florida comes through in the diversity of her cast and even the geography. Her characters include fourth-generation Europeans of various Christian denominations, former slaves of African descent, and Maroons from Jamaica, who intermarried with escaped slaves and the indigenous Seminole. These cultural strands are plaited by Holloway into a greater “little nothing.” For example, Ada Nuit, the Maroon’s ghost queen, derives her name from as da nuite, the ghost procession from certain Spanish myths. And while the Spanish may no longer be in evidence, their influence on the local landscape remains (i.e., the Sanctus River, the local Catholic Church). My only complaint, such as it is, is that it would have been fun to delve into a little more of the different cultural strands (something explicitly Seminole, for instance).
Nevertheless, Little Nothing delivers fully on the Queen of Swords promise. It may be a novella, but it packs plenty of bold, swashbuckling derring-do, with enough mystery, romance, and magic to satisfy any type of queer reader. However, it is the fourth volume in the Queen of Swords Press Mini Series, and readers used to longer fare may find themselves at the end of the story sooner than they expect, especially given its breakneck pacing. This is just more proof that Queen of Swords Press needs to publish more stories by Holloway (hopefully further adventures of Bess and Jonnie).
Reviewed by Keith John Glaeske
Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews 
Beautiful post