The Autumn After Next

In Short

This story follows Neeshan, a frustrated evangelical wizard sent to convert the Free'l, a swamp-dwelling people who treat magic like a chore. While Neeshan believes he is saving them by teaching them the precision of high sorcery, he underestimates the cultural chasm between his rigid, goal-oriented world and their relaxed, fatalistic existence. It is a sharp, ironic look at the perils of forcing one’s values onto others, ultimately revealing how a lifetime of obsession can lead to a literal and permanent hardening of the heart.

The Story

Neeshan lives among the Free'l, a race that spends its time sitting in the rain and battling chronic head colds. He is a man of protocols, robes, and exact measurements, while they are a people who shrug off the complexities of the universe. When Neeshan attempts to demonstrate the power of a proper spell by summoning a demon to provide simple luxuries, the Free'l are impressed but remain stubbornly unwilling to exert the effort required to master the craft themselves. They find the very act of performing magic "dreezish"—a term they use for anything as annoying as a runny nose.

Desperate for a promotion to senior warlock, Neeshan grows increasingly agitated. He attempts to bribe the village chief, Rhn, by offering him a "tooter"—a sophisticated tool for focusing psychic force—if Rhn will only perform a spell correctly. The attempt fails; Rhn bungles the ritual, yet remains delighted by the minor, imperfect result. Neeshan is eventually forced to surrender the tooter to maintain the social peace of the village, leaving him powerless and further from his goal.

In a final act of desperation, Neeshan pivots from pedagogy to provocation. He consults unsavory demons and learns that the only thing the Free'l truly want is to be rid of him. He decides to become so insufferable, so intrusive, and so meddlesome that they will be forced to learn the "anti-annoyance" spell just to banish him. He harps on their lifestyle, judges their relationships, and nags them incessantly about their hygiene.

His plan works. On the day before the equinox, he detects the telltale signs of a magical attack. He hides, watching with pride as the Free'l begin the ritual, executing the movements with a precision he has never seen before. However, as the ritual nears its climax, he realizes they have made a fatal error by using the wrong materials. Before he can intervene, the spell takes hold. Rather than blowing him away, the magic petrifies him. The story concludes with Neeshan transformed into a heavy stone statue in the center of the village. The Free'l, entirely unbothered by the irony, view the statue as an inconvenience that must be walked around, waiting patiently for the day their subsequent spells might finally cause it to vanish.

How It Unfolds

The mission begins Neeshan observes the Free'l attempting a ritual that goes horribly wrong because they ignore the rules of alchemy. He steps in to demonstrate the correct way to summon a demon, only to be met with apathy and excuses.

The lure of status Neeshan receives a psychic communication from his superiors promising a high-ranking position if he succeeds in his conversion efforts. This greed overrides his common sense, pushing him to bribe the village leader with his own spiritual tool.

The strategy of annoyance Realizing the Free'l have no desires he can exploit, Neeshan decides to become a nuisance of such magnitude that the villagers will use magic to remove him. He begins a campaign of aggressive social engineering and criticism.

The final spell The Free'l eventually succumb to his pressure and attempt a banishment ritual. Neeshan watches in delight, assuming the technique is finally catching on, only to realize too late that they have substituted a volatile ingredient.

The permanent monument Neeshan is turned into stone, becoming a fixture of the village. The Free'l continue their lives, viewing him as a stubborn nuisance they hope to eventually "clean up" with further, equally flawed, magical experiments.

The People

Neeshan is the archetypal missionary whose arrogance blinds him to his own failures. Driven by a desire for a "senior warlock’s rating," he views the Free'l not as individuals but as a project to be completed. His tragedy is that he succeeds in teaching them magic, but only by making himself the sole subject of their newfound power.

Rhn, the village chief, acts as the immovable object to Neeshan’s irresistible force. He is not malicious, but he is fundamentally lazy and uninterested in the spiritual "prestige" Neeshan values. His desire for the tooter is purely for social status, and his inability to grasp the concept of "doing things right" serves as a constant reminder that Neeshan’s world of rigid order is utterly alien to the Free'l.

In Its Own Voice

"The spell the Free'l were casting ought to have drawn the moon down from the heavens, made water run uphill, and inverted the order of the seasons."

The narrator introduces the Free'l’s incompetence, framing their failure through the lens of what they were trying to accomplish.

"Magic works when anybody does it. But you have to do it right."

Neeshan attempts to explain his worldview to Rhn, emphasizing that the universe operates on objective, technical rules regardless of the practitioner.

"They have a good deal of faith in magic, when you come right down to it. And patience is their long suit."

The closing lines reflect on the irony that the Free'l possess the very patience required for magic, even if they lack the desire to use it for Neeshan's goals.

What It's Really About

The book explores the friction between rigid idealism and the indifference of the real world. Neeshan’s mission is a critique of the "civilizing" impulse, where the outsider assumes their way of life is objectively superior and must be forced upon others. It questions the utility of knowledge when it is divorced from the cultural context of those meant to receive it. Ultimately, it is a dark comedy about the inability to accept others as they are; Neeshan believes he is teaching, but he is actually just agitating. The "dreeze" of the Free'l is a metaphor for the small, inevitable annoyances of life that no amount of magic or moralizing can truly resolve.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy the biting, cynical wit of mid-century science fiction will find this a refreshing, punchy read. It avoids the long-winded exposition common in other works of the era, moving quickly toward its ironic conclusion. It is a story for anyone who has ever felt like the only person in the room who cares about doing something "the right way," only to realize that the rest of the world is perfectly happy being wrong.

The prose is clean and efficient, though the reader should be prepared for the mid-century tone that places a premium on irony over sentimentality. Neeshan is not a sympathetic protagonist, and his descent into becoming a "crashing bore" is handled with a cold, almost clinical precision. What stays with you is the final image: the stone statue, representing the ultimate failure of a man who tried to change a people who didn't want to be changed. It is a cautionary tale about the limits of influence and the absurdity of demanding that the universe—or your neighbors—adhere to your personal standards of excellence. It feels like a fable for the modern age of unwanted advice and polarized perspectives.