Thursday, December 3, 2015

The Phantom in the Maze, by Michael Swanwick

[Single]
★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Alternate-History Fantasy; The Mongolian Wizard) Murder mystery involving a team of precognitives critical to the war effort. (5,917 words; Time: 19m)

Recommended By: πŸ“™BASFF+1 (Q&A)


"," by (edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden), published on by .

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Review: 2015.634 (A Word for Authors)

Pro: Beautifully written, and a pleasure to read. The arc starts with Sir Toby sending Ritter to solve the mystery and ends with Sir Toby summoning him back, mystery solved. The maze, of course, is more than just the physical one--all the threads of time are a maze.

Con: The reader gets no serious clues as to the identity of the murderer. There's little or no early material to lead us to expect the outcome.

Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 12/02/15)
Michael Swanwick Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline

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