Saturday, June 11, 2016

Lullaby for a Lost World, by Aliette de Bodard

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(Horror) Charlotte's sacrifice kept the forces of chaos at bay, but only for a while, and in her grave, she grows resentful. (2,639 words; Time: 08m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

"," by (edited by Carl Engle-Laird), published on by .

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

Pro: Charlotte does get her revenge in the end, and, presumably, the house and all its occupants are swallowed by the chaos that seems to have destroyed the rest of the Earth.

Con: The story is full of hints that it symbolizes something--perhaps the way the wealthy exploit the poor--but it's all rather vague and hard to figure out.

Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 06/08/16)
Aliette de Bodard Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline

2 comments (may contain spoilers):

  1. Dark, creepy, and well-told, with a surprising amount of emotion. There's not much to the story, but what's there really impressed me.

    On the downside, the ending is a little weak. If Charlotte could do that, why didn't she do it earlier?

    4/5

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    Replies
    1. Here again we differ on how much importance we assign to endings. I like to say that I won't recommend a story (i.e. give it 4 or 5 stars) unless it "sticks the landing."

      For more recent stories, I've taken to marking them "honorable mention" instead of "average" to give more credit to otherwise-well-written stories that just don't quite come together at the end for one reason or another. This one might fall into that category, but I'd have to reread it to be sure.

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