Heroes, by Lavie Tidhar

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(Historical Fantasy) In 1987 Berlin, Spit and Whirlwind stake out a man Spit should have killed 41 years ago. (2,714 words; Time: 09m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

If you haven't read the author's novel, The Violent Century, it is impossible to make any sense out of this story.

"Heroes," by Lavie Tidhar [bio] (edited by Niall Harrison), appeared in Strange Horizons issue 09/19/16, published on September 19, 2016.

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

Pro: The idea of a healer being used to make torture more effective is an interesting twist, and the irony that the heroes need to assassinate such a person is clever.

Con:

'It seems very pretty,' she said when she had finished it, 'but it's rather hard to understand!' (You see she didn't like to confess, ever to herself, that she couldn't make it out at all.) 'Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas—only I don't exactly know what they are! However, somebody killed something: that's clear, at any rate—' 

Alice's reaction to "Jabberwocky," from Through the Looking-Glass

There's just too much background that this story expects us to know. Why does Whirlwind have supernatural powers? Why are they trying to kill the man in 1987? What does a hearse have to do with anything?

Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 09/19/16)
Lavie Tidhar Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline

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