(High Fantasy) The city of Vannat offers forgiveness to former war criminals, but those it deems unworthy get trapped inside stone walls that appear out of nowhere. (4,337 words; Time: 14m)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average
"Suddenwall," by Sara Saab [bio] (edited by Scott H. Andrews), appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies issue 220, published on February 23, 2017.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: The surface plot is how Panette figures out what happened to her former colleague. The flashbacks tell how the minority Ruumari speakers were liquidated and what that did to the majority.
Con: There’s little substance to the surface plot, and the flashbacks are tedious. It feels as though the story has a message (other than the obvious one that genocide is bad) but it doesn’t quite come through. Perhaps someone will suggest one in the comments below.
It’s a little hard to believe that a medieval society would care about genocide.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 220)
Sara Saab Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Con: There’s little substance to the surface plot, and the flashbacks are tedious. It feels as though the story has a message (other than the obvious one that genocide is bad) but it doesn’t quite come through. Perhaps someone will suggest one in the comments below.
It’s a little hard to believe that a medieval society would care about genocide.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 220)
Sara Saab Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Very sad look at the psychology of veteran soldiers from ostensibly the winning side.
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