(Fantasy Apocalypse) In a dying world, Orha hunts a band of raiders who’ve been killing families and stealing children. (6,822 words; Time: 22m)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average
"The Broken Karwaneer," by Jeremy A. TeGrotenhuis [bio] (edited by Scott H. Andrews), appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies issue 231, published on July 27, 2017.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: Orha finds her true calling in this story. There’s plenty of foreshadowing that she might have the same sort of power that Brighteye has, but there is a lot of tension when she confronts the raiders because we’re not sure that anything is going to save her.
Con: Between the “thinnings” and the magic users who’re constantly on the verge of destroying everything, this world seems doomed, making the story seem like an exercise in futility.
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Jeremy A. TeGrotenhuis Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Con: Between the “thinnings” and the magic users who’re constantly on the verge of destroying everything, this world seems doomed, making the story seem like an exercise in futility.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 231)
Jeremy A. TeGrotenhuis Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
In spite of the bleak setting, the story seems kinda hopeful to me. As Brighteye says at the end, "Either [the world] is more resilient than we know, or else every man and woman who has ever held the power to destroy it has decided to go on." Here's a blog post from the author about the story:
ReplyDeletehttps://jeremyteg.wordpress.com/2017/08/03/worldbuilding-dark-settings-and-their-purpose/
Thanks for the link. Among other things, it tells me I really need to make more use of the "dark fantasy" subgenre than I've been doing.
DeleteI do realize Brighteye was being optimistic at the end. The problem was, by that point, I didn't believe it.