(Alternate History Fantasy) Viola helps keep the 1888 election free of influence from Faery, which almost destroyed the country in 1876. In a little Minnesota town, she’s about to meet a stronger-than-expected adversary. (6,031 words; Time: 20m)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average
"The Influence of the Iron Range," by Marissa Lingen [bio] (edited by Scott H. Andrews), appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies issue 237, published on October 19, 2017.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: Viola is trying to protect the integrity of the election, but she ends up doing so in a larger sense than originally intended. Rather than merely protecting people from election deception, she becomes a champion for equality in voting.
Con: The connection with recent electoral issues in the US makes the message a bit too blatant. (Although Faery news is doubtless much worse than Fake News; the latter only seems to have magical powers.) But it also seems a bit muddled. Are the Faery supposed to mirror the plight of illegal immigrants? Those folks never tried to affect the election though.
Ignoring the connection with the present, the ending seems a bit off. Viola's sudden conversion to the idea of letting the Faery vote is hard to credit. Up to that moment, she never breathes a word about inequality of any kind.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 237)
Marissa Lingen Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Con: The connection with recent electoral issues in the US makes the message a bit too blatant. (Although Faery news is doubtless much worse than Fake News; the latter only seems to have magical powers.) But it also seems a bit muddled. Are the Faery supposed to mirror the plight of illegal immigrants? Those folks never tried to affect the election though.
Ignoring the connection with the present, the ending seems a bit off. Viola's sudden conversion to the idea of letting the Faery vote is hard to credit. Up to that moment, she never breathes a word about inequality of any kind.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 237)
Marissa Lingen Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
She is convinced because the Faeries' situation mirrors her own as a woman of that time.
ReplyDelete