(Fantasy Adventure; Riverside) In which we hear of the early days of young Richard St. Vier in Riverside and how he learned he wasn’t cut out to be a highwayman. (8,362 words; Time: 27m)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average
This is a prequel to Swordspoint and will mostly be of interest to those who have already read that novel.
"When I Was a Highwayman," by Ellen Kushner [bio] (edited by Gardner Dozois), appeared in The Book of Swords (RSR review), published on October 10, 2017 by Bantam Books.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: The story develops the setting and the characters of Richard and Jess without a single infodump.
The fight scenes add plenty of tension, even though we know he survives into the novel.
Con: The plot is very thin: Richard tries his hand at highway robbery and decides it’s not for him. Other than that, he and Jess aren’t trying to do anything other than get by from day to day.
It’s a little odd that even in Riverside there’s no penalty for murdering a woman.
Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Ellen Kushner Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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The fight scenes add plenty of tension, even though we know he survives into the novel.
Con: The plot is very thin: Richard tries his hand at highway robbery and decides it’s not for him. Other than that, he and Jess aren’t trying to do anything other than get by from day to day.
It’s a little odd that even in Riverside there’s no penalty for murdering a woman.
Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Ellen Kushner Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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