★★★☆☆ Mixed
(African Horror) Game plans to leave her village in modern Botswana and go to college in the city. She worries that she’ll bring her curse with her—vivid dreams that seems to result in murdered people in real life. (7,552 words; Time: 25m)
"Murders Fell from Our Wombs," by Tlotlo Tsamaase [bio] (edited by Jason Sizemore), appeared in Apex Magazine issue 107, published on April 3, 2018.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: Game makes it to the city, and she finds medicine to stop her periods, which stops the dreams and the murders.
Con: It’s a little unbelievable that Same offers her so much help without expecting anything in return—all the way up to agreeing to share her apartment with a destitute stranger.
For a story about murders, there's no tension to speak of. Nor is there much mystery; Game and everyone she talks to quickly accept the idea that her heavy menstrual cycle causes these dreams and that these dreams are the real cause of the murders.
There’s probably a message here about the trade offs in giving up village life for city life, but I’m not really seeing it.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 107)
Tlotlo Tsamaase Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Con: It’s a little unbelievable that Same offers her so much help without expecting anything in return—all the way up to agreeing to share her apartment with a destitute stranger.
For a story about murders, there's no tension to speak of. Nor is there much mystery; Game and everyone she talks to quickly accept the idea that her heavy menstrual cycle causes these dreams and that these dreams are the real cause of the murders.
There’s probably a message here about the trade offs in giving up village life for city life, but I’m not really seeing it.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 107)
Tlotlo Tsamaase Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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