★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
(High Fantasy) In an empire obsessed with war, a healer married to a warrior seeks to escape the endless fighting, killing, and dying. (6,021 words; Time: 20m)
"Do Not Look Back, My Lion," by Alix E. Harrow [bio] (edited by Scott H. Andrews), appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies issue 270, published on January 24, 2019.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2019.080 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: It’s an interesting setting: a world with two suns where the women are stronger than the men, and where a woman takes both male and female husbands.
It’s a message story, and it makes a strong case for how cruel war is, and how cruel to force it on people who don’t want it.
Con: There’s too little to this story beyond the message. Eefa has almost no agency in it; for the most part she just watches helplessly while things happen. She doesn’t even plan her own escape at the end.
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Alix E. Harrow Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: It’s an interesting setting: a world with two suns where the women are stronger than the men, and where a woman takes both male and female husbands.
It’s a message story, and it makes a strong case for how cruel war is, and how cruel to force it on people who don’t want it.
Con: There’s too little to this story beyond the message. Eefa has almost no agency in it; for the most part she just watches helplessly while things happen. She doesn’t even plan her own escape at the end.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Alix E. Harrow Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Very interesting setting, but it does feel like you're one step removed from the actual story here.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes think authors construct a cool setting and then struggle to put a story into it. If the setting is cool enough, they can get by with it.
DeleteNew website for author:
ReplyDeletehttps://alixeharrow.wixsite.com/author
Thanks. I've updated the spreadsheet and the new link will show up with the next refresh of the YYYY Best SF/F pages and her future stories.
Delete3-stars from me. It was a well-written decent story. I agree with everyone's comments here. The setting is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt read like a prequel story to me. Or a short story about a minor but important character in a novel.