★★★☆☆ Average
(Fantasy Adventure) Jane disposed of her sister’s body in the forest where the wild pigs ate it, but now she fears a talking harp made from pig bones may rat her out. (3,077 words; Time: 10m)
"The Deepest Notes of the Harp and Drum," by Marissa Lingen [bio] (edited by Scott H. Andrews), appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies issue 269, published on January 10, 2019.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2019.072 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: By the end of the story, Jane and Molly have at least temporarily made themselves safe. It helps that they seem to be reformed murderers and determined to do something to atone at least a little bit.
Con: Giving a bag of gold to a band hardly counts as atoning. And I don’t get the last line about the harps being a bit like Molly.
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Pro: By the end of the story, Jane and Molly have at least temporarily made themselves safe. It helps that they seem to be reformed murderers and determined to do something to atone at least a little bit.
Con: Giving a bag of gold to a band hardly counts as atoning. And I don’t get the last line about the harps being a bit like Molly.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Marissa Lingen Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Another retelling of "The Twa Sisters" like "Bone Song" by Aja McCullough from January's Apex.
ReplyDeleteYeah, giving the band the money seemed to be more about not having to listen to those instruments anymore. Ostensibly the point was to help spread the word about boar and tree treatment. I suppose it's better than spending Molly's ill-gotten gains on themselves.
The last line refers to how neither the instruments nor Molly seem to care that Jane murdered her sister. They have their own concerns.
I guess I was disappointed that there was no comeuppance in the story.
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