★★★☆☆ Mixed
(High Fantasy) A young god buys a common patience stone from a crow. A girl takes the task of removing a thousand needles from a sleeping panther. Both of their lives will change forever. (6,058 words; Time: 20m)
"The Weight of a Thousand Needles," by Isabel Cañas [bio] (edited by John Joseph Adams), appeared in Lightspeed Magazine issue 109, published on June 1, 2019.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2019.338 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: The story doesn’t really get going until Soraya starts removing the needles for the jinni, but from that point, it’s satisfying, with some tension and a powerful, emotional finish.
I particularly liked the way the crow’s requirement defeated the jinni’s spell: she couldn’t speak to Parviz, but she could speak to the stone, and he could listen.
There’s probably a deeper symbolism here, with something about the god of Night sleeping for a thousand years, but I’m not quite seeing it.
Con: It gets off to a very slow start. We’re 40% of the way into the story before we figure out what the plot is.
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Isabel Cañas Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: The story doesn’t really get going until Soraya starts removing the needles for the jinni, but from that point, it’s satisfying, with some tension and a powerful, emotional finish.
I particularly liked the way the crow’s requirement defeated the jinni’s spell: she couldn’t speak to Parviz, but she could speak to the stone, and he could listen.
There’s probably a deeper symbolism here, with something about the god of Night sleeping for a thousand years, but I’m not quite seeing it.
Con: It gets off to a very slow start. We’re 40% of the way into the story before we figure out what the plot is.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Isabel Cañas Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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