★★★☆☆
(Fantasy Horror) To escape a fertility curse, a man uses magic to turn his boyfriend back into a frog, uses a chemical to make the frog female, undoes the spell, and presto! Or maybe not quite. (2,680 words; Time: 08m)
"The Frog's Prince; or, Iron Henry," by N.A. Sulway [bio] (edited by Andy Cox), appeared in Interzone issue 282, published on July 15, 2019 by TTA Press.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2019.407 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: Well, that was different. So Henry was a male frog, and sixty years ago, a young man turned him into a human being, and they were lovers for a while. But the man wanted children, and his family curse said no children from a woman born of woman, so he turned Henry back to a frog and then used a chemical that made him female before using magic to make him a person again.
A clever scheme, but, of course, it didn’t work; all the children were born dead, but the man kept trying and trying until he’d lost everything, including his youth and his mind—not to mention losing his real love.
Yet in the end, Henry still loves him.
Con: I really can’t decide whether Henry got screwed out of his life here or if it was still better than being a frog.
Henry isn’t really the protagonist here; he was just along for the ride. The protagonist is the nameless “you” in the story, the man who wanted a child so much that he threw away the love that he did have.
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N.A. Sulway Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: Well, that was different. So Henry was a male frog, and sixty years ago, a young man turned him into a human being, and they were lovers for a while. But the man wanted children, and his family curse said no children from a woman born of woman, so he turned Henry back to a frog and then used a chemical that made him female before using magic to make him a person again.
A clever scheme, but, of course, it didn’t work; all the children were born dead, but the man kept trying and trying until he’d lost everything, including his youth and his mind—not to mention losing his real love.
Yet in the end, Henry still loves him.
Con: I really can’t decide whether Henry got screwed out of his life here or if it was still better than being a frog.
Henry isn’t really the protagonist here; he was just along for the ride. The protagonist is the nameless “you” in the story, the man who wanted a child so much that he threw away the love that he did have.
Other Reviews: Search Web
N.A. Sulway Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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