★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention
(Fantasy Horror) Trukos does the bidding of his mistress, Auntie Mayya the cook, but after he kills a man, his life starts to unravel. And so does he. (4,387 words; Time: 14m)
"The Butcher, the Baker," by Mike Allen [bio] (edited by Scott H. Andrews), appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies issue 289, published on October 17, 2019.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2019.596 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: It’s clear fairly quickly that Trukos is some sort of golem, but made from bread, not flesh, stone, or iron. His love for Mayya seems to be, ah, baked in, but it’s quickly clear that she simply uses him for her own purposes—starting with ridding her of an abusive husband.
At it’s heart, this is the story of Trukos becoming a man, in that he breaks free of Mayya and accepts the need to cope with his own pain.
Con: Somehow the ending was unsatisfying. I felt like neither of them paid enough of a price for what they’d done.
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Mike Allen Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: It’s clear fairly quickly that Trukos is some sort of golem, but made from bread, not flesh, stone, or iron. His love for Mayya seems to be, ah, baked in, but it’s quickly clear that she simply uses him for her own purposes—starting with ridding her of an abusive husband.
At it’s heart, this is the story of Trukos becoming a man, in that he breaks free of Mayya and accepts the need to cope with his own pain.
Con: Somehow the ending was unsatisfying. I felt like neither of them paid enough of a price for what they’d done.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Mike Allen Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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