★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention
(High Fantasy) Joyce comes home to search for her missing teen nephew just as the local conflict between followers of the Bull god and those of the Moth god is boiling over. (7,029 words; Time: 23m)
"The Two Sides of Home," by Timothy Mudie [bio] (edited by Scott H. Andrews), appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies issue 290, published on October 31, 2019.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2019.633 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: This is an unusual high-fantasy story with 19th-Century technology. The author does a nice job of building up the world even as Joyce hunts for her brother. There’s plenty of tension and excitement, and an acceptable conclusion.
Con: It didn’t make sense to me that the Moth acolytes brought Joyce to the actual location of her brother and the larval god. Since all they wanted was to fight with the Bull acolytes, why not take her someplace else and fight them there?
Joyce’s victory seems to come a little too easily. The larval god doesn’t fight back, and neither Niamh nor Jimbo is able to do anything to stop her.
It’s a little jarring that the people all talk like they’re Irish.
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Timothy Mudie Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: This is an unusual high-fantasy story with 19th-Century technology. The author does a nice job of building up the world even as Joyce hunts for her brother. There’s plenty of tension and excitement, and an acceptable conclusion.
Con: It didn’t make sense to me that the Moth acolytes brought Joyce to the actual location of her brother and the larval god. Since all they wanted was to fight with the Bull acolytes, why not take her someplace else and fight them there?
Joyce’s victory seems to come a little too easily. The larval god doesn’t fight back, and neither Niamh nor Jimbo is able to do anything to stop her.
It’s a little jarring that the people all talk like they’re Irish.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Timothy Mudie Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Author website:
ReplyDeletehttps://timothymudie.com/