★★★☆☆
(Yoruba Horror) Sola loves her family and wants to be a good girl. The shaman’s claims that she’s really an evil spirit come to cause pain can’t possibly be true—even if her invisible friend says otherwise. (5,212 words; Time: 17m)
"The Many Lives of an Abiku," by Tobi Ogundiran [bio] (edited by Scott H. Andrews), appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies issue 309, published on July 23, 2020.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2020.400 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: The story does a good job of making Sola a sympathetic character. She’s not quiet a changeling, inasmuch as no human child was taken away; she’s simply the wrong sort of spirit in a normal human body.
Con: Exactly why did anyone think it was a good idea to try to keep the evil spirit around? The conclusion is just as horrible as you’d expect, given the circumstances.
The message of the story seems to be that you can’t avoid your fate and that if you try, you’ll end up causing more harm than if you’d just lived with it. I know lots of people believe that, but I don’t much care for it.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Tobi Ogundiran Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: The story does a good job of making Sola a sympathetic character. She’s not quiet a changeling, inasmuch as no human child was taken away; she’s simply the wrong sort of spirit in a normal human body.
Con: Exactly why did anyone think it was a good idea to try to keep the evil spirit around? The conclusion is just as horrible as you’d expect, given the circumstances.
The message of the story seems to be that you can’t avoid your fate and that if you try, you’ll end up causing more harm than if you’d just lived with it. I know lots of people believe that, but I don’t much care for it.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Tobi Ogundiran Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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