Review: The Devil and Dice by Diana Hurlburt

-
Review of The Devil and Dice by Diana Hurlburt (6901 words)
Luna Station Quarterly, Issue 039 :Read Online

This is the second story by Diana Hurlburt that I am reviewing. It stood out to me then, and it stands out to me instantly now, that her descriptions are beyond spectacular.

She paints wonderful pictures, and I repeat myself, but it's true - I don't like to read descriptions very much for many reasons. They do nothing for me in terms of the story in most cases, it gets draggy and people don't edit. But Hurlburt is just fantastic.

Orca and Dice. Black and White. Devil and God. Twins. Twins that grow up together, but one is for the Devil and one is for God, as declared by the pastor of their small town. The premise is interesting, as well as the description of the passage of time.

The story has fantastical elements, combined with the general ordinariness of life, which isn't always ordinary to begin with. Combining the real, unreal and surreal is a special skill, and one that is beautifully on display in this story.
Support us on Ko-fi - https://ko-fi.com/ohjustbooks

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Bookstore at the End of America by Charlie Jane Anders

-
Review of The Bookstore at the End of America by Charlie Jane Anders (7380 words) Tor.com, Oct 2021, Read Online or Purchase Anthology Exceedingly well written and suffused with emotion and hope, I kept intentionally slowing down while reading this. The plot was so interesting and tight that I wanted to know what happened next, but at the same time, the prose was so lovely that I wanted to slow down and enjoy it. A great problem for a reader to have! The pacing and build up was fantastic too. At this point I must say that the story was set in a dystopian future where America has been split in two halves, and both pretty much hate each other. In a funny quirk, dual citizenship is still an option! Nevertheless, while being a dystopian tale, it still has a spark of hope and friendship - after all, it's set in a bookstore! Support us on Ko-fi -  https://ko-fi.com/ohjustbooks
Read more

Review: Kali_Na by Indrapramit Das

-
Review of Kali_Na by Indrapramit Das (7558 words) The Year's Best Science Fiction, Volume 1, Edited by Jonathan Strahan, Purchase Anthology A cyberpunk style story set in India, Kali_Na focuses on our protagonist, a lower caste girl named Durga, and an AI Goddess simply named Devi. Devi is the Hindi word for Goddess - she is simply that. Not one of the many Goddesses from Hindu culture with a rich and varied life and stories, and this is an important distinction. No, she is just generic Goddess 2.0, to whom devotees may ascribe any quality they choose, one who will bless everyone with their own particular type of request, instead of having to ask specific Goddesses for specific things. A product of capitalism, she was supposed to be every Goddess in one. But maybe they forgot to code out the qualities of Kali Maa. And then we see a shift. The sheer power and scale of this story was reminiscent of the scale and scope of Hindu sagas and tales. A truly fantastic story and
Read more

Review: Nine Lives by P.A. Cornell

-
Review of Nine Lives by P.A. Cornell (799 words) If There's Anyone Left, Issue 2, January 2022 : Purchase or Read Online A very endearing bit of flash fiction. We hear that cats have nine lives, but this particular cat very literally has nine lives, and he keeps coming back as a cute little kitten every time. And his very lucky human gets to experience his cat's affection over the course of many lifetimes. Beautiful. Support us on Ko-fi -  https://ko-fi.com/ohjustbooks    
Read more