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carol26388's review
4.0
“Marisol.” He says her name the way the desert says yours, like the heat crackling across the rocks. Marisol Heat crackles across your face, too, at the sound of it in his mouth. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Has Lettie told you why I’m here?”
Beautiful, complicated, a bit disturbing. Reminds me of Ursula Vernon's 'Jackalope Wives' and 'The Tomato Thief.' Self-discovery, too-old young people who have to become independent.
Read it at http://uncannymagazine.com/article/youll-surely-drown-stay/
Beautiful, complicated, a bit disturbing. Reminds me of Ursula Vernon's 'Jackalope Wives' and 'The Tomato Thief.' Self-discovery, too-old young people who have to become independent.
Read it at http://uncannymagazine.com/article/youll-surely-drown-stay/
tsana's review
4.0
This was a gothic western, I think is the best way to describe it. In terms of feel, it reminded me of the Pretty Deadly comics, although the actual story is quite different. "You'll..." is about a darkly magical orphan boy, his best friend, and the crappy situation the both of them live in. And death and the desert.
It's written in second person, but not jarringly so. I am, however, curious as to why the author made that choice — it didn't seem integral to the story like the use of second person does in John Chu's "Selected Afterimages of the Fading" (in Defying Doomsday), for example. Westerns aren't really my thing, but this story didn't bore me or feel like it was dragging, so I expect it will ultimately rank well on my ballot.
It's written in second person, but not jarringly so. I am, however, curious as to why the author made that choice — it didn't seem integral to the story like the use of second person does in John Chu's "Selected Afterimages of the Fading" (in Defying Doomsday), for example. Westerns aren't really my thing, but this story didn't bore me or feel like it was dragging, so I expect it will ultimately rank well on my ballot.
audreyintheheadphones's review
4.0
You’d torn your hands to pieces, ripped the skin and flesh down to the bone, and the desert had built you back out of sand and briars, then pushed you rudely away from the entrance to the collapsed mineshaft. The wandering skeletons of slain cattle and men had stopped their nighttime shambling to watch through ant–eaten eyes. Stay away from this, child.
An incredibly tense short story. Hoo, I just held my breath for twenty minutes and can feel it.
Immaculate world-building. Characters drawn large with tiny details in the sentences, and the type of Western I really like: one that focuses on the ghost towns and the blood and death and raw fight against the desert that was necessary to build and lose fortunes. Ones where people don't pretend there's going to be a happy ending.
And this ending, while both happy and unhappy, felt delightfully appropriate.
hisham's review
4.0
Before I start on about which stories I enjoyed the most from a fantastic issue - I need to say a few words about the cover art by Galen Dara... DAMN IT'S GOOD! By far my favourite cover art from ANYTHING I've read so far in 2016!
May 2016 is weird month in the release schedule for various SF/F Ezines like Uncanny, Mothership Zeta, Lightspeed etc... Various issues that get published every 2, 3 months are aligning in May to all come out within a few days of each other - That's great! A feast of short fiction and related content!
And now to the stories/content! This a strong issue. Here were my favourites:
Ye Highlands and Ye Lowlands by Seanan McGuire - A tragic tale. This story is awesome, but sad.
The Sound Of Salt And Sea by Kat Howard - A story that deals with death, responsibility and grieving.
You'll Surely Drown Here If You Stay by Alyssa Wong - A brilliant weird-western fantasy.
The Drowning Line by Haralambi Markov - Family curses, death and a monster in the waters. To what extremes would you go, in order to save the future generations of your family from a family curse? An emotive story.
The Plague Giver by Kameron Hurley - A reprint of a novella, originally published on Hurley's patreon. This story immerses you quickly and deeply into a fantasy world where power is in the giving and manipulation of magical-like plagues and diseases. Set decades after a great battle, an old retired anti-hero is being dragged back into action. This story is epic.
Those were my absolute favourites from this issue. What were yours?
May 2016 is weird month in the release schedule for various SF/F Ezines like Uncanny, Mothership Zeta, Lightspeed etc... Various issues that get published every 2, 3 months are aligning in May to all come out within a few days of each other - That's great! A feast of short fiction and related content!
And now to the stories/content! This a strong issue. Here were my favourites:
Ye Highlands and Ye Lowlands by Seanan McGuire - A tragic tale. This story is awesome, but sad.
The Sound Of Salt And Sea by Kat Howard - A story that deals with death, responsibility and grieving.
You'll Surely Drown Here If You Stay by Alyssa Wong - A brilliant weird-western fantasy.
The Drowning Line by Haralambi Markov - Family curses, death and a monster in the waters. To what extremes would you go, in order to save the future generations of your family from a family curse? An emotive story.
The Plague Giver by Kameron Hurley - A reprint of a novella, originally published on Hurley's patreon. This story immerses you quickly and deeply into a fantasy world where power is in the giving and manipulation of magical-like plagues and diseases. Set decades after a great battle, an old retired anti-hero is being dragged back into action. This story is epic.
Those were my absolute favourites from this issue. What were yours?
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