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A review by ericderoulet
Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #389 by Scott H. Andrews
5.0
The two stories both feel like parts of larger narratives, but I really don't mind in this case. What's important is less whether every single loose end is tied up (an unlikely outcome for short fiction) than what sort of payoff readers are left with. Both Moté's "Interlude: Shelter From the Storm" and Olson's "Steady and the Mountain" get us invested in the characters and conflicts, then leave us with wistful endings that tell us enough while acknowledging that sometimes the forces and circumstances surrounding the characters are too large to be overcome in a single episode.
"Steady and the Mountain" in particular nails the setting and interiority (something I've come to expect from BCS titles), giving me a deeply felt sense of the MC's grief for his world as he once knew it. It was also refreshing to see classic-style prose written so well in a present-day piece.
"Steady and the Mountain" in particular nails the setting and interiority (something I've come to expect from BCS titles), giving me a deeply felt sense of the MC's grief for his world as he once knew it. It was also refreshing to see classic-style prose written so well in a present-day piece.