Beneath Ceaseless Skies #375, February 9, 2023
“A Forcible Calm” by Jonathan Olfert
“Behind Space, Between Stars” by C.S. Marten
Reviewed by Kevin P Hallett
The 375th issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies has two short stories.
“A Forcible Calm” by Jonathan Olfert
In this short fantasy, Twistfinger is on trial for her murdering and thieving ways. The four Brothers of Dule mean to execute her for her crimes against them. But there is uncertainty in their minds.
They haul her up from the prison pit where she’s held each night. She is old with a long history of crimes. But she committed some crimes for good reasons and some because the Brothers were her enemy. As the trial begins and the four Brothers make their accusations, she works to turn their confidence in her offenses into doubts. But each of the Brothers has a different agenda in wanting her dead, so winning her freedom won’t be easy.
The author’s mysterious story twisted and turned to keep the reader interested in Twistfinger’s fate.
“Behind Space, Between Stars” by C.S. Marten
The Walker is collecting the heart of a dying world in this short fantasy when they find someone is already there. This Other person is trying to remove the dying heart. The Walker must stop the Other before it’s too late to use this heart to rebuild the world in the Garden.
But this Other is not here by accident; they also know how to take the dying heart. It must be one of those renegade trainees who believe dying worlds should be allowed to scatter through the universe in the hope their atoms will reform worlds in the future. But that leads to entropy. So, the Walker prepares to battle this Other for this planet’s heart.
The author’s prose was a little slow, but the story was an interesting view of the universe.
You can follow Kevin P Hallett’s writing on www.kevinphallett.com. There are links there to join his mailing list for a weekly newsletter on the recent release of his second novel, The Fifth Kingdom.