Fantasy “Some Assembly Required” by Anne E. G. Nydam
“God of the River” by Anya Ow
“It’s What’s Inside That Counts” by Warren Benedetto
“The Body Fate” by Avi Burton
Reviewed by Mina
This month brings us castles in the air, river gods, timepieces and unicorns.
“Some Assembly Required” by Anne E. G. Nydam makes lovely use of relief block prints to accompany her instructions on how to build castles in the air.
“God of the River” by Anya Ow is told from the point of view of A-Ling, as WWII encroaches upon her world. She decides to call on the aid of the river god her grandmother told her about. But the power of the gods is not what it used to be and they are capricious at best. Worth reading for A-Ling’s relationship with her grandmother.
In “It’s What’s Inside That Counts” by Warren Benedetto, Emily promises to record a dissection class for her twin brother who is very ill and bedridden. If not for the ominous “timepiece” inside all living things, it would be a sad but simple tale of a child becoming aware of mortality. The film In Time meets Stephen King and it’s well done.
“The Body Fate” by Avi Burton is told in the second person in a world full of curses, magic, myths, maidens, knights and unicorns. The protagonist does not want to be a maiden yet ends up as a pregnant virgin. They set out on a quest to have the child without birthing it and are even prepared to kill a unicorn to achieve this. The author clearly meant this to be a playful story about identity, with a vague medieval feeling to it, but it feels a bit contrived.
Mina would recommend reading both of this month’s poems.