[On May 10, 2021 Strange Horizons officially expressed its political support for Palestinian solidarity. The views of Tangent Online reviewers are not necessarily those of Strange Horizons. Fiction critiqued at Tangent Online is, as much as is humanly possible, without prejudice and based solely on artistic merit.]

Strange Horizons, November 11th & 18th, 2024

“The Lord of Mice’s Arrows” by Nadia Radovich (11/11)

“A Slightly Different Sunrise from Mercury, Nevada” by Ide Hennessy (11/18)

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

The protagonist of “The Lord of Mice’s Arrows” by Nadia Radovich is a college student studying ancient languages. A supernatural being appears in the student’s apartment, in a manner similar to Greek myths. A method used to destroy the entity leads to a strange odyssey.

The story is narrated in the currently popular technique of second person present tense. This may be an attempt to make the narrative more vivid, but it also turns the nameless main character into a bland shadow. (As many of the myths mentioned in the text involve abused women, and as the entity claims the student as its bride, one may assume that the protagonist is female. Even this is not absolutely certain, however, given the vagueness of the character.) The story is otherwise well-written, and is likely to be best appreciated by readers familiar with ancient literature.

In “A Slightly Different Sunrise from Mercury, Nevada” by Ide Hennessy, tourists are able to witness atomic bomb tests of the 1950’s via a protective dome transported through time. The protagonist cleans up the area after these visits, and has an agenda of her own.

The story is cleverly plotted, with an unusual twist on the familiar theme of time travel. The fact that the main characters are blue collar workers performing routine, low level jobs adds realism, as does the story’s straightforward, matter-of-fact narrative style. The revelation of the protagonist’s motives adds emotional appeal without descending into sentimentality or melodrama.

Victoria Silverwolf took a hike that required multiple crossings of a knee-high stream recently.