Strange Horizons, July 10, 2017

“Owl vs. The Neighborhood Watch” by Darcie Little Badger

Reviewed by Rebecca DeVendra

Darcie Little Badger’s “Owl vs. The Neighborhood Watch” is an enjoyable read with great mystery. Nina, struggling with depression, sees an owl in many forms whenever something bad is going to happen. While some of the prose struck me as superfluous, (“…restlessness swarmed through Nina’s anthill-busy brain, down her spine, and through her veins.”) the whole story is just good fun. One can imagine Darcie Little Badger chuckling to herself as she writes. In the end the good gal wins, like a good episode of Buffy. Some good stuff here, well worth the diversion.

Rebecca DeVendra is a figure artist and speculative fiction writer living in Boston. She grew up in Ohio and went to school there, and has a background in curriculum writing. She’s also a mom to three cacophonous, early-rising children. She’s probably in her pajamas, but she has an emergency collar shirt for video calls. Check out her blog.