Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, November 2019
Reviewed by Chuck Rothman
The webzine’s offering for the last day of November is “Red Planit” by Joel E. Roosa. Red is an agent showing up on various worlds in the infinite plane—some science-based, some fantasy-based—in order to guide them into unknowingly help Red in a grand plan to defeat a powerful enemy, appearing in different guises depending on the world. The issue with the story is that we know nothing about Red’s personal background or feelings, or what the mission is until the end. Too much happens in a vacuum and none of the characters really come to life, making it hard to care about the results once it comes out.
Chuck Rothman’s novels Staroamer’s Fate and Syron’s Fate are available from Fantastic Books.