Grimdark “Wretched” by Deborah A. Wolf
“Morality Aside” by Zachary Atlas
“Monster Within” by Angel Haze
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
In addition to three new works of fiction, this issue offers interviews with writers, a review, and an article.
The narrator of “Wretched” by Deborah A. Wolf is a girl living with her abusive stepfather and her kindhearted half-sister. Upset because the older sibling is going to be married and leave her alone with the cruel stepfather, she accidentally uses magic, changing her half-sister in a strange way. Hoping to undo the inadvertent spell, she faces her stepfather, and consigns him to an unpleasant fate.
The story is told in an informal manner, with many misspellings, creating a believable portrait of the uneducated protagonist. The nature of the half-sister’s transformation may strike some readers as unintentionally comic.
In “Morality Aside” by Zachary Atlas, a new member of a band of mercenaries faces an ethical dilemma when the prince they are supposed to protect is murdered. To cover up their failure, the mercenaries decide to attack a village and blame the slaughter on raiders. The newcomer has to choose whether to join them in their assault on innocents.
The extreme level of gruesome violence in this tale certainly fits in with the magazine’s theme. Although the setting is clearly an imaginary world, nothing supernatural occurs. This may disappoint some fantasy fans.
The protagonist of “Monster Within” by Angel Haze is forced to participate in battles to the death, or have his family killed by a sinister aristocrat. During combat, he hears a demonic voice inside his head, urging him on to even greater acts of violence. He also experiences drug-induced hallucinations, blurring reality and illusion into one bloody nightmare.
The scenes of gladiatorial battle are vivid and properly grim. The reader is told that only an iron band around his neck keeps the protagonist from using magic during combat. This raises expectations that are never fulfilled, as the band remains on the man’s neck throughout the story.
Victoria Silverwolf thinks it’s interesting that all three authors have surnames that are words.