Strange Horizons, January 21, 2013

“Dysphonia in D Minor” by Damien Walters Grintalis

Reviewed by Jared L. Mills

Delanna and Lucia are two lovers in a modern day fantasy world where Builders must train their voices to work a sort of magic that creates physical structures. Buildings, dams, prisons and other works are all created through singing, with purity of voice and ability reflecting the durability of each creation. Damien Walters Grintalis does a nice job of intertwining singing and architecture in a juxtaposition that feels fresh with her adroit word play. While the world-building titillates, the actual plot is a fairly bland romance-gone-sour with emo shadings. If the dialog were snappier or the characters given more flesh the story might have succeeded, but as written, “Dysphonia” is just a novel idea begging for some thrust.