Beneath Ceaseless Skies #265, November 22, 2018
“Feral Attachments at Kulle Bland Bergen” by T. S. McAdams
Reviewed by Kevin P Hallett
The 265th issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies has two original short stories.
“Feral Attachments at Kulle Bland Bergen” by T. S. McAdams
Bragi is the goblin-featured son of two professors studying the local mountain trolls in this short fantasy. One day, when the boy is four years old, the trolls lure him away. All that’s left is a crude wooden doll left by the trolls.
Years pass, and the strain of the lost son destroys whatever love the professors had left for each other. Then, four years later, the father captures an eight-year-old troll boy. Could this be Bragi, could he be re-habituated?
The prose was choppy and hard to follow in places. The worn-out premise came with a predictable ending.
“How the Mighty” by Dan Micklethwaite
“How the Mighty” is a character-driven short story about a father, Boden, taking his son, Tal, to watch a gladiatorial-like fight between his son’s favorite champion and a young local challenger.
Boden is struggling in his relationship with Tal’s mother, and wants his son to remember this experience well. But when Boden accidentally distracts the champion, the boy begins to question his father’s worthiness.
The story was light on speculative elements and offered no new ideas for the fantasy or SF genres.