Short Story Review

November 14th, 2007

The first review of my short story Who Slays the Gyant, Wounds the Beast from the Solaris Book of New Fantasy is here.

You may recall the story stars Elizabethan England’s greatest spy Will Swyfte from Jack of Ravens. There’s actually been quite a lot of interest in my swashbuckling hero. More soon, possibly…

Categories: Book News, For Queen and Country |

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4 Responses to Short Story Review


  1. Julian said, on November 14th, 2007 at 10:33 pm:

    The reviewer (I presume Aidan Moher) writes:

    …
    In many instances, I felt the story lacked context and setup, as though I were supposed to know already why Swyfte was so well known around England, how he was so resourceful and why he wasn’t the least bit surprised by the all magick that occurs over the course of the story.
    …

    Would it be fair to say that the missing context could be gained from reading Jack of Ravens?

  2. MarkC said, on November 14th, 2007 at 11:37 pm:

    No, all the context is there - it’s just nuanced. I’m not a writer who does all the work for the reader.

  3. Aidan from A Dribble of Ink said, on November 15th, 2007 at 12:30 am:

    Hey Mark,

    Thanks for the link!

    It’s hard to write a well rounded review in such a short amount of time, so I’m glad you could tell how much I enjoyed the story despite the criticism I leveled at it.

    I’m very interested in seeing more of Swyfte and Colt and will surely take a look at Jack of Ravens in the near future!

    ~Aidan
    A Dribble of Ink

  4. Lermontov said, on November 16th, 2007 at 10:52 am:

    ‘No, all the context is there - it’s just nuanced. I’m not a writer who does all the work for the reader.’

    Amen to that, Mark. It is at that level and in that realm at which serious, engaging literature, genre-labelled or not, exists.

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