The Cairn in Slater Woods by Gina Rosati
My rating: 3/5 cats
when i write my sure-to-be-acclaimed dissertation, Free Tor Shorts: Peaks and Valleys, for what will probably be a disgraced and unaccredited institution, this particular story will be lumped in with the valleys.
not a bad opening line:
My recently deceased great-aunt Z’s house smells like cat crap, stale smoke, and retribution.
but it mostly kind of flails around without ever becoming anything more than a predictable riff on an urban legend.
i do think it’s cute in the way it redefines the “cool kid”
One of JimBeau’s friends parks himself between Jaycie and me. He’s wearing a faded Dragon Ball Z shirt and he’s got a manga sticking out of the pocket of his cargo pants, so I think maybe he’s not a complete jackass.
and how the mysterious attractive girl is wearing an anime-style schoolgirl uniform, just so we’re clear on what our narrator’s aesthetic is
hard to argue with that.
but there’s a little too much cat-bashing:
“Yes, but cats are soulless creatures—they kill for the sport of it.”
and too little resolution as far as “well, but what happens next?”
but again—it’s a free little amuse-bouche , and if it’s not the best one i have read so far, it’s also not the worst.
much like this review: not my best, not my worst. just flailing around
sometimes flailing can be therapeutic.
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/08/th…
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