The Walking-Stick Forest by Anna Tambour
My rating: 4/5 cats
okay, i think i figured out the criteria i should be using to determine which of the free tor shorts i select to read. basically, if it warns
Like some other stories published on Tor.com, “The Walking-Stick Forest” contains scenes and situations some readers will find upsetting and/or repellent. [—The Editors]
then i will like it. a lot.
this one is particularly dark and atmospheric and has all of the good shivery situations you find in real, unexpurgated, fairy tales and, yeah—some really picturesque violence. it’s about art and nature and beauty and revenge and war and, in a casual anecdote, a character who slipped and fell, spearing himself through the eye on a split arm bone.
yeah, it’s like that.
the only reason it’s not a five is because there is a kind of inexplicable insta-love situation that is probably easy enough to write off because 1) short stories have to do a lot in just a little space and 2) fairytales aren’t necessarily logical, but i felt a little eyerolly at that, so i did what i did.
BUT!
this story definitely revived my initial enthusiasm with the free tor shorts project, after a couple of so-so reads. so!! excitement!! revived!!
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2014/05/th…
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