Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Alchemist's Feather

Short Story by Erin Cashier
Originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, free online.

Alrun is a wooden puppet, brought to life and used as a familiar by a sinister alchemist. Under pressure from the King, the Alchemist has been experimenting on Alrun and various little girls like poor half-starved Maria. He routinely makes Alrun forget awful things he has him do, but as the little puppet falls in love with the girl, Alrun decides he needs to help save her from death-by-experiment and help himself remember. If only he could muster the willpower to disobey his master.

A heart-breaking/warming tale of child abuse and the necessity of ignoring orders and setting yourself free from your own psychological torment. Although it was successfully tear-jerking, this story was a bit too obvious and you could pretty much see where it was going from page one. It was well written, but not enough depth, and hardly original ground.
3.5 ornithology based STD cures out of 5.

No comments: