Reviewed by: Keith Nixon
Genre: Fantasy/Short Story
Approximate word count: 9-10,000 words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or
Smashwords store
Author:
Laura Lond
is an internationally published author of several novels and a collection of
short stories. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. After working for two
years at a literary museum, she entered the business world working for some
large blue chip companies. She is now based in Europe and works as a
freelancer.
You can
read more about Laura on her website.
Description:
Who is the
mysterious Prisoner 34? Despite being kept under lock and key in Dormigan jail,
warden Captain Torren knows full well Prisoner 34 is powerful enough to escape
whenever he wants. Why does he stay? Torren tries to find out.
Appraisal:
This is a
short story, less that 10,000 words, so a necessarily short review results. The
subject matter is interesting and it is relatively well written. The author
creates a strong sense of mystery in the opening pages and I was interested to
find out much more. Although fantasy based, the place created does not feel too
alien (up to you whether you see this as positive or negative). The characters
are pretty good too, particularly Prisoner 34 (with his strange and unnatural
eyes) and the warden, Torren.
However,
there are a couple of issues that hold the rating at three stars. First is the
story construction, it feels like the opening chapter of a much longer book
with another one from a later stage thrown in, i.e. it hangs together okay but
could be stronger. Second, once the Prisoner goes walkabout some of the mystery
is lost during the interaction with the new prison Governor, it goes off
message and the dialogue is weak. Third, Torren’s daughter and the Prisoner
start to get to know each other, but the development is incomplete, much is
left hanging. And finally there are some phrases used in the text that do not
sit on the olde world the author is trying to create. One that stuck out was
‘ticked off’ and there were several others.
So a
reasonable start that would have benefitted from more words and development.
Format/Typo Issues:
None.
Rating: *** Three Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment