Book: Patterns in Frost: Stories from New Tibet Volume Three
Book: Patterns in Frost Stories from New Tibet Volume Three
Author: Tim Susman, Et al.
Pages:142
Hard Core Scale: 2.16/4
Normal Scale:7.57/10
Publish Date:2019
About: The third volume of short stories on the cold hellish world of New Tibet
Review:
A Soft White Damn by Ryan Campbell ¼ 6/10
On a random encounter a hare finds another with a plan to escape New Tibet.
Severe frame problems leading to breaking tell problems. No frame no game. Cyclic in New Tibet motif at this point. Perhaps some of it was due to brevity, but just came away with not a good felling upon its completion. There was earned catharsis yes. There was equivalent exchange, but the whole plot rested on severely bad character decisions that did not seem to have a natural reaction. I just found myself annoyed by the story’s obfuscation and the writing issues. Puzzling from such a reward winning writer.
The Catch by Huskyteer ¾ 9/10
A fishing woman plans to send her daughter off world, but gets wrapped in a rare
fish sale that may be far more problematic than it is worth.
The story here is 4/4. I know Huskyteer. They are fine writer who usually excels in third person. We usually have more strength one perspective over the other. I have to cut for some first person frame issues. Framing is a hard skill, but everything else is so pristine.
Pack by Spark ¾ 8/10
A member of the Shiver gang is hunting for both their master and a missing
doctor. What will she find when and if she finds them.
A fun story. Well written. Could have its anthropomorphism reinforced. The end’s
action and reaction comes into scope, but the themes are still there.
The Bells of St. Mary’s by Dark End ¼ 6/10
Nuns try to save their church from being condemned.
To Xibalba! Lots of repeat sentence structure. Things were not in italics that
should have been. Lots of worthless tell sentences. A lot could have been cut.
A lot of problems for an editor. It
passed and was in anthology, so I guess it is accepted canon, but stepping
back there are things for debate. We have now old Catholic faith in a universe
where there has been no evidence up to now. When most of the population does
not seem to know or have good knowledge of what humans are and the dominate religions
are ancestral animal worship or the Circle. A pretty serious logic issue in concern of plot. Its
resolution of conflict does not mesh well with the setting. Plus, it is only a temporary
solution. Not a seeming natural reaction for the people of New Tibet and not the
resolution to leave with audience.
The Squall by Lloyd Yager 2/4 7/10
A cook is roped into cooking for an angry bear couple.
Lots of minor problems. Some inverted tags, thoughts not in italics and thus
told flatly. Lots of eye raising things in concern of character agency and plot
points. Anthropomorphism could be reinforced. Things get very de-jared at that
end and so the GDP is floating.
A Prison of Hope by Tim Susman ¾ 8/10
Two have escaped off New Tibet to live on a new world, but suffer its curse in
mind, body, and soul.
A great look at depression, stress, recovery and layers of reality. The brevity
and the story itself leads to a feeling there is more that could have been explored.
Tim works wonders with what he has though.
