Friday, May 24, 2013

Review of "An Exodus of Wings" by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam

"An Exodus of Wings" by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam appeared in Daily Science Fiction on May 24, 2013.  "Faeries infest a man's apartment, but he leaves them alone for a while to please his girlfriend.  An exterminator is hired to trap the faeries.  Then you are the now ex-girlfriend and you help the exterminator set the faeries free."

"An Exodus of Wings" is told in three separate parts from three different points of view.  In the first and also my favorite part of the story, told from the POV of a man in an apartment, I thought the man's faerie-loving girlfriend was a faerie too until almost the end.  This led to much unnecessary scratching of the head.

The second part of the story is told from the POV of an exterminator.  However, I did not appreciate that there was a POV change until almost too late in the game.  Again, this led to confusion.

The third part of the story is told in second person POV.  You know how I feel about that.

In conclusion, I have some difficulty with the POV changes, particularly in the abrupt and annoying change to second person POV at the end.  I am a careful reader and so feel I may safely say that the narrative is confusing.  Also, the story is in need of editing down to perhaps a third of its length.  2 out of 7 rocket-dragons.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.