Beneath Ceaseless Skies #144, April 3, 2014

Reviewed in this issue are:

“Golden Daughter, Stone Wife” by Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“At the Edge of the Sea” by Raphael Ordoñez

Mistress Erhensa, the main character in “Golden Daughter, Stone Wife” by Benjanun Sriduangkaew, is a powerful sorcerer. Her wife left her a golem daughter, Areemu. Hall-Warden Ysoreen Zarre from the Institute of Ormodon comes to claim Areemu’s remains. Though Erhensa is not ready to part with Areemu, Ysoreen is young, dedicated to her duty, and determined. A clash of wills between the two women is inevitable. So is some measure of accommodation. This story is reminiscent of Alberto Yáñez’s “The Coffinmaker’s Love,” which appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies #131.

In “At the Edge of the Sea” by Raphael Ordoñez, a man is exiled to a distant land after being turned in by his wife for crimes that are not detailed here. The main visits the man receives are monthly supply drops. His wife comes to see him a few times, once apologizing, and once promising to find a way that the two of them can escape together. To keep his sanity, the man builds a spiral jetty in an ocean-facing bay, and explores his seashore prison. There is much left unsaid here and the ending exemplifies the dysfunction of the relationship between the man and his wife.

A version of this review appears on the Tangent Online website.