Cyd Athens Freelance Speculative Wordsmith
Reviewed in this issue is:
“The Gentle Sleeper” by David Evan Harris
Arland is an Elemental wizard, one of the best. He has fine control over the element Air. When Marraine, his “friend,” is taken by the evil Baron Weller, Arland goes to rescue and avenge her.
This is a trope story where the Hero goes to save his Love Interest and the Evil Overlord taunts, gloats, and flaunts his power, spending so much time in pointless monologue and letting his Henchmen get in their pot shots that he loses a battle that was his to win. Typical of its type, this story only exists because the Baron does not simply extract the information from Marraine, the Love Interest, then deal with the Hero, Arland, in a decisive manner. Rather than smart, this Evil Overlord is a sadist. Arland’s torture at the Baron’s hands continues so long that readers become collateral damage. Pretty much from the onset, the ending is predictable. The only mystery there revolves around how the Hero is going to best the Evil Overlord. There is never a question that the Hero will prevail.
A version of this review appears on the Tangent Online website.
