The first thing that impressed me about this book was the cover. Hauntingly beautiful, with an impression of scale and loneliness, an impression which is realised and amplified throughout each of the five stories which make up this wonderful little volume.
Each of the five stories is told from one or more unique perspectives, and the characters Moher draws are achingly real. Although each story is short and so the time we get to spend with the characters is all too brief, each leaves a real sense of completion, which can be a problem in some works so short.
'A Night for Spirits and Snowflakes' is a story of war, or rather of the after effects of war, of burying the dead and of saying goodbye. The main character buries each of his mates in turn, and we re-live their deaths through their own eyes. This is a very clever story telling technique in that each of the soldiers gets their own voice and their own motives.
'The Girl with Wings of Iron and Down' is loneliness personified, the eponymous girl wakes periodically to be called by a name which isn't her own, and subjected to pain and anguish. Feelings of a loss of self and identity are explored among other themes, and the result is strangely compelling, demanding repeated re-readings.
'Of Parnassus and Princes, Damsels and Dragons' is a quirky little tale, subverting the big bad dragon and damsel in distress tropes. Here Moher creates an unlikeable 'hero' and a equally unlikable damsel, but while this may be becoming standard in some fantasy circles, what marks this separate is the comic value. Deliberate use of language tools such as alliteration and repitition are employed to create a real fairytale scene with a difference.
'The Colour of the Sky on the Day the World Ended' a beatifully written tale about a young girl and her (imaginary) dog on the hunt for a hidden fruit in a post-apocolyptic world. At less than 700 words, it packs a lot in.
'Tide of Shadows' brings the collection full circle, following another soldier, this time on the eve of battle. In the first story we meet a soldier dealing with the effects of war, in this we join a soldier about to enter the fray. Moher cleverly bookends his collection with similarly toned pieces, told from very different angles. What I found interesting was the positioning of the two, with the piece after the battle at the beginning of the collection and the story leading into war at the end, suggesting a never ending cycle of self-destruction and hopelessness. We see the terrible effects of fighting, yet even after this, another war is inevitable.
A very powerful work, with very much to recommend it.
(The author provided me with a free copy in exchange for this honest review)
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