Review of Karlo Yeager Rodriguez, “As the Shore to the Tides, So Blood Calls to Blood”, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue 301 (April 9, 2020): Read online. Reviewed by Richard Lohmeyer.
Like its companion piece in this issue of BCS, Rodriguez’s tale features two bitterly angry siblings. More than one set of them, in fact. The more interesting of these are portrayed in a genesis myth, related early in the story, of two god-like brothers who “divided the world between the bitter waters and sweet,” only to turn upon each other, like Cain and Abel. The rest of the story involves the more mundane, though still magic-infused, tale of a young boy abandoned by his older brother and forced to live under the tyranny of a cruel religious order.
I’m of two minds about this story. The opening scenes swept me away and left me eager to discover what would happen next. Unfortunately, the remainder of the story failed to live up to the promise of those early scenes. Still, Rodriguez is clearly a talented writer and I look forward to reading more of his work.
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