Year of the Mountain Lion

by Maria E. Schneider

Cursed as a drought-bringer, Jolan lives a harsh life of nomadic exile in the desolate desert that surrounds her former cliff dwelling home. Now, for reasons she can't fathom, she is being hunted by those who have already cast her out. Unfortunately for her pursuers, Jolan is not helpless and she is determined to survive.

A gripping short story that shares a powerful woman's refusal to surrender in the face of either nature or the society that abandoned her.

This story was originally published in Darwin's Evolutions magazine.

Genres: Fantasy, Novella

21 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 21, 2011

About the author

If you were a character from a book, who would you be??

I'd be a dream catcher, the mystic woven spheres of the American Indian, catching the bad dreams and letting through only the good.

I'd be a dream weaver, she who tells stories woven from bits of dust and starlight.

Reviews

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writer calls this “fantasy,” and it was published by Darwin's Evolutions, which is a Speculative Fiction magazine, (and sounds like Sci-Fi to me.) I'd call “Year of the Mountain Lion” a mythology, or more accurately, it's a short story (about 20 print pages,) about the creation of a legend in a primitive culture. I'm always fascinated by how myths and legends evolve, and this short story scratches the itch, (especially right now as a little break from the doorstopper I'm currently trying to get through.) It's simple and interesting, and thankfully doesn't yield to the temptation to tart it up with lots of additional ideas that end up going nowhere.

This story is about names, survival, and assumptions. I liked it, and it made me curious about the magazine, which I had never heard of.

I got this story as a review copy (I think we have to say that, right?) and I'm afraid I don't know how to “perform” on a requested review, except to say what I think. 4 stars because I really liked it, but I spent the first half of the story a little confused because I thought the girl had just recently been exiled. Once I got that figured out, it was smooth sailing.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and well paced story, ambiguously straddling the fence between historical fiction and fantasy. It has a strong female lead character who avoids many of the cliches, being neither "spunky heroine" nor weak-willed girl in search of a tall, dark, dangerous, but sensitive man. Rather, she was someone who just happened to be a woman dealing with the hand life had dealt her as best she could.

[Kathy (Kindle-aholic) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of Darwin's Evolutions shorts (99 cent eBook). I really liked this one. The creation of myths, a community's fear (and their response), the fight for survival, and a very strong heroine. Jolan was banished from her tribe because of fear and superstition. They expected her to die on her own, but she didn't. They are now failing and need her to save them. I really hope Schneider writes more in this world. I enjoyed this first taste

[Bookwormgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting novella. I liked the ideas and concepts in this book; environmentalism and conservation of resources are topics than can become preachy very quickly. Here, due to the short length, preaching is avoided and the concepts work well as the driving force behind Jolan's exile and survival.

I would love to see a book with Jolan and her struggles further explored.

A good short story with interesting characters and world building.

[Marlena Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting story. I loved the environment survival aspect, and the descriptions of the dry, barren landscape. And even though I liked the lead female character, she seemed rather stale and unchanging. The adventure was fun and exciting, but the insects seemed a little over powered for them to be realistic. A fun read, but just not quite as moving as I was hoping for.

Still plan to read more from this author though! There's much potential here.