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Bad Milk
A heroic fantasy tale featuring the indestructible female warrior known as the Iron Flower.
When an insanity epidemic afflicts bandits and wealthy merchants alike, well-scarred Rose's investigation sends her on an awkward journey into a temple of beauty.
A short story previously published in Afterburn SF. Takes place after the events of Iron Bonds.
When an insanity epidemic afflicts bandits and wealthy merchants alike, well-scarred Rose's investigation sends her on an awkward journey into a temple of beauty.
A short story previously published in Afterburn SF. Takes place after the events of Iron Bonds.
- GenresShort StoriesFantasy
20 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 24, 2013
11 people want to read
About the author
Billy Wong
68 books87 followersBilly Wong is an avid fan of heroic fantasy, with a special love for strong female warriors. He draws inspiration from the epic legends of old, and is on a quest to bring over the top deeds and larger than life heroes back to prominence in today's literary world.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 20, 2017
Note, May 20, 2017: I've just edited this review to supply an accidentally-omitted word in one sentence.
Relative newcomer to action-heroine fiction writing Billy Wong has already produced several novels in his swords-and-sorcery Iron Flower series, featuring warrior woman Rose Agen, the "Iron Rose." This stand-alone short story doesn't come chronologically at the beginning of Rose's adventures, and will perhaps be best appreciated by those who are already fans; but I've been intrigued by the character for some time, and when Billy recently offered this story for free, I snapped up the chance to check out the series in a small installment. As my rating shows, I liked what I read!
This story gets down to slam-bang weaponless combat pretty quick; but it's non-lethal combat in that scene, and the story as a whole has a fairly light tone. (Not being familiar at all with the rest of the series --though I plan to change that eventually!-- I can't say whether this is true of all of the novels.) Wong's world-building isn't especially vivid or detailed (in fairness, much of the picture of the world was probably already painted in the earlier novels, so fans would simply fill it in here). The dialogue has a modern, colloquial quality, which isn't in itself a bad thing, but it doesn't suggest anything exotic or other-worldly about the setting; and though it's hard to explain without a spoiler, one aspect of the ending struck me as much too pat. Possibly 4 and 1/2 stars would have been a technically more correct measure of quality, but I rounded up.
There were plenty of reasons to do so. Even at this short length, and "meeting" her for the first time here, Rose comes across as a very well-drawn, appealing character: a tough fighter, but not wanting to hurt anyone unnecessarily; ethically-minded and caring. It's nice to encounter a strong, kick-butt female who's also a wife and loving mom, and Rose's description of what she went through to carry her twins to birth (she's taken a lot of abdominal wounds in her time, that have left scars inside and outside, and a swelling womb was really painful) made me want to stand up and cheer her. I was reminded of Bella Swan in Breaking Dawn; and the same critics who were maddened enough to spit nails by the latter portrayal of a woman actually accepting pain for the sake of developing life inside her would probably be similarly outraged by Rose. Since I see this as a mark of enormous strength, not weakness, she won my enduring admiration. (Re Rose's family life --her family is off-stage in this story-- one line here that implies that her husband Finn hits her shouldn't be misunderstood; they're both strong, brawny types who sometimes spar together in friendly practice matches.) The basic plot is original, and the author does action scenes well. And though this is pulp entertainment, without great literary pretensions, the author makes some telling points about the role of cultural standards of beauty and "ugliness," and how the way we and others see our looks affects our sense of self-worth. Rose, for instance, is self-conscious about her big physique and scarred face and body, especially the damage her bosom has taken from war wounds --I think this would particularly resonate with breast cancer victims who've taken similar damage from a surgeon's knife. There's also a not-flattering look at those who want to make money by helping us "feel beautiful" (when, perhaps, we could do that for free by taking a real look at ourselves).
Billy, thanks for giving us a chance to sample the Iron Flower series for free! My first visit to Rose's world won't be my last. :-)
Relative newcomer to action-heroine fiction writing Billy Wong has already produced several novels in his swords-and-sorcery Iron Flower series, featuring warrior woman Rose Agen, the "Iron Rose." This stand-alone short story doesn't come chronologically at the beginning of Rose's adventures, and will perhaps be best appreciated by those who are already fans; but I've been intrigued by the character for some time, and when Billy recently offered this story for free, I snapped up the chance to check out the series in a small installment. As my rating shows, I liked what I read!
This story gets down to slam-bang weaponless combat pretty quick; but it's non-lethal combat in that scene, and the story as a whole has a fairly light tone. (Not being familiar at all with the rest of the series --though I plan to change that eventually!-- I can't say whether this is true of all of the novels.) Wong's world-building isn't especially vivid or detailed (in fairness, much of the picture of the world was probably already painted in the earlier novels, so fans would simply fill it in here). The dialogue has a modern, colloquial quality, which isn't in itself a bad thing, but it doesn't suggest anything exotic or other-worldly about the setting; and though it's hard to explain without a spoiler, one aspect of the ending struck me as much too pat. Possibly 4 and 1/2 stars would have been a technically more correct measure of quality, but I rounded up.
There were plenty of reasons to do so. Even at this short length, and "meeting" her for the first time here, Rose comes across as a very well-drawn, appealing character: a tough fighter, but not wanting to hurt anyone unnecessarily; ethically-minded and caring. It's nice to encounter a strong, kick-butt female who's also a wife and loving mom, and Rose's description of what she went through to carry her twins to birth (she's taken a lot of abdominal wounds in her time, that have left scars inside and outside, and a swelling womb was really painful) made me want to stand up and cheer her. I was reminded of Bella Swan in Breaking Dawn; and the same critics who were maddened enough to spit nails by the latter portrayal of a woman actually accepting pain for the sake of developing life inside her would probably be similarly outraged by Rose. Since I see this as a mark of enormous strength, not weakness, she won my enduring admiration. (Re Rose's family life --her family is off-stage in this story-- one line here that implies that her husband Finn hits her shouldn't be misunderstood; they're both strong, brawny types who sometimes spar together in friendly practice matches.) The basic plot is original, and the author does action scenes well. And though this is pulp entertainment, without great literary pretensions, the author makes some telling points about the role of cultural standards of beauty and "ugliness," and how the way we and others see our looks affects our sense of self-worth. Rose, for instance, is self-conscious about her big physique and scarred face and body, especially the damage her bosom has taken from war wounds --I think this would particularly resonate with breast cancer victims who've taken similar damage from a surgeon's knife. There's also a not-flattering look at those who want to make money by helping us "feel beautiful" (when, perhaps, we could do that for free by taking a real look at ourselves).
Billy, thanks for giving us a chance to sample the Iron Flower series for free! My first visit to Rose's world won't be my last. :-)
March 8, 2014
Bad Milk felt incredibly rushed.
I get that it's a short story, but it felt *way* too short. A lot of that had to do with the fact that the story itself only takes up about half of the Kindle version. The rest of the pages are summaries of other books by the author. So when the story ended at something like 58% of the way through, I felt incredibly disappointed.
On the other hand, I did like the way the story covered just one brief event in the heroine's life. It didn't try to be epic - the story was just another day in Rose's life.
I get that it's a short story, but it felt *way* too short. A lot of that had to do with the fact that the story itself only takes up about half of the Kindle version. The rest of the pages are summaries of other books by the author. So when the story ended at something like 58% of the way through, I felt incredibly disappointed.
On the other hand, I did like the way the story covered just one brief event in the heroine's life. It didn't try to be epic - the story was just another day in Rose's life.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews