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The Ancient
In a villa, where boundaries are made of death, one young man steps across the line.
The servant demands obedience to a creed carved in stone.
The Ancient comes…
Family is a privilege afforded only to the smiths of each villa. Banin, by choosing his bride in secret, jeopardizes not only that privilege, but the safety of his entire villa. He’s ready to pay, but does he know the cost?
The servant demands obedience to a creed carved in stone.
The Ancient comes…
Family is a privilege afforded only to the smiths of each villa. Banin, by choosing his bride in secret, jeopardizes not only that privilege, but the safety of his entire villa. He’s ready to pay, but does he know the cost?
48 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 25, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 10, 2020
Content warning: violence, deaths, overall tone is pretty bleak.
Well color me intrigued.
Wendy Wilson has introduced a world that frankly I'm glad I dont live in! Poor Bannin! But the little tidbits shown in this short story only made me more curious as to where she'll go from here.
Who are the Ravus?
Did I just meet a Grimm Reaper?
Why are Smiths so important?
And what are those rules in the stone for anyway?
And was I the only person who thought of Inception there at the end?
Short stories are notoriously difficult to manage, and Wendy Wilson did a top notch job. There were sections of writing I stopped to read twice because they were so beautifully crafted I had to tip my hat to her.
The pros:
It kept my interest and left me curious about this place and people.
The writing was professional and poetic.
Even in the short space, I had a good feel for the characters.
The cons:
I did get lost a couple times. It's vague at first so I had to pay really close attention. By the end of the story I had it mostly cleared up, but during the read I got a little annoyed.
At the beginning I also felt a bit unsettled because I thought it was 1st person from Banin' s perspective, but then it sort of wavered to Oke, then Keva, as a limited kind of third person, then went solidly into third person omniscient. I doubt most people would notice this at all though. It was really subtle.
And now I kinda have the urge to watch The Village...I kept thinking of it at odd moments through the read.
Well color me intrigued.
Wendy Wilson has introduced a world that frankly I'm glad I dont live in! Poor Bannin! But the little tidbits shown in this short story only made me more curious as to where she'll go from here.
Who are the Ravus?
Did I just meet a Grimm Reaper?
Why are Smiths so important?
And what are those rules in the stone for anyway?
And was I the only person who thought of Inception there at the end?
Short stories are notoriously difficult to manage, and Wendy Wilson did a top notch job. There were sections of writing I stopped to read twice because they were so beautifully crafted I had to tip my hat to her.
The pros:
It kept my interest and left me curious about this place and people.
The writing was professional and poetic.
Even in the short space, I had a good feel for the characters.
The cons:
I did get lost a couple times. It's vague at first so I had to pay really close attention. By the end of the story I had it mostly cleared up, but during the read I got a little annoyed.
At the beginning I also felt a bit unsettled because I thought it was 1st person from Banin' s perspective, but then it sort of wavered to Oke, then Keva, as a limited kind of third person, then went solidly into third person omniscient. I doubt most people would notice this at all though. It was really subtle.
And now I kinda have the urge to watch The Village...I kept thinking of it at odd moments through the read.
November 28, 2020
The Ancient is one of the best short stories I've ever read. After I began reading this book, I found I couldn't put it down. Despite the fact that it was late at night, and I was very tired, I found it impossible to stop until the book was over, and even after that, I thought about it while I fell asleep, and when I woke up. Now I'm wondering; what's next?
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews