It’s the end of the month, which means one thing – Innumerable Voices is back again to highlight gorgeous, exciting and transgressive short fiction in SFF. September is dedicated to Canadian rising star and specialist in dynamic, close combat scenes, Charlotte Ashley.
I had a terrific time writing this piece, which came together over the course of 13 hours on a Wednesday and gave me an adrenaline rush. Here’s why:
“Historically, literature has been the truest playground where any vision can burn brightly in the mind of readers, no matter how complex, fantastical in its nature, and grand of scale. And yet motion pictures and theatre are better suited to capture the velocity of close combat as well as the kinetic energy and dynamic choreography intrinsic to dueling. It’s not impossible for fiction to match these achievements—but in the hands of a lesser writer, duels (or any form of physical altercation) can drone on, hollow and tedious to read, detracting rather than contributing to overall enjoyment. Charlotte Ashley is among the few writers I’ve read who tells a compelling story through her characters’ physicality; quick, precise, and elegant. For Ashley, duels, clashes and physical survival in various manifestations are the heart of the story, which inform the inner lives of her characters and their worlds.”
Read the rest over at Tor.com and follow more of my column Innumerable Voices – every last week of the month!
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