Reviewed by Mick

King Sarien has wrested control of the township Vantee and is unpopular amongst his royal subjects. Strolling through the local market with his reluctant royal aide, Mirix, they happen upon a wizard's tent. The king acquires some enchanted inventory that he hopes will assist him in a final battle with the only rightful living heir to the throne.

The general premise of this story is quite engaging. The ideas are simple enough and yet unique and intriguing. I found myself drawn into this story, it has a fast pace that demands your attention. The balance of the narrative is excellent. It never gives in to too much detail and the violence perpetrated by the king is suggested rather than graphically portrayed. I found this method of writing to be more powerful than the sometimes "mind numbing" experience of over descriptive detail.

There is a sensible mix of fantasy and character development that leaves the reader caring about individuals in the story and hungry to know more of the magical properties of the wizard's wares. Unfortunately I felt the story fell down in a couple of areas that stopped this short story from being something special.

The author seemed to get lazy with some of the dialogue sequences. Whereas in some instances the exchanges were quite good I *furrowed my brow* with every "haha", "hehe" (x2) and not to forget the "heh heh heh". Yet this remains a minor point that just needs a little care and attention.

At the first reading of this story I thought I must have just been tired because the ending didn't make any sense to me. At the second reading I thought there was something wrong with me. At the third reading ... I thought it was the author's fault!! I just can't make sense of it, and I read A LOT of fantasy. I've tried to use my imagination, analysed it from every perspective and scoured the text for symbolic or metaphorical reference. Maybe I'm trying too hard but it just didn't work for me.

See what you think, and if you work it out please let me know!