Bailuchien by Rebecca Crunden is a Dark Fantasy short story following the story of two sisters who find themselves in a desperate situation, and a deal they are forced to strike with a mysterious forest spirit to try and save themselves. As the story progresses we learn the cost of these dealings and what the sisters must do to survive a dangerous world.
I was initially put off a bit after reading the first page, as I found some grammatical issues, which I assumed would continue on throughout, and it took me a little while to try it again, but after that first page, the issues mostly disappeared, but for a few typos and small grammar bits. So, perhaps it was just in need of one more round of editing to catch a few things. But nothing major stood out from that perspective.
As it is a short story (about 19 pages), there's not a huge amount of room for character growth/development, but that's to be expected for a short story. By the end, we see a little more of how the sisters relationship has grown and what they'll do to protect one another, and how they are viewed by everyone else from the surrounding villages/areas, but we don't really learn too much about them as individuals, nor much about the forest spirit(s).
The writing style was good and flowed well, and the pacing was consistent. No parts seemed to lag or go too quickly. I felt the descriptions of the spirits and their effects on the forest stood out above the other characters. Without wishing to spoil anything, as I was reading, the forest reminded me a little of the forest from Uprooted, by Naomi Novik. I'm not sure if that was an inspiration at all for the story, but that's what initially came to mind as I was reading. Though, the theme is a little darker than what I recall from Uprooted (admittedly, it's years since I read that).
I would have liked to learn more about the spirits and their relationship with the forest, but as it's a short story, you're always going to be left with a lot of questions. I think it would work well as a prologue for a longer story though, if the author wanted to go down that road, and explore those areas some more.
Who would enjoy it?
Fans of dark fantasy/folktales who are looking for a quick and easy read would no doubt enjoy this story, which at the time of writing this is available for under £1 on Amazon.
Verdict
4 Dragons out of 5
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Author Links
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