Benjamin 2073 by Rjurik Davidson
In near future Tasmania, a disable scientist works on bringing back the thylacine as her way of keeping hope alive for a damaged world.
There was a lot I liked about this story. I love the idea of a living thylacine, and I could sympathize with Ellie’s obsession. The world building is well done and I liked how Ellie’s physical difficulties were handled in the story.
It’s a clever tale about hope and human endeavor, but I would have liked more thylacines.
I award Benjamin 2073…
The Man and the Crow by Rebecca Crunden
The titular man and crow are involved in a centuries spanning tale full of magic, murder and love.
This is a fascinating story and I wish Crunden had developed it into a novel. There is certainly enough material within this short story to fill out a good sized book. It opens with a compelling scene, where a young woman returns home to a very unpleasant situation. Once the magical elements are introduced, the characters and concepts come thick and fast.
Unfortunately, I found all this character and world building frustrating because it was constricted by such a short story.
I award The Man and the Crow…
Click here to read my review of Dust and Lightning by the same author.
The Spawn of Beasts
A collection of three tales from Tellusm – McQueeney’s fantasy world.
A Sapphire Serenity – a woman is trapped by mists. I like the fantasy world of Tellusm, so it was nice to visit it again.
A Good Mother – a mother will do anything to protect her child. I really enjoyed this story about grief and fear and perception.
A Diary by Philip – McQueeney saves the best for last. This diary of a young boy growing up in Tellusm is full of humor and horror.
I award The Spawn of Beasts…
Click here to read my review of The Infinity Order by Ben McQueeney.
Click here to read my review of Ben McQueeney’s fantasy short story, The Fae of Darkwood.
Click here to read my review of his novel set in the same fantasy world, The Spirit of Things.
Iseult Murphy 
The cover for Benjamin 2073 is so pretty I thought it was a separate piece of art at first. It sounds like three (or rather five) good stories, just not great stories.
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Isn’t it beautiful 😍.
Exactly, Priscilla. All highly enjoyable and worth reading.
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Tellusm was a nice place to grow up.
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Lucky for some!
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