Oh Alix. How can you pack so many feels in one short story, 5200 words? I think I need to have a long steady look at the ones around me I love, and feel my own heart beat, and maybe cry a little but mostly smile.

Merged review:

Oh Alix. How can you pack so many feels in one short story, 5200 words? I think I need to have a long steady look at the ones around me I love, and feel my own heart beat, and maybe cry a little but mostly smile. ( )

Whether it's a novel or a short story, Alix weaves words in one of the most poetic & emotional ways I've found. Mr. Death brought me to tears of sadness & joy. How one can put so much emotional energy in 5k words, I will never know. But I'm so thankful for every world she shares with us. ( )

Apex Magazine, #121 January 2021

So far i only read/listened to:

-- Mr. Death by Alix E. Harrow, narrated by Chris Lester - 4*
Offered here: https://apex-magazine.com/mr-death/
The audio narrator was perfect as this new-ish reaper.

hmmm what to say? One thing I'd say is avoid spoilers. The story goes some ways I didn't expect and the impacts may have been less if I was warned ahead of time.

Our MC is a reaper. He isn't fully dead because he has been given the job of helping people cross the river and "rejoin the spangled cosmos". Our reaper is struggling with a job shortly after we meet him. It shows the humanity left in him which isn't ideal for a reaper and it makes me nostalgic for HBO's DEAD LIKE ME series !!!


CW:
child (male toddler) death. I was worried when I started to realize what was happening, I wasn't sure I could handle it. But the author handled it well and I'm glad to have read the story!

Favorite: The Niddah by Elana Gomel ( )