First, allow me to comment on the cover. It's what made me purchase this novella, that and I recently read Good Girls by Glen Hirshberg which I thoroughly enjoyed. Kudos to Greg Ruth who really captured the essence of the author's work with his art.

Freedom is Space for the Spirit is far from horror, more fantasy than anything, but it is definitely one of my favorite reads so far this year.

After receiving a telegram, calling him back to Russia, Thomas returns to the place of his youth, a place of so many memories, so many friends left behind. "The names chimed in Thomas like bells rung for the dead, even though he had no reason to think any of them had died. They just stopped being who they were, same as he had. Grown up, given in, gotten married, gotten tired, gotten sane."

Called back to St Petersburg by his former friend and mentor, what Thomas finds is far from anything he expected. Free bears. free as in roaming the streets, riding on buses, left to wander, they had become a part of the landscape. What does it all mean? For me, it means an extremely enjoyable read.

Freedom is Space for the Spirit is currently available as an e-book from Tor Books.

Recommended.

Glen Hirshberg has won three International Horror Guild Awards (including two for Outstanding Collection), and his novella, The Janus Tree, won the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award in 2008. He also has been a Bram Stoker Award finalist and a five-time World Fantasy Award finalist. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, son, daughter, and cats. ( )