Thursday, December 15, 2022

The Red Mother, by Elizabeth Bear

The Red Mother is a very fun character study.  Our protagonist, Auga Augasson, is a rogue--a sorcerer, a Viking (used as a verb here) and generally a guy out for a good time.  He's on a mission for kin duty--to find his brother and tell him he's been cleared of a manslaughter charge.  He ends up having to contest with a dragon to bring his brother back from death (caused by that dragon) and save a village.  Which might not really be worth saving.  

Auga and the dragon have some good if a little predictable dialog, though the situation was pretty original to me.  This is a fine piece of writing that, given what else was nominated, perhaps should have been more of a contender.


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