Review of "Ferryman" by Nigel Edwards

Summary:
"A mythology grew up around the Ferrymen, fostered by a mystique which they wrapped around themselves. Some thought them amoral servants of a ruling elite, sanctioned to undertake work beyond legitimate resolution; others with more fanciful imaginations – or who were more devout, depending on your point of view – believed them emissaries of Evil, with a capital E."

Could the Ferrymen become real in your lifetime? Should they? Read this thoughtful and disturbing near-future science fiction story and decide for yourself.



Review:
This was a fantastic short story.  "Well-written" doesn't even begin to describe Ferryman; it's engrossing.  The simple, clean style perfectly highlights our precise protagonist.  If this future Edwards presents to us does in fact become a reality, the character he describes is exactly the type of person who would become a Ferryman: highly competent with the hint of a god complex.


What's especially clever about this story is how the author presented different moral points of view.  Instead of throwing everything in your face, he creates side characters that each embody a certain moral position with regard to how people would feel about Ferrymen.  I don't want to give away too much, but suffice to say that all of the arguments for or against Ferrymen are presented with the mere presence of certain personality types and/or job descriptions.  This was certainly an impressive display of writing skill.

I highly recommend this story.  It's definitely one that will stay with you after reading it.

4.5/5 stars
Reviewed by Alain Gomez

Comments

  1. I don't know if it's outré to respond to critique, but I felt I should offer my thanks for your kind words, and hope that you will enjoy reviewing other samples of my work from time to time.

    Best Wishes,
    Nigel Edwards.

    ReplyDelete
  2. High praise Alain; I've read a few stories from White Hart Press but not this one. They've all been consistently good though, so definitely intrigued by this one now.

    p.s. hello Nigel!

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  3. You would like it, James. It goes in step with your futuristic government conspiracy stories =)

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  4. Just one minor comment, James, the publisher is Greyhart Press. :)

    p.s. hello James :)

    p.p.s. sorry not to have responded sooner but I've been very under the weather of late.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The actual publisher used seemed to be a bit of a grey area.

    HA!

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  6. Very droll, Alain! :)

    Bit of self-publicity coming up - Greyhart has recently released my GARRISON e-novelette for Kindle (& Co.). For a review copy just ask Tim Taylor at Greyhart and he'd be delighted to provide.

    Best Wishes.

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  7. A novelette, eh? It's a bit over my word count restrictions here for a review. But I found it on Amazon and it looked interesting. So I snagged a copy.

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  8. Hope you enjoy.

    Actually, I'd not heard the term novelette before Tim suggested it for The Cookie Tin. Did he invent it, do you think? Or have you come across it before?

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  9. The definitive source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count

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  10. Much obliged, Alain. Why didn't I think of doing the obvious? Doh! Must be the virus that's still hanging around in my head!
    Thanks :)

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