Review of "Unyielding," short story by Shane Ward


Summary:
A battle for right, a battle for a child. One ship, two enforcers with a conflict of interest.

Review:
This story wasn't really a short story in concept.  Ward presents us with the intriguing but grandiose of a ship full of humans traveling to what will be the next Earth.  Because it takes hundreds of years the occupants have formed mini economies, caste systems and, naturally, must have strict controls on how many babies get born.

Interesting, right?  Is this a short story idea?  Ehhh....

There's just too much going on.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing when you have the luxury to add layers and layers of depth to a story.  Short stories don't have room for such luxuries.  The concept presented must be simple.

I don't dish this judgement out very often but: it needs to be way longer.  I wanted the time to really hate the bad guy.   I needed to fear him before he even attacked the hero's wife.  Not oh here's the bad guy and he's done bad stuff and now he's after the hero's wife.

So overall it's a good concept that needs to be explored more fully.

3/5 stars
Reviewed by Alain Gomez 

Buy this story on Amazon.

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