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gabrielavmarques's review
4.0
This doesn't feel like a short story, that is how enthralling, well-written and imaginative it is.
Highly recommend it!
Highly recommend it!
themarquessmagpie's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
quynh23's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
directorpurry's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
guillaume_rho's review
5.0
What a strange, weird and intriguing short story - in the best way possible! The magic was fascinating and well-developed for so few pages, but I would also love to read more about it! The characters were interesting and funny.
leelah's review
3.0
Hmm, original and gritty, but somehow surprisingly tame for Hurley.
She pulled my favorite trick from [b:God's War|9359818|God's War (Bel Dame Apocrypha #1)|Kameron Hurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303144535s/9359818.jpg|14243275], though : intriguing opening sentence.
"Bodies are only beautiful when they aren’t yours."
bookfessional's review
4.0
Reviewed by: Rabid Reads
Nev is a body mercenary, a kind of necromancer who actually inhabits the bodies he reanimates. And he doesn't just reanimate them, he truly brings them back to life. The body. Not the (spirit of the) deceased. And he seems to revive them into better shape than they had ever been in their original incarnation.
Normally I would hate this kind of story, b/c while I hate all Dead Things, this type of scenario is what I hate the most of all the Dead Things.
BUT.
This was the second time I'd read ELEPHANTS AND CORPSES, and my love for it remains unchanged.
We don't know how old Nev is, b/c as long as there are corpses nearby, a body merc will never die, but we know that he's significantly older than his fifty-one-year-old body manager, Tera.
You: What's a body manager? o.O
Me: I had the exact same thought.
Body mercs apparently keep a stable of corpses, both for versatility (they are mercs after all) and for self-preservation. A body manager . . . helps maintain the collection. I think.
It's a twenty-five page story, there's only so much world-building, etc.
But more importantly, they also help their merc retain their humanity.
When all your human connections are long dead, and you primarily deal in death, you can become . . . detached.
Tera keeps Nev from becoming some kind of sociopath alien thing.
And Hurley conceys all of this, while dropping you into the middle of a crisis, and punching you right in the FEELS several times over. It took a page or two to adjust to the grossness of the concept, but the gross was quickly overwhelmed by the urgency that then somehow managed to spiral into heart-clinching introspection on what it means to be alive.
All in a few short pages. *tips hat*
You can read it for FREE here:
http://www.tor.com/2015/05/13/elephants-and-corpses-kameron-hurley/
Nev is a body mercenary, a kind of necromancer who actually inhabits the bodies he reanimates. And he doesn't just reanimate them, he truly brings them back to life. The body. Not the (spirit of the) deceased. And he seems to revive them into better shape than they had ever been in their original incarnation.
Normally I would hate this kind of story, b/c while I hate all Dead Things, this type of scenario is what I hate the most of all the Dead Things.
BUT.
This was the second time I'd read ELEPHANTS AND CORPSES, and my love for it remains unchanged.
We don't know how old Nev is, b/c as long as there are corpses nearby, a body merc will never die, but we know that he's significantly older than his fifty-one-year-old body manager, Tera.
You: What's a body manager? o.O
Me: I had the exact same thought.
Body mercs apparently keep a stable of corpses, both for versatility (they are mercs after all) and for self-preservation. A body manager . . . helps maintain the collection. I think.
It's a twenty-five page story, there's only so much world-building, etc.
But more importantly, they also help their merc retain their humanity.
When all your human connections are long dead, and you primarily deal in death, you can become . . . detached.
Tera keeps Nev from becoming some kind of sociopath alien thing.
And Hurley conceys all of this, while dropping you into the middle of a crisis, and punching you right in the FEELS several times over. It took a page or two to adjust to the grossness of the concept, but the gross was quickly overwhelmed by the urgency that then somehow managed to spiral into heart-clinching introspection on what it means to be alive.
All in a few short pages. *tips hat*
You can read it for FREE here:
http://www.tor.com/2015/05/13/elephants-and-corpses-kameron-hurley/
classick's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
rivensbane's review
4.0
“I don’t care much for people,” Nev said. “That was your mistake. You thought I’d care about the bodies, or Tera, or her sister, or any of the rest. I don’t. I’m doing this for my fucking elephant.”
I really, really enjoyed this. Definitely want to see more of this world because the little snippets revealed in this short story have me hooked!
This short story is available on tor.com, so I'd highly recommend you pop on over and give it a read! : )
I really, really enjoyed this. Definitely want to see more of this world because the little snippets revealed in this short story have me hooked!
This short story is available on tor.com, so I'd highly recommend you pop on over and give it a read! : )