Vea and Vahoc by A. M. Stickel

Cutting a Dark Lord Down to Size

In a two page neo-fairy tale, written as a submission to a writer's challenge for the July 2004 edition of Deep Magic, author Anne M. Stickel struck a resonance for me with a toy box. I was a bit worried that the competently written tale would lapse into cliche about two paragraphs before the toy box arrived. It did, also, cross my mind that the heroine's parents might not be as complacent as she was about their deaths, since however meaningless a substandard life might seem to someone with high expectations, it is a bit heartless to make presumptions concerning its value to the parties concerned. But "Vea and Vahoc" is mythic stuff, so I'll waive the human rights objection. Quibbles of that sort don't really belong in a myth. And it is all worthwhile once we get to the toy box. I thought, "Yes!". Anyone who wants to know what it's all about will have to go download the July 2004 edition (free!) of Deep Magic at http://www.deep-magic.net/Issues/July2004/index.shtml

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The Connection: Anne herself told me about Deep Magic, when she notified me of a review of my own novel (with Alison Sinclair), Throne Price, that also appears in the July 2004 edition.