Thursday 17 May 2012

Review: Christine Sutton's 'The Walker', a fun short story and a culinary meditation on the taste of souls

Christine Sutton's 'The Walker', a story about a soul eater, pulls off a neat trick with a refreshing short tale that manages to zip from the present to the 1880s, ancient Egypt,  and back, while incorporating a brief meditation on the culinary drawbacks of corrupted souls in just 8 pages.

In a world of incessant zombies and vampires seeking our flesh and blood, it is heartening to know that there is something else out there that wants to devour us in a different way. Although the soul eater is not a new trope, it is not overexposed, so this story comes as a welcome diversion.


In fact it is so welcome that it leads to the only possible criticism, that there is not enough of it, and just 8 pages leaves the reader wanting for more. Is there any chance of a second helping in the form of a novella or a novel built around the wicked protagonist and his experiences?

As it stands now, it is short enough to be an excellent bedtime story for those who enjoy their nightmares. I give it four out of five stars, because unlike the patient protagonist or humble Oliver Twist, I am petulantly greedy.

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