Title: Mouse and Owl: A Novellette

Author: Bracken MacLeod

Release Date: May 22, 2018

As the news of COVID-19 has spread, a number of authors have offered up some of their back catalogs as free ebooks to help calm some stress and allow people to relax and enjoy some books without depleting their bank.

MacLeod offered up a couple, ‘Mouse and Owl’ being one of them. I snagged it and figured I’d read it ASAP and get a review out in the hopes that more folks snag this and then grab some of his fantastic releases. I have ‘Stranded’ by him as well and can’t wait to start that.

What I liked: This was fantasy-horror done right. We follow Nergui as she watches her husband pay for a crime. It’s short and brutal but one of the best kill scenes I’ve read in some time, a two paragraph death that would take RR Martin 200 pages to write. The story is engaging and drew me in immediately. The ending: WOW. Just a stunning finale that is both heart wrenching but also painted a vivid picture.

What I didn’t like: Fantasy based stories can often be epic-length reads, and with this being a single sitting read (think it took me 35 minutes) I had some questions about some of the small details MacLeod had added in, but nothing too major.

Why you should buy it: seeing as its free, should be a no brainer, but really, this is an amazing novelette that should leap frog you into grabbing more MacLeod work. I really can’t wait to start ‘Stranded’ now, so hoping to get to it this month!

5/5