The novella is a retelling of a reasonably well-known fairytale murder ballad, so alert readers may anticipate some of the story beats. There are two sisters, and a suitor, and a warning from beyond via music. But even if a reader has an idea of where the story is going, there are bends in this river of a plot.
It’s not a long collection, containing about 40 poems (some just a few lines, many several e-pages long), a foreword, a list of content warnings/triggers, a fascinating multi-page afterword, and an appendix that lists which fairy tales inspired which poems. I don’t necessarily recommend trying to read all the poems in one go, since that may blunt their edges and impacts, but rather reading a few per day, taking time to savor them.
Coyote Run is a standalone work. However, Saintcrow’s website calls it “the first Amazing Tale of Antifascist Action,” so I am hopeful that more stories will follow in this setting, especially if this novella does well, which it certainly deserves!
Dae does a great job of writing in Valya’s voice (first person, past tense) so that it’s easy to sympathize with the protagonist, without necessarily agreeing with her choices. She clearly cares deeply for “baby-girl” and is trying hard to make good plans and be a good mother-to-be; however, she’s had a hard life…
Even though I have a heavy reading schedule of new books for Skiffy and Fanty, it was absolutely worth the time to go back and read Soulstar.
This book isn’t for everyone, with its weird horror, violence of various kinds, a problematic main character, and mysteries that never really get resolved; however, it absolutely kept me interested and engaged, and presented a lot of ideas to consider.
