Heads Will Roll
by Lish McBride
Illustration by Hannah Christenson
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I just discovered this short story through Tor. Just happened to spot an email and opened it up out of curiosity.
Whoa! I don’t think I even blinked while reading this.
Lena’s not your typical animal trainer. And when she and her unicorn partner, Steve, decide to enter a fight, it’s definitely not your typical fight.
Lena is the epitome of tough. She can hold her own with the best. Half human and half Valkyrie, she has much of the warrior women’s strengths.
Her partner, Steve, is a snow-white unicorn. You don’t see many of them around, and definitely not in the fighting arena.
The unicorn is a symbol of purity and usually has to be starved, beaten and driven insane in order to get them to fight.
That’s not the case with Steve. He’s a full partner with Lena and has a mind of his own. Unicorns choose their own names and I wouldn’t want to make fun of Steve. He’s 18 hands of snow-white fury.
It’s a good thing Lena and Steve speak telepathically, otherwise the job they’re here to do would be near impossible.
This short fiction blew me away. You get to meet so many cool creatures. There are nemean lions, harpies, hags, manticores, wepawets and waheela’s to name a few.
I’m partial to the Waheela. Kind of a cross between a wolf and a polar bear.
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I’m in awe of Lena. She’s smart, tough, and funny, and adores Steve. She also swings a mean blade.
Steve is wise, sarcastic, and always has Lena’s back. They make a dynamic team. Woe to the creature that has to fight them.
There are several other characters I became fond of, but I can’t tell you about them without spoiling your reading pleasure.
I’m amazed at how much I got out of this short work of fiction. Lish McBride added all of the right ingredients and created a short tale that hit me with the impact of a full novel.
I hope she continues with these characters. I really do.
For now, I’m going to start reading her Necromancer series. They look really good, and if her writing stays true to form, I’m sure I’ll love them too!
About Lish McBride
Lish McBride was raised by wolves in the Pacific Northwest. It rains a lot there, but she likes it anyway. She spent three years away while she got her MFA in fiction from the University of New Orleans, and she liked that too, although the hurricane did leave much of her stuff underwater. Her main goal in going to college was to become a writer so she could wear pajamas pretty much all the time. She enjoys reading, movies, comics, and preparing herself for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Currently, Lish lives happily in Seattle where the weather never actually tries to kill you, with her family, two cats, and one very put-upon Chihuahua. She is slowly building her garden gnome army.
Books by Lish McBride. Click on covers to purchase.
Have A Merry Christmas
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- Heads Will Roll (tor.com)
- Review of “Necromancing The Stone” by Lish McBride (rhapsodyinbooks.wordpress.com)
- Coming of age as a necromancer (lizditz.typepad.com)
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