Kristine Kathryn Rusch. The Last Surviving Gondola Widow. (Clarkesworld 101)

clarkesworld101Online here to read and to listen to.

Excellent story from Rusch, a sort of alternate history/steampunk tale set on the shores of Lake Michigan. It’s mid-19th century and the civil war has gone slightly differently (my knowledge of the US civil war is fairly minimal so I may have missed some extra devil in the detail), and there’s low-level magic, and gondolas. What’s not to like?

A fiery hell has rained down on the windy city, and the story is told through the eyes of a woman, widowed not through the loss of her husband, but through her gondola, as there’s a strong, strong bond between the pilot and the gondola.

She’s a Pinkerton agent, and some evidence comes to light that sets up a dramatic denouement for the Governor’s wife. This would make a cracking movie. Angela Jolie for the widow, Gillian Anderson for the Governor’s wife. You heard it here first folks. I’ll get cracking on the screen treatment now.

More from this issue here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may also like these