Author Topic: PC421: Hatyasin  (Read 3386 times)

Ocicat

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on: June 22, 2016, 06:23:34 PM
PodCastle 421: Hatyasin

by Rati Mehrotra

read by Mahvesh Murad


First published in Abyss & Apex, Issue 52: 4th Quarter 2014

Friday was the last good day. On Saturday the hunters came and by Tuesday Mira was gone, swallowed in the maw of the crowd fleeing Chandipur.

Mira my older sister, the normal one. I look up at the stars glittering in the sky and pray that she is safe.

Why did they come? Chandipur is as far as it gets from the heart of the New World. Perhaps the capital wants to stamp out the border communities, make sure that the taint of the old blood never spreads. The taint I’ve lived with all my life.

I used to think I had it bad before. But I swear if I could turn back time, I’d keep it Friday forever. We’d go to school, someone would trip me up in the hallway, and the others would laugh. I’d sit alone during class, as usual. Nobody would die.


Rated R for violence and hearts suddenly appearing where they shouldn’t be.


Rati Mehrotra is a Toronto-based speculative fiction writer whose short stories have appeared in AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review, Apex Magazine, Urban Fantasy Magazine, and many more. Her debut novel “Markswoman” is about an order of magical-knife-wielding lady assassins in a post-apocalyptic, alternative version of Asia. It will be published in early 2018 by Harper Voyager. You can follow Rati on Twitter @Rati_Mehrotra, and at her website http://ratiwrites.com/.

Mahvesh Murad is a reviewer, editor, rogue voice for hire and recovering radio show host from Karachi, Pakistan. She has written for Dawn’s Books & Authors, Tor.com, Strange Horizons and Pornokitsch.com, and is the editor of the Apex Book of World SF 4 (2015), co-editor of upcoming Jinnthology (2017). She hosts the weekly interview podcast Midnight in Karachi, published weekly on Tor.com.

Listen to this week’s PodCastle!
« Last Edit: July 12, 2016, 06:07:40 PM by Talia »



bounceswoosh

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Reply #1 on: June 29, 2016, 02:50:29 AM
I love Mahvesh Murad's voice! I first encountered it her in podcast, and it was a thrill to hear her narrate a story.

This story, wow. Harsh. Dark. Not much of a happy ending here for the protagonist, even though she managed to save her brother.

I didn't quite follow why letting the brother sleep allowed him not to be tormented by the old ones. I toyed with the idea that the Old Ones were actually a reference to Cthulu and brood, but I don't think that was the intent. Although that would be quite a mashup!




Devoted135

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Reply #2 on: July 12, 2016, 02:14:59 AM
Wow, what a story. I was fascinated by the "post-magic" society still living right on the border of the old world but trying to deny its existence. It didn't seem to be a happy world, but I'm not sure that giving the territory back to the old ones will be any better. They were certainly eager to torture her friend and quite disappointed when she ensured that didn't happen. Then again, she's not exactly a saint herself. More like a goddess of vengeance with a decently straight moral compass.



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Reply #3 on: August 16, 2016, 03:29:18 PM
I wish I had commented on this one when it was fresher to mind!  I'm glad she managed to save her brother in the end.