Book Log 13/2011 - Sally Prue: Cold Tom

[jacey]

28/03/11
Sally Prue: Cold Tom

What a delight this slim book is. I'm a sucker for Tam Lin stories, but this is a completely original take on the tale from the point of view of Tom, a child of the Tribe that lives on the common, elves or fairy folk, strange cold creatures that eat their meat raw and have no ties of kinship and no concept of love or nurturing their young.  Tom isn't like the other members of the tribe, he's clumsy and heavy and he's losing his hearing and he doesn't see as well as he used to. He's becoming a danger to them and must be killed. Driven out by fear Tom stumbles into the demon city where hot, smelly, lumpen demons (humans) enslave each other with emotional bonds as real as choking vines

This is a lyrical tale, bittersweet and beautifully told, of what happens to Tom amongst the demons when he is enslaved against his will. To say much more would be to give the game away. Read it for yourself.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

That sounds like exactly my kind of thing.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you'll love it. The writing has that same spare elegance that characterises your own prose. Deceptively simple, but every word counts. I was just blown away!