CSFF October Blog Tour -- Day Three of DKA

And so we come the end of the October Blog tour.

Once again, I went to Dragons, Knights, and Angels Magazine and read one of their current short stories. This time I chose Dragon...Knight...Angel by Genevieve Cunningham. It's listed as a student entry, which is something that I think is fantasitc. I've noticed when heading over to DKA in the past that they have student entries. It's wonderful that younger writers are being given the chance to shine.

On to the story itself. It was a great concept of a broken down knight going out to battle a dragon. But why is the dragon even there? I think Genevieve put together a great story and should be proud of herself.

Two bits of criticism, though. In some cases, I thought things got a little wordy. Those of you who have seen my unpolished writing will know that this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. If it can be said in five words, I tend to say it in twenty (or more). Maybe that's why I noticed it.

The other critique I have is that the story wrapped up a little too quickly. There was a bit of a deus ex machina at the end where everything was explained to a bewildered Reycott. If Reycott had made part of the cognitive journey himself (specifically, if he had tried to fight the dragon but found that he couldn't beat it), the sewing up of loose ends would have sat better with me.

But hey, it's easy to arm-chair quarterback, and I know that. Again, Genevieve Cunningham is another name I'm going to be watching out for.

Make sure you visit the rest of the blog tour participants:

Jim Black
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Frank Creed
Christina Deanne
Beth Goddard
Rebecca Grabill
Todd Michael Greene
Leathel Grody
Karen Hancock
Elliot Hanowski
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Joleen Howell
John Otte
Jason Joyner
Oliver King
Tina Kulesa
Kevin Lucia
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Cheryl Russell
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Chris Walley
Lost Genre Guild
Speculative Faith