12 September 2008

The Art of the Slow Reveal

Check out Elizabeth Bear's new story over at Tor. It's a great story for a number of reasons, one of which is how she handles the slow reveal. I love fantasy stories where the fantasy (or science fiction element) isn't immediately obvious, but then you realize it was there from almost the very beginning. This story, in fact, has two reveals that work together really well. Bear also captures the voice and vocabulary of the music industry, making the story ring true. It's so different from her Nebula award-winning Tideline, proving she's one of the most versatile authors in genre fiction right now. What do you think of the story? I'd love to see your comments.

p.s. One more plug for Bear. I know from personal experience that she's very down to earth. She was kind enough to provide encouragement and constructive criticism on a story I submitted to Ideomancer.

1 comment:

ssas said...

Beautiful, brilliant story. What carries the reader to the reveal, I think, is the voice, the intriguing world, and her obvious pain and bitterness (we always want our MCs to get past that).

It makes me think on voice, and fitting it to the character. Her snarky tone and bitterness just suited the character and her situation so well.