Mur Lafferty never fails to surprise me.  Many of you know that I think she’s an absolutely amazing podcaster/novelist, and I think a large part of that is because she never fails to surprise me.  Her short story for Obsidian does just that.

A Rose by Any Other Name is about 15 year old Wolfgang Rose, a young woman enchanted with secret societies who suddenly finds out she’s been part of one all her life.  The story reminds me of Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game with Mur’s unique spin on it, dropping the story right into the blackout and proceeding with limited caution.

Telling you anything else is spoiling the story, which you all know I refuse to do.  While not one of my favorite pieces of work from Mur, that doesn’t mean I disliked it.  It’s different and thoroughly enjoyable with some elements reminding me of Daniel’s personal quests in the Heaven Saga.

Told in the first person perspective, A Rose by Any Other Name is easy to follow without losing the insight provided by Rose.  There are a lot of people who cannot master first person POV but Mur pulls it off with excellence in this tale.

The story clocks in at about 35 minutes and it’s certainly worth every one of them.  Like all the Obsidian stories, you can listen to this without having heard the original 7th Son, and if you’re already a fan of Mur’s then I suggest you take a listen as soon as you can.

Rating:

Oh and JC, good luck with the Mario Kart training.