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"Death Row 2" by Waldo (transgender drama) 10, 10, 9
"Death Row 2" by Waldo (MelLin6695@aol.com). {transgender drama}. Guest review by SandMan (sandman@bitsmart.com). If I had not woken up so early Saturday morning, if it had not been raining, precluding my morning jog, I doubt I would have read "Death Row ][" of my own accord. I was flipping through the new stories, one by one, rejecting each for one reason or another. Then I hit chapter one of this nine chapter, 236K novella. By the end of the first paragraph, I was hooked. Six hours later I was sitting down to write a review. John Augustus is a Mafia Don, biding his time on death row. He's a feisty fellow though, and isn't going to go down without a fight. Using his connections he extorts the services of a Chinese magician who can see to it that John exchanges souls with another person -- specifically a woman, the rules of magic can be uncomfortable that way. John by nature is a suspicious man so his cell-mate is the first person to escape this way. Thus begins a rather intriguing plot. How this all fits into "Death Row I" I can't say having never read the original. That I was able to leap right into the story is a tribute to the author's talents. If the two had not been part of the title, never would have guessed there had been an earlier story. The plot is complex though immanently readable, with many sub-plots being finely woven into a greater whole. Given the size, the complexity, and the subject matter it's easy to see how the whole thing could simply fall apart. But it doesn't. From the first paragraph to the very last, the author deftly holds the reader's attention. There is only one problem with the story. As I was reading chapter 8, I began to get the sinking feeling that the author was going to suddenly tie up all these loose ends in the last chapter. As I was reading chapter 9, the last chapter, I began to fear the author would attempt to wrap everything up in one last paragraph. When I got to the last paragraph, I was devastated to learn that everything would be resolved in "Death Row III." The author explained his rational at the end, yet I believe the audience (especially me) would have been better served if he had not produced a cliffhanger -- I would have been much happier reading an eighteen chapter story than a nine chapter cliffhanger. No doubt when "Death Row III" comes out, I will revisit Eli's archive, reread "Death Row II" and then find out what happens to these interesting people. Scoring an unfinished story is a bit difficult. Athena is easy; the technical quality is as good as anything you'll ever see on Usenet or in professional print. Venus is trickier because it's unfinished. The plot so far has been amazingly rich, the sex interesting -- detailed at times, tantalizingly vague at others. I believe the author has the ability to fulfill his promise in completing the story so I'll allow some leeway in my score. In appeal to reviewer I'm knocking off a lone point because the story is a cliffhanger and I don't want to have to wait to find out how it all ends -- I get enough of that from Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" epic. Whether you like transgender or not, I would urge you to take a look at this story. The gender changes are not dwelled on elaborately and no doubt most readers will be able to ignore the moral issues this raises. "Death Row ][" is as well written and as interesting as anything you'll find in your local book store. Athena (technical quality): 10-- Perfect Venus (plot & character): 10-- Very, very interesting story. Sandman(appeal to reviewer): 9-- Very impressed. |