Review: Bestiary Volume #1 (Take 1)

Reviewed by Fehu
Cleanly Wrong (Bestiary #1) by Mell Eight
Less Than 3 Press
Short Story
4.5 Pants Off

Blurb:
Rung is a half-breed orphan brownie who can't do anything right, much to the worry of his cleanliness teachers. When he runs away, Rung decides that he can resist the need to clean. Only, there is that one office that so desperately needs help...






Review:
My favourite story in the bundle.

Rung is very sweet and is bullied by his peers and teachers. After a particular bad day, one of the other students tells him, that since he is such an embarrassment as a brownie, the Orphanage and the Council, will probably kill him and helps Rung flee the Orphanage. At the same time Rung heard of the human Prince decree, that no brownie is to enter the palace, the prince thanked all that tried to clean up his rooms and this way dismissed them. (Thanking a brownie, if done by his employer is equal to dismissal.)  Therefore Rung decides to live in the palace, where no one of his kind will find him, since they are not allowed there. Of course a brownie cannot go against his nature and so he starts doing small things in the place where he lives, but not in the usual brownie way, he sorts things not alphabetically but in an order that is most suited for the needs of the user. A big draw for him is the messy room, with stacks of papers, clothes, jewellery lying about, which turns to be the prince's rooms. Rung helps uncover a plot and actually proves that conforming to the old ways isn't always the best.

Engaging story about Rung finding a place for himself and defying the brownies tradition in doing things. In doing so he also manages to catch the eye of the prince. The story is well written, with lovable characters, an interesting story, which flows nicely. It's sweet, but the romance is very light and takes place towards the very end, the fantasy story in itself is interesting enough.

4.5 Pants Off

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The Hunt of the Cold Moon (Bestiary #1) by Beth Wirth
Less Than 3 Press
Short Story
4 Pants Off

Blurb:
Home for winter break, Terry is reluctantly caught up in an old tradition, a hunt for a forest spirit that he has never understood. When he unexpectedly wins the hunt and finds himself bound to the spirit, he has no idea what to do with it. The advice he is given, however, is dubious at best and if he does not act soon his father will take matters into his own hands …







Review:
Terry is a student but on a visit home, to his parents farm, he is offered to take the first shot in a hunt, for something very special - a forest spirit. While not believing that he has an actual shot at catching the spirit, Terry manages to do exactly that, to his shock and to the crowning delight of his father, who always wanted to have the spirit, after his own brother caught one.

Isi, the spirit turns out to be more than Terry ever expected and he learns some things about his father and his family, that have him trying to save Isi, even at the expense of his own well being. From the start there was an air of threat and expectations and it all culminated in Terry finding out the truth, that the spirit can grant a wish and that his father intends to use Terry to get this wish.

Another well written story but this was darker, than the previous one. The father looming in the iron stall over Isi, was very creepy, learning what the other hunters did with their catch, was not exactly encouraging, as to Isis fate, since most of the hunters treated the spirits like animals. Alex, Terry's younger brother was an interesting character, but since the story was short, he and his story wasn't explained, like the circumstances, he got injured. Also Terry's friends came out of nowhere, at least that's how it felt for me. At the beginning there was some mentioning of him needing a new place to stay but his life in the city sounded rather lonely, also a reason he reached out to his brother. Then at the end it turns out his friends are his family? That surprised me, since he considered staying at his fathers farm and thought that there was nothing holding him back in the city. If he had such close friends, why didn't he take them into consideration?

4 Pants Off