Flametoad

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I opened Queen of Crows. I knew that the ebook consisted of a short story and some bonus content, and that the story had something to do with Native Americans… but that’s about it. I was given a copy to review, so for those of you keeping score–I didn’t have to pay for this book. Even so, with so little knowledge of what I was getting myself into, I opened the book with a certain amount of trepidation. On one hand, I knew the author– Monica Valentinelli–was more than capable of spinning a good yarn, but on the other hand I dreaded finding myself in yet another romanticized take on Native American culture wallowing in “white guilt” for the deeds of past generations.

I’m pleased to say that Monica fully delivers another great tale while altogether avoiding the pitfalls I’d feared.

As a “book”, the Queen of Crows is an interest experiment in written content. The version I read was an e-book, focused first and foremost around a short story of the same title. (More on that in a little bit.) After the story (14 pages), the book contains what one would call “bonus material” if this were a DVD. An author’s introduction immediately follows the story, and describes where the idea for the story originated and how it evolved into the version in the book. After that is a character profile, a description of the setting and how relates to a larger work called the Violet War,  and finally a copy of the original version of the story before it was reworked into the Queen of Crows.

Not only did I enjoy the story (It’s coming; I promise. Keep reading), but I’m intrigued by what the extra content brings to the book as a whole and what it could lead to in the future. For instance, while there’s nothing particularly new about author introductions, imagine if future ebooks allow authors to overlay their annotations right over the text (in a separate layer than can be made visible or invisible, of course) like the pop-up trivia and other bonus material found on DVDs today. An author could note how a particular character or scene was developed right in the scene as we’re reading it. The character bio presents another interesting addition. It definitely gives readers greater insight into the larger world that we’re only glimpsing through the window of Queen of Crows. The extent of its utility will depend greatly on the reader. Some might skim through it as merely additional trivia, others might see it as a teaser for things to come, or while still others (I’m talking to you, RPG players) might read it with the intent to mine for ideas. The final bit of extra content, was the original version of the story. It takes a brave author to pull back the curtain and demonstrate how sausage is made (so to speak). Having read the final (much different) original story, some readers will be fascinated to read the original and see how much has changed, while others will undoubtedly wonder why they’d be expected to read anything other than the final, most polished version. In other words, if you’re the kind of person who eagerly consumes all the bonus content on a DVD then you’re likely to enjoy this book. If not, you’ll still enjoy the short story but you’ll likely skim over the extra content.

On to the story. Queen of Crows is a supernatural fantasy set in a pseudo-Native American past. It employs Native American shamanistic trappings to tell a story that’s equal parts horror and tragedy with overtones of myth thrown in for good measure. In it the protagonist, a grandfatherly shaman named Tse, slowly spirals in on his destiny as a harbinger of… something. Is it a force of good or evil, or does it defy those labels in the same manner as a thunderstorm? I was a little thrown off by a perspective switch more than halfway through the story, but it didn’t keep me from enjoying the tale. This 14 page story reads like the catalyst or prequel for the larger novel to come, but whether we’ll ever get a chance to read that novel remains to be seen. Here’s hoping.

If you’re interested in Queen of Crows, it’s available as an ebook (watermarked PDF) at DriveThruHorror.com for only $4.99.