Tagged: short story

Short Story: Boxed in a Curse by Luciana Cavallaro

Short Story: Boxed in a Curse by Luciana Cavallaro(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

She was created by the gods as a gift to humanity. Then there was the urn.

Pandora, the first woman on Earth, was endowed with many gifts: beauty, intelligence, domesticity, and curiosity. She was at once lover, sympathiser and nurturer. Zeus presented an urn as her wedding dowry. Neither she nor her husband, Epimethos knew what it contained inside, and Hermes, the Messenger, warned them never to open it.

So the story goes… according to Grandpa.

Two precocious children visit their grandfather and beg him to tell a story. It wasn’t ‘on a dark and stormy night’ or ‘once upon a time’ type of story either.

[Full disclosure: Luciana Cavallaro sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]

Unlike the other two stories about famous Greek women that I’ve read by Luciana Cavallaro, we don’t get to hear Pandora’s story from her own lips.  That’s why I was initially a little apprehensive about reading her newest short story, but I was worried over absolutely nothing.  Despite hearing a second hand account of her life, Pandora came across as yet another strong woman who was given the short end of the stick in later stories.

Although I’m an avid fan of Greek mythology and have been for many years, I actually learned a lot from Boxed in a Curse.  The Pandora myth was never very detailed and I love how Luciana Cavallaro researched for more details as well as added in her own believable ones.  Instead of accepting the ‘she was just really curious’ version of events, she delved deeper into the myth and peeled away the theme of ‘women are evil’ that’s found quite a bit in Greek myths.  No, Pandora is not evil or just curious.  She was a complex woman who really didn’t know how to act in a world full of men but was still intelligent and strong.

Told through the eyes of a grandfather telling his grandchildren the story, we’re really transported back to that ancient time when humanity was new.  It doesn’t really feel like we’re being told what’s happening, but rather it’s described very well and the narrator allows us to draw our own conclusions about the ‘moral’ of the story and about Pandora’s character.  Does all of the blame for humanity’s ills lie squarely at her feet?  Of course not!  I don’t want to give too much away, but after reading Boxed in a Curse you’ll definitely have more sympathy for the first woman.

I give this short story 5/5 stars.

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Short Story: The Curse of Troy by Luciana Cavallaro

The Curse of Troy by Luciana Cavallaro(Cover picture courtesy of Kobo Books.)

Enter a world where legend and reality blur. Queen Helen of Sparta, the most beautiful and desirable woman in the world is both renowned and condemned for prompting a war. Two great powers—the Achaeans and Trojans—fighting a bloody battle where thousands of men died. The grounds of Ilium steeped in their blood. Gone is the age where heroes tread the earth with their magnificence and god given gifts.

But did this all happen as we have been led to believe?

(Blurb excerpt courtesy of Luciana Cavallaro’s website.)

[Full disclosure: Luciana Cavallaro provided me with a free ebook copy of her short story in exchange for an honest review.]

This is my first ever short story review, so please bear with me.

However, this is definitely not the first short story I’ve ever read.  If I’m going to be honest, it’s probably one of the best I’ve read.  I enjoyed The Curse of Troy so much that I wish it had been longer, say novel-lenth.  Luciana Cavallaro’s approach to the famous legend of Troy was most definitely unique and it’s one that I’d like to see more of.

Told from the point of view of a young historian talking to the much older Helen after the events of the Trojan War, The Curse of Troy offers a much more sympathetic version of events.  I don’t want to give too much away, but have you ever considered that Helen was completely innocent of pretty much everything she was accused of?  This sounds quite incredulous, but I assure you that Luciana Cavallaro has packed enough information in this 30 page short story to make you see just such a possibility.

Even in such a limited format, the character of Helen came across very well.  Having Helen tell her version of events to our first-person narrator was an interesting approach and we were able to see her reflect upon her youth with an older, more mature perspective.  Her interaction with the unnamed young historian (our narrator) also revealed quite a bit of her character.  Make no mistake: this story is about Helen, not our mysterious narrator.  That doesn’t mean our narrator is necessarily one dimensional—he’s not—but it provides us with a fresh look at the (in)famous woman of legend.

I give this story 5/5 stars.

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*Only available as an ebook.

Characters

Have you ever wondered why your perfect plans are shattered? Why a seemingly perfect romance ended? Why good luck strikes at strange times? Why life seems like a bunch of meaningless chaos?

There is a very simple answer to all of these questions. We were created by an ancient race of aliens and are nothing but characters in their stories, created to alleviate their boredom.

As soon as they are old enough to write, they are given a computer software program and a manual with only the most basic rules of their writing universe. In order to create a new character, they must collaborate with other aliens to make sure two human parents give birth to a child. This child will be under their control from the moment it is born until the moment it dies.

You are always subject to the whims of your creator. Everything you say, everything you do is controlled by them. Usually, the aliens have jotted down things they want to happen during your lifetime. But some aliens detest this and make random decisions as to where your life will go. This is where chaos comes from.

Our world is relatively new, but the aliens have become bored with it. The best writers among them have declared that the Earth is a cliché, boring universe. They decided they want to write in a new, more exciting world, so they took a special vote. It was this vote that decided how our world will end.

“Why don’t we let a black hole swallow their planet?”

“Nah, we’ve done that already.”

“What if the Earth spontaneously combusts?”

“That’s way too cliché!”

“Okay, why don’t we knock their planet out of orbit and send it crashing into the sun?”

“That’s a stupid idea.”

“Fine. How about we give all their world leaders bad cases of paranoia and see what happens?”

“Sure. Why not?”

And so, our world will not end with a bang, but with slow decay. Our increasingly paranoid world leaders will declare war on each other and humanity will slowly die out. But, since the aliens lost all interest in us, we have gained something we never had before: free will. It is now up to us to decide our fates—and the fate of our planet.

***

Just as some background on the story, I want to say that it was inspired by David Eagleman’s Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives and was originally written to be read aloud.  So if you’re wondering why the language is so simplistic, there’s your answer.

Well, what did you think?  If you have criticism, feel free to say it.  I’m a book reviewer, after all; I wouldn’t be dishing out what I can’t take.  And if you have praise, that’s fine too I suppose.

Anyway, merry Christmas to those of you that celebrate it!  Now why are you still on the internet?  Go spend time with your families!