Juelz4sure – An entire epic legend crammed into 300 words. There is so much to like that it hard to know where to begin – the actual legend itself, the way the storyteller sees the story as he tells it, the way the kids listen so raptly, the ribcage on the beach... it occurs to me it could all be a tale told by an old man, having no truth other than that which the children wish to hear, but it does not really matter, it has the feel of an old, old story and that is what makes it so special.
Bowler1 – I’m not sure how amusing it was meant to be, but there was something intrinsically honest and true in the end of the story. The feel of huge events in individuals lives, the things that really matter to them, the destruction of their space craft, their survival on a near barren, harsh world, building a community, surviving in the face of all things, giving rise to children who know next to nothing of their past is all dwarfed by one of the original survivors question. After giving so much for the cause is it any wonder that it is the first thing asked. Did we win the war?
BigJ – A well written poem, but what a grim one, with such a strong dark story at its heart. It has the feel of some dramatic tragedy, a man of violent urges made peaceful by the love of a good woman, but whose past can never truly be let go. There are always those that will see the monster that was, not the man that is and do not seem to realise what they might awaken in what they do. Of course it does not end well for our protagonist, so a tragedy, but also an epic romance, the woman whose love tamed him, claims him until the end, and it is not the failure that haunts him as he awaits him, but the love of the woman and peace.
