(Originally posted at christopherkellen.com on 2013-04-02)
Full Disclosure: M. Todd Gallowglas is a founding member of the Genre Underground, a friend and colleague. That hasn’t stopped me from reviewing his work before, and it won’t stop me now.
I’ve read several of Mr. Gallowglas’ works by this time, starting with his Tears of Rage sequence and moving on to his Halloween Jack stories and others. However, it wasn’t until I was recently reminded that he’s soon to be releasing a new entry following The Dragon Bone Flute that I remembered that I already had a copy, and it was in my Kindle Cloud Reader, waiting to be read.
As a genuine fan and regular reader of Mr. Gallowglas’ work, I know that he has a sense of humor (Halloween Jack) and a sense of drama (Tears of Rage) but until I picked up this novella (novelette?) I didn’t really quite have a grasp on his sense of wonder. This is a fairy tale with an edge, back like they used to have before Disney sanitized them and robbed them of their real impact. Elzibeth’s tale is short, poignant, and filled to brimming with emotion, music and a true sense of wonder.
Editorially speaking, I found the version of The Dragon Bone Flute that I read to be polished and free of errors. The writing was smooth and unblemished, drawing the reader into the story and not letting go until the conclusion.
I am very happy to give this book a full five stars, with no caveats or qualifications. The Dragon Bone Flute is a beautiful short tale of music, love, fantasy, loss and adventure that deserves a place at the top of any fantasy lover’s reading list.
Reviewed by Christopher Kellen 