R is for Remembrance In Stone

"Remembrance In Stone" by Amanda C. Davis is a very elegant fantasy flash fic.  It has a literary-bent, but it does its fantasy genre justice at the same time.  I would have liked the prose to have been a little lighter, less stiff, yet it does well enough as it is.

I'd consider the POV of this story to be 3rd-narrative, which puts a little distance between the protagonist and the reader.  Still, Badra, the protagonist, comes across with a decent level of competence and sympathy and is certainly engaging.  The other character in the story, Gera, serves as the other half of a mentor-student foil.  She is a solid character for the little we see of her.  Together, the story works well from a character perspective.

This is an example of the decent portion of flash fics in which events occur, but they don't occur as a typical plot arc.  I've learned to respect them, although I prefer an arc.  The elegance of this story is preserved by this specialized plot.  I suppose you could say that there is some usual plot, it's just tucked away in a flash-back.  Under M.I.C.E. Quotient this is a character story, so its main purpose is to show Badra's character arc rather than the plot arc.  My favorite stories do both at the same time; however, this story works well as a character story, despite its 3rd-narrative POV.  (Actually, its kind of on the line between narrative and limited.  It's tough to make a rightful judgement.)

I like the setting of this story.  The physical location is basic, as it probably should be for this story.  The magic system, while not very developed, is done well.  It has plenty of "cool factor."

If you like fantasy, especially fantasy with semi-flowery (yet definitely not purple) wording, I'd definitely recommend you read this story.  It'll take you less than five minutes to read.