“Cygnet’s Shadow”
ON SPEC #80, Spring 2010. (fantasy short story)
“I’m in a predatory mood tonight.”
Reviews
Tony Pi was a 2009 finalist for the John W. Campbell Award For Best New Writer so I suppose a good story from him is no surprise. ‘Cygnet’s Shadow’ is about a princess and her bodyguard and her cousin who is secretly training her in combat. All of them can turn into swans at will. The premise sounds daft and the thing is confusing at the start but it was excellent. Probably the best story in this issue and that’s against some pretty good competition. — Eamonn Murphy, SF Crowsnest
I always enjoy Tony Pi’s stories…he has been widely published and a lot of his work can be found online. This is an exciting adventure tale with meticulous world building (probably what I most enjoy about his stories is how he imagines cultures and makes them real and dynamic). Good characters too round out this strong story. — Brent Knowles
Stories I quite liked this year included…Tony Pi’s “Cygnet’s Shadow” (Spring), in which a princess’s bodyguard is trapped between her duty to her charge, and the princess’s desire for more freedom. — Rich Horton, 2010 Yearly Summaries
Tony Pi, F&SF Writer 