Morning!

Today’s going to be a good day. Don’t you just love when you start the day feeling refreshed and positive? Let’s hope that feeling sticks around.

Anywho, while feeling this positivity wave, I read another short story titled Four Horsemen, at Their Leisure by Richard Parks.

This short story is another freebie from Tor.com that you can read freely here. I printed this one out among others because I obviously can’t get enough of short stories lately. That being said, I think I’ll start branching out to other sites that have free short stories, as I haven’t been overly impressed with the ones I’ve been reading.

Anywho, let’s get into this review!

Blurb

What’s a horseman of the Apocalypse to do when the Earth has been picked bare, scoured clean, and burned black? Perhaps a spot of…gardening?

The Review

I gave this short story three post-apocalyptic stars!

Based on the blurb, I picked this one up right away. Post apocalyptic theme? Four horsemen? And a little quirky humor? Sign me up!

The Four Horsemen have destroyed everything as they were ordered to by the Consensus, but now they roam the empty shell of the world unfulfilled. That is, until they discover life growing on Earth once more.

This short story started off great. I loved the four horsemen and how they interacted with each other. They each had their own little quirks and that was really enjoyable.

Also, the ending was really great and made me smile.

Unfortunately, the middle was where I had some issues. The reader gets an explanation of the Consensus, the Adversary, and other references to the hierarchy of power in Heaven/Hell/The Cosmos, whatever you want to call it, but it totally took me out of the story.

If this is a short story, why do I need such a confusing, in-depth conversation? I’m not daft, but I started getting confused with all the name drops and what they were trying to infer.

I honestly would’ve just preferred they stuck with the original train of thought and setting in the beginning and leave it at that.

Overall, this short story was entertaining, but left me wanting a lot more. But who knows, maybe this story is for you! Happy Reading!

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this short story review. I hope you enjoyed it!

Have you read this story? Are there other short stories you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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