Review of
Deputy’s Apprentice
by Eric Oppen
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Liked Deputy’s Apprentice better than Dispatch Riders.
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Deputy's Apprentice is a likeable short story.
Another part of North Ameirca's live after the Change.
It gives a feeling of being part of a longer story and it was shortened.
What I found inconsistent was the scene with the Vaki kids.
Selene has been send to get the horses while Nick is talking with Jenny Ross.
When Nick looks where Selene is she is just a block away?
Forgetting time in a conversation is in my opinion plus 15 minutes.
Does walking a block take that long?
The end of the story is the investigation of the burning wagons and the ambush Nick walks into.
Rather stupid if you have support (vaki and Selene) with you.
Knowing the little girl was recently hurt Nick should have been more careful investigating the burning wagons.
A rewrite with elaboration upon these events and including more background about the development of the area and we can have something like Kin Bonds?
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In Deputy’s Apprentice, Nick Cleveland, a Farmer of Iowa, with mostly non-arable land, fights the remnants of the population that tries to enter Iowa. His apprentice, a girl named Selene, is an orphan being brought up by his wife and he. Melinda doesn't make an apperance in this piece. Selene proves her worth to Nick.
We get a rare glimpse of another area where the change has hit and how people are adapting to their circumstances.
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