Thanks to Lynda E. Rucker, I just saw this comment from the very kind M. R. Cosby about “The Navigator”, one of my Sourdough and Other Stories tales:
The Navigator, by Angela Slatter
In her short story collection Sourdough and Other Stories, Angela Slatter has created a multi-faceted world of fairy tale, allegory and exquisitely powerful horror. The Navigator, a poignant tale, features the tense relationship between Windeyer, a part-avian, part-human creature, and the protagonist. Betrayal from the past has caused Windeyer to have been cruelly clipped of his wings, and a simmering atmosphere of resentment propels the tale. Bitter memories are never far from the surface, and love is combined with retribution in its tragic yet poetical ending. To me, this author has the unique ability to move a story to its conclusion, yet simultaneously to transfix the reader in a moment of time; with all that entails. Magical.