Beth Madden

Sweet Story, Death with Depth

Lovely concept, putting such mighty beings in such a simple, comfortable situation as having tea. I'm a bit of a fan of Death - I'm glad this story gives him the depth he deserves. A little more work on punctuation might have helped with the flow, but besides that, the story read quite cleanly. A sweet little read that I very much enjoyed.

Made Me Laugh, Dry and Clever

Loved the dry, matter-of-fact narrative, that the protagonist's situation seemed so unexciting to him, just another day at work - terror, alien bugs and all. Giggled at the Douglas Adams reference, enjoyed the blunt yet somehow tender description of humans, and laughed at the name bestowed on the afore-mentioned alien bugs. Hints at a much wider universe and history, but leaves the reader satisfied, no need to go into more detail. The story ended a bit abruptly for my tastes - perhaps a little more might have been included earlier to work up to this ending. Nevertheless, it ties up the story with more amazingly unlikely mundaneness. A clever story, animated and well-written.

Eerie and Refreshing

This story had me from the beginning, an eerie foreshadowing of where excessive surveillance, security, and social networking might one day land us. The writing was clean and engaging, the protagonist relatable, and the all-powerful system unexpectedly accommodating, which I found a refreshing twist. I imagine much, much more could be done with this concept - solid and a joy to read.

A Brief, Beautiful Story

An example of truly lovely writing. Descriptions of the harsh environment are beautiful without being excessive and the brief, touching story flows well, invoking feelings of sympathy and sad curiosity - what has happened to this world, and what is this lonely survivor's quest?