The Real Danger...Reality!

"This is a very ingenious story which takes a high fantasy locale but strips away all the typical fantasy derring-do. The theme of this story is simple, but quite elegant: "the real danger is not monsters, demons, or terrible curses, but the mundane reality of everyday existence, including your own mind and demons." The author creates a believable quasi-Medieval world and sets up tension that makes you expect a terrible fate to come. Yet the ending sidesteps this and offers its own 'monster' for the priest, our protagonist, to face. I think this is such a great idea that the author could do a lot more with. Right now, the style is very spare (though the ideas are great) and the lack of characterization makes it read more like a parable than a short story per se. I think the author should make more of a true story, with the characters' life, thoughts, interactions, so that when we come to the conclusion, it hits a bit harder, strikes a more profound note. The style, too, sometimes sounds too contemporary to jive completely with the location/time, though I think this could be tempered if we got more dialogue form the characters, which could impart a sense of local color. All this aside, the story has enormous potential and is so cleverly realized: and a good story, as we all know, leaves us wanting more. And I want a bit more from this one!"