Soh Kam Yung reviewed The Red Mother by Elizabeth Bear
Auga, a wandering sorcerer, follows his brother's fate-thread into the village of Ormsfjoll, where he …
When the way to finding your brother goes through a volcano...
3 stars
Set in Iceland, the story leads a male witch on a trail to find his brother to inform him that he has been pardoned for a crime which got him exiled. But he finds the trail leads to a farm which tells him he has to deal with a volcano and obtain an elixir from it before he can talk to his brother.
An interesting story that weaves together magic, compassion for a lame, potentially sacrificial horse and the telling of riddles.