Tornado's Siren

Tornado's Siren by Brooke Bolander
(From Strange Horizons/20th February 2012)
Reviewed by Jenny Barber

"Rhea is nine years old when she first meets the tornado that will fall in love with her."

As first lines go, that's a doozy and sets up a beautifully surreal story that has the tornado stalking our heroine, sending her valentines and crashing her wedding. Because what else would a lovesick tornado do? Naturally the course of tornado love doesn't run smooth and while Rhea's first instinct is to reject the tornado's advances, she experiences a shift in attitude as she grows older and discovers that a traditional life really isn't what she wants after all.

This is both fabulous fun and quite moving while effortlessly making you root for the unconventional couple. Somehow the tornado's actions are completely logical and Rhea makes for an appealing heroine who deals with the weirdness affecting her life in a believable manner. Excellent stuff.

Strange Horizons is available for free here and more about about Brooke Bolander can be found on her website here. Also, check out her story Her Words Like Hunting Vixens Spring on Lightspeed here.