The Short Fiction Snapshot column in Strange Horizons magazine (a fellow 2012 Hugo finalist for Best Semiprozine) this week takes an in-depth look at “Boat in Shadows, Crossing” by Tori Truslow, from BCS #113 and Podcast BCS 100: Boat in Shadows, Crossing.

Reviewer Abigail Nussbaum analyzes and discusses elements such as the genre reader being dumped into unfamiliar settings and societies, the way Truslow uses the different narratorial voices of the various sections of the story to comment on the gender situation and identity of the main character, how the language of the story is a key element in its world-building, and how all of these and the characters’ encounters work to build the theme that she felt in the story.

SH‘s Short Fiction Snapshot column routinely provides such thorough and well thought-out discussion, beyond the brief or casual comments in regular reviews. It’s well worth a read, especially for fans of “Boat in Shadows, Crossing”, and even for fans of literary fantasy in general.