Gray, Scott Fitzgerald: A Space Between (The Endlands) (2011)

A Space Between 2 — Cover design by (studio)Effigy, from an image by Jose A.S. Reyes.
The background to the main image is the cover art for A Prayer for Dead Kings and Other Tales
(in which the story first appeared), which is an illustration by Alex Tooth

I love it when I get such detailed information on the cover art. The knife is very appropriate to A Space Between.

Scott Fitzgerald is a demanding name to give your child. Talk about pressure. Fortunately Scott Fitzgerald Gray manages to live up to the expectations of his name.

A Space Between is a dark short story. Talk about dysfunctional family. Love, secrets, betrayal, ambition and murder are all part of the game.

Charan and Jalina make an interesting set of siblings. Their love/hate relationship is what drives A Space Between. Add to that the accidental death of their father and we have the recipe for an interesting tale.

I found myself liking Charan and Jalina. Their love and the murder are very much against societal mores, but society is a fluid thing shaped by its members. Their discovery of two magical artifacts changes their ability to see each other.

It was strange reading A Space Between. Gray’s writing was so beautiful I forgot to pay attention to what I was reading. I got caught up in the flow of the words. I have said this before and probably will again: There are some advantages to being within the autism spectrum. Because my “thing” is words I get the pleasure of finding myself lost in them. A Space Between was a word autists/aspergian dream.

For those of you who aren’t that lucky rest assured that the quality of Gray’s writing is high.

You can catch Scott Fitzgerald Gray at facebook / twitter / google.