Beauty and His Beast

This was exactly what I needed today! A surprisingly sweet offering from Bey Deckard, this is a retelling of the classic tale. With a twist. And the coup de gras is the pitch perfect narration Michael Ferraiuolo.

It takes place in a post-Earth future where, where despite technological advancements, everyday struggles continue unabated. Juniper Bo's (love that name) family has fallen on hard times. In order to help he embarks, immigrant style, to work on a colony/planet, but things go awry and he's picked up 17 years later, while still in a stasis pod, by a trading ship on the outskirts of the Empire. I won't get too further into the plot as it adheres pretty closely to the well known story. In fact one of the things I loved about it is how it keeps the beats of the original without any “look at me” moments.

The other tickle-me-pink elements are the characters of S1N and VAL, who almost deserve their own short story. The way Marrex is described, with his red & black fur, made me want a Beast of my own. I also loved Juniper. He's no wallflower, he's unabashedly sexual, and has his quirks a foibles. Perfect.

I would look forward to some future stories with these characters. It would not be boring.