A short story by Jeff Lemire

NOTE: I received a free preliminary, and likely unedited copy of this book from Netgalley for the purposes of providing an honest, unbiased review of the material. Thank you to all involved.

Life in the Trench is harsh but simple—until a young girl braves an unknown path in a bracing coming-of-age short story by the New York Times bestselling author of Sweet Tooth and the Gideon Falls comics. Born into a small, sheltered community on a hostile ice planet, Milliken was raised to believe that the Trench provides for those who huddle beneath its massive walls—and that those walls stretch to infinity. But venturing into the wilds beyond the village is a rite of passage she’s longed for. To push into utterly forbidden territory is to make a discovery that will forever change how Milliken sees her home, her family, and her future.

Description

What a fitting thing to read as I sit in my house with unseasonably cold -25 degree weather outside. Cold air creeping into every crevasse of my home, and an air that stings my face when I have to do mundane things like checking the mail. What better thing could I do than curl up in a blanket and read some interesting stuff on my kindle. I was drawn to Snow Angels, as I am a big fan of his comic-related works. I did not realize he sometimes wrote books, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Amazon appears to be sweetening the deal for those that use Amazon Prime, by offering a series of short stories exclusively for members. I am not 100% sure how new promotion is, as this was the first I’ve heard of it, but they have some pretty big names on-board.

I quite enjoyed this story, and hope it goes past being just a short story. As it stands (20 pages or so) this looks like the first few chapters of a larger book, and I was like “nooooo!” at the end when I realized it was over. Perhaps, Lemire can bring this to the comics world as well? There isn’t much I can say about this story without spoiling it, but I will say that the best part was trying to figure out what was going on. Is this a fantasy story, prehistoric, or even post-apocalyptic? You get a hint at the end, but it simply makes you want to know more. If you have yet to check out Amazon Original Stories, this is a fitting first look. I loved it!