A review by icarusabides
The Backbone of the World by Stephen Graham Jones

emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

What a strange little story

It centers around one person's obsession as they are seemingly attempting to staving off grief and loss by waging a one woman war against a prairie dog invasion. There's more to it than meets the eye however and things start to get eerie pretty quick. Towards the end the protagonist does make a few logical leaps that probably weren't quite there in the text but that's forgivable given the short page count and definitely preferable to a vague sense of confusion. The writing style is interesting too and I'll be on the lookout for more of Graham Jones work in the future as a result. Another very solid outing in the Trespass collection.