Short, but Has a Punch

The Chooser: A Tale of Modern Valkyrie by David L. Burkhead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don't know whether this novella inspired the meme going around about the child who died fighting off his abuser showing up in Valhalla, or if the novella is a response to the meme, but it certainly digs into the idea, trying to understand what it would mean -- and what it would take for a child to grow into the reward for that moment of adrenaline-fueled courage.

I really like how the author dropped just enough details for us to figure out the ethnic background of young Kamil and his father, but never explicitly stated that they were immigrants (probably refugees) from the Middle East living in one of the Scandanavian countries. By doing this, he's able to keep the focus on the individuals and their choices, and avoids having a whole bunch of political stuff dragged into what is fundamentally a story about a person breaking free of a dysfunctional, abusive family situation and winning his freedom.

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