An Examination of Collegial Dynamics as Expressed Through Marksmanship, or, LADIES' DAY OUT: A Russell's Attic Interstitial

Russell's Attic #2.6

by S.L. Huang

Cas teaches Pilar to shoot. Considering Cas is an acerbic mercenary and Pilar is a delightful admin, this goes about how you'd expect.

Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller, Short Stories

29 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2015

Reviews

[Kira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this journey into Cas teaching Pilar to shoot. It was a perfect want to get in a little more Cas Russell.

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a much more substantial short than 'Rio Adopts a Puppy', twice as long, ten times more interesting and with a bit of character development that links to the greater scope of the series.

[victoria.p · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun interlude with Cas and Pilar.

[RavenT · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story is a very good sketch of two very different women learning about one another and becoming friends, or as close as Cas allows other humans. Because I've read other books with Cas, I found seeing this more human, mundane interaction to be quite interesting. Pilar is in character throughout, and her secondary role in the Null Set novel that I just read is fleshed out a bit by knowing about this backstory. Three and a half stars.

Available online here:
https://www.slhuang.com/book/ladies-d...

[Rahel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look, if this doesn't make you ship Cas x Pilar, I don't what will.

I read this after I read "Rio Gets a Puppy" and had a total blast - it definitely filled some of the characterization cravings I had been stuck with following Null Set, while still keeping everyone in character. It also provides a solid foundation for those moving on to Critical Point (though I'm not quite sure how this story fits in to the Cas Russell series vs. the Russell's Attic series).

[Sehne Finys Wiens-Noyes]

super duper fun fun fun

[Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good solid foray into Cas' mind and relationships. Like all the Russell's Attic stories to date, the ambiguous nature of the world and characters really infuses the story. As an aside, that metaphysical ambiguity everywhere else makes Cas' math super-powers even more freaky and awesome in my mind. Here's this character who is so precise, so rigid in how she views the world she knows what her error bars and uses that to survive - and is constantly bemused because of the chaos of dealing with other people. This story is how some of that chaos comes in and sets Cas off balance. Again.

One of the things that I said I liked about the Rio Gets a Puppy story was that it didn't become some kind of redemptive arc where the affection of a simple puppy changed Rio's basic nature. With that as a background, this story puts many of the differences between Cas and Rio into stark perspective. Cas is not nearly as perfectly amoral as she tries to convince herself, else Pilar's pleading would never get to her. Nor Arthur's, for that matter. Cas is changing and evolving. To her, and to those of her would-be friends, it's still seeming glacial - but it's happening, as human obligations and expectations seep into her consciousness. It's fun to see.

In a real sense the central character of this story is Pilar - her needs, wants and reactions are driving almost everything in the story, including most of Cas' own reactions. It's fun to see, and never betrays the setting's basic worldview. (I'll leave it up to others to decide whether the setting for these stories is something like the real world or not.)

An engjoyable read, but one that must be read after the first two full novels in the Russell's Attic series for the magnitude of the story to be appreciated.