On the Edge

By Gill Shutt

"This is the story of Sh-har Tianami taken from the Rememberings in the Year of the Strangers.

Listen to me, for I am dead."

Sh-har Tianami welcomed the outsiders to Home Tree Island, evangelists for the living god Rru-Tia. But when the silvered words were spoken, and old allegiances broken, this new god would demand blood...

A fantasy novelette, a perfect reading-length for a single sitting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: GreyhartPress
• Release date: Apr 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476053165

Gill Shutt

Gill Shutt was born in the same year as CND, the year that Ronnie Kray was first diagnosed as insane and the year that the designer of Lego died. She has spent a lot of her life being described in relation to someone else... a married woman with three children who answers to Mum more often than not. She was born in London and, even though she left when she was 11 she still thinks of herself as a Londoner. Since then she has lived in Dorset, Devon and Avon, she now lives in South Wales with a mountain outside her window. She can't remember a time when she didn't write but it wasn't until she became a stay-at-home mum that she started to write seriously. It was a good excuse to avoid doing the housework which is one of her pet hates along with the colour pink and spiders. She managed to get a few poems published in a poetry magazine which fuelled her enthusiasm. She writes by hand in purple ink which is one step away from writing in green crayon on the back of a cereal packet. Her ambition, apart from publishing books, is to grow old ungracefully surrounded by cats, dogs or rats. At the moment she has some of each and can't make her mind up which way to go. She hopes that one day someone will turn round and say 'I liked your book'.

Book preview

Reviews for On the Edge

[biscuitoria · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

As others have said this short story mimics the style of a fable or moral lesson. Despite initially warming to the quirky style of writing, on the whole I found this book to be repetitive and was frequently disappointed by the spoiling of the twists early through ill placed, mock suspense-inducing sentences. The early promise shown from the a unique cultural perspective was not lived up to. 1star.

[jennaelf · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"On the Edge" uses a very particular narrator's voice to pretty good effect. More of a fable than the traditional short story/novella, it seems to have some points to make but seems like the author struggled a little with trying not to be too heavy handed with the lessons about social/religions behaviors/manipulations. A quick and interesting read!

[alexdraven · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting short read - a fable or parable more than a novella, using an alien community similar to early hominids to display a message about the dangers of social manipulation and the miss-use of religion - an alternative tale of the loss of innocence.

[cfraser_38 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An interesting book, though I found it a bit disconcerting at times. I found myself seeing it as a reflection on human behaviour or the evolution of behaviour. The style is easy to read but I could not read it all in one sitting.

[shoosty · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received On the Edge by Gill Shut as part of the LTER.It is a story of a primitive monkey-like society and the invasion of their established life by creatures with evil intent (although this is disguised at first).I had some trouble getting into this story, as when I started reading it it felt very similar to many stories I have read previously. The story itself was good, although it did not present any new ideas in a captivating method. The characters could have used more development.Overall a nice story but nothing that grabbed me and made me want to read more.

[rottie_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

On the Edge by Gill Shutt was an interesting read. I have never read a book similar to this one. It is not something I would normally read but it was well written and had a story behind it that you could see how it could happen in real life if there were people that felt this way. It reminds you of some of the serial killers or a false prophet leading the group to do evil so that they could get there way.

[charliecascino · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a beautiful story!Written in language of folklore or mythology, it tells the story of a group of primates and their encounter with others of their kind. I wasn't sure what to think of it, but it drew me in with the language and a simple, but engrossing story. Finished in less than an hour, this little novella will hook you in, and before you know it, it's done. It's not the kind of thing I would usually pick up on my own, so Thank you so much, Early Reviewers! I am so glad I get the chance to read this lovely bit of primate folklore. I would recommend this to anyone interested in zoology, ancient human evolution, or anyone else who enjoys well-written short stories.

[releanna · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A short story, written in first-person, mixed a bit with the style of ancient mythology stories. It is an interesting theme, with intelligent, talking simian-like cultures, but the characters are a bit flat and there are many things not really explained which would have been interesting

[glennbell_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is a short read. It is about a tribe of monkey/human like creatures that have a conflict between groups. It is somewhat of an odd story. Women are larger and more dominant, and age groups appear to be living separately. The author is a capable writer and the story keeps the reader's interest. The arrival of a Christ-like figure which has foreknowledge, dies to eliminate the evil characters (by bringing a disease that affects both the creatures and the flora), and will see those who die in the cause in the afterlife is a bit over the top for me. It seems to artificial of a solution to the dilemma that is developed. Furthermore, the split between age groups that is generated by the invading group is illogical and irrational. I cannot recommend this short story. I suspect some of Gill's other stories have a more credible story line.

[debdebtig · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

On the Edge by Gill ShuttThis book had my interest from the first page. It is definitely a book that will make you think as it is a very deep book. As a novelette it surprised me at how much substance is included between the pages. The book brings you to a group of young bipeds, Mids, who find themselves in a unique situation as they are confronted by strangers with a different look on life. The story is one that is difficult to put down once you get started you want to know how it ends. This is not a book for the light reader due to the deep subject. It will make you contemplate your humanity and what may have happened as we advanced. An enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend as an intellectual stimulating topic.I received this book as an early reviewer. It was a nice surprise.

[buttsy1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

‘On the Edge’ is a story of intruders and of evil intent, where the young are set against their elders. Unfortunately, the motivation of Gnzar and the intruders is not really made clear. Consequently, I’m not sure whether I’m supposed to read ‘On The Edge’ as an allegory, or just as a tale.The story has an interesting premise with intelligent primates and gender role reversal, but ultimately, the story didn’t really satisfy me. I think there were two reasons for this. Firstly, the creatures have very modern, human emotional responses to various situations, but annoyingly refer to a day as a ‘circle of the sun’. I think the author needs to decide whether she wants her characters to be primitive or contemporary in nature. Which leads to my second criticism: the story is in need of an editor. Apart from a couple of typos and punctuation errors, there are times when elements in the story just don’t sit right. I would be interested to read further ‘rememberings’, if Ms Shutt has written any, but I hope that the good people of Greyhart Press realise that speculative fiction, along with all other kinds of writing, needs careful and critical editing.