Belius

Once Belius is in the Wider World - indeed the narrative starts there and we learn of Belius 'origins in our world through flashback sequences - we meet Belius' friends.

REVIEW: Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan 2006

Belius is a Minotaur born to human parents who run a farm.

REVIEW: Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan 2006

Belius is a Minotaur born to human parents who run a farm.

REVIEW: Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan 2006

Once Belius is in the Wider World - indeed the narrative starts there and we learn of Belius 'origins in our world through flashback sequences - we meet Belius' friends.

REVIEW: Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan 2006

The reader gets to see the lengths to which Belius 'overprotective parents try to protect him from the human townsfolk who don't understand him.

REVIEW: Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan 2006

Then there's Thip the flea, who blackmails Belius for his blood using the leverage of a dark secret of his human-world past.

REVIEW: Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan 2006

Eventually Belius makes his own way and befriends Dr. Grey, the man who delivered him and the only one besides Belius 'father that does not fear him.

REVIEW: Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan 2006

There's also Dr. Grey, the only human to accept Belius in the Lesser World, eventually drinking himself into a state of forgetfulness for reasons of his own.

REVIEW: Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan 2006

Unfortunate tragedy leads Belius to seek the land of the Wider World, a dimension that co-exists with our own, where all animals are intelligent, speaking beings and live in peace.

REVIEW: Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan 2006

There is also Dr. Grey's niece, Nona, who does come to understand Belius out of the pain emerging from her own life.

REVIEW: Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan 2006