Short Reviews of Short SFF
Review of Erin Macnair, “Thin Crust,” Luna Station Quarterly 49 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was an extremely fun, extremely perceptive story, full of humor and an interesting narrative structure, moving from one viewpoint character to another in a way that is both random and connected, and an excellent twist at the end.
(First published in The Walrus Magazine 2017).
Review of Fei Dao, “Legend of the Giant”, Clarkesworld Issue 181, October (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
A strange story that veers into philosophical discourse while referencing the meaning of work, beauty and indeed, life.
A tad more abstract than I’ve come to expect from Clarkesworld, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The story follows a mechanical giant who has been tasked with destroying old buildings and creating vitreous bricks out of the debris. These bricks, he has been told, will be useful for future projects. Humans are missing, however, and he doesn’t wonder what shape those projects may take without humanity around.
Except he encounters a killer mecha, a philosopher, and sentient soap bubbles along the way. This shapes and builds his perspective throughout the story.
A good story worth spending time with.
Review of Lisa Fox, “The Important Things,” Luna Station Quarterly 49 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Melanie is back in her childhood home, grappling with grief at the death of her last parent, sorting out the remains into the memories, the useless, and the rest. But it isn’t just relicts of her parents that she fines, but of generations that have gone before, including one very particular memento of her grandmother’s, whose discovery changes the way she looks at her grief.
Review of Bo Balder, “The Answer Was Snails”, Clarkesworld Issue 181, October (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
The protagonist, Robin, is trapped in a terrarium by an alien. A mish-mash of creatures who have no business being placed together, but they are. And that’s why every day is a struggle for Robin.
What keeps them going is knowing their partner Annie is nearby, unfortunately trapped in an adjacent terrarium.
It’s difficult for both of them, but they decide to try to be together, if they can’t be free. There’s a lot at stake and they stay strong and hopeful throughout.
Review of D. A. D’Amico, “The Boy Who Cried Fish”, Analog Science Fiction and Fact March/April (2022): 162–169 (Kindle) – Purchase Here. Reviewed by John Atom.
Ijemma’s brother has discovered something astounding within the waters of Europa, but nobody in the expedition believes him. He is willing to risk his life to prove he is right.
D’Amico’s story suffers from prose that is a bit sloppy and redundant, though the action is narrated well enough to maintain the suspense. Indeed, the action is the centerpiece of the story, making the science fictional part – and the characters – feel a little like an afterthought. The story deserves credit for attempting to portray an autistic character in somewhat realistic fashion, though it’s not enough to make the characters likable or interesting.
Review of Amy Mills Klipstine, “Face,” Luna Station Quarterly 49 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
After intriguing opening paragraphs (which made me wonder if the story was intended to be a metaphor for plastic surgery), I found this story slow to get started and actually go anywhere. There was a lot of description and repetition; and overall, I think this just wasn’t the story for me.
Review of Brenda Cooper, “Paper of Elephants”, Clarkesworld Issue 181, October (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
A heartfelt, touching story of two siblings running an elephant sanctuary in Zimbabwe.
David is the finance guy, and Eleanor guides the tours. Siaal, a young elephant, paints, and David decides to sell his artwork as NFTs in order to raise funds to save the sanctuary.
The piece develops and flows beautifully, and we can feel Eleanor’s helplessness and frustration – why should it be so hard to save these beautiful creatures?
Art is the focus, and in a different yet startlingly beautiful and raw way, art saves the day. The ending made my heart happy.
Review of Timons Esaias, “Excerpts from the Text of an Explanatory Stele Erected for Our Edification by the Scholars of the Outer Orion Tendril”, Clarkesworld Issue 180, September (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
The story is presented as a combination of personal narratives, transcripts, reports, and police and military conversation and decisions.
The Purple Tide is a cognizant entity who chooses what to and what not to destroy. As the story proceeds, we learn more about the Tide’s personality. Comic relief comes in the form of how humans take themselves way too seriously and try to enforce human rules on what is a blob of seemingly sentient slime.
An example – “The slime destroyed the tollbooths on the north bridge ramps and did not pay any tolls.”
The Purple Tide is an entity made of trash: main component – jelly. Human-made trash was responsible for the creation of the Tide, and slowly, humans are being destroyed by it. The gravity of the situation increases quickly as you go through the story.
An improbable piece of fiction, but nonetheless one that makes you really think about human excesses and callousness.
Review of Gregory Feeley, “In a Net I Seek to Hold the Wind”, Clarkesworld Issue 180, September (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
An unsettling story that was equal parts hopeful and strange. One of those stories you need to read slowly. It’s full of subtleties and the knowledge that humans don’t necessarily know everything.
But Minds are likely to know a lot more, and their relationship isn’t so much symbiotic as coexisting on the planet. Figments transport people to different places and experiences, all in their imagination.
Throw in some speculative fiction and a folk tale narrative sort of Figment experiences, and you get this unsettling, slow paced, Neptune-based tale.
Review of Thomas Webster, “Standard”, Analog Science Fiction and Fact March/April (2022): 153–156 (Kindle) – Purchase Here. Reviewed by John Atom.
A tech repairman helps a young woman maintain and enhance her artificial implants that enable her do her job. She keeps asking for more regardless of the dangers involved.
I always appreciate stories that are able to pack a lot of meaning in small amounts, and Webster’s story certainly fits into that category. The subjective narration has an unruly quality about it that helps get across the psychology of the narrator as he sees his younger self in his client and her inevitable demise. There’s an interesting contrast between a highly technological world and a simple life, and to what extend either path is a choice. Overall, an excellent and thought-provoking short story.
SFF Reviews