REVIEW: “The First Witch of Damansara” by Zen Cho

Review of Zen Cho’s, “The First Witch of Damansara”, Uncanny Magazine Volume, 19 (2017): Read Online. Reviewed by Jodie Baker.

When Vivian’s grandmother dies, Vivian’s family ask her to return to Malaysia for the funeral. Her grandmother was a witch of some renown, while Vivian ‘in contrast, had a mind like a hi-tech blender.’ On returning to her family home, she finds troubled spirits in the shape of her grandmother’s wandering ghost, and her magical sister, Wei Yi, who is trying to work out how to honour her grandmother properly so she doesn’t become a kuang shi, or vampire.

I didn’t notice until I’d finished “The First Witch of Damansara” that Zen Cho presents an entirely female family story. There’s a fiance ‘beautiful, supportive, and cast in an appropriately self-effacing role—just off-screen,’ and Vivian’s dead Yeh Yeh plays a role in the story, but otherwise men are entirely absent from this family tale. The important conflicts, and relationships, all play out between women.

A significant part of Vivian’s story revolves around how she fits into her magical, Malaysian family’s life now when she has been apart from them for so long. In order to find her place she has to interact with her sister, mother, and even her grandmother’s spirit in ways that are often infuriating, but nevertheless help her to find a significant role in their lives again. I’m always excited to see family stories that allow women to develop strong, and complex, bonds with each other. And “The First Witch of Damansara” certainly brings the importance of female relationships to the fore.

The story whizzes by because it’s so well-paced. The conversations between the characters read with the naturalness found when people have known each other for a long time but still don’t always understand each other. And there’s a character here to capture the imagination of every reader: practical, fish out of water Vivian; tricksy, smart Nai Nai; argumentative, determined Wei Yi. I was already a big fan of Cho’s novel Sorcerer to the Crown, but after reading “The First Witch of Damansara” I’m eager to try out more of her short fiction too.

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REVIEW: “Seeds of Discord” by Tod McCoy

Review of Tod McCoy, “Seeds of Discord”, in Starward Tales II, edited by CB Droege (Manawaker Studio, 2017): 167-173 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

The pin for this story is someplace in Nigeria, as best as I can tell, and this immediately piqued my interest as I knew it would be a story that I was not familiar with.

The story was so good I pretty much utterly failed to take any notes while reading it. The only hint I will give is this: This is the story of what happens when you give agency.

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REVIEW: “Making Us Monsters” by Sam J. Miller and Lara Elena Donnelly

Review of Sam J. Miller and Lara Elena Donnelly’s, “Making Us Monsters”, Uncanny Magazine Volume, 19 (2017): Read Online. Reviewed by Jodie Baker.

Do you enjoy weeping? Well then, I highly recommend you read “Making Us Monsters”. Sam J. Miller and Lara Elena Donnelly have written a correspondence across the ages between wartime poets, and lovers, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. If you’re not crying yet there’s a good chance you will be by the end of the story.

The science fiction element in this story is quite subtle. In 1932, Sassoon suddenly begins to receive letters from beyond the grave. Front line missives from Wilfred Owen are delivered by post or appear mysteriously among other correspondence, in pockets, or among the pages of books. These letters, delivered by an unknown hand after all these years, is all the sci-fi the story includes, but such a small otherworldly touch yields a deep, examination of two men, their relationship, and war.

Sassoon documents these finds in his diary, and is soon speaking directly to ‘Will’ in his entries. It is clear that Owen thinks Siegfried has forgotten him, as he receives no reply in 1918. Siegfried fears what each letter will bring but also longs for each new word from his former lover.

The idea of letters supernaturally appearing from beyond the grave alludes to the growing interest in spiritualism that followed WWI, as people sought solace, understanding, and connection in the face of such large scale tragedy. And there is so much to dig into in this story. The distanced correspondence sharply dissects Sassoon, a man often torn between hatred of the destruction war brings, and a belief that war somehow uplifts and unites men to make the feeling beyond soldiers finer than anything else. And the writing style does a fabulous job of emulating the way the poets wrote about war – often full of tragedy, emotion, and lush, dark imagery that seduces the reader into seeing war through the prism of gothic romance before it rams home the utter, brutal hell of battle.

Sassoon’s relationship with Owen – as mentor, lover, and stirring influence – is laid bare, and is heartbreaking. Was I wrong to hope that the science fictional aspect of this story might lead to a happier conclusion? A letter that allows Sassoon to find some peace? An entirely out of this world reunion with Will? Sadly, it was not to be. Instead I was left sad, although in other ways quite satisfied, by “Making Us Monsters”. The horrors of war, especially the way the men in charge aim to create soldiers who suit their bloody purposes, are brought to the fore. And I found this story a fascinating take on the First World War, and on these two men in particular. If you enjoyed Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy about the war poets make this your next read.

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REVIEW: “Doorways to Death” by Dick Yaeger

Review of Dick Yaeger, “Doorways to Death”, in Starward Tales II, edited by CB Droege (Manawaker Studio, 2017): 161-163 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

This tale is another Homeric retelling, albeit one much shorter than the other — it’s one of the shortest stories in the anthology. One of the advantages of retelling well-known myths is that it is a lot easier to build a lot of back story with far fewer words. For example, when the “Trojans” are mentioned, we know them, we know their war, and we know how it all started (and how it will end). Similarly with a casual reference to a horse. But this puts a large burden on the reader; those who don’t know the references will be lost. I think that is why this story worked for me, but the other very short story (“Hills Like Teeth”) didn’t, because I didn’t know the myth being adapted. Even so, this story was more a vignette than a story, in part because there was a lack of resolution at the end. The story opens with a question, and there was no answer. For that reason, it was a bit unsatisfying.

Another reason it was a bit unsatisfying was its use of the rather stale “men fight so that women are protected” trope. I also found it problematic that the male character is named — right in the very first line! — but that his female interlocutor was never anything more than “the woman”, and her role in the story appears to be merely a service one. If one is actually going to transpose a historic myth into a future setting, one needs to think very carefully before importing all the historic baggage that comes with. Not all of it needs to be retained.

(Also, note that the pagination given above is correct and the pagination in the table of contents in the book is not.)

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REVIEW: “In Dublin, Fair City” by Rick Wilbur

Review of Rick Wilbur, “In Dublin, Fair City”, Asimov’s Science Fiction November/December (2017): 48-67 — Purchase Here. Reviewed by Kiera Lesley.

The third in a series of historical fiction novelettes by Rick Wilbur following the adventures of Moe Berg, a real-life baseball player and spy during the second world war.

Moe and his frequent collaborator – known by many names, but most often referred to simply as ‘the woman’ – heard to Dublin where the English government and royals have taken refuge from the German bombings of London, much to the irritation of the Irish.

Moe and the woman are involved in fights on trains, secretive meetings in pubs, bombings, running along beaches while being strafed by the Luftwaffe, all in the hopes of convincing the Irish not to defect to the German side and to help the German scientist, Heisenberg, to escape to the safety of America along with all his important plans and research for a ‘super bomb’ that could end the war.

The details of the time and place are lovely in this piece and Wilbur spends a lot of time with Moe wandering through Dublin and experiencing it all.

The necessary world and character information was mostly clearly conveyed, but as someone who hasn’t read the previous two stories I found some contextual information was not made clear – do they time travel? Forget their missions afterward? Or is this somehow sequential or running alongside the other stories?

I found the pace a bit slow for all of the explosions and guns in this, especially the start. The chemistry between Moe and the woman was also a little flat for me, perhaps it was developed more in previous stories and just hearkened back to here.

Overall this was a good historical story with some great action towards the end.

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REVIEW: “The Secret History of the Original Line” by T. L. Rodebaugh

Review of T. L. Rodegbaugh, “The Secret History of the Original Line”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #36 Early Autumn pp. 9-16. Purchase here. Review by Ben Serna-Grey. 

This is an extremely interesting historical piece, with a mix of fantasy. I haven’t been able to tell yet if it also follows in the speculative fiction tradition of alternate history stories. It tells of an expedition sent out by the King to trace and bind a border between Virginia and Carolina in what would otherwise be called the United States of America. The story takes the form of an expedition log, similar to the travel narratives that were popular in the 1800s by writers such as Herman Melville.

The history, cultural differences, and mythology make themselves readily apparent. The narrator speaks of their disgust of their Carolinian workmate, a pompous man who brings two indentured servants with him on the expedition. Our narrator sarcastically calls the man Christian in honor of his pious nature. The writing style reminds me of Melville, Hawthorne, Poe, and Mary Shelley in all the best ways, though the more thickly-written style, combined with the slightly longer length compared to the other stories in this issue made “The Secret History” take a while longer to get through.

The group comes upon a hermit, naked and seemingly savage, especially to Christian, though he quickly shows his nuanced intelligence as he converses with the other men. He explains it’s all well and good the King wants to parse out the land for his commissioners, but it’s owned by no one and changes every day: “If you parcel it out today, you will find it a different matter tomorrow.” The hermit becomes a focal point of the story, as does the aftermath of what happens to the survey team after meeting him.

It’s a skillful piece, though bleak and dreadful with hints at time travel and themes of inevitable war, doom, global climate change, and revenge. For those who think a story straddling the line between the “literary” and the speculative would strike their fancy I recommend this very highly. It’s another standout in this issue of the magazine, along with The Crane Alphabet and a few others. There are a lot of gaps in the story to fill in yourself, and it may take a couple readings to fully grasp everything, but it’s well worth the investment. Congratulations are also in order as this is apparently also Rodebaugh’s first published piece of fiction, and a very accomplished one at that.

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REVIEW: “Mysterium Tremendum” by Molly Tanzer

Review of Molly Tanzer, “Mysterium Tremendum”, Nightmare Magazine 62: Read Online. Reviewed by Winnie Ramler.

I really enjoyed this story. It was interesting, unique, and kept me guessing. Horror is a very varied genre because its definition can change depending on whose opinion you are getting. This horror was more unsettling and mysterious rather than out right scary, but the uncertainty made me eager to continue reading. I wanted to know what was going on. The setting combined with Marjorie Olenthistle’s lack of plot knowledge both lent themselves well to suspense.

Marjorie’s goal as a character is simple. She wants to retrieve expensive and rare mummified remains for her job at the library. However, it is the challenge of navigating the desires and hidden motives of the other characters which drives her along. Combine that with some potentially “not of this world” magic tricks, and you’ve got yourself quite the monumental task.

I loved the combination of Egyptian lore with the mystique of the stage magician whose acts confound and astound. Is it real? Or is it some elaborate scam to fool the unintelligent masses? Marjorie gets the chance to find out.

There was humor here. There was mystery. It reminds us to question what we believe to be real and what we believe to be a trick. Sometimes they are separate. Sometimes they are the same thing.

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REVIEW: “The Tablet of Scaptur” by Julia Keller

Review of Julia Keller, “The Tablet of Scaptur”, Tor.com (2017): Read Online. Reviewed by Danielle Maurer.

Archaeology was a passion of mine when I was younger, so perhaps it’s no surprise that I find the basic premise of “The Tablet of Scaptur” intriguing. Sixteen-year-old Violet has the eponymous ancient tablet stuffed into her hand by a scientist as she’s being arrested, and Violet and her friends take it upon themselves to both translate the tablet and determine what to do with it.

The revelation of what, exactly, the tablet says is fascinating for its take on linguistics and Martian history. But the power of that revelation is tampered somewhat by the short story format; it’s clear that this tablet has world-shaking potential, but with limited information on the world, it’s hard to truly comprehend the full import. It feels very much like this story requires reading the author’s full novel in this world to truly understand the stakes.

That said, the choice Violet makes at the end is not the one that I expected. For a sixteen-year-old, Violet shows a powerful understanding of how information can influence a society in ways both good and bad–and that maybe there is some information that should be kept secret.

 

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REVIEW: “Seven Things that Oughtn’t Cut Me” by Jessi Cole Jackson

Review of Jessi Cole Jackson, “Seven Things that Oughtn’t Cut Me”, Podcastle: Miniature 100 — Listen Online. Reviewed by Heather Rose Jones

There is fantasy literature where the story itself emerges from the fantastic elements. And there is fantasy literature where the fantastic elements are used to address more familiar questions from a different angle. And then there is fantasy literature where the fantastic elements seem to be more of a Halloween costume, zipped up allegorically over a fairly mundane story. “Seven Things that Oughtn’t Cut Me” uses the language of trolls and elves, but is at heart a very ordinary–if heart-rending–story of bullying, school cliques, and a child of mixed heritage feeling out of place in the world. The fantasy felt pasted-on. That isn’t to say that it wasn’t a well-written story, but I prefer my fantasy elements to be an essential and inseparable aspect of the structure. I must also confess that the “listicle” story format, where the content is presented in the form of an ordered list of thematically-related elements, is a hard thing to sell me on. In many cases it feels like a way of dodging the lack of a plot. This story wasn’t bad, it simply wasn’t particularly good.

Content warning for descriptions of self-harm.

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REVIEW: “Confessions of a Con Girl” by Nick Wolven

Review of Nick Wolven, “Confessions of a Con Girl”, Asimov’s Science Fiction November/December (2017): 35-47 — Purchase Here. Reviewed by Kiera Lesley.

Imposter syndrome turned up to 11.

What if your merit and social worth was not just reliant on your work and outputs, but on how everyone else sees you? Wolven presents a world where all social interaction is managed via Pro/Con votes on your holoscore – visible to everyone. It has resulted in a world of carefully managed interpersonal and online personas and interactions. These are judged and influence your world and professional opportunities as much as your college grades do.

Sophie is in a counselling session at college after she has fallen too far into the red (too many ‘Con’ votes). Wolven uses Sophie’s account of how she got there to discuss the ramification of the Pro/Con system taken to the extreme and how seemingly minor stumbles at different points can ripple outward and elicit negative responses. It also considers what good deeds count and whether the only things that matter are those that are seen and acknowledged by others.

We find out that Sophie has been allowed entry into a select college based on her excellent green holoscore and perceived potential. However this potential is increasingly questioned by herself and fellow students. Does she deserve to be there? Is she a good enough person? Is she capable of it?

I found this story conceptually compelling, but the narrative device of Sophie telling her professor a bit dry and created distance between the reader and the story. An interesting idea, but the story around it could have been more compelling.

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